About to start paint correction - need some help

[Nav45]

What year did you say the car was?

Has it ever been in an accident or repainted?

Is the paint transfer only on certain panels you polished?

Merlin, the car is a 2008 and has never been repainted. Yes, it's on some sections. The pads were turning darker in color so I'm assuming that is paint (the car is a medium gray color).

I've had some tell me to be careful using an aggressive approach on the car. I tried not to. I used the finishing polish for several polishing sessions and some of the micro scratches and tiny swirls would not come off. It's only after using the compound did they come off but in the process, apparently some of the paint might have come off as well. I guess I now understand how aggressive a compound can be. Maybe I should have continued making multiple passes with the finishing polish? Oh well.

Thanks.

 

[Nav45]

Nav45- Some areas of many vehicles aren't cleared, but those are out-of-the-way spots, not the exterior body proper.

If things appear OK, then I wouldn't worry, but I do wonder where the pigment came from...

Things do appear fine but I am also curious about what really happened. The pads weren't totally covered in supposed paint but some of them appeared to get darker.

I think I'm going to do another light polish for a slight touch up and leave things the way they are. Things have gotten better so there is no point in doing "more."

You mentioned cleaning the car safely to prevent swirls and scratches. For this, I will do rinseless washes and will try to be cautious and aware. I share your thinking in that I don't want to keep on polishing. For that, proper maintenance is important .Thanks.

 

[Accumulator]

Nav45- If they're just stained with dark [whatever it might be] as opposed to actual paint pigment, then no worries...lots of things can do that.

I wish you the best with those rinseless washes, *I* can't wash marring-free that way, at least not unless I pressure wash first and then do the dirtiest areas with other methods.

 

[Nav45]

Hey Accum,

I'm going to use multiple towels (some call it the Garry Dean method) for the rinseless washes. If the car needs it, I will also pressure wash it first. My plan is to wash the car weekly or bi-weekly at the most. I will try to keep in touch with you about how it's going.

I think I'm basically done polishing for now. I'm quite happy with the results. I'm very thankful to the help here and of course, you, Accum. Thank you!

Some questions:

-I'm thinking doing a mild polish once a year or so will be good now?
-I've clay barred the car twice now. Is using an iron removing product really beneficial?
-I've applied an LSP to the wheels. The spokes are fairly clean and the barrels have improved but aren't totally clean. I'm ok with that. I only applied the LSP to the spokes but not the barrels. Is this the right way?

Thank you.

 

[Accumulator]

Some questions:

-I'm thinking doing a mild polish once a year or so will be good now?
-I've clay barred the car twice now. Is using an iron removing product really beneficial?
-I've applied an LSP to the wheels. The spokes are fairly clean and the barrels have improved but aren't totally clean. I'm ok with that. I only applied the LSP to the spokes but not the barrels. Is this the right way?

Thank you.

If you do the washes right and avoid any touching between those washes, you shouldn't have to polish annually (I virtually *never* polish my vehicles, not for years on end). Whether or not you need to use a polish (well, at least an abrasive one) will depend on whether the paint needs any correction or not. If for some reason it needs worked on for other reasons (removing oxidation, stripping off "dead wax" artifacts, etc.) you can use a Paint Cleaner or All In One and remove less clear than regular polishing would.

The iron-removing chemicals can get off (ferrous) contamination that the claybar didn't completely remove (clay will often leave minute amounts of stuff down in the pores/etc. of the paint). I used to occasionally get recurrent "rust blooms" when I only clayed, but eliminated the problem for good when I used the chemical approach. But hey, if you don't have any ferrous contamination issues, then you don't need to use something that resolves those issues.

I would've pulled the wheels off and done the barrels and the backsides of the spokes too, but that's just me. The LSPed areas will stay a lot cleaner than the bare areas, but that only matters if it matters to *you*.

 

[Nav45]

If you do the washes right and avoid any touching between those washes, you shouldn't have to polish annually (I virtually *never* polish my vehicles, not for years on end). Whether or not you need to use a polish (well, at least an abrasive one) will depend on whether the paint needs any correction or not. If for some reason it needs worked on for other reasons (removing oxidation, stripping off "dead wax" artifacts, etc.) you can use a Paint Cleaner or All In One and remove less clear than regular polishing would.

The iron-removing chemicals can get off (ferrous) contamination that the claybar didn't completely remove (clay will often leave minute amounts of stuff down in the pores/etc. of the paint). I used to occasionally get recurrent "rust blooms" when I only clayed, but eliminated the problem for good when I used the chemical approach. But hey, if you don't have any ferrous contamination issues, then you don't need to use something that resolves those issues.

I would've pulled the wheels off and done the barrels and the backsides of the spokes too, but that's just me. The LSPed areas will stay a lot cleaner than the bare areas, but that only matters if it matters to *you*.

I was wondering about the annual polishing since I've seen some posts about it on the forums. I'm assuming this is something your alluding to - if you wash and maintain the car properly, there wouldn't be a need to polish. As far as rust, I don't see much of it on the car - just a few very small scratch specks.

Question about Fk1000P: Do you think using a spray wax after washes is a good idea when using this product? I'm assuming it is but you know more about this product than I. I actually tried the FK1000P last week but to be honest, I initially wasn't really happy with the looks. The gloss and depth seemed to be slightly muted. There was shine though. I have heard that over time, the product cures and might make it look better. So I'm going to try FK1000P again and see how it does. It did seem like a durable product though.

