My first go with the PC

BPebzly

BPebzly

New member
Hey guys. Finally got a chance to give this a whirl. I worked on my 06 350z. It was difficult to capture the defects due to the color. Honestly it wasn't all that bad. Bein my first time, I was a little timid, and only went to a polishing pad with SSR1. I think the results turned out pretty decent, the only downer is I don't feel like I got a real good idea of what to look for as the polish breaks down, cuz it was so hard to see on the color. I made sure to do slow passes, and spent a decent amount of time on each section. Entire process took about 12 hours. My process was:

Dawn Wash
Dry with Absorber
Meg's clay (came with lube)
Dawn Wash
Dry with Absorber
Started with black pad and SSR1 and it wasn't enough, so I went to the white pad.
White Diamond
2 coats of EX-P
3 coats of Natty's

Engine was done with dilluted purple power and various brushes, and exhaust tips were done with Sonus and steel wool.

Engine Before
enginebefore.jpg

Engine After - Not big on shiney...just like it clean
engineafter.jpg


Tailpipes before
tailpipebefore.jpg

Tailpipes after
tailpipeafter.jpg


A few pics before I Started
driversidebefore.jpg

rearbefore.jpg

passsidebefore.jpg


Some Durings...

Before
trunkafter.jpg


After
trunkbefore.jpg


Before
roofbefore.jpg

After
roofafter.jpg


Before
pillarbefore.jpg

After
pillarafter.jpg


I forgot the before for this one, but this is where I removed the rear splash guards. The marring was far more significant before the SSR1
bumpere.jpg


The Interior wasn't that bad to begin with, so just a couple quick afters
interiord.jpg

interior2k.jpg


Some Afters still in the garage
insideafter1.jpg

insideafter2.jpg

insideafter3.jpg

metalflake.jpg

afteru.jpg


And pulled outside for some final shots
outsideafter1.jpg

outsideafter4.jpg

outsideafter5.jpg

reflectionm.jpg

outsideafter2.jpg

outsideafter3.jpg


Any advice or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. In about a week or 2, I'm gonna be doin my gf's RSX, which as you may know from my previous posts, is black, and is gonna required a great deal more work than the Z! Thanks for lookin! :thanks
 
Nice work !! Good clarity.

Then black is gonna be significantly more work.

Hope you had a blast !
 
Nice work! Nice ride!
Silver is a great colour for not showing significant defects/dirt...
My first time with the PC was similar to yours...I was a little dismayed that I didn't correct as much as I would of thought with the work I did!
My second time around, I used a more aggressive orange (LC) pad, SSR2.5 and REALLY worked the panels...
Better, but I think I might upgrade to a rotory this year...
 
Looking good! Feels good to do it yourself, doesn't it? Silver is hard to see defects in, but some halogen lighting makes it a little easier. You can usually pick some up for $25-30. While black usually is more work, it is much easier to "see" your work. So in that aspect, it's easier. It will give you a better feel for the polish breakdown process and correction as well.
 
save yourself some time by washing and rinsing the vehicle once. When you wash the car before you rinse it do your claying using the car wash soap as a lubricant. then rinse and dry the vehicle
 
Looks good. I agree with blk45 get some 1000 watt haologens. I would also add a good drying towel or 2 and get rid of the absorber
 
sal329 said:
Looks good. I agree with blk45 get some 1000 watt haologens. I would also add a good drying towel or 2 and get rid of the absorber
Click to expand...

Or, just use the absorber for blotting but get a regular towel to remove what is left.
 
Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the insight:thanks

Thinkin about doin the Acura did bring up another question for me, and I figured I'd just ask it here, instead of open a new thread. I'm pretty positive the Acura is gonna require more bite than the SSR1. Does anyone use SSR2...I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned, it seems everyone goes straight from SSR1 to SSR2.5.

I'm thinking I'll give the SSR1 on a white pad a whirl just in case that will do the trick. From there should I go to SSR2.5 or SSR2, and should I use a white or orange pad?

Another random question I had, was do you guys usually do a whole car in SSR2.5 and then do the whole car in SSR1, or do you go through both a section at a time?

Thanks a lot!
 
BPebzly said:
Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the insight:thanks

Thinkin about doin the Acura did bring up another question for me, and I figured I'd just ask it here, instead of open a new thread. I'm pretty positive the Acura is gonna require more bite than the SSR1. Does anyone use SSR2...I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned, it seems everyone goes straight from SSR1 to SSR2.5.

I'm thinking I'll give the SSR1 on a white pad a whirl just in case that will do the trick. From there should I go to SSR2.5 or SSR2, and should I use a white or orange pad?

Another random question I had, was do you guys usually do a whole car in SSR2.5 and then do the whole car in SSR1, or do you go through both a section at a time?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

I've never used SSR 2, but routinely use 2.5. You're right, most people do simply use 2.5 as it is very easy to use, finishes really well (with minimal micro marring), and doesn't dust much when used in proper amounts. You'd be safe simply using an orange pad with 2.5, then going to a white pad with SSR1. Personally, I'd finish it with Polish w/Carnauba (PWC) or Polish with Sealant (PWS), then Natty's. You, really coould finish with tons of stuff, just depends on what you want (protection, perfect finish, etc) and what you have on hand.

As for the random question, I think most will do the entire car and then switch.
 
Cool thanks! That's exactly what I was lookin for!:cheers:

Can't wait to get familiar enough with everything so as to not be so clueless...

Right now, bein that I'm not real familiar with the products and process it seems like is should go SSR1 with black pad, white pad - SSR2 white pad, orange pad -and SSR2.5 white pad, orange pad until it appears to look as it should.

As they say...patience is a virtue, I suppose! :wall
 
Nice job slick!!!!! Good thing you are learning the detail trade, those Pittsburgh winters can be tough. Pictures looked good until I got to the one that showed the goober in the reflection......lol:yourrock
 
BPebzly said:
Cool

Right now, bein that I'm not real familiar with the products and process it seems like is should go SSR1 with black pad, white pad - SSR2 white pad, orange pad -and SSR2.5 white pad, orange pad until it appears to look as it should.
Click to expand...

Yes, you seem to have put the possible combos in order from least aggressive to most aggressive. You're not implying that you would do all of these on one vehicle though, correct? That would be quite time consuming and overkill IMO, but boy would you have some perfect paint, lol. What I do is test a small area with what I think it needs, like 2.5 with a white pad for example, and if that didn't cut enough or quickly enough, I'll switch to an orange pad and go from there. THere would never be a need really to go from 2.5 to SSR2 on the same car. You can go right to SSR1. Sorry if I misunderstood. Keep researching and practicing, and you'll become rather proficient. Actually, the instructions on the bottles are pretty good at telling you what is the best follow up product. :bigups
 
Silver is a great color. Hides the dirt and many defects (especially RIDS) and is eternally classic. I've never been much of a Nissan guy myself but the Z is a sweet machine. Nice work! :bigups

T-minus 6 days on the concrete around the drains curing. Can't wait....:pray:
 
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