You're going to drive yourself nuts with that black car. You have to figure out how you keep putting them there in the first place. Your hood should still look flawless (except rock chips)

 

Lack of wax was my guess...

Switched to foam gun... the Schmitt Mitt.. and all microfiber towels.. Was using z7 before, but not switched to Meguiars gold (slightly diluted since that foam gun blows through soap). I'm going to my parents place to go get my old leaf blower that I had before to help with the process as well.


And yes.. hood looks flawless... rock chips are still ridiculous.... I want to get as good as possible with what I have now so when I do get it resprayed at the end of the summer, I'll be better prepared to maintain the car (unless I just give up and paint the whole car moonrock)

 

Invest in a machine and some pads, stop buying parts for just one month. Come down and i'll teach you. I'll even show you how to finish with the rotary and 3m Ultrafina. It's not as scary as everyone makes it out to be. I'll even provide the polish. You buy the pizza and beer of course because i'm a growing boy.

 

If I were you, I'd save your money and go with the Porter Cable instead. It costs a little over $100, and is powerful enough to remove most defects from our soft Honda paint. Aside from saving you a little bit of time, I don't see any other advantages to buying the Flex. Heck, for $270, you can do what I did and buy BOTH a PC and a rotary (I use the Hitachi SP18VA). You can share pads between them as well, and so you could have the best of both worlds for the same price as a Flex.

 

I have the PC, and after a while I wanted something better. The PC does have it's limitations, but it is a great machine for beginners, and does produce decent results. I really want the flex orbital (DA). The PC does very well for the money, and I sometimes even use it to apply wax. If Ubetit is willing to teach you how to use a rotary, then take that chance. I wish I knew how to use one. Save up and buy the Flex, it'll be worth it.

Good luck, and let us know how you make out.

 

A rotary isn't has hard as everyone makes it out to be. Yes the risk is much greater than any other type of machine, but man, the results do look great! The idea is to just keep it moving like a heat gun. You can't let it sit or it burns the paint. As long as you have that mode in your head, you'll be fine.

 

You just have to respect it, and exercise some common sense while using it. It takes some practice, but once you get used it, you'll find yourself saving a lot of time compared to a PC, with much better results

 

I would just get a PC and This if it came down to it. I just traded my Dewalt rotary for a PC because I wasn't using it on the S. I was constantly worried about paint burn so I was always scared to stay in one spot for too long. However, if I ever encounter anything more difficult to remove I would just get the rotay from northern tool...its got the same specs as the dewalt but at 1/3 of the price.

 

If you're doing your two cars, stick to the PC, maybe if you're feeling baller, get the Flex DA...

I have had my PC since I started detailing. It's capable. I also owned a Metabo rotary and got good use out of that before selling it when I could no longer detail on a regular basis.

I'd say to invest in the rotary or a higher-end polisher if you expect to be doing this for a living or as an alternative source of income. Or if you really want to detail like a madman. But it's a waste of money and potentially harmful to your finish if all you want to do is maintain a low-swirl paint job (polish 2-4x per year).

I've gotten by fine with just my original PC for a couple of years now, polishing the Subaru twice or three times a year and the S2000 as needed (which isn't much since I wetsanded and polished that out with the Metabo).

Worst case, you have a PC that is a great tool and add another more capable tool later on. Best case, you're not jumping in going crazy with the tools and you're maintaining your paint safely and easily and saving money at the same time.

 

but with the caveat that you're also probably removing a lot more clear with a rotary than you ever will with the PC - even used properly. If you're maintaining a black S2000, that paint is SOFT and shouldn't need a rotary for regular polishing.