Orbital Buffer - Laugh at my expense

[Etwenty1 45]

I have had some blue overspray droplets on the clear coat of a red car I bought a while ago and decided to clean then off. Used some very fine wet and dry to take off the droplets which worked really well leaving only very faint sanding marks, then bought a good quality orbital buffer from super cheep plus some medium and fine cutting compound and had a crack.

first mistake was applying the cream to the pad and turning on the buffer while not in contact with car.

second mistake was getting too close to some windsreen seals and trims with buffer.

Finally got all panels done and its looking great all over until i park it in the sun when i see long siwrl tracks are now everwhere. Worst are the side panels.

Now wondering how much clear coat i have left and whether to use medium cutting cream to try buff-out the swirl marks or use the finer one. ???

Some tips from an experieced detailer whould be appreciated.

[andrewm 236]

The amount of clearcoat you have should be far more than ample to deal with swirl marks. The marks are very fine and you should not have a problem if you do it right. Just a note, if overspray is light a claybar can be effective for removal without paintwork damage.

I dont know which product your using but i would suggest dont go medium, get the fine and an even lighter abbrasive like a good polish. The fine should eliminate most of the swirls and the polish should be applied and buffed off several times, the fine abrasives should take care of the rest of the swirls and the wax will mask any remainders.

[318Touring 40]

I'd suggest either you get a good paint shop to do paint correction for you, or you need to do it properly.

I somehow has misplaced the link that teaches newbie how to select the appropriate equipments, pads, solutions etc.

The obvious thing you'd need a DA (dual-action) machine not just orbital especially if you've never done this before.

Unfortunately Super Cheap and good quality buffer can't be in the same sentence together.

If you want a good DA, Ryobi ERO750VK, has been said to be good enough and not a handful. It only costs about $120-ish at Mitre 10 or Bunnings.

[Etwenty1 45]

Thanks guys, i bought the orbital cos i also wanted a 180mm disc sander.

Will try the finer compound this time.

Speed wise does a medium speed work any different to faster?

[318Touring 40]

Thanks guys, i bought the orbital cos i also wanted a 180mm disc sander.

Will try the finer compound this time.

Speed wise does a medium speed work any different to faster?

Mate, read through this, should answer most of your questions.

Detailing nitty gritty

[brujito82 0]

Thanks guys, i bought the orbital cos i also wanted a 180mm disc sander.

Will try the finer compound this time.

Speed wise does a medium speed work any different to faster?

hmmm my best bet would be to take it to someone that knows what they are doing, keep going the way you are you are going to go straight to the spray booth....

use a low speed to spread the polish and a medium pace for polishing but then again it depends on the orbital, i use the one that someone mentioned earlier with 4 different pads depending what im doing.

hope you get it sorted and post some pics to maybe guide you a bit better