Detailing: machine polish on NB

[TAS1981]

Hi guys, I just got a DAS6-pro with a menzerna starter kit of a hard whit pad, med yellow and a soft black waffle. Polishes are PF2500 an FF3000.

Can anyone tell me how hard / soft the paint is on these cars and has anyone ha experience with using menzerna products on their 5?

I had a brief go with the Final Finish on hard pad and made two lots of about 6 passes on a section of the boot. Probably about 80% swirls / marks gone but still some marks in clear coat remain. Thinking of going straight for the coarser polish and hard pad on rest of car? Should be fine right?!?!

Any recommendations etc?!

Tom

[Mr Morlock]

my gut feel is never start with the coarsiest grade- ie same thinking as wet and dry. The paint on an Mx5 will be the same as any modern paint- awesomely good lasts for many years with next to no maintenance. If the product seller cannot give you the right advice that does not sound good. A detailer or auto paint supplier will be able to give advice. You either have to talk to pros -detailers or paint shops or try a bit of reading though many diy books talk more about processes than specific products.

[Magpie]

The only way to truly find out is to use a paint thickness gauge, however these are not cheap. When polishing you are removing a very small amount of the clear coat o you would not want to go for a deep cut if not needed.

I second the advice to seek more informed advice. However even if you use a very fine pad it can remove most swirls depending on the type of polish you use. I keep one pad for one polish and never mix polish and pads (I have the same buffer as you).

[JBT]

Have a look on here: http://www.detailparadise.com.au/forum.php

[TAS1981]

Naturally I have researched and am not blindly hacking away at the paint.

Mostly I was looking to see what peoples opinions were of the Mazda paint, for example the Honda's paint is known to be soft, VAG group cas paint hard as nails...I was looking for some one who has actual experience of machine detailing the MX-5 and thought I might find someone here.

I naturally have looked at various online forums and obviously researched before I bought my machine. The basic gist when starting out is start fine and if not getting the results required check technique then go for a higher cutting combo.

Just interested to hear of people's real world experience and a discussion based on my findings.

Just in case someone who details their own car reads this, anyone recommend a glaze for post polish / pre-wax? I want depth!

Tom

[hks_kansei]

Poorboys EX is a decent sealant at a decent price.

[and1]

Recently did my SE (Velocity Red) as paint is very swirly especially on the bootlid.

I used:
Megs G220 DA with W7207 cutting pad with Megs Ultimate Compound. Finished with Autoglym Super Resin Polish on a Lake Country CCS Aqua/teal pad.

Results are better but still not happy with it. Probably could have done with another pass of the ultimate compound or two. Maybe a pass of the mirror glaze series..

My used Ultimate Liquid Wax as my sealant. Love the smell of it

[TAS1981]

Thats interesting and1 and exactly what I was looking for.....I was surprised as well, I only trialled the new machine on the boot lid last weekend but I found the paint surprisingly hard.....or rather I don't know why but I thought I was going to have to just kiss the paint for it to rub through. Its a lot harder than I thought so I think I could actually go to the coarser polish (PF2500 I think) without worrying too much, then hit it with one pass of the Final Finish and then a glaze and sealant for optimum shine.

One thing I noticed once you start to get somewhere with the oplish is that things that have not come off with a clay bar like tough tar spots suddenly show up much more obviously...My next plan is to go over the front bar and bonnet once before touching in all the stone chips, wet sanding them flat and then polishing the lot over again....I have seen several online guides that have had great results even if taken a bit of time.

I'll post a guide / how to of the process I go through when i do it....its going to need a whole weekend and then some I reckon.....

[wassup]

I've found the paint on my white NA is harder than my Red Civic Type R. The same work rate and passes on the Mx yields much better results on the Civic. That was using a soft pad with fine cut. It ended up taking me twice as long to complete the Mx as it nor ally does for the Honda. My back hurt.

I've since bought a Mild pad and product but haven't gotten around to using it yet. It's a 22 year old car so i need t cautious about the remaining thickness of the clear coat which is completely intact right now

[Hjt]

I need help tidying my car pre WTAC. Any Sydney people want to organise a day?

[and1]

Yeah paint is harder than I first assumed as well. Nothing like some of the German paint but still rather hard compared to some other jap models. Need to see pics when you are done!

Thats interesting and1 and exactly what I was looking for.....I was surprised as well, I only trialled the new machine on the boot lid last weekend but I found the paint surprisingly hard.....or rather I don't know why but I thought I was going to have to just kiss the paint for it to rub through. Its a lot harder than I thought so I think I could actually go to the coarser polish (PF2500 I think) without worrying too much, then hit it with one pass of the Final Finish and then a glaze and sealant for optimum shine.

One thing I noticed once you start to get somewhere with the oplish is that things that have not come off with a clay bar like tough tar spots suddenly show up much more obviously...My next plan is to go over the front bar and bonnet once before touching in all the stone chips, wet sanding them flat and then polishing the lot over again....I have seen several online guides that have had great results even if taken a bit of time.

I'll post a guide / how to of the process I go through when i do it....its going to need a whole weekend and then some I reckon.....

[TAS1981]

I've found the paint on my white NA is harder than my Red Civic Type R.

That's because Honda paint is notoriously soft....but its good to know that Mazda paint is that bit hardier...which was exactly what I was trying to find out at the beginning.

Need to see pics when you are done!

You will but I am away for two weeks as of Friday so it might be a while until I actually get a whole weekend to myself to do it.....Have everything ready, touch up kit, wet and dry and now polishing machine....just not the time! There are some big dings (for stone chips) out of the front bumper which might take some work but we'll see....

Tom

[Mr Morlock]

NAs were painted 20 years ago. Modern paint systems have change considerably including methods for applying paint. Paint today is far superior to many old style acrylic or ancient nitrocellulose paints. There are some books around worth looking at related to painting eg "How to paint your car on a budget Pat Ganahl, "How to Paint Classic Cars" Martin Thaddeus "How to Paint your Car" Dennis Parks and David Jacobs. A search via library system may add titles related more to finessing/ finishing.

[hks_kansei]

Also worth noting with early NAs that only certain colours were clearcoated.


When Pam did her red NA she used:

Lake Country Orange pad
Zaino ZPC
Bosch PEX400AE

That combo did extremely well at removing pretty much all of the oxidation and most of the swirls (it wasn't that bad for swirls though)
It's still got some minor swirls and marks, but they'd come off easily with another pass of the orange (or possibly even one with the white?)


I still need to find the time (and the clear weather) to do my car.