Booth, I'm always toying with the idea of getting a DA. Is it hard to get it to look good without the paint being full of swirls? Do you also need a garage ideally? Mine isn't big enough to do a full polish in.
Kyle, it's pretty straightforward with a DA really, once you get over the initial trepidation, lol, and so long as you take it slowly, don't rush and prepare properly. A DA is well worth the initial outlay imo, especially for a darker colour car that shows up the slightest swirling
A garage or workshop is preferable, especially one with a good light source. You can do it outside but light needs to be good and you're at the mercy of the weather. If doing it outside and over more than a day, Definitely garage the car overnight. I don't have use of my garage (it got turned into a gym!) but luckily have use of an industrial unit.
I'm by no means an expert but here's a few tips:
- Assess the condition of the paintwork and level of switling / marring, so you know what level of correction is required
- Prepare the paintwork prior to polishing - tar remover, iron remover, claying etc, to ensure it's free of all bonded contaminants.
- Tape up all trim.
- Take it slowly and split panels up into manageable areas.
- Start with the least abrasive pad and polish combo and step up to more abrasive polish / pad as necessary.
- Stop and inspect at regular intervals to see how you are progressing.
- Use a small LED torch to check for swirls.
- Once you've primed the pad with polish make sure you place it flat on the paintwork before switching on DA, otherwise the polish will fling off everywhere.
- You might need to do several passes.
There's plenty of good guides on sites like detailing world and how to videos on youtube. Worth checking a few out before you begin.
Oh, and finally, prepare to have aching arms!
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