Rotary around the front and back of the car

Hey Guys,
I've been lurking on this website for a while now and have been able to answer all of my questions without positng until now. I have a 98 BMW 528i which I'musing Meguiars #2 Fine Cut Cleaner with a Lake County yellow pad and so far I'm pleased with the results. The question I have is how to get at the paint around the grills in the front of the car and the license plate area in the back of the car. There are so many edges that I worry about burning through the paint. Do I need to do this area with such a abrasive product or should I leave it for when I glaze the rest of the car with Meguiars #9 Swirl Remover and a Lake County white pad? Will there be a noticeable difference in the final result? Maybe I should do these areas by hand?

 

Nobody's answered your thread yet, so I'll give it a go and get the ball rolling. In general, I'm a rotary whore..use it whenever and wherever I can. Having said that, there are places like:
door handles
louvers
front lower clip
around headlight buckets
etc, that you cannot safely do with a rotary. I do those by hand using exactly the same products...given the same amount of damage of course. Compound by hand followed by polish by hand followed by sealant. There's nothing wrong with doing it by hand; it just takes longer. If it's your own car, who gives a shit how long it takes...it's a labour of love anyway. Hope that helps.:thumb:

 

Additionally, you can buy a smaller backing plate and pads...

 

I use a combination,by hand, and my 3" ro Metabo.

 

i know what your talking about man. from my perspective you have 2 options. put on a layer or two of tape on the grills and angle the pad to do the small areas on your hood/grill. or you can do it by hand.

 

most of them can be done with a rotary with 3 or 4 inch pads

 

where do you guys get 3 inch pads? I've only seen the 4 inch Lake Country spot buff ones...

 

I am pretty sure Gloss It has a smaller size like 3" or maybe its 3.5"

 

when you do it by hand what do you use to work it in into the paint? a MF cloth?

 

I use only "Cotton" Applicator pads, I feel they have more bite :woo:

 

Best to err on the side of caution for now and do it by hand. You can get the 3.75" GI pads. I would use their green ( final polishing pad - not finishing, polishing) and a finishing polish to start . Keep your machine around 900 rpm and keep it moving.

 

FYI, Buff n shine makes 3" pads that work awesome with Ben's 75mm bp:





They do wool pads too. Here is one next to the purple pfw:

 

So that's what they are called, I have a bunch of these pads but didn't know where they came from or where I got them from. These are nice pads, I really like the small wool pads though they work like a charm :thumb: Thanks for the post, now I at least know their name.

 

Sure thing! I bought them from a local auto body supply shop. You can also get them from autodetailingsolutions.

 

I use a Makita 9227 for most all of my correction work. For tight spots, I use a Flex 3403. Contatc Phil @ DD and pick up the Flex and the 3" backing plates. Phil has all sorts of pads for this backing plate.


Andy

 

But I believe Phil's pads are 4". These are 3".

 

Not to dig older threads up, but didn't see anyone post this yet. I am fortunate to have a Flex 3403 rotary and 3401 DA, and even though I've become more confident with the rotary, I still always use the 3401 on the bumpers with 5" pads. I know I have a lot less chance of burning paint with the 3401. And, yes, I still do some of the areas by hand like the lower lip of a front bumper and horizontal areas on the around the lower grills of cars.

 

thanks for the reply!

 

I am scared of using a PC in tight areas fearing the sides of the pad will induce marring/scratches on the vertical surfaces adjacent to the panel.