This is my 1st post. Although I've been reading and learning about detailing on this forum for almost 6 months now. So I want to thank Autopia and those who post here. For helping others and me learn a little more about detailing. You guys are worth every penny you earn. So thanks for the info we get here on Autopia. It doesn't go un-noticed.
Now for my car. I've been working on a 85 Toyota Celica for 7 years now. There's not a nut or bolt on the thing. That hasn't been removed and replace. Rebuilt engine, manual trans swap, and upgraded to a Supra rear end. Interior is like new. With newly reupholstered leather seats.
The car was painted 7 years ago when I 1st got it. It was shot with Sherwin-Williams ULTRA 7000 and I kept the original color black. I knew black was a nightmare to keep clean but I didn't want the hassle of changing colors. Over the years I did my best to keep it clean and shinny. Now I know a lot of my cleaning and washing methods were causing harm. I would just use the one bucket method and wipe down with a water blade. Followed by the water sprite. If I didn't use the water sprite. The car would get really bad water spots. Now after reading a lot on this forum. I realize this has led to the many swirl marks my car has now.
Ok after reading on here for about 6 months. I decide to take a shot at doing a major detail on it. So I buy a small fortune worth of products from Autogeek.net. Which I'm sure isn't a drop in the bucket to some of you. But for me it was a little bit expensive. Here's what I got to start out with.
PC 7424XP
3.5" backing pad
5" backing pad
Orange, white, & black LC pads
3 each in both 4" & 5.5"
6" Cobra Indigo 6" Microfiber bonnets
Lambswool 6" Leveling pad
3m painter tape
The bone by Cobra
Meg's M105 & M205
Wolfgang DGPS 3.0
ONR Wash
Meg's APC
303 protectent
Forever Black
Micro Fiber Towels
etc.
1st thing I washed the car. Then went over the plastic trim with Black Again & used Forever Black on faded parts. Then I washed the car again. Because that stuff makes a mess. I've got lots of plastic trim & it had been a week since the 1st wash. Next I did clay the car with Clay Magic. After all that I did a IPA wipe down. To see just how bad the paint was. A few RIDS, and lot of swirl marks and halogens.
There's so much info on this forum and people with problems using the products. I was kind of Leary about how to start the polish. Also my paint is extremely soft. I can get marring from light finger nail pressure going across the paint. So I start with least aggressive method 1st. Went with LC white pad and M205. Not much correction. Now I go to LC white pad and M105. Some correction but slow. So I move up to LC orange pad and M105. This seems to be working the best. But it's producing some marring. Which I'm not to concerned about. Since I've read it will do this. And it can be removed by following up with M205. So I proceed with doing small sections of the hood. 1st with 2 passes of M105 on a orange pad. Then followed up by 2 passes on M205 on white pad. Then one pass of M205 on a black pad. Looks pretty good. I think I got about 75% correction.
Working conditions: Temp 95
Humidity 94%
I don't know how much the conditions affect the outcome of the polish. But I was only doing 2 hour polishes at a time. Any more than that and I was sweating too much on the car.
Ok I went ahead and finished the hood. I did 2 passes with M105 and a LC Orange pad. Then 2 passes with M205 and a LC white pad. I didn't do any more passes with the black pad. Because it didn't really seem to be doing all that much. I also went ahead and used my Wolfgang DGPS 3.0 on the hood. I'm just a rookie. This may take a few days to get all the panels done. The car in the garage gets a layer of dust on it pretty quick. So I figured it best to seal it while it's still clean as possible.
Some pictures of my work so far.
Here's what the swirl marks look like on the car.
Some pics after polish and DGPS 3.0
Here you can see the hood is polished but the fender is not.
In this heat and not being in a real hurry. I sure it will take me at least till the end of the week to get the whole car polished. I would say with my skills. I'm getting about 80% correction. Which I don't think it's too bad for my 1st time. I'll post more results in later this week.
