SpoiledMan
New member
Got a message from a fellow member that had just picked up a new Subaru STi in my favorite color. He wanted to get his car cleaned up and sealed as well as learn how to wash it so that he didn't put more swirls/scratches in it. There's nothing like an owner that has genuine interest in keeping their car looking it's best.
My thoughts prior to seeing this car were that it couldn't be that bad as it was new(not much more than 1k miles) and he's only washed it once.
So much for that! It was obvious that the dealer had "detailed" it prior to delivery and that his washing wasn't so much the problem after all. This was going to require two steps of polishing to truly make it look like a new car. By the time I finished it was also obvious that lighting wasn't going to let me get any decent after shots:
So I came back 10 days later for a wash:
Beading:
All dry! Man does this car ever hold a ton of water in the cracks and crevices. There much have been a quart of water in the rear spoiler alone! The paint was slick and shedding water like crazy.
The badging that could be removed was removed by myself and the owner.
Paint was lightly compounded with LC Foamed Wool and IP on the rotary. Polished with 106ff/5" orange pad and UDM. Cleaned and prepped for PGP with PPP using a white finishing pad on the UDM and then sealed with PGP. Tires were dressed with Hyper Dressing 2.5:1.
My best attempt at a sun shot. The sun kept coming and going and was more often than not also partially covered by clouds. Trust when I say that the paint on this car is right!
When you have this view it makes time just fly by!
Subie Evil Eye....
Nice and sharp reflections:
Debadged:
Proud and happy owner.
The red Cadi that can be seen in the background pics will be up for a refreshing in the coming weeks. It should make for some pretty good before and after shots.
Thanks for looking and post away any questions you might have.
My thoughts prior to seeing this car were that it couldn't be that bad as it was new(not much more than 1k miles) and he's only washed it once.
So much for that! It was obvious that the dealer had "detailed" it prior to delivery and that his washing wasn't so much the problem after all. This was going to require two steps of polishing to truly make it look like a new car. By the time I finished it was also obvious that lighting wasn't going to let me get any decent after shots:
So I came back 10 days later for a wash:
Beading:
All dry! Man does this car ever hold a ton of water in the cracks and crevices. There much have been a quart of water in the rear spoiler alone! The paint was slick and shedding water like crazy.
The badging that could be removed was removed by myself and the owner.
Paint was lightly compounded with LC Foamed Wool and IP on the rotary. Polished with 106ff/5" orange pad and UDM. Cleaned and prepped for PGP with PPP using a white finishing pad on the UDM and then sealed with PGP. Tires were dressed with Hyper Dressing 2.5:1.
My best attempt at a sun shot. The sun kept coming and going and was more often than not also partially covered by clouds. Trust when I say that the paint on this car is right!
When you have this view it makes time just fly by!
Subie Evil Eye....
Nice and sharp reflections:
Debadged:
Proud and happy owner.
The red Cadi that can be seen in the background pics will be up for a refreshing in the coming weeks. It should make for some pretty good before and after shots.
Thanks for looking and post away any questions you might have.
I think the reason it looked so bad was the result of the dealer prep (I use that term loosely) than anything the owner had done to it as the shot below shows buffer trails. This paint corrects like putting a hot knife through warm butter but did have RIDS that made the wool step necessary. I spent about 10 hours total on it.