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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nacho98" data-source="post: 1004773" data-attributes="member: 15363">I then moved to the exterior.  The body of the car was in great shape overall and had minimal marring/swirls; therefore I opted to skip using a cutting polish with an orange cutting pad, and start with a finishing polish on a white pad (slightly less abrasive than an orange).  Normally I would cut with orange and speed 6 on my Porter Cable 7424 XP and do the finishing polish with a white pad and speed 5, but this time I decided to do the finishing at speed 6 since it was the only polishing step.  The pads I use are Chemical Guys Hexlogic 5.5" foam pads with one of their urethane 5" backing plates.Before I could start buffing though, I had to strip off any old wax and take care of any bonded contaminants to make sure I was starting with clean paint.  For the wash I used CG's Citrus Wash and Gloss, which strips all old wax off (excellent lubricity too).  Wheels were cleaned with Diablo wheel gel and a cheap Napa brush.  I use two wash mitts--one for wheels, one for the body.  I use a Pak Shak MF mitt for the wheels, and a Race Glaze sheepskin mitt for the body.I got lucky in that the body needed no clay.  I clayed the wheels, but couldn't feel any bonded contaminants on the body, so I saved a few hours claying and re-washing, but normally you'd want to get some detailing clay, spray it generously with a lubricant, spray a 2'x2' section of the body with some lubricant, and just run the clay back and forth with no pressure, just the weight of the clay.  As you clay you can hear the bonded contaminants rubbing against the clay.  When you can't hear it anymore, the paint is clean and you can wipe up the lubricant and do another spot.  It's a good idea to wash the car again to get rid of any clay residue.I then pulled the car into the garage and used 3M blue painters tape to tape off most of the trim, emblems, etc. so they wouldn't get burned by the buffer.  I then fired up the 1000W halogen light.  This is a MUST for paint correction, and it was only $30.  Each bulb is 500W.  This is a harsh light that will show everything.  Too many n00bs make the mistake of skipping the halogens, this should be #2 on the list behind the polishing machine itself.  Sunlight won't work as well, and polishing should be done in the shade.I started with the aforementioned white pad and V38 finishing polish.  I sprayed the pad with some Pad Conditioner, and then I put five "dots" of polish on my pad.  I spread it around a 2'x2' area with the PC on speed 1, and then with the PC on the body of the car, increased it to speed six, pressing down with medium to heavy pressure.  I like to make 5-6 overlapped passes, in alternating directions.  I'll go side to side, then up and down, then side to side, etc. until I see the polish breaking down to the point it's almost dry and just looks like a barely-there wax film.  Then I used clean MF towels to wipe the polish off before moving to the next section.  Use the halogens to see what kind of paint correction you are getting.  I got about 90%-95% correction this weekend:<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8144/7281655782_b2f1f0a581_c.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />You will see there are no swirls in the above pic.  That is pure, clean, polished paint and nothing else.  No wax, glaze, sealant--nothing.  Just polished paint under 1000W lighting.  Another thing to note--this is only the third time I have buffed a car with a DA, which is proof positive that a DA is foolproof and impossible to do damage with.  A rotary is another story, and shouldn't be in the hands of a beginner.  I won't touch one anytime soon, but I feel completely confident even pressing down hard on speed 6 with my Porter Cable.  A few quick process pics:<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7281658282_b726fd3abd_c.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7237/7281671138_5806d22f3e_c.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7281638364_d1ffed4038_c.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />After I finished the polishing, I glazed the car to fill in any other slight micro-marring on the car.  I used EZ Creme glaze for this, with a blue pad and speed 4, with light hand pressure.  Again, I broke it down like polish.  Each polish step and the glaze step take about two hours each.  When this was done, I used Jetseal 109 to seal the car, on a black pad and speed 4, using only the weight of the machine--let the machine do the work here.  I personally find that below speed 4, the PC bogs down too easily, which can be frustrating.  The Jetseal was not broken down like the polish and glaze; rather for this particular sealant you have to just apply it and wait 15 minutes, then buff it off with a clean towel and wait 20 minutes before the next coat, so I just applied it to the whole car (door and trunk jambs included) and then buffed it off.  Different sealants may work differently.After two coats of sealant, I finally put the buffer away and I finished the car off with two coats of CG's 50/50 paste wax, applied with a standard foam applicator.  This wax is as smooth as butter and does not require hazing; you just buff it on with an applicator in a circular motion, and buff it off with a clean MF towel right afterwards.  I personally do a panel at a time, and I do both coats on the panel right after each other to close the panel out before moving to the next.After this, I do my own QA/QC check, combing over the car carefully to inspect the results.  I like to go around the car once more with a new MF towel and just polish the car with the towel to make sure I haven't missed any spots.  I take this a panel at a time as well, making sure to open any adjacent panels and tracing around the edges of each panel (i.e. opening the hood to get the top edge of the fender).  I take the tape off the car after applying sealant, but it can be left on until after waxing also.  I use Q-tips and toothpicks where necessary to get any product out of any tiny cracks and when I've circled the car and then cleaned up the exterior glass and trim (it gets pretty dirty during the buffing process) and I'm satisfied, the lengthy body process is considered finished.  Don't forget to seal/wax the door/trunk jambs, as well as the wheel well edges.I then did the wheels.  Same deal--glaze, two coats of sealant, and two coats of wax, but I used Wheel Guard wax for this.After this, I did hit all the black trim and weatherstripping with a couple coats of G6 Hypercoat, and then wiped the excess off.  I also hit the front fender liners with this.  After that, I used Westley's Bleche-White on the white letters of the tires (2x), and then dressed the tires three times in G6 for a nice black look.Finally, I spent an hour using damp towels and Grime Reaper under the hood, trying to clean up what I could.  Not a lot to be done with our engine bays, but you can at least spend an hour a couple times a year just wiping as many of the plastic wire looms and hoses down as you can to give it a bit cleaner look.All in all I spent around 20 hours, noting that I didn't have to clay and rewash, use cutting polish, or spend a lot of time with the interior plastics.  All in all I would be closer to 30 hours had I had to do all of that.</blockquote>