Unfortunatly its now that time of year my lazy arse gets in gear and actual t-cuts and polishes the car. Anyone know of anywhere that does a cheap buffer? Doesnt need to be good quality, it just needs to be able to let me t-cut and polish a Vectra. If i only get one or two days use out of it before it dies a horrible cmokey death ill be fine with that.
Anyone know of a place?
Limit on spending?
Check out the usual detailing places EliteCarCare etc. Im sure my brother when he reads this will throw you in a good direction (most anal person I know for cleaning his car)
Quote from: Poison_UKLimit on spending?
Check out the usual detailing places EliteCarCare etc. Im sure my brother when he reads this will throw you in a good direction (most anal person I know for cleaning his car)
cheap is the operative word here. Usually i do it with a couple of soft cloths, but i would prefer to save some time. Waxing a car by hand is the most tedious job in the world, and once you have started you pretty much have to finish it.
t-cut does more harm to the paintwork than good and unless your going to buy a decent random orbit polisher (£150) you may aswell just use some elbow grease.
instead of t-cut try the Meguires 3 step system, available at halfords.
if you want to try it abit more professionally then this is what you need
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing/polishing-machine/meguiars-g220-complete-menzerna-kit/prod_414.html
Quote from: DEViANCEt-cut does more harm to the paintwork than good and unless your going to buy a decent random orbit polisher (£150) you may aswell just use some elbow grease.
instead of t-cut try the Meguires 3 step system, available at halfords.
if you want to try it abit more professionally then this is what you need
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing/polishing-machine/meguiars-g220-complete-menzerna-kit/prod_414.html
it needs flattening off somehow, and the previous owner had obviously been in love with drive-in carwashes. They are OK once in a while, provided the car is well waxed I guess, but ive never liked using them. Ill need some kind of rubbing compound, or T-Cut before I polish it, or im prettymuch wasting my time. Itll also be nice to get rid of the fine scratches. While i do want it polishing, the car is a Vectra so im not too keen on laying out masses of money for something, nor am i overly fond of spending a couple of days cutting the surface, then polishing it. I actually loath doing the job, but it needs doing, and its not worth paying for.
the Meguires 3 step does some cutting i think, but isnt as harsh as t-cut.
http://www.meguiars.co.uk/
and therefore it wont get swirls out.
if you want good paint with no swirls, then you need a detailer to come out, if you just want to get the paint as good as a non pro can, then the megs is a start in the right direction, but you need to add in afterwards with a good wax such as a collinite.
edit> and ringing elite is a good idea, alex is an absolute legend and will give you all the advice you need.
Matt
cheap buffer = nasty swirlies
practice on an old panel
Best get a kid around, tell him you are a black belt Karate expert and get him to do wax on, wax off ;)
Aldi, Netto, etc occasionally have these in cheap. or use a buffer on an electric drill.
just take it to a car valet place. just as cheap in the long run
tried maplin? they got a sale on atm
Basically i want to just quicken things up. Im not after a "Perfect" finish, its only a 2000 Veccy after all so not exactly the most desirable car in the world. Ive been hunting around, and it seems Macro had some in last week for not much money.
The car itself has loads of fine scratches from the rollover carwash, I had a go at just polishing them out last week, and they just wont go, so its going to take some form of cutting compound to get them out.
Im thinking along the lines of ::
Step 1 :: Clean the car as well as possible then dry it off by hand.
Step 2 :: Cutting compound of some form, at the moment im still stuck at t-cut as there isnt anything thats reasonably cheap that does the same job. I do have some post-spray cutting compound, but its a bit harsh for just bringing the colour back up.
Step 3 :: Clean and dry again to make sure all the t-cut (or whatever is gone).
Step 4 :: Colour match polish if required, though Im not sure ill have to do this.
Step 5 :: Clean and dry
Step 6 :: Decent Wax. I know from experience cheap wax is pointless, it just washes off in no time.
Anyone any better suggestions? I only do this once a year, and i didnt bother with the last 2 cars at all (Deawoo Esperro and Honda Civic).