beginner needs help on detailing black car in pretty bad condition

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drdavidge

New member
hey, i posted a similiar thread before but the title was a little misleading... heres the deal:



as you can see..i have a bunch of nic's and scratches and i am new to detailing, so i dont know what to do about them. the paint is 8 years old, and it dosent look like it was cared for too much before i bought it. i drive on the highway a lot so i have a nice mess of chips on the front of my car. so basically...i havent done much yet detailing wise, so what do i do? i have this stuff lying in my garage:



- Meguires Gold Class Car wash/shampoo

- Meguires Quik Detailer

- Meguires Deep Crystal System:

1- Paint Cleaner

2- Polish

3- Carnauba Wax

- 3m Swirl Mark Remover (for dark)

- Mothers Showtime Instant Detailer

- Mothers Pure Carnauba Wax (phase 3)

- Some GS-27 (this **** actually worked for me on surface scratches a few times)



- And I have many new 100%cotton terry cloth towels (that leave white “towel dust� and shed on my black car..haha)

- some microfiber towels from the pakshack

- a 7 pack of wax applicators from pepboys.. it has 4 things that are 100% terry cloth cotton and 3 of the foam yellow round applicators

- And the absorber



How should these things be applied/taken off? I really have no idea...haha



here are some pics:



nasty_scratch_swirls.jpg


back_side.jpg


front_side.jpg


front_side2.jpg


nics.jpg


scratch.jpg




thanks for the help.
 
an autopia member, OUCH, replied to my previous thread with this suggestion using what i already have:



Hello there, NICs and Scratches (especially one that you could feel) will need touch up paint, you're not going to be able to remove them but "hiding them from the untrained eyes" should be possible with the proper tools.



Here's what I would do to your car.



1) Dawn wash the car...

2) Check for Contamination, Claybar the whole car..

3) Quick Detail the whole car or give it a quick wash.

4) Use Meguiar's Step 1

5) Quick Detail the car, and check for Contamination, Repeat Step 2 if needed.

6) Use 3M Swirl Mark Remover in areas where it's needed (Hood and Trunk) or the whole car

6) Use either Mothers Pure Carnuba Wax or Meguiar's Step 3 Carnuba Wax.



All of the steps above will be under shade, out of direct Sunlight. I'll work on a small area at a time. Applying the Solution with the pad, rubbing it in till dry or per instruction on the bottle and buffing out residue with the Microfiber or Terry towel that I have.



When removing swirls I will put a moderate amount of Polish on the pad, and then rub it on the surface using firm pressure (not too much that I put a dent on the hood) and back and forth motion till the polish is dry. Buffing off Residues with MF Towels



When using Wax I will use as lil as possible, apply it on the surface evenly give it an hour or 2 to cure depending on the temperature or humidity and then buff it off using a MF Towel..



Not sure if you could layer the Wax that you have, if you can then then I suggest doing it. But I'll wait 24 hours between each layers, and using Quick Detailer in between.



Good luck and don't forget to take pictures when you're done.
Click to expand...





what do you guys think? thanks again.
 
Nice image of spider webs in the first pic. I would agree with OUCH with the exception of a more aggressive polish/compound if the 3M SMR has no effect. Followed with a glaze or 3M SMR again and then wax.



Dave
 
Dont even bother with the dawn, everything you need to use will remove "whatever" is on your clear anyway.....



IMO:

Wash

clay

DACP

Glaze (your choice) maybe some Meg's # 7, Vanilla Moose etc...

Sealant, BF II, Platinum...

S100.....
 
the meguires DACP is a more aggressive polish right? and the meguires #7 show car glaze is good enough? im doing this by hand because i dont have a buffer and if i did i would be scared to use it cause i have no idea how to, haha. i saw cheap ones for $30..how are they?
 
also, im thinking of the claymagic blue bar for the clay..is that good? i hope pepboys carrys it, ihave $100 in giftcards for that place. otherwise, i know they have monthers and im not sure what else. i had the mothers one but it was really hard to knead and turn over and shape the way i wanted..i dunno. what do you guys reccomend?
 
