Couple questions on random orbital polishing and waxing

I also posted this in the Concours section, but it's kind of quiet down there (1 viewing compared to 45 here) and this is my place for good suggestions. Just hoping for a few practical questions before my first random orbital polish and wax. 1. Any easy way to work around the sunroof? Do you polish over the seam and then try to clean the fabric or avoid the fabric at all costs? [no, do not suggest "sunroof delete" ] 2. The same goes for those rubber joints in the roof panel. 3. I have a clear bra. How do you handle this? Wax only? Thanks!

Use 3M Blue Painter's tape (buy at Walmart, etc) and use it to cover all the trim, including the edges along the sun roof, as well as your lights. This way you won't run over it with your buffer and risk marring it. It's very easy to do, and should take you no more than 10-15 mins to cover the entire car.

I blue taped every body panel seam, as well. I was a newbie with the polisher, and I didn't want to mess up. Don't know about the clear bra. Polishing that could actually scuff it worse, but I'm just speculating.

Depending on the polish you use you shouldn't have any residue issues. I use Optimum Poliseal followed by P21S concours wax and neither of these leave any residues when you occasionally run them over trim or glass/plastics. Been using this combo for over 2 years and I've never had residue even without taping the trim. I treat the clearbra like the paint. Post the question in the concours forum and you'll get lots of info from some pros.

Thanks everyone!

Jon, I did a little polishing this week for the first time. Used Menzerna PowerGloss compound for some deep water etching, and Menzerna Super Intensive Polish for swirl and scratch removal. Didn't mask anything. See before (swirling and marring like this over every square inch of the car):

I did the roughest, water etched spots wih compound. see results after one pass of menzerna powergloss compound using an ultimate detailing machine with orange foam cutting pad (pretty light)

Then polished all the swirled and scratched areas with Menzerna Super Intensive Polish, same type of orange foam pad. didn't mask anything. all these pics are taken with no wax, no glaze, no sealant, no polish, no buffing, nothing. it's just the paint after machine polishing. This Menzerna stuff is incredible. The paint's so wet looking, so black, pictures just don't do justice. I can't wait to try this on my 911, and this was my first time! Very satisfying to do yourself.

Wow, that is nice to hear! Will be trying this later this week. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

+1 on Menzerna. I think they make the best polishes hands down. They do a fabulous job and are basically idiot proof with a randon orbital machine. Just be a little careful with the PowerGloss since it's pretty aggressive. htny-- Try going to a white pad with the SIP if you've removed the major defects with PowerGloss and an orange pad.

I'd still tape the sunroof seam and rubbers, regardless. I've done it for years with my PorterCable ROP and it only takes a few minutes and then you are SURE that there will be no damage or hard to remove residue. I dont tape the seams, but I do the rubber strips in the rain gutter. I do the emblems by hand as well..too easy to snap off part of the "Carrera". I'm going to try that Menzerna stuff...I've never heard of it! I've polished the clear bra on my Z3 for years with great results. Avoid or tape the edge, as the ROP will shove wax/polish under the lip. Only light pressure, and use a cleaner wax, NOT a cutting polish, then wax.

Another tip with SIP (Super Intensive Polish)...make sure you do a very good wipedown afterwords to insure you've really finished the job. SIP tens to decieve a little as it hides defects some...you'll come back a couple of weeks later and start to notice them re-appearing if you didn't get them all the first time. That said...SIP is probably my favorite polish out there right now for medium duty work. Andy

It's a random orbital so you can't damage the paint I don't use it on the clear bra just because it doesn't need it.

