My first time polishing....

I

imported_never gone

New member
So the inlaws bought me a UDM for X-mas and since it was like 64 yesterday here in the Chicago area, I decided to give it a try. WOW do my hands hurt today!!! Over all I think it went really well. I used Menzerna Intensive polish and went over some other spots with Final polish where needed. Not only was it my first time using a UDM, it was my first time polishing. Here are some pics. I didn't get any good full car shots yet because by the time I was done it was dark out and too wet to drive somewhere to take pics but you'll get the idea.



Megs car wash

Clay Magic

Menzerna Intensive Polish on orange pad

Menzerna Final Polish on white pad

Megs Tech Wax

Zaino Z-8



1998 Altima with 100,000+ miles.



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After washing I clayed the car.



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Washed the car again and used the leaf blower to get water out of those tight spots.



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Hood of the car.



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After polishing the taped off section.



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Front fender before..blah!



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After...



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Drivers side door....



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Oxidation and water spots on the trunk was horrific....



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After....



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Reflection in trunk before....



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After....



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Passenger door....



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Hood shot after polishing with Intensive polish/final polish/Megs Tech/Zaino Z-8



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I was just able to go and snap some outside shots...crappy weather.



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So there you have it. So for my first time polishing I think it came out pretty good. Great learning experience for sure. Question for people that have experience polishing. How long does it generally take you to polish a car on the norm? I know there are things that can cause it to vary but on average. Thanks!
 
Nice work! I bet that was really satisfying! What did the wife think (I can't tell from her expression in the reflection)? How long? Well, for something like that I don't think 8-10-12 hours is out of the question including the washing and everything.
 
Wow, great work, nice recovery for only using a UDM.



On average with a car like your in that condition to get it 95%-100% perfect with a rotary would probably take a good 7 hours if only focusing on the paint, that's from starting with the wash and clay till final coat of wax.



FYI, NXT wax has a lot of fillers in it, I'd switch over to something like Zaino or Rejex that has no filler and a lot more durability. With NXT you'll have to redue it every month.



Josh
 
Nice work!! How was the UDM to work with? I'm going to order one in a few weeks and I would love to know your experience.
 
JoshVette said:
Wow, great work, nice recovery for only using a UDM.



On average with a car like your in that condition to get it 95%-100% perfect with a rotary would probably take a good 7 hours if only focusing on the paint, that's from starting with the wash and clay till final coat of wax.



FYI, NXT wax has a lot of fillers in it, I'd switch over to something like Zaino or Rejex that has no filler and a lot more durability. With NXT you'll have to redue it every month.



Josh
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Thanks. Normally I would have use Z5x2 being this is a dark car but my hands were KILLING me and for the sake of time I just wanted to get done. It took me about 8.5 hours so I just wanted to see if that was crazy slow or pretty close to being about what it should. I see tons of people that will hit car a second time with a finer polish after the initial polish and I just couldn't imagine that all being done in the same day if this alone took almost 9 hours. I figured being a noob to polishing I was just slow.
 
jswift2000 said:
Nice work!! How was the UDM to work with? I'm going to order one in a few weeks and I would love to know your experience.
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I thought it was great. Like I said in my post my hands are killing me today!! It takes a little bit to get use to the feeling but after like an hour it's all good. I think the key is just taking your time.
 
never gone said:
Thanks. Normally I would have use Z5x2 being this is a dark car but my hands were KILLING me and for the sake of time I just wanted to get done. It took me about 8.5 hours so I just wanted to see if that was crazy slow or pretty close to being about what it should. I see tons of people that will hit car a second time with a finer polish after the initial polish and I just couldn't imagine that all being done in the same day if this alone took almost 9 hours. I figured being a noob to polishing I was just slow.
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I'd say that's pretty close to being normal for the results you accomplished.



With the Rotary I would say for sure 6-7 hours, but with the rotary those results and better would be achieved with only one polish and one step with likely a white pad and Menz IP then follow up with ZAIO and/or Z5.



Yours looks great, good job.:2thumbs:
 
man, i wish my relatives would get me a UDM! haha nice first time man. Looks awesome. Also I was thinking, on some of those water spots that are a little harder to get out, maybe step up to a compound for those areas with a yellow pad and then do your orange/white combo. Still looks AWESOME.
 
Car looks 100x better, but keep working on it and trying things out. I think the next step is spending a bit longer working the polishes in on your next go-around or next detail. You did a great job for the first time, but you'll see that spending a bit more time breaking the polish down will yield even better results than what you have there.



BTW, I think you have your understanding of the products a bit confused. You'll want to do the entire car with finishing polish, no matter what you used in what areas before, but it's the more intensive polish that you may pick and choose what areas need it, not the other way around.
 
BuffMe said:
Car looks 100x better, but keep working on it and trying things out. I think the next step is spending a bit longer working the polishes in on your next go-around or next detail. You did a great job for the first time, but you'll see that spending a bit more time breaking the polish down will yield even better results than what you have there.



BTW, I think you have your understanding of the products a bit confused. You'll want to do the entire car with finishing polish, no matter what you used in what areas before, but it's the more intensive polish that you may pick and choose what areas need it, not the other way around.
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Thanks for the compliment. I did hit some spots again and by the time I was done the water spots were completely gone. Here was my thinking and please do tell me where I'm wrong as I'm soaking up as much info as I can. I didn't initially use the Final Polish on the whole car as a first step because Monzerna says to use it more on brand new paint finishes or on vehicles in like-new condition. This was faaaaaar from being in anything close to good condition. I thought the Intense Polish had a little more bite to it? Plus if you work it well enough (I did minimum of 4 minutes each panel) you can finish it off without hazing. My understanding is you use the Final Polish to bring back the gloss and take care of any hazing in the areas where it might have been loss to do the Intense Polish. Or you can start with Final Polish to remove swirls on a car if the paint is in good shape with only very minor swirling. Any and all insight is greatly appreciated!!
 
Fantastic turn around for the first time out . Congratulations . :xyxthumbs





Now get a Flex and you are in business .





Cheers , Jean Paul
 
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