About Ready to give up Detailing.... Just too hard.

M

mystickid

New member
Guys, guys, Oh! Woe is ME!





Man, I've been doing over months of learning and research here at Autopia. I'm addicted to this place.



Well, anyway I bought all my products to use on my 98 Black camry.



1) Rotary w/ the LC VC pads.



2) Pc with the LC VC Pads.



3) Clay magic Clay



4) SSR 2.5



5) Menzerna P085RD



6) RMG



7) PB's EX



8) Megs #26 High tech yellow max



9) All the MF's and WWs, applicators etc





Well Yesterday, I went to work at the garage.



I washed,

2)clayed,

3) re-washed,

4)alcohol wipedown,

5) SSR2.5 Via Rotary LC VC cutting pad, then Menzerna P085Rd via rotary w/ LC VC White polishing pad (which kept jiggling off)

6) so i then used P085RD via PC w/ LC VC White Polishing pad on 4.5-5 (still it takes soo lonnnggggg to dissappear? but eventually dissapeared nearly)



7) RMG

8) PB's EX

====================





Still after going again over the hood with all the steps 1-8 , I went outside this moring and looked at my hood under the sun and still i have a few straight liine scratches and minor swirling. I feel so hopeless on this car.



What's worse is that, It doesn't look like RMG topped with PB's EX did anything to my car at all. No increase in depth. :furious: No increase in gloss from P085RD. :sadpace:



Now all this dust and tree sap collected on my car right now so i can't put pics with the RMG and PB's EX on it just yet. I will wash it then post the pics



I don't know what do guyssssssssssss. Shall I move up to like SSR 3 for the minor swirls and scracthes left???? I mean what irritates me is that, these puny swirls and scrtch lines are so thin yet the rotary can't get them with these high end polishes. :furious: :wall



Give me so adivce please. :hairpull
 
Unfortunately I have don't have a pic of the *hood* with absolutley no prep on it but I have the car in full view with nothing done to it.





This is my car (full view) with nothing done to it

Fullcar.jpg




This is with steps 1-6

Hood1.jpg




again with steps 1-6

Hood2.jpg






So saaaddd right :sadwavey: Looks worse in real Life,, AAH!
 
For a black car in the direct sunlight, it does not look bad at all. Give yourself some time and keep practicing. I get frustrated too, however, I learn something new everytime I do a detail. Simplify your processes.
 
A couple things come to mind, just my $0.02



First, IMO you're being too hard on yourself. Trying to achieve perfection on a black '98 is an *awfully* tall order, no matter what products/tools you use. I'd even question whether you *should* take off enough clear to eliminate all the marring if you *can* do it.



Second, you've tried what, two abrasive products, one glaze, and a pair of LSPs? And note that the Menzerna PO85RD is a "pro" product that might have a bit of a learning curve to it. I've tried all sorts of products and only found a few that were both easy to use and effective. Just because somebody else gets great results with something, that doesn't mean that everybody will. And again, think about what you're (realistically) trying to accomplish on a far-from-new black car.



Beating yourself up by trying to master products that don't work for you is, IMO, a waste of time and effort (and frustration). And when you're just starting out, some products really *are* trickier to use than others.
 
Hang in there dude just think of the satisfaction you'll get when you beat this thing :)



What kind of lighting are you working under? I find that even with a 1200 and 1000W Halogens I can't see light swirls without backing the car out into the sun.



Try using the lightest cut polish you have on the rotary w/low RPM's. Do a east - west / north - south/ and diagonal pattern.



Your results aren't at all too bad so as others said don't beat yourself up. We all want to achieve that perfect finish but it takes time to develop that technique.
 
I just washed the hood . These pics are after steps 1-6 and RMG via PC finishing pad on 4.5 -5

and PB's EX by hand.



Hood1.jpg




Hood2.jpg




1.jpg




2.jpg




3.jpg




4.jpg




5.jpg




6.jpg




So do you guys think i should try SSR3 via PC?



Thanx for the advice so far! :bestwish :
 
I've got a 99 black accord I'm still working on. I've pretty much resolved myself to put on a glaze and sealant and be done with it. Much less work than trying to perfect it. And in the end it's 100 times better than when I started on it. Just stick to it and find something that works for you.
 
Sorry SidiousXXX,



I live too far from there actually. But Don't worry. I guess I'll just keep practicing and try new products. When good thing happen, that's Fabulous. When bad things happen, it's experience. So I'll try sticking to a PC more and just take my time with paint. Hopefully It'll turn out well. Thanx.
 
mystickid said:
Sorry SidiousXXX,



I live too far from there actually. But Don't worry. I guess I'll just keep practicing and try new products. When good thing happen, that's Fabulous. When bad things happen, it's experience. So I'll try sticking to a PC more and just take my time with paint. Hopefully It'll turn out well. Thanx.
Click to expand...



Good attitude to have.
 
FrizzleFry said:
I've got a 99 black accord I'm still working on. I've pretty much resolved myself to put on a glaze and sealant and be done with it. Much less work than trying to perfect it. And in the end it's 100 times better than when I started on it. Just stick to it and find something that works for you.
Click to expand...



