It can't get much worse really, even the detailing professionals that wash my car (£8 inside and out, go figure) commented on how swirly it was the other week.
just re-read your post with your budget, the rupes and the milwakee machines are around £250 if you get them on a deal so found the 3m machine, ive used one before and seems a realy good piece of kit
I'll happily give the car a good going over once I'm confident enough to not strip it back to the bare metal in one pass.
Forgive my ignorance, but what makes the difference between a £50 and a £250 rotary polisher?
To throw a spanner in the works, have you considered a DA and the megs microfibre system? I'm only saying this because Honda paint is easy to correct but fussy to finish down. The majority of the time, I will always go over a car with my DA to remove the really fine buffer trails that you can put in the paint when finishing down, even with ultrafina and the softest pad. (Most people may not notice these trails, but I do)
Back to the DA, with the microfibre system, you do get a good correction in a small space of time on Honda paint, without as much risk, and virtually no buffer trails even on the correction part.
The ultrafina is one of my fav finishing polishes, but it is pricey. For refinement of the initial correction, it is one of the best though.
Lime prime is really good also, but I tend to use that as a cleaner/glaze, just when I'm stripping back old waxes/sealants, ready for a fresh one. Also Lime prime has an amount of fillers in it, so you have to take that into account if your using it as a finishing polish. It is great for what it's designed to do though.
I've just added a Civic to my trader thread, and what I used was extra fine plus (3m) via rotary with yellow 3m pads, stepping up to a white hex logic pad for deeper marks, then refined by DA, finishing pad and ultrafina
I've got the 3m professional Rotary
Its a super bit of kit, if a little pricey. At the time I bought it though money 'was' no object.
Finishing off with the Porter Cable dual action is a nice touch as Deeper Detail says.
I'd definitely swap the backing plate and invest in a 3m one.
You could probably do with a more abrasive polish too. I'd swap the ultra fina for the yellow top polish. (and use LP as a finishing polish)
Or just add the yellow top to the basket, and use LP as and when you need it.
as said, quality, weight, speed, durability, the same question can be said for just about everything, basicly you pay for what you get, whats the difference between a nankang ultra sport tyre and a toyo proxie? or a pair of hi-tec trainers and some nike air max?
we once bought a cheap machine, it was a bit of a copy of a milwakiee and lasted around a week, i was half way through a bonnet and it burnt out, we were sent another and that did the same, weve had our rupes machine now around 2yrs and aside from going through 3 sets of brushes its been fantastic, and we use ours to death, definately worth spending that extra little bit.
i was talking to my younger brother about this lastnight and he and his friends are well into there detailing and a friend of his bought a dodojuice machine, got a package deal with some mopheads for £120, he realy rates it and hasent had any probs with it in the 5months hes had it,may be one to look at?
I would get a yellow top and a blue top to start with tbh. With yellow and blue pads.
Lime Prime is awesome to have though, so if you want it; get it. Just in your basket there's not too much abbrasion.
Have you got your washing technique perfect by the way!?!
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