A big thanks to Phil at DD, Ivan at LUSTR, Kevin Brown, Greg at DI, the folks at AutoGeek and everyone else on this and other forums for helping me out with my endless questions. I'm a weekend warrior and have only been into this for about a year so the help is much appreciated.
History:
This is my personal ride (2005 Carbon Black M3). The finish was still in decent shape since last correction in the spring (that's when I took the plunge and I did my first correction). No major swirls or spider-webbing just the usual random scratches and a handfull of RIDS, which seemed to be on every other panel :wall. The goal was the paint correction and laying down the initial coat of 845. I still need to apply a couple more coats of 845 (Midwest winter coming), treat the exterior trim with Black Wow, etc.. Overall it was a successful weekend.
PROCESS:
Wash:
Meg's Gold Class Shampoo (2 bucket method)
Flood rinse
Leaf Blower Dry
Clay:
Sonus Green with ONR clay lube
Polisher:
PC7424 (4" and 5.5" pads)
Polishes:
M105 or Menz PO83 as needed - LC Orange Pad
Menz P106FA on all panels (single pass) - LC White Pad
Menz PO87MC on all panels (single pass) - Uber Black Pad (this was my attempt to "jewel" the finish. Never tried this before and I'm not sure if I "officially" achieved a jeweled finish, but I really liked the end result after a uniform pass with PO87MC on a non-cutting pad).
Final Surface Prep:
Menzerna Final Inspection (MFI) on all panels. This was my first time using MFI and it took some getting used to, but once I had my technique down I absolutely loved it. After a final wipe down with MFI the finish was beyond ready for my LSP, extremely clean and unbelievably squeaky (much more than IPA IMO). A little MFI goes a long way and I am sold.
LSP:
Collinite 845 - Uber Black Pad (speed 2.5-3)
Applied twice back-to-back just to ensure full coverage. I'll be adding additional coats with the proper 24 cure time within the next couple weeks. I bounced back and forth on my LSP for the Midwest winter (FMJ, JS109, FK1000P, UPGP, etc.). After a ton of research and all was said and done I opted for 845, hope I made the right choice.
Other:
Tires are dressed with Optimum Opt-Bond Tire Gel.
Wheels hit with FK425 (just for the pix
).
The Lineup:
Clay:
The majority of the panels had minimal contamination, but the lower panels behind the wheels were a different story as expected (don't ask me why the Sonus Green looks yellow in the picture because I have no idea).
Dust:
M105 and Menz PO83Q do the job, but they do leave leave a nice amount of dust behind. I "kind of" used the KB method (4" orange pad, a little extra product & pressure) to cleanup the RIDS so that might explain some of the heavy dusting, but worth it on all accounts. It worked like magic.
NOTE: I took a bunch of "before" pix, but for some reason I just couldn't capture the RIDS so none of them are worth posting. And besides the after pix are so much more fun to view :chuckle:.
The Results:
It was windy as hell outside so the polish dust showed up on a few pix and sorry for my ugly mug showing up on one of the pix :scared:.
Overall Outside:
Roof (inside):
Roof (outside):
Hood (outside) I:
Hood (outside) II:
Bootlid (inside):
Bootlid (outside):
Right Door (inside):
Right Door (outside):
Left Door (inside):
Left Door (outside):
Final Overalls:
History:
This is my personal ride (2005 Carbon Black M3). The finish was still in decent shape since last correction in the spring (that's when I took the plunge and I did my first correction). No major swirls or spider-webbing just the usual random scratches and a handfull of RIDS, which seemed to be on every other panel :wall. The goal was the paint correction and laying down the initial coat of 845. I still need to apply a couple more coats of 845 (Midwest winter coming), treat the exterior trim with Black Wow, etc.. Overall it was a successful weekend.
PROCESS:
Wash:
Meg's Gold Class Shampoo (2 bucket method)
Flood rinse
Leaf Blower Dry
Clay:
Sonus Green with ONR clay lube
Polisher:
PC7424 (4" and 5.5" pads)
Polishes:
M105 or Menz PO83 as needed - LC Orange Pad
Menz P106FA on all panels (single pass) - LC White Pad
Menz PO87MC on all panels (single pass) - Uber Black Pad (this was my attempt to "jewel" the finish. Never tried this before and I'm not sure if I "officially" achieved a jeweled finish, but I really liked the end result after a uniform pass with PO87MC on a non-cutting pad).
Final Surface Prep:
Menzerna Final Inspection (MFI) on all panels. This was my first time using MFI and it took some getting used to, but once I had my technique down I absolutely loved it. After a final wipe down with MFI the finish was beyond ready for my LSP, extremely clean and unbelievably squeaky (much more than IPA IMO). A little MFI goes a long way and I am sold.
LSP:
Collinite 845 - Uber Black Pad (speed 2.5-3)
Applied twice back-to-back just to ensure full coverage. I'll be adding additional coats with the proper 24 cure time within the next couple weeks. I bounced back and forth on my LSP for the Midwest winter (FMJ, JS109, FK1000P, UPGP, etc.). After a ton of research and all was said and done I opted for 845, hope I made the right choice.
Other:
Tires are dressed with Optimum Opt-Bond Tire Gel.
Wheels hit with FK425 (just for the pix
).The Lineup:
Clay:
The majority of the panels had minimal contamination, but the lower panels behind the wheels were a different story as expected (don't ask me why the Sonus Green looks yellow in the picture because I have no idea).
Dust:
M105 and Menz PO83Q do the job, but they do leave leave a nice amount of dust behind. I "kind of" used the KB method (4" orange pad, a little extra product & pressure) to cleanup the RIDS so that might explain some of the heavy dusting, but worth it on all accounts. It worked like magic.
NOTE: I took a bunch of "before" pix, but for some reason I just couldn't capture the RIDS so none of them are worth posting. And besides the after pix are so much more fun to view :chuckle:.
The Results:
It was windy as hell outside so the polish dust showed up on a few pix and sorry for my ugly mug showing up on one of the pix :scared:.
Overall Outside:
Roof (inside):
Roof (outside):
Hood (outside) I:
Hood (outside) II:
Bootlid (inside):
Bootlid (outside):
Right Door (inside):
Right Door (outside):
Left Door (inside):
Left Door (outside):
Final Overalls: