My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

[97 Supra]

This was actually my first rotary job ever. I used my Makita 9227 at 800-1500 rpms with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. It's not perfect and it may never be, the entire paint job is full of deep chips, some dings where the clear coat failed, bird etchings that ate through the clear coat, and water marks that had been on the car for YEARS.

I bought this car recently and the paint was some of the worst I've ever seen in person actually. The vehicle must have sat outside, not moving for quite a long time (years) just a guess based on the low mileage. I bought it anyway knowing I would need to correct the paint to even be seen in this thing. I've only worked with a random orbital, and by hand in the past. I decided to stop playing around and get that Makita 9227. Good machine, anyway you will probably still notice tons of rock chips in the paint or other defects I could not simply polish out but here are my before and after photos from today. This took me about 4 hours and I topped it off with my favorite paint sealant, Wolfgangs 3.0.

For the record, I use Meguiar's Ultimate Quick Detailer spray to maintain shine between washes and applying paint sealant.

Thank you to everyone for being encouraging, and making this forum a useful and productive resource.

- Brett

BEFORE













AFTER













YUP, I FORGOT TO WRITE THE THANK YOU BACKWARDS FOR THE MIRROR SHOT, HAHA. THOSE ARE STONE CHIPS YOU SEE IN THE PAINT.

[davey g-force]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

Great work!

Did you practice on anything before correcting your own car with a rotary? If so, you're a brave man.

Those defects look like they could have been removed using the DAMF system. Did you give that some cosideration before purchasing the rotary?

[Scott's 62]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

That paint was trashed! Brave man using a rotary your first time but the afters speek for them selves good job.

[PabloFNG]

Nice job, like a new penny!!

[97 Supra]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

Well, I always wanted to purchase a rotary and after seeing the results on this forum with different tools including hand, orbital, da, rotary etc I decided that the best way to learn to swim was to get in the water. I didn't practice on anything first, just took the tool to this car starting with the hood. Reason being, the hood has so many paint chips in it, if I managed to screw up I would have the front of the car repainted. The entire car needs a paint job, which I'm not prepared to do yet. This in essence was my practice vehicle.

I chose the 9227 for it's speed dial, which increases, or decreases rpms with your thumb while you are in action giving you much better control over the speed at which you are cutting, and the Meguiars ultimate polish was used because it cuts nicely but unless you really turn up the rpms or force it down on a hard corner, you really wont burn through the paint with it on a low speed like 600-800.

A few things I noticed that you wouldn't know watching pros use this thing in videos (for the people curious about doing this who also haven't tried before.)

- The product dries up very quickly, even if you use a lot of it, often, in a 55 degree climate controlled garage with 60% humidity.
- Pad hop / bounce seems almost inevitable. Especially when working on the sides of the car, or on uneven surfaces. When this happened I simply applied more product and slowed the machine down.
- Corners of the rear spoiler were a challenge. I ate through the paint on 1 corner, which was badly damaged by bird etching which left cracks in the clear coat, for the opposite corner I slowed it down to 800 applied less pressure, and did not allow the pad to hit any 1 area for more than a couple seconds. Keep wiping product off, checking the paint, and continuing.
- it is difficult at any speed, with any amount of product, to move the machine in perfectly straight lines, if you apply pressure to any edge of the pad, it will pull you in the direction of the leading edge you are unintentionally applying pressure to. I guess this is a big part of the learning curve. I amusing the full U shaped handle for left handed grip and even holding that firm it's hard to get used to controlling.

Over all, I'm glad I bought the rotary because the car would never have looked like this if I used my random orbital, or by hand. I also have a 1993 Chevy pickup with rough paint which I will attempt to polish a bit next.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

The "after" shots look fantastic - great work for your first attempt with a rotary!

You didn't mention what you used to correct the defects as far as pads and liquids go - we're curious as to just what it was you used. Also, did you by any chance pull the car out into a direct sunlight and look for holograms in the finish? The lighting in this garage won't show them but sunlight will, if they're there. It can be very difficult to finish out hologram free with a rotary, depending on the paint of course. And since black is obviously the hardest color to finish properly, this car would be a great indicator of how you were able to finish. You do mention some pretty low speeds though, so that will help a lot when it comes to finishing hologram free.

[Fast_Eddie]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

Wow, that paint was absolutely hammered, excellent work for sure.

[97 Supra]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

I used meguiars soft buff yellow 7 inch polishing pad and meguiars ultimate compound liquid. as for holograms I will take some photos out in the sun today and look for them and post back tonight I didnt notice yesterday but I wasnt aware at that point. thanks everyone

[davey g-force]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

Meguiars ultimate polish was used

I used meguiars soft buff yellow 7 inch polishing pad and meguiars ultimate compound liquid.

Just to clarify: did you use UP or UC (or both)?

[97 Supra]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

oops! Ultimate Compound only, bottle with the red car on it. Sorry about that.

Couldn't get any real sunny shots today, too cloudy.

[97 Supra]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

Yes, there are holograms in many places I noticed in the bright sun yesterday. There is much truth to the saying black cars are only nice for about 3 milliseconds after cleaning them. I wiped the car down with UQD and the entire paint surface is full of swirl marks even with microfiber too.

I will have to do some reading about how to work and not end up with holograms.

I found a post in the tips section where a guy with a black BMW said don't even use quick detailer with microfiber or it will scratch. I should have listened. lol Suich is life. Another opportunity to make progress in cleaning my cars, no big deal.

[PabloFNG]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

I had same issues too, I'm a newbie using the rotary for the first time too! Cleaned the wifes black suv, thought I'd done a great job until I looked at it in the sun the next day, holograms galore on the rear passenger area!! (That and the car is one giant orange peel!!)Think my arms were getting tired so technique became a bit sloppy!!

Onwards and upwards!!

[davey g-force]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

It can be very difficult to finish hologram free with a rotary.

Even many pros switch to something like M205 on a DA after compounding with a rotary to clean up any holograms it left behind.

[97 Supra]

Re: My first attempt at rotary - 2006 STI, Black.

I think that is going to be my next purchase. I can use the rotary to get rid of the awful marks from birds water and other serious swirls, but the holograms and the swirls from using Quick Detailer I should look into buying a DA for removing you are right. This is probably the only way I'm going to end up with a really nice finish on a regular basis. I'm not dedicated enough to try and become a guru of the rotary, but it sure made removing those wicked etchings a breeze!