Hey Matt,
Better get your polishing shoes on.
Paid a visit to the shop today and had a word.

When the XR arives, it will be in for the G-Tech treatment.

Fantastic, cheers mate.

Hey there Everyone

Another delay in posts. real flat out at work this week and the next
We are doing a yellow Dodge Viper tomorrow, I'll have pics up of that

Now some latest news
I'm off to the USA in June for a few months to provide assistance to a friend who is opening a new vehicle reconditioning centre in Idaho.
Whilst over there, my friend Chris and I will be working on some very unique projects to truly revolutionise car detailing.

We will shoot over to Reno which is the home of the Glare products as well as Las Vegas for Hot August Nights classic car show and pay a visit to Rich Light, the founder of Gloss it appearance products. He has spent 12 years developing a system that looks to be the biggest evolution in polishing materials along with Xpert products from Sydney.

Dream Machines shall return in October on a part time basis doing perhaps one car a month to start then one a fortnight for a while in between my schedule at Splash. I want to take the level of my work to a level like no other in the world.

What I will offer is the Glare Paint finishing system which is superior to cut and polishes as well as a unique In Depth paint treatment which will include dry and wet sanding up to 4000 grit and paint molecule fusing afterwards to repair the fine sanding marks without removing the paint, making the paint dead flat, ultra clear and totally clean all the way through. Then on to polishing and perfecting with my new Project Deep impact system of world class paint deep cleaners, glazes and glass micron and crystal Lacquer protection systems.

Anyway back on topic - this is all about tips and tricks so here is the latest tip
D/A (dual action) and RO (random orbital) machine polishing tip

For those of you here and your friends who wish to eliminate paint defects like swirls, cob webs and more, an orbital machine polisher is the safest way to do so

CONTINUED

There are many machines on the market from Makita (6030, 6040, Festool, Kestrel (wax it), Flex XC 3401, Hamach and many more

A D/A has more performance than an RO but finishes down just as good
it's almost impossible to damage your paint with these machines

once you have chosen and purchased a machine, equip it with the very best pads that you can
And after evaluating the latest pads on the market, there are three brands which I recommend above all others

Buff and Shine Hex Logic pads

the company in california sent me out a huge box of these and my god are they magnificent. have recessed backing, solid plastic ring around the velcro so the pads dont warp or fall apart
performance and durability is superb and a wide range of grades up to 100 pores per inch in both European pre Polymer open and closed cell foam as well as the traditional Polyester USA made foams in open cell

http://www.buffandshine.com/new-products-c-1-l-en.html
available through these suppliers in OZ

http://www.chemguys.com.au/category_s/97.htm

DRC 1000 - Centrifugal pads
latest revolution in pad design
http://www.drc1000.com/
SURBUF - Microfibre machine pads for superior results over Foam and wool
http://www.surbuf.com/

Id definately agree with the Buff and Shine pads thier! Im happy with the ones i have. But i also think the Edge pads are really good too!

been interesting reading all this
here is what i have
polynesian green ef with stone chips and fading of colour slightly, whats the best way to clean it up, ive tried touch up paint on the bonnet and wet dried it with 2000 and polished it, i can still see some scratch marks, all done by hand no machines, i was going to get some 3000 grit and retry
whats the best way to fix stone chips with touch up paint
secondly another red el with clear coat lifting is there anything i can do to slow it down or treat it, can you wet and dry it and spray clear ??? i got no idea so guessing
im going to get one of those buffers from autobarn the $50 ones, i know they are cheap but i dont want to spend a fortune
what products can i use that can be bought from autobarn, supercheap and dont cost $200
its not worth spending a lot of dollars on the paint as i live in the country and washing the car usually last the drive home and they are covered with dust and cow poop and alike
id like to clean up the stone chips as there are a lot but only to make the car look half respectable under the dust that is
thanks for any help

sorry I cant help you regarding stone chips but as for the paint, use the safest route possible
instead of immediately getting the cutting compound out, there are chemical ways of dealing with oxidation that do not remove paint or barely do.
Glare Zero is the best way, as it turns the dead paint back to fresh paint via fusing the paint molecules and state of the art chemical agents which open the paint pores and sucks all the crap out for a deeper, flatter ( less orange peel) and clarity rich finish.