I also have the 106ff nano polish from menzerna, and initially used it on a meguiars soft buff and also tried a black pad, but when I saw how well the SIP finished down I said screw it (the benz is too big, and I was running short on time). I bought a pressure washer and I wanted to see if it would remove polishing dust (did), and the benz doesn't have as many nooks and crannies as the porsche. Will likely have to mask the Porsche

I was told by my clear bra installer (and the mfg's website): Do NOT polish your clear bra, it will damage it. Also, I would recommend taping off the edges, you don't want polish getting jammed into the edge, it's almost impossible to get out, and makes the line much more visible. Same goes for waxes, if you use wax instead of sealant, avoid the edge of the clear bra. While you cannot polish the clear bra, you can use clay bar to clean it up. I have also heard of people who have gone after light scratches on clear bra material with a heat gun, basically very carefully heating it up so it melts the top bit, and then it smooths out the scratch. I have not yet gotten a scratch big enough to tempt me to try this technique yet. Wax and/or seal your clear bra just like your paint, except do it by hand or very gently with the orbital (if you use your orbital to apply and buff the wax).

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Oh wow I didn't realize that SIP had fillers in it (maybe I'm jumbled, too much info on too many products on autopia). Is it silicone or oil? The reason I ask is that a lot of people go (PG) > SIP > (106ff) > Zaino AIO > CS it seems and a few people I asked said that Menzerna SIP had no fillers and you didn't need 50/50 IPA wipedown before Z-AIO, I thought (maybe they were talking about IP?)

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While I don't post over there too much anymore I did make a post when I initially started using SIP over IP and most people shrugged it off as impossible that SIP would fill as Menzerna has long been known as a company that does not have any fillers in it's products. http://www.autopia.org/forum/detaili...servation.html Then Todd (TH0001) had a couple of customers complain that they got slight marring showing up only a couple of weeks after their details and then he and several others including Rydawg and other respected members on the forum did some pretty intensive testing and found that the carrier / lubricating agents in the SIP indeed do have some filling properties and require a good wipedown with alcohol or Prepsol to see if you're truely left with a defect free surface or not. You can see Todd's and others comments about SIP here in this thread where someone used it by hand and was amazed by the results. Personally I don't even use SIP by Orbital anymore because I feel it's most effective by rotary only. http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...discovery.html I hope nobody takes this as me bashing the SIP as it's still my favorite medium duty polish and when used via rotary with a purple foamed wool pad it works wonders and still finishes down to an amazing finish that only requires the lightest of finishing polishes to make a stunning look...you just have to be aware that it can fill when you're using it. Andy

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Thanks for the clear bra tips-- I ended up with both the original 3M (hood) as well as VentureShield (bumper) on my 996. As you mention, both recommend waxing but no polish. Regarding the heat gun--I have actually done this on a few Ventureshield scratches and it worked just perfect--kind of amazing to watch, actually.. I found a technical bulletin on this on a UK Ventureshield website. However, ventureshield is a single layer plastic, so I can see where this would work. 3M is a layered system, so I would not want to try the heat gun on it (at least not on my car )

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Thanks Andy. When I get around to doing the 996 I will definitely try a wipedown, I just don't really want to buy a drum of prepsol (where am I going to keep the thing?). The thing I found strange about the hand application thread is that he said he did wipedown with alcohol, no marring, and then the following and final response was "did you do several passes of IPA or just one?". Who's to say the marring wasn't reintroduced by overly aggressive wiping in multiple passes, or by improper prepsol application. Who knows, but I will definitely hit a spot on the porsche with straight IPA after SIP and post pics after it dries. I'm just a regular guy doing my own vehicles, and this was my first time polishing one of my cars with a machine, so I wanted to stay on the safe side and went with the orbital-only UDM, but in retrospect I think I should have gone with the dual purpose Makita machine for a few bucks extra, if not for paint initially then for metal and chrome etc. Currently I have to borrow my dad's buffing wheels for that stuff, which means dismounting things like exhaust tips from the vehicle.

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I think it took me a couple of years practicing with a rotary on the side before I used it on any customer cars. You can do 90% of what you'll ever come across with a machine like a PC or UDM it just requires patience and an understanding of how to make the most of that particular machine. As a matter of fact on soft Porsche paint my PC is still the machine of choice alot of the time. I've even done wetsanding repairs with the PC in a pinch and like I said...just requires time and more time but the results will come. Happy Detailing. Andy