Now for my car. I've been working on a 85 Toyota Celica for 7 years now. There's not a nut or bolt on the thing. That hasn't been removed and replace. Rebuilt engine, manual trans swap, and upgraded to a Supra rear end. Interior is like new. With newly reupholstered leather seats.
The car was painted 7 years ago when I 1st got it. It was shot with Sherwin-Williams ULTRA 7000 and I kept the original color black. I knew black was a nightmare to keep clean but I didn't want the hassle of changing colors. Over the years I did my best to keep it clean and shinny. Now I know a lot of my cleaning and washing methods were causing harm. I would just use the one bucket method and wipe down with a water blade. Followed by the water sprite. If I didn't use the water sprite. The car would get really bad water spots. Now after reading a lot on this forum. I realize this has led to the many swirl marks my car has now.
Ok after reading on here for about 6 months. I decide to take a shot at doing a major detail on it. So I buy a small fortune worth of products from Autogeek.net. Which I'm sure isn't a drop in the bucket to some of you. But for me it was a little bit expensive. Here's what I got to start out with.
PC 7424XP
3.5" backing pad
5" backing pad
Orange, white, & black LC pads
3 each in both 4" & 5.5"
6" Cobra Indigo 6" Microfiber bonnets
Lambswool 6" Leveling pad
3m painter tape
The bone by Cobra
Meg's M105 & M205
Wolfgang DGPS 3.0
ONR Wash
Meg's APC
303 protectent
Forever Black
Micro Fiber Towels
etc.
1st thing I washed the car. Then went over the plastic trim with Black Again & used Forever Black on faded parts. Then I washed the car again. Because that stuff makes a mess. I've got lots of plastic trim & it had been a week since the 1st wash. Next I did clay the car with Clay Magic. After all that I did a IPA wipe down. To see just how bad the paint was. A few RIDS, and lot of swirl marks and halogens.
There's so much info on this forum and people with problems using the products. I was kind of Leary about how to start the polish. Also my paint is extremely soft. I can get marring from light finger nail pressure going across the paint. So I start with least aggressive method 1st. Went with LC white pad and M205. Not much correction. Now I go to LC white pad and M105. Some correction but slow. So I move up to LC orange pad and M105. This seems to be working the best. But it's producing some marring. Which I'm not to concerned about. Since I've read it will do this. And it can be removed by following up with M205. So I proceed with doing small sections of the hood. 1st with 2 passes of M105 on a orange pad. Then followed up by 2 passes on M205 on white pad. Then one pass of M205 on a black pad. Looks pretty good. I think I got about 75% correction.
Working conditions: Temp 95
Humidity 94%
I don't know how much the conditions affect the outcome of the polish. But I was only doing 2 hour polishes at a time. Any more than that and I was sweating too much on the car.
Ok I went ahead and finished the hood. I did 2 passes with M105 and a LC Orange pad. Then 2 passes with M205 and a LC white pad. I didn't do any more passes with the black pad. Because it didn't really seem to be doing all that much. I also went ahead and used my Wolfgang DGPS 3.0 on the hood. I'm just a rookie. This may take a few days to get all the panels done. The car in the garage gets a layer of dust on it pretty quick. So I figured it best to seal it while it's still clean as possible.
Some pictures of my work so far.
Here's what the swirl marks look like on the car.
Some pics after polish and DGPS 3.0
Here you can see the hood is polished but the fender is not.
In this heat and not being in a real hurry. I sure it will take me at least till the end of the week to get the whole car polished. I would say with my skills. I'm getting about 80% correction. Which I don't think it's too bad for my 1st time. I'll post more results in later this week.
I lifted the PC once and it splattered everywhere.:clap: Also when going around some corners. I get some splatter also. I'm going to have a lot of little white spots to clean up.:nervous2: What kind of clean up do you guys recommend after the polish is complete? Complete wash? QD clean up? Or is there something else you recommend?