ROTARY BUFFERS

Hi Guys; I realy enjoy this site and all of the contributions everyone makes.I want to buff my girl friends 89 corolla, original dark blue paint,not faded but lots of scratches and swirl marks.Going forward I plan to hand wash it and want to get the paint in good shape.My question is this what are the correct steps to rotary buff this car? What I was planning on doing was to buff with rotary machine using least aggressive foam pad I can find,pobably a 3M pad.Apply a small amount of 3M Imperial Machine Glaze to the pad and buff until hazy.Then change to a clean foam pad to buff off the product. then repeat these steps using a liquid carnuba wax such as Mothers.Are these the correct steps? Or what would you suggest?Thanks guys and good luck to your olympic hockey team tomorrow. GO CANADA!!

Well, you're off to a good start since you didn't even mention rubbing compunds. Those of us with the "less is best" mentality think it's far better to do 3 or 4 buffings with a mild polish/glaze than to try even ONE buffing with a compound.

It will take a little longer, but the results are well worth the extra effort.

I don't know much about the 3M products, but I would suggest trying Meguiars #3 Machine Glaze. It is an oil-based, pure polish that practically never dries, which eliminates the chance of creating more scratches from dried polish, and it can be rubbed almost forever.

Depending on the severity of your girlfriend's car, 3-4 coats of the #3 should give you something close to a "showroom" or better finish.



Don M
'02 Cavalier LSSC
2200 DOHC

first off i'll tell you the same thing,lessis best .however you did not say you are familar with high speed polishing. if you are not than i would go the hand route. there is nothing you can do with amachine you can't do by hand,although it takes longer. that being said ,i always use high speed polishing to do corrective action than wax by hand. i would reccomend 3m machine glaze using the meguirs yellow pad follwed by wax of your choice, if you want to use a buffer to wax ,use the meguirs tan finishing pad.

good luck
mike at the shine shop

Don and Mike, Thank you both for your advice!

Don and Mike, Thank you both for your advice! I will let you know how it turns out. I live in near Toronto,Ontario and quality detailing supplies are hard to find at the retail level any way. I am going to poke around some body shop supply houses , etc. If I find a good source I will post it for our Canadian enthusiasts. Cheers!

The "civilian" version of Meguairs #3/#7 is the Deep Crystal System Step 2 Polish



Don M
'02 Cavalier LSSC
2200 DOHC

Never tried the machine glaze, but I can recomend, if you can find it, Meguairs speed glaze, this is the body shop line of products. Apply it at a speed no greater thatn 1750 rpm, with a final polishing pad and watch it take out light scratches and polish the hell out of the paint. It is an abrasive despite the name glaze.

doug, try carcareonline.com to find supplies, larry the owner has been in the feild a long time and is a wealth of info. he also has the fever and has tried everything known to man.
good luck

Doug:

Give Canadian Tire a try for your supplies. Im in Sask and they stock a good range of Meguiars pro line ( tan container) products along side the Deep Crystal ( red container) products at competative prices , also have the Mothers line and most of the "prefered user products" often refered to on this board.

Best of luck for great end results.....if you follow the recommendations give on the board you will be more than pleased with the results.

It is lots of work for starters but the payoff is great and then if you get into a regular maintenance program you will find keeping that apperance is easier than you thought.

Regards