I just thught I'd do a little write up for anyone interested in getting in the DA scene and is a little concerned about doing so.
By no means do I consider myself an expert and I do not suggest you go ahead with the approach I took but hey ho, you only live once
Long story short, my mate purchased a Megs G220 DA with a Megs Yellow Polising pad and a Megs Black Finishing Pad. He has been dying to use it since he purchased it but also somewhat worred about damaging his paint work. I offered a hand (some of you would have seen the initial thread we were going to give our cars a bit of a winter protection/mini detail session and I was asking for a bit of advice).
The cars were prepped in the standard fashion, I won't go over that in detail but basicaly, snow foam, wash, decon, clay, snow foam.
With no paint depth gauge and never having used a DA before (not even on a test pannel) I was also a little aprehensive but figured I've read enough on the net and seen enough videos to understand the basic theory of whats happening so was happy to put that in to practice.
Still a little doubt in my mind and owning a Honda with notoriously soft paint I went ahead with AF Triple and the Megs Black finishing pad. A couple of pea sized drops of Triple was placed on the pad and "smudged" into the pad by hand to prime it.
A couple more blobs applied to the pad then I dabbed the pad over the first area I was going to work on, to ensure as I moved the machine there was enough product to be picked up along the way.
I went for the A pillar on the drivers side to start, the worst area on my car due to a muddy football bouncing off of it and causing quite a bad scuff/scratch patch:
Again, a little aprehensive due to not using one before, I went ahead with the speed set to approx 1.5 and a slow smooth movement from the wing mirror up to about half way along the top by the door line and back down again. Then I upped the speed to approx 2.5 and did the same again, working the product till it was almost completely clear (2 to 3 passes). As I've seen mentioned before, it is supprisingly difficult not to speed up the movement of the machine across the body work just because it is set to a higher speed, almost constantly reminding myself to slow down.
A quick buff up with a microfibre and I was literaly amazed by what I had just achieved:
So, massively chuffed with the results I pressed on with the rest of the car. A quick before and after on the bonet/wing here too:
I know it's not like I've achieved 100% correction but that wasn't what I was aiming for as first attempt with a machine. Going at it with a harsher product and a cutting pad straight off the bat would have been even more dumb than not having a paint depth gauge and not testing on a spare pannel.
Anyway I guess my main point is, for anyone considering getting one, don't be scared, give it a go (maybe that's bad advice, if you do and you damage your car its not my fault!). Just apply some logic and don't go diving in like a bat out of hell with the harshest of products and pads. Take your time, read up on the guides etc and you will amaze yourself. If I can do it then literally anyone should be able to.
And just for completness I then went over the car with some Z2, then some Z6 then some more Z2. I've never used Zaino products before but what can I say? So simple to use and the finish is great. The pics don't do the car justice, it looks sooo black it's unreal, it's like someone has poured the thinkest, blackest oil over the car, smoothed it out and laquered it on.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'm sure some of you will be along shortly to give me a virtual slap on the wrist for doing something wrong lol
By no means do I consider myself an expert and I do not suggest you go ahead with the approach I took but hey ho, you only live once
Long story short, my mate purchased a Megs G220 DA with a Megs Yellow Polising pad and a Megs Black Finishing Pad. He has been dying to use it since he purchased it but also somewhat worred about damaging his paint work. I offered a hand (some of you would have seen the initial thread we were going to give our cars a bit of a winter protection/mini detail session and I was asking for a bit of advice).
The cars were prepped in the standard fashion, I won't go over that in detail but basicaly, snow foam, wash, decon, clay, snow foam.
With no paint depth gauge and never having used a DA before (not even on a test pannel) I was also a little aprehensive but figured I've read enough on the net and seen enough videos to understand the basic theory of whats happening so was happy to put that in to practice.
Still a little doubt in my mind and owning a Honda with notoriously soft paint I went ahead with AF Triple and the Megs Black finishing pad. A couple of pea sized drops of Triple was placed on the pad and "smudged" into the pad by hand to prime it.
A couple more blobs applied to the pad then I dabbed the pad over the first area I was going to work on, to ensure as I moved the machine there was enough product to be picked up along the way.
I went for the A pillar on the drivers side to start, the worst area on my car due to a muddy football bouncing off of it and causing quite a bad scuff/scratch patch:
Again, a little aprehensive due to not using one before, I went ahead with the speed set to approx 1.5 and a slow smooth movement from the wing mirror up to about half way along the top by the door line and back down again. Then I upped the speed to approx 2.5 and did the same again, working the product till it was almost completely clear (2 to 3 passes). As I've seen mentioned before, it is supprisingly difficult not to speed up the movement of the machine across the body work just because it is set to a higher speed, almost constantly reminding myself to slow down.
A quick buff up with a microfibre and I was literaly amazed by what I had just achieved:
So, massively chuffed with the results I pressed on with the rest of the car. A quick before and after on the bonet/wing here too:
I know it's not like I've achieved 100% correction but that wasn't what I was aiming for as first attempt with a machine. Going at it with a harsher product and a cutting pad straight off the bat would have been even more dumb than not having a paint depth gauge and not testing on a spare pannel.
Anyway I guess my main point is, for anyone considering getting one, don't be scared, give it a go (maybe that's bad advice, if you do and you damage your car its not my fault!
). Just apply some logic and don't go diving in like a bat out of hell with the harshest of products and pads. Take your time, read up on the guides etc and you will amaze yourself. If I can do it then literally anyone should be able to.And just for completness I then went over the car with some Z2, then some Z6 then some more Z2. I've never used Zaino products before but what can I say? So simple to use and the finish is great. The pics don't do the car justice, it looks sooo black it's unreal, it's like someone has poured the thinkest, blackest oil over the car, smoothed it out and laquered it on.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'm sure some of you will be along shortly to give me a virtual slap on the wrist for doing something wrong lol
