First Two-Stage Polish

I am going to attempt to do my first two-stage polish this weekend. I’m using a PorterCable 7472xp, Chemical Guys V36 Cutting Polish and their V38 Finishing Polish with the Hex Logic Orange and White pads (for cutting and polishing respectively).

I am new to the detailing game but have polished my truck before so I’m comfortable with it. Is there anything I should be aware of before doing this? Anything I should know that I probably don’t know that I don’t know since I’m new?

I plan on testing the process out on either my roof or my bumper first to make sure all goes ok, but these really aren’t super abrasive combos so I’m not really that worried about causing any damage or it being too aggressive.

I’m going with a two-stage polish because I’ve already done a basic polish job with a polish/sealer combo last year with about 6-8 passes per panel and I still have horrible swirls in the paint (horrible for white).

Do I really need to be worried about buffing off too much paint or causing any harmful marring? I don’t think I do because I have a DA polisher but just want to make sure. I also plan on taping off the black trim and edges of things like lights just to make sure those don’t get marred from the cutting portion of the job.

I will use a sealant removing wash and clay bar beforehand (this goes without saying).

Also how should I approach this? Hit the whole truck with V36, buff off everything with a microfiber towel, then hit with V38 or go just do a panel at a time?

Thanks!

 

Do a 2x2 area to see what the paint needs. If you have enough pads do a panel at a time.

I think you will be fine and I doubt you have any marring issues.

Keep on I on the pads and clean regularly if they start to cake up. Watch how much dusting you get as they can tell you there is too much product.

 

PackCon,
Like Ace 96 said you need to start with doing a 2x2 test panel to see what the paint needs & Keep the pads clean.

If you have a air compressor with a blowoff gun then you can clean the pads after every panels.

Unfortunately I don't know to much about Chemical guys product so I can't give to much insight into there products.

a few things that I can recommend to you are the following:
1) unless the complete truck is covered in swirls there is no reason to use V36 on the complete truck
2) If you find out that the V36 is not correcting the paint then you can take what is know as a half step in the detailing industry and try V36 with a microfiber cutting pad. They key to using a micro fiber cutting pad is to prime the pad properly and apply a little working product at each section you are looking to correct. (Since I have moved to Microfiber cutting pads, I only use them when i need to do paint correction and use foam pads for polishing stage)
3) I saw that you mentioned that you did 6 to 8 passes before with a polish/sealant product. (Since I don't really know your level of experience one thing many people do is move the polisher to fast when making passes) One of the Keys to using a DA polisher is to keep you arm movement slow about 1" per second and overlapping passes about 1/2 of the pad overlapping the previous pass.

So these are just a few suggestions to help you.

Here is a great video to help learn about arm speed, pad priming when using microfiber, residue control, etc.

https://youtu.be/TUdnj4CVFmQ

Good Luck and if you need more help let me know.

I have a great system that works well with a Porter Cable DA. I use to use these machines up until last year but I finally made the leap and moved up to RUPES Machines.

 

Test spot and lots of pads!

 

I tested on the tailgate. One of these days I might get burned on not being careful enough with new products but I trust everything I've bought so far.

Did the whole truck with V36. Still not perfect but 90-95% better. The previous owner couldn't have had this truck much longer than 18 months. The paint has really taken a beating. Amazing how some people treat their cars.

The hood needed to be done 3 times. Still not perfect but much better. I think I do move a bit too fast with my passes but I try to take my time.

Truck turned out really well though. I'm happy with the products and results.

 

Try moving the machine / pad approximately 1 inch per second. That's my general rule.

 

Genuine question: Is there a difference between doing 4 passes at 1inch per second or 8 passes at .5inch per second?

 

I'm an engineer and I still don't get that exacting. Don't over-think it and just practice. You'll get the hang of it.