IMO, you are either going to need a buffer to remove those swirls. Naturally you will be able to make them less noticeable, but inevitably it will be needed to take care of those.
 
hmm..do i really need one? i dont really have the money for it right now, im saving up for some rims/tires. i do have $100 in giftcards to pepboys though...do they sell them there?
 
i think im gonna do this tommroow...anything else i should know? or the answers to the questions i just asked before? do i really need a buffer?
 
drdavidge, did you read my reply to your previous thread?



Hand swirl removal is possible but labor intensive and very time consuming to do right. You can always sweat over it one section/panel a session as time permits. That way the work won't seem so overwhelming.



Strengthwise I think you'd be looking at DACP at the very least, but I'm not sure what else is "strong" that works by hand.... Maybe 3M Fine Cut Rubbing Compound?



You might want to search around for some threads about people not sure if they want to buy a PC or not. It can be a good purchase in the long run I think. (And no, I don't think Pepboys sells it.)
 
yes i read it, thanks for the reply. the swirls really dont LOOK as bad in person as they do in that picture, but i do know that they are still there. i really dont think i can afford a PC right now..is it that bad to do it by hand? maybe i should sell one of these pepboys giftcards...anyone wanna buy a $50 pepboys giftcard for $45 ? =) haha. what about those $30 craftsmen buffers..what do you guys thik about the cheaper ones?
 
I'd go at it with the SMR first before trying out the DACP (which you don't have on hand).



Don't worry about not being able to afford the Porter Cable. Try removing it by hand first. It will take some time though but you should be able make it look much better.



Work in a 2 foot by 2 foot area. Keep working it, and I do mean working it as 3M SMR can haze a bit if you don't work it well. Try doing a panel a day type thing. Work on the hold one day. Then next time you detail, do another one etc. That way you don't kill yourself trying to get it all done in one session.



No. 7 won't do anything for you. Speed Glaze by Meguiar's would be a nice choice though.



Scottwax is amazing at doing it by hand so it's not out of the realm of possibility.



Try saving up for the porter cable though ($10 bucks a week and in a couple of months, you'll saved up enough for one). Don't bother with the cheap random orbitals for 20-30 bucks etc.



You'll only kick yourself later for having spent the money on garbage. Trust me, do it by hand until you've saved up for the porter cable. Saving $10 a week is pretty easy and it only takes about 10 weeks before you can pick one up. As opposed to the $200 we have to pay up here in the great white north!
 
haha oh ok thanks. i have money but i want to buy my rims first..priorities, haha. how exactly do you apply the SMR and take it off? what kinda cloths/applicators also?



and also, what exactly does the glaze do and whats the difference between the showcar glaze (#7) and the speed glaze?
 
hey, i found this in a search, posted by carguy:



You didn't say if you were using 3M, Meguiar's #9, or Meguiar's #9 2.0. The last one is easy to get good results with by hand. The 1st two are not. These products have diminishing abrasives that start out coarse enough to actually remove micro-amounts of clear coat, to round out the edges of scratches or polish them out completely - but at this coarseness it can leave super-fine scratches which will appear as haze - especially on darker cars - and the extent depends upon upon the particular kind of paint. Most of us like to use SMR with the orbital, because the secret to success is to work it, work it, work it some more, and keep working it. This breaks down the abrasives until they are super-fine polishing compounds, which polish out the super-fine scratches you put in with the same stuff earlier.
Click to expand...



what do you guys think about that if im doing it by hand? can i rent a PC or something?
 
i just tried using the 3m SMR in a small spot and it seems like i introduced even more scratches...ehhh. what did i do wrong?
 
What did you use to apply it ?

Go with all cotton towel, cut in 1/2, then 1/2 again.....

Apply small amount and small section until it appears to have dried on you, then buff out with microfiber.....
 
oh..ok... i actually have like those applicators that are kinda like sponges wrapped in terry cloth cotton around it... can i use that? the white terry cloth cotton towels i have tend to leave like white "towel dust" on my black car..kinda like it sheds even though ive washed them before....ehhh.
 
It sounds like your towels are shedding. You can use the sponge/terry combo. Make sure there filthy clean b4 using though ! Those will work fine, you may find yourself using more product however....Just remember to work a small section until your use to the SMR results.....
 
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