Glare Knockout and Micro Finish are the next best followed by Four Star Ultimate Paint Cleanser which is a deep cleaner that has mega fine abrasives that aid in the deep cleaning process rather than cutting the paint off. using harsh abrasives reduce the UV protection of the clear coat and the colour coats of a single stage non clearcoated finish (EA to EF/EL red falcons were mostly non cleared) as well as VN - VX/VY commodores

toughseal step 1 is another but may take longer.
you would need a D/A or orbital machine for best results
also clay your paint extremely thoroughly as that will micro polish your paint - improving clarity
there is possibly one other way - it's a complete decontamination system from Finish Kare, owned by Floyd Meguiar, one of the Meguiars family who left the family business because I believe, he felt that they were going away from their fathers vision.

its available from ZAS.com.au at $59 will remove silicone, waxes, iron based fallout, tree sap and alot more. it also claims to remove oxidation

you dont want to spend a fortune so glare is out of the question unfortunately
from supercheap, autobarn etc, your going to struggle to find anything that will repair oxidation without cutting the paint back

as far as repairing clear, yes you can sand back the clear and re clear coat the remaining paint but only if the paint on your cars are solids, not metallics (unless you dont care for the metallic)

dry sand with a DA is a great method as is wet sanding.
use the round sanding discs for hand sanding if you can, its safer than the square shaped hand papers which the edges of, can cause damage

was taught that by Grant of GM restorations here in South Australia.

http://www.zas.com.au/product.php?pid=361

Lucky bugger Matt, going to USA, got room in your Luggage?

Have a good time won't ya? and I still love to read your advice matey

Yes it will be a great trek, will be doing plenty of videos on all aspects of detailing as well as pre polishing preparation which includes paint decontamination and sanding

Sounds great buddy cant wait to hear back from you after your trip! Hopefully i will have some new techniques to tell you about by the time you get back. Im working on a few different things atm, mainly diff types of plastic repair (porus surfaces mainly) then working on a special sealer/wax for it to stop it going dry and loosing colour. All without using machining..

G'day ford modders, Papa Smurf, Hans, XR fan and all the other regulars to this thread

All is in readyness for my ground breaking USA trip, it will be a shock to the system
I depart my comfort zone and security of Australia on June 9th at 6 am for melbourne then Los Angeles and then to my final destination near the rocky mountains

there is too much that I will be up to for listing it all here, it would take up many pages

Anyways the good news is that upon my return on the 5th of September, the Dream Machines workshop will be re opening with at least one partner in the business and we are starting from scratch (pardon the pun) with a complete new range of products, services, tools and techniques in order to offer the finest detailing services in Australia as well as customer service and a better pricing structure

The main changes will be the addition of a new type of coating system that will be exclusive to our shop along with the most state of the art paint correction systems (two of them)
One of them is Australian made

Sounds good mate, hope you have fun over their haha by the time you get back ill be in Singapore, we will have plenty to talk about when we meet next that's for sure.

We will continue to stock only the very best towels, pads, products and tools and store them in such a way that is unique to us and prevents any of the issues that are rife in so many detail shops worldwide. this will allow us to produce such incredible results and super long term durability of our work

Unlike any detail shop in the World, we will no longer be compounding paintwork
all gritty heavy cut polishes are now being phased out of the shop as we have the technology available to repair paintwork defects and problems such as oxidation, fallout, contamination, deep scratches and swirl marks without abrasive polishes. the 500 to 1200 grit rated heavy cut compounds not only reduce thickness but also reduce the paints ability to protect itself from UV rays and oxygen and most of all, clarity, depth and lustre of the colour is never quite the same

once today's paint and those of the last 14 years have been compounded severely, anymore than once or twice, the paint finish is never as good as it was when it was fresh off the gun

the replacements for compounding paint are the very latest technology one product system polishes which are made up of nanotechnology based, sub micron sized (mega small) non diminishing abrasive particles made from zirconium and titanium oxide as well as the absolute best grade of aluminium oxide.

these abrasive particles and the new type of lubrication used which is water based allows for a longer working time but when your finished polishing, what you see is what you get. No solvent and wax based lubricants which soak into scratches and paint pores from swelling of todays paints (causes a fine amount of filling which means the user has to soak the panel in alcohol or prepsol and wipe down then inspect under lights or the sun to check that the defects are completely gone
this has been a problem with polishing systems for decades (commonly known as drop back) where the polishing work is done but weeks later, some swirl marks return and holograms may be evident from rotary only polishing