Treasure Cove Polishing kit - review

Silverunicorn

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Bought a polishing kit from Treasure Cove to help out the dulled playfield on my LOTR.

I am NOT an expert, but I will give my impressions on this.

Watched the DVD, then went to town. The Powercut #3 was way more gritty then I expected. Like it says, let the pads do the work. Do Powercut #3, then #2, then #1.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but it did a good job. The playfield has much more of a shine than it did when I started. I don't have matching "before" and "after" photos unfortunately, but hopefully you can get the idea. I still need to buff it with the final pad and apply some carnuba.

Before:

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After:

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Here's a before and after video as well. There's still more to do, but I think it worked pretty well.

Before:



After:




Will it make a heavily routed game look brand new? No, I don't think so. Will it make a lightly routed playfield look really nice? I believe it will. If you have a HUO machine, I think it would make it look amazing. My LOTR was pretty heavily routed, so I am happy with the results, and I am not done yet.

Can't wait to get this done and back together!

Chris
 
It looks nice and shiny but anything rotary like that, I'd worry about cutting through the clearcoat and removing too much surface.

I use and recommend a dual-action polisher (Porter Cable 7424) with foam pads and novus polish. The difference is that it's random orbital so it polishes but it's a lot less likely to damage what you're polishing. Tool is a little over $100 and can be reused to polish your cars.
 
is there another way to buy these kits? I almost bought one last week but realized I had to send a check(?!) or something...I didnt see a 'buy' button so I got lazy and didnt do it...
 
The kit is worth it on any pin with clearcoat IMO. It made my Corvette's PF look almost brand new and it was really dirty and hardly ever waxed. Very dull when I got it. If I hadn't already used this product I would have thought I needed to send the PF out for reclear.
Definitely need a high speed drill or buffer like they recommend. This isn't used for everyday cleaning. Just when you first shop the pin. I would also say you don't always need the #3 compound on every pin either. Follow the directions and you shouldn't have any issues.
 
It looks nice and shiny but anything rotary like that, I'd worry about cutting through the clearcoat and removing too much surface.

I use and recommend a dual-action polisher (Porter Cable 7424) with foam pads and novus polish. The difference is that it's random orbital so it polishes but it's a lot less likely to damage what you're polishing. Tool is a little over $100 and can be reused to polish your cars.


That may work better, but I did pretty okay with a drill. I thought about something with random orbit, especially since this is not a cheap game, and it was my first attempt.

is there another way to buy these kits? I almost bought one last week but realized I had to send a check(?!) or something...I didnt see a 'buy' button so I got lazy and didnt do it...

Unfortunately from Treasure Cove, no. I sent a check, but Allen shipped it quickly. Was a week from the time I sent the check to the time I got the kit. It baffles me that he takes PayPal for international orders, but not US orders.


The kit is worth it on any pin with clearcoat IMO. It made my Corvette's PF look almost brand new and it was really dirty and hardly ever waxed. Very dull when I got it. If I hadn't already used this product I would have thought I needed to send the PF out for reclear.
Definitely need a high speed drill or buffer like they recommend. This isn't used for everyday cleaning. Just when you first shop the pin. I would also say you don't always need the #3 compound on every pin either. Follow the directions and you shouldn't have any issues.

I agree, this is not an "all the time" project. I was debating on the #3 as well, but ended up using it. I hit it with another coat of #1 this morning, and it brought out even more shine. I am really excited at how it is coming along now :)

Chris
 
That may work better, but I did pretty okay with a drill. I thought about something with random orbit, especially since this is not a cheap game, and it was my first attempt.
Yeah it's probably ok. The problem is it's difficult (impossible?) to see how much you cut into the clearcoat. Even worse if you don't notice until you see primer. Just choose the gentlest effective approach; a random-orbital is nice but even by-hand works since the polish is generally what's doing the work.
 
I'm getting a Haunted House pin soon and plan to do a full disassembly and clear coat job. Would this kit be good for the initial buffing job on freshly cured clear coat?
 
I'm getting a Haunted House pin soon and plan to do a full disassembly and clear coat job. Would this kit be good for the initial buffing job on freshly cured clear coat?

Honestly on a freshly cleared pin, I think this would be unnecessary. It may do more harm than good actually.

Sounds liek you will have a winner of a Hauntd House though!

Chris
 
Sounds liek you will have a winner of a Hauntd House though!

Will see, the playfield is mylared and you know how removal goes. :eek: If it turns out badly I will probably contract hsapinball to get it touched up and cleared.

The Black Hole I picked up should turn out great though, paint is getting a little crackly, but no mylar and amazingly it has little or no real wear.

Too bad the triple playfields on HH will probably prevent anyone from ever making pf repros. :/

Sweet job on the LotR btw. I hope that JJP makes The Hobbit next (though even if they did I'd just end up waiting 2 years for them to release it lol).
 
I purchased the same kind of foam pads and attachment bit that come with the kit from an online car products site (don't remember which one). I use it with Novus 2 and 1, then wax by hand. It works great and is much cheaper than buying from Treasure Cove, it's just a matter of finding the right ones.
 
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