richy
New member
This car needed some work. At 9 years old, it was overdue to say the least. He chose Feynlab`s Self Heal Lite which is a smart move for long lasting protection. I was pulling the wheels too, which also took longer than I thought. Let`s see the transformation on this little hottie.
Here it is as it arrived:
First up was to do the wheels. The barrels and faces were first cleaned with Tarminator and a Daytona brush. That was followed by Zep Citrus and another Daytona using HD Pink Soap. The tires were cleaned with Zep 505. The wells were cleaned with LA Totally Awesome. They were filthy and were taking longer than usual, even for dirty ones.
The car was then foamed and washed with Pink soap. (Got a 5 gal pail and love it). It was then clayed with Riccardo blue. This is what the true condition of the paint was:
The front part had a paint film on it. The condition of it was terrible:
Next it was time to pull the wheels. I had to go at the barrels with more Tarminator as the brush could only do so much when the wheels are on the car. I gave the barrels and faces a quick hand polish with M205 and a mf. I followed that with DG Squeaky Clean to make sure the chemicals that Tarminator leaves behind were removed. Finally a quick shot of Eraser and they were ready to coat. The barrels got coated with DLux and the faces with Feynlab Wheel & Caliper. Speaking of caliper, it was hand cleaned with Tarminator followed by SC and then coated with Feynlab. The plastic wells were cleaned with ONR and then coated with DLux once dry. Upon replacing the wheel and prior to lowering the car down, the tires were shot with Opti Bond via an air gun. The wheels were then torqued back to spec. Here`s a wheel after being coated:
Now it was time to play with the paint. The paint on this car had heavy swirls as you could see above. This panel was the worst for scratches:
I jumped at the chance to try my TLC compound again, combined with 3401 + 3D black wool. Good news/Bad news. The good news is that the combo removed the defects, the bad news is that it left the surface hazy. I knew it was soft paint, because that never happens with me using that combo. I tried several other pad/polish combos, but none removed the defects and left the surface the way I wanted it. After some trial and error, I used the burgandy Megs pad + CarPro Reflect for the 2nd stage. That was the "aha" moment in correcting the paint. Funny, as it is usually after using the compound, but again with the soft paint. I then used a 3rd step of M205 + white LCC pad. Now I had it the way I wanted it!
I tried a few different things to polish the PPF, but to no avail. I did not go really aggressive with it as it was not worth the risk of damaging it. So be it. I coated the PPF, head and tail lights with Feynlab Ceramic and not the Heal Lite. I also coated under the wing with Ceramic too. The windshield was coated with Fly By Forte and the rest of the glass with Fly By 30. The exhaust tips were hand polished with 0000 steel wool + M205 and a mf and were coated with DLux. The wiper cowl was also coated with DLux. The paint was coated with Heal Lite. Here it is getting its suntan after being worked on for 21.5 hours:
It was late in the day so I had to go to the end of my street to get any direct light. Here she is all done:
Bad Scuff area touched up fairly well:
Thanks for looking! Comments always appreciated.
Here it is as it arrived:
First up was to do the wheels. The barrels and faces were first cleaned with Tarminator and a Daytona brush. That was followed by Zep Citrus and another Daytona using HD Pink Soap. The tires were cleaned with Zep 505. The wells were cleaned with LA Totally Awesome. They were filthy and were taking longer than usual, even for dirty ones.
The car was then foamed and washed with Pink soap. (Got a 5 gal pail and love it). It was then clayed with Riccardo blue. This is what the true condition of the paint was:
The front part had a paint film on it. The condition of it was terrible:
Next it was time to pull the wheels. I had to go at the barrels with more Tarminator as the brush could only do so much when the wheels are on the car. I gave the barrels and faces a quick hand polish with M205 and a mf. I followed that with DG Squeaky Clean to make sure the chemicals that Tarminator leaves behind were removed. Finally a quick shot of Eraser and they were ready to coat. The barrels got coated with DLux and the faces with Feynlab Wheel & Caliper. Speaking of caliper, it was hand cleaned with Tarminator followed by SC and then coated with Feynlab. The plastic wells were cleaned with ONR and then coated with DLux once dry. Upon replacing the wheel and prior to lowering the car down, the tires were shot with Opti Bond via an air gun. The wheels were then torqued back to spec. Here`s a wheel after being coated:
Now it was time to play with the paint. The paint on this car had heavy swirls as you could see above. This panel was the worst for scratches:
I jumped at the chance to try my TLC compound again, combined with 3401 + 3D black wool. Good news/Bad news. The good news is that the combo removed the defects, the bad news is that it left the surface hazy. I knew it was soft paint, because that never happens with me using that combo. I tried several other pad/polish combos, but none removed the defects and left the surface the way I wanted it. After some trial and error, I used the burgandy Megs pad + CarPro Reflect for the 2nd stage. That was the "aha" moment in correcting the paint. Funny, as it is usually after using the compound, but again with the soft paint. I then used a 3rd step of M205 + white LCC pad. Now I had it the way I wanted it!
I tried a few different things to polish the PPF, but to no avail. I did not go really aggressive with it as it was not worth the risk of damaging it. So be it. I coated the PPF, head and tail lights with Feynlab Ceramic and not the Heal Lite. I also coated under the wing with Ceramic too. The windshield was coated with Fly By Forte and the rest of the glass with Fly By 30. The exhaust tips were hand polished with 0000 steel wool + M205 and a mf and were coated with DLux. The wiper cowl was also coated with DLux. The paint was coated with Heal Lite. Here it is getting its suntan after being worked on for 21.5 hours:
It was late in the day so I had to go to the end of my street to get any direct light. Here she is all done:
Bad Scuff area touched up fairly well:
Thanks for looking! Comments always appreciated.
