1st detail complete and in the books!

[Kolokefalo]

SO since finding this site I have itching to try a detail for myself. After reading the site and every guide 2-3x I decided I was ready and placed my order with 3d. I got all the supplies I needed and even though the pads were on backorder at the time I used the time waiting to read up on wetsanding and give that a go as well. My friends were calling me a moron for even attempting it after merely "reading some forum". WHat follows is my first ever attempt at doing ANY type of paint correction. SUre Ive washed and waxed a car (I found out in the last 2 months completely improperly...Thanks Accumulator) So here goes nothing and everything on my car I bought in May a 2006 VW GTI.



Supplies used:



Wheels:

Sonax Full effect

Collinite 845 to seal (black painted Motegi rims)

CarPro Perl for tires



Paint correction:

Westanded with 2k, 2.5k and 3k Meguiars sandpaper

HD UNO (Orange and white LC CCS Pads)

DODO Juice Prime



Trim outside:

HD Trim Care



Inside:

HD Free



LPC:

HD POXY (LC Gray CCS Pad)

845



SO Here is the condition of my car to begin with:



Exhaust Tips beaten and battered

Since I dont have a good camera all pics taken with my iPhone4. Best I could get of the swirls but they looked real bad

B Pillar Before

Pedals Before (Brown crud didnt show up too well but it was there)

Previous owner installed after market antennae then took it with him leaving this

Roof Before

Previous owner debadged the car and left me this (he was generous)

Bad scuff on rear bumper

And the worst of the worst 2 gouges in the hood with touch up paint applied by previous owner...these are deep

So after reading and rereading about 50x Barry Theals 60 hour Bentley Detail, MarcHarris' "Cleanest GTI Detail thread", and every single Cosmin, Scottwax, Dave Fermani, Todd Helme, Accumulator post (and too many more to mention) I work up the nerve to wetsand



Debadge Area wetsanded

Scuff Wetsanded

Entire hood because of tons of small chips in the front end

 

[Kolokefalo]

Now on to the UNO and corrections



Hood after 1 pass of HD UNO 3.0 and Orange CCS

B Pillar After UNO and 4" Orange CCS Pad

After I did 2-3 Passes in the garage with the HD UNO on orange CCS Pads I pulled it out in the sun for a better inspection. I honestly thought I had gotten about about 90% of the swirls.. I became pretty despondent when I pulled it out. Swirls were still evident, very much improved but evident. I was using on on speed 5 on the PCXP. I didnt snap any pictures and pulled it back in to the garage hiked up my pants and went on speed 6 and this is what I got just with UNO and Speed 6. NO LSP has been applied at this point after pulling it out again.



Hood had holograms which didnt show up on the phone camera but all in all i was real happy

Roof and Antennae Area

Now I pulled her back in and applied the HD POXY at 6pm Sunday night then this morning at 1000 threw on Collie 845 for more protection from the florida sun..



FINAL PICS



I lit some incense and channeled my inner Fermani and VOILA

Thanks Dave! Final pedal pic

Outside in the FL sun at high noon

And finally before the last pic I just want to say this was by far much much harder than I ever thought it would be. I have so much respect for the results you guys get. The pics look better than the real life pics. There is some holograms around the contour parts of the car and I am just unskilled enough and dont have enough time on my hands to get rid of them. I must thank each and every person who posts on this site. I have a blast reading them and learning from you guys. This process has a steep learning curve but I can honestly say all the HD products I used kicked soo much *** I didnt even end up using the DODO juice Lime prime on the paint. I finished it down with UNO on a white pad and it looked fantastic. The HD Metal and some 00 steel wool blasted my exhaust, POXY is just sooo easy to apply and wipe off its not even funny, The HD trim care looks so rich and black it made my trim look amazing. Every HD product I used was just amazing. Special thanks to the "Guide to detailing" writers and contributors, and a very special thanks to Scottwax for all his youtube videos I watched them at least 10x each to work up the nerve to even buy a machine polisher and attempt this. So with this I say thumbs up to all you guys and thanks tons!!

 

[Kolokefalo]

Seeing as how I don't have a point of reference to other products my opinion is albeit limited but my answer is yes. If Tunch's goal was to make detailing easier than as a completely unskilled person I think the results are incredible. The UNO just made all the sanding marks disappear by the 3rd pass when I bumped the pcxp to speed 6 and took a lesson from Dave Fermani in another post about most newbies using too much product. The pad was already primed so on speed 6 for the final pass I just used a pea size drop per 2x2 area and I could immediately see the difference when I wiped it off. I am sure I was using too much product and too low a speed. But again I credit this against my inexperience and not the product. I am sure 1 maybe 2 passes at mad speed would probably been all that was needed.

Hd poxy is a awesome product. It make every reflection razor sharp. After applying and letting haze for 15-20 mins it wiped off very easily. So easily I thought I was wiping too soon. But the results were awesome.

Hd free just did a great jib on my interior. My friend let me have some 1zcp and I tried it but I much preferred the cleaning ability of the Free and it's scent.

Hd metal polish made short work of my exhaust tips as well.

The hd trim care was really nice too. It comes out very thick like a maple syrup. However I liked this feature because you could really pinpoint how much product to use. I used one of my wifes cosmetic applicators to apply it. The pics I took of my trim don't do it justice. It is a really rich black and finishes satin. Not too glossy but definitely not matte either.



I dont mean to sound like a shill for 3d/hd products and I am not an employee but this stuff just worked great for me. In the hands of others on this site I can imagine what it's capable of.

 

[ThrillHo]

Really like the reflections in that after-hood shot. I recently did my truck for the first time (Black Dodge Dakota thread in this sub-forum). I used M105, but I'm thinking about swapping to the HD Uno, especially after seeing your results. Awesome job man.