Thanks.

 

[Accumulator]

Nav45- I'm surprised that the FK1000P was lacking in gloss (unless you can I define "gloss" differently, which is possible), but not that it had muted depth. My take on it is that it's so shiny/reflective that it appears shallow, hence no real "fall into it..." type depth.

It usually does look a bit different after a day or two, but by now it looks the way it's gonna look. Huh...the idea that the gloss is muted sure has me scratching my head. I'm assuming the Final Polishing left it looking *great* even after any polishing oils were stripped away...

Eh, it's look just isn't everyone's cup of tea. I didn't (at least initially) like it on the metallic black Yukon I used to have, but the durability and protection were more important to me.

The closest I've come to using a Spray Wax on FK1000P was Garry Dean's Beyond Infinity Sealant (a wipe-on-walk-away LSP) and I only used that in the out-of-the-way areas like the trunk jamb/etc. No issues at all with that. I generally skip a spray wax (such as Meguiar's Ultimate Qwik Wax) because I don't want to risk messing up my ability to add more FK1000P and I don't know how compatible such products might be.


SoI just use FK425 or FK146 or Garry's Infinite Use Detail Juice ( "IUDJ", a rinseless wash that plays nice with all LSPs I've tried it on) as a drying aid, and I always use one of those unless I'm applying more FK1000P. They (especially perhaps the IUDJ) do seem to give it a little added pop.

Yeah, IMO the right wash/dry regimen (and avoidance of touching the paint between washes) can pretty much eliminate the need to polish. But there are just *so* many variables that you'll just have to see how it goes and what your Threshold of Acceptance turns out to be (no, vehicles don't have to be perfect...not unless *you* insist upon it).

Doesn't really sound like you need further decontamination IMO, but I can't help thinking that you might've done better to use the "ABC" approach back when you did the initial Big Job, instead of the clay. I'd just keep an eye on things and see how that goes as well (gets worse, decontaminate; doesn't, don't think about it).

 

[Ronkh]

Nav45- I'm surprised that the FK1000P was lacking in gloss (unless you can I define "gloss" differently, which is possible), but not that it had muted depth. My take on it is that it's so shiny/reflective that it appears shallow, hence no real "fall into it..." type depth.

.

Got a feeling that you hit it on the head. Not used to the shallow sealant look.

 

[Nav45]

Hey Accum, I am still learning the terminology so I should be careful when I use the words gloss, depth, shine, etc. I'm almost acting like I know what I'm talking about .

The shine and gloss (similar I think, right?) were fine under most conditions but the overall look was different from the other LSPs I've tried. I think the look was a little less "wet" and deep (again, I think I know what these generally mean). I may not have properly used the finishing polish before I applied the Fk1000P - not sure, but I will try it again. I was very pleasantly surprised when I over-applied the FK to the car's rear matte black diffuser and it came out really nice! It darkened it up quite a bit and made the faded trim look great. On one other area of trim on the car, it did not work so well though but overall, I was happy about that.

I want to use a durable LSP but one that also adds to the car's looks. The current LSP I have on is a spray sealant and while it does add to the look, I'm not sure how durable it is. I do have to be honest about the FK1000P though: it felt like a substantial product and something I think would be quite durable. I will try it again not far from now.

Good to know how you use the FK1000P. With a lot of the LSPs, many people use some sort of "booster" to maintain it. I'm wondering if this sort of thing is dependent on the type of LSP used or preference by the user? Maybe both?

I've seen some nice reviews on the IUDJ by you and some others so I'm interested in the product. I would use it as a rinseless wash mainly though. I will have to look into the ABC approach - thanks for the recommendations.

Regarding the FK1000P, you have mentioned that you just leave bird droppings on the car because the product provides protection against them. This is a great quality of the product. I've had bird droppings on the car the past two days. Yesterday, there was a larger dropping so I figured I would wash it and ended up washing the whole car. Today, there was another one and I was using my hand and fingernail to sort of wipe it away. Then I realized this might not be the best way to approach it so I just poured water over it and it came off.

Thanks.

 

[Accumulator]

Nav45- Yeah, the whole Detailing Terminology thing can be, uhm...problematic. IF the polishing is up to snuff, then all that's left is whether a LSP has the look that *you* want (or can at least live with).

You could always top the FK1000P with a wax if you simply can't stand the look. Will preclude adding more FK1000P though. Eh, even FK acknowledges that the look isn't right for everybody, they sell a "Pink Wax" just for topping it.

On the trim where the FK1000P didn't work too well, a pretreatment with Klasse All-In-One ("KAIO") can really help.

Regarding the IUDJ, it can be a fine line between "rinselss wash" and "quick detailer", all a matter of how you dilute it, and at QD-strength it definitely leaves plenty of [poly-whatever-it-is] behind, much like a "booster" product.

Glad to hear the FK1000P is protecing *your* paint from the birds same as it does mine. Probably best to not push that too much, but yeah it's nice that the guano doesn't immediately etch the clear. To get 'em off safely, I spritz IUJD onto a MF until it's pretty wet and gently press that against the dropping so it softens it (without getting the IUDJ everywhere as can happen if I just spray it). I also spritz a cotton swab. Then I *very gently* agitate the [crap] with the swab (if necessary to break it loose) and blot with a plush MF, first with the MF damp with IUDJ and then dry.