A man who thinks as I do. :xyxthumbs It's all too easy to get obsessive/ compulsive and pull your hair out trying to achieve perfection. :hairpull In the end all you get is frustrated and ultimately burned out because it isn't fun anymore. :(



I think my red car's paint looks similar. Maybe a few less swirls just because it's red and not black but about the same. When I can see the swirls I slap another coat of Z5/Z2 and some Z8 on and I'm content. You can only polish off so much paint. I can go nuts looking at the rock chips too.



It's a thin line between love and hate. In the end I'd rather enjoy the detailing and drive it and not worry too much. If it's a driver car it's going to get swirls (among other things). It's inevitable so you don't want to wind up hating detailing or being afraid to drive it. ;) :chuckle:
 
hey man, I have a 97 camry black/silver. It can be a bear. Just take your time and work through it. The ssr2.5 outta be able to get rid of it. Remember your never going to achieve perfection on a dd black car that old. I have been working on my paint for about 11 months now and still its not perfect. I just used optimum polisho on it and vm and souvy and im content. It looks nice and will sell better in the end. Dont beat yourself up. Its alot harder than some ppl make it seem. You will get there. Keep at it!
 
Don't give up so soon. The ssr 2.5 you have should do it, I've removed a lot worse with 2.5 and a LC cutting pad via PC. When you polish try ( if you don't all ready ) really slow passes with the PC, so slow that you are hardly moving. This will give you a lot better cutting action. You won't be able to make as many passes going that slow because the polish will break down faster and dry up quicker, but you will be more effective. Try a 2 ft. square area using this technique. If it doesn't all come out the first time, repeat once more. You may have a little hazing left from the cutting pad so follow with ssr 2.5 with a polishing pad with basicaly the same technique and that should take care of it :bigups . Good luck and let me know how it works.
 
You have to remember that black is a very unforgiving color. If I were you, I wouldn't worry... your black Camry looks better than most of the black cars on the road.
 
I mean you guys are right. It is much better than I first started. I had so many swirls and scracthes before . And being unware of the Autopian way, I would just go out and buy some wax and slap it on the car, trying to make myself believe it got shinier. That's the scenario that brought me here to Autopia. I heard about this site and asked in the forums, "How come after waxing my car, there was no difference at all?" and then I entered a new world so to say. I developed an Autopian eye and my goal is to have a dazzling deep finish. Hopefully, with time and patience I'll reach to my point of contentment. When i reach that point, i'll be sure to post pics. :)



Thanx for all the great advice from anyone. I will try my best on all the tips I get :bestwish: :)
 
Mystickid , On Sunday July 31st there will be a Chicago area detailing meet . You could learn a lot if you attend. Someware on Autopia will be posted the time and direction usually posted by Prinz 2 or Blue -Sun.
 
I feel for you, man.



I have a two month old black pearl RSX. It already had a few swirls from when the dealer "cleaned it up" before delivering it to me. I don't think your paint looks much worse than mine ... and mine's new! Because it's so new I obsessively feel that the paint should be PRISTINE.



I've been as careful as I possibly can - used microfiber wash mitt, moved to a plush chenille mitt, almost no pressure while washing, pat dry - yet it seems I can't avoid the spiderwebs. I live in Hawaii (LOTS of sunlight - heh) and everytime I see my hood I get a little more frustrated.



I'm going to be taking some Meguiars #83 -> #9 Swirl Remover -> #3 Machine Glaze -> #26 High-Tech Yellow Wax to the car in my last ditch effort to perfect the hood. Hopefully I'll survive.
 
Those swirls are very do-able.



Are you 100% positive that you are not re-swirling the paint with dirty towels or a crappy pad?



If so, i would use some #80 and a polishing pad on a 2x2 area, and check it out again in direct sun. If it looks better but not good enough, then do it again on the same 2x2 area, and check it out again.



It is senseless to do a whole hood or car, if you cannot make 1 2x2 area reach your level of satisfaction.



Generally if you are using a more aggressive product, and you still have swirling like that, it is silly to step down and continue towards the lsp.



If say SSR 2.5 isnt removing them, why goto SSR 1 and hope by some miracle that it will be perfect?



I had a very badly swirled car when i decided to start caring about paint, and i put about 4 hours (i was learning but still), with the pc on just the hood. An hour or more on the fenders, an hour on the trunk.



The car is 95% swirl free now, with some deeper scratches i am letting be.



But swilrs like that....80 x2 at the most, it will be impecable if you work the polish correctly.
 
Nitwit said:
I've been as careful as I possibly can - used microfiber wash mitt, moved to a plush chenille mitt, almost no pressure while washing, pat dry - yet it seems I can't avoid the spiderwebs. I live in Hawaii (LOTS of sunlight - heh) and everytime I see my hood I get a little more frustrated.
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:welcome to Autopia!



Being from Hawaii you are lucky because you are in the same state as Pakshak. They have a very good reputation here. Invest in some high quality products and microfibers, along with a sheepskin mitt.



That'll at least help minimalize the spiderwebbing. It's hard to avoid them if you drive the car much but high quality products along with proper technique does help. :)
 
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