detailing friends car tomorrow need tips

S

shinnster

New member
Here in atlanta it'll get about mid 50's tomorrow so i'm gonn help my friend detail his 2001 eclipse black.



It's got alot of swirls, waterspots, and debris in the paint.



I thought about washing, claying, polishing, then using class.



I figure i'll be able to clay in the morning start polishing then try to finish the polishing before it gets cold. I'm gonna use 3m smr for dark then try to top it off with ppcl. Also use 3m rubbing compound for the deep scratches.

I've never been able to polish really effectively so i'm needing some tips. I've read everything on autopia and cma, but i can't help but feel unprepaired. Well, i guess there always has to be a first time. Gonna take my time and try to polish everything so I'm guess a good 4 to 5 hours just polishing.



I hope Klasse will be ok even though it'll be on the cold side.

I'm not able to work in a garage so, if you guys can give me any tips that would put my anxieties at ease, i would really appreciate it.



Thanx
 
sounds cool, stick to your plan and post here, we'll be around all day tomorrow :)



only tip I can see at the moment (very sleepy ;)) is that you should use foam applicators. and maybe rewash before the Klasse.
 
Polishing by hand is kind of tricky at first. I got enough hazing on my black paint from 3M SMR the first time I used it that I nearly fainted when I took my car out into the sun and washed it. However, don't let this scare you too much, I got 90% of it out and next time I do it I'm pretty confident I won't get hazing.

Tricks I've picked up:

<ul class='bbc'>[*]Applicators - I really like the following applicators for polish application. They are firm and allow you to apply even pressure, which is very necessary to not cause little streaks of hazing from where your fingers are. If there is an Autozone in your area they may have it, otherwise a detail shop might have it. Keep an eye out. Here's a pic:



http://store5.yimg.com/I/tolae_1663_7356847

[*]Application - This is the biggie. I will attempt to explain my method here but please keep in mind I have only done this on one car so far so YMMV and pick up your own tricks! What worked for me may not work so well for you, paints respond differently to different things.



If the swirls are really bad, either use FI-II first (I have not used this) or use SMR and push in firmly for the first pass. Work it in firmly with an even back-front wind directional rubbing, and lighten up somewhat when the polish dries out. Keep rubbing when it dries out but very very gradually decrease your pressure. If the applicator starts squeaking spray some QD or add just a little bit more SMR there.



Keep in mind this is when the polish may be most abrasive. There are less lubricating oils to keep the abrasive particles off of your paint, so make sure you gradually lighten up. Figure to be rubbing for a while because this is not a very abrasive polish. I'd recommend doing the 'cutting' first and then worrying about getting rid of the hazing you may have just created.



This hazing should decrease quite a bit as you move along, but you probably won't be able to see it until the sun hits it just right. That's fine, you don't want to see it at all!



Next stage: finishing. You're done cutting so clean up the surface a bit with a generous application of QD and a very careful removal of polish that's on there. Don't worry about getting it 100% clean, you're not done yet.



Use a new applicator at this point (buy a few in case you drop any or they gunk up, I went through 5 for SMR but I'm clumsy and paranoid;)). Apply SMR to the pad and start working it in again. Don't rub hard at this point, you are just trying to do a good finishing up kind of polishing. Feel free to rub fast, you just might create a little extra heat (see BW's thread Breaking down abrasives with....), but make sure you apply it in the right direction just in the off chance you get grit or anything under your applicator.



Just keep going, lighter and lighter. Spray QD on the applicator and keep going lightly when the stuff dries up. You will know how lightly to do it when you do it, everyone finds their own preferences.



I'd highly recommend finishing with PPCL as you plan to -- it's great stuff! Make sure you get the surface very clean of SMR. A wash would be ideal, no need to detergent wash, just normal car soap should work fine. Mix a little Dawn in if you have a lot of residue and rinse your mitt often.



Rub the PPCL in more firmly than you finished up with the SMR, it isn't very abrasive. Go lighter and lighter as it goes on, do at least 2 applications, the first more firm than the second. Make sure the second one is perfect because you're now done![/list]
As far as heat goes, I'm spoiled with a nice climate here but if you need a bit of extra heat what I would do is get a couple of more cars and warm up the engines really well and run an electric fan (use caution outdoors..) pointing from their engine down the body of your car so it blows warmer air on the paint. Do this on both sides if need be. I've never tried it so this is just an idea ;).

HTH!
puterbum
 
Puter, I'm awed by the greatness of your post! Ah, to be young and indestructible! My arm would probably fall off if I tried something like that. :)



I think I'll try your technique sometime in the future, but only 1-2 panels/day!
 
Oh, by the way, good plan Shinnster. I think you'll be fine. The only thing I could suggest is that a lot of people here (like carguy) have had good results using Meguiar's Scratch-X for spot scratch removal. Rubbing compounds are "old school". They're better left for non-clearcoated cars.



After trying puterbum's excellent techniques, don't worry if you have any hazing left over. AIO, if you really work it in, will take care of any left over haze.



Also, like puterbum said, FI-2 would be a better choice to start with than 3M SMR. I've tried FI-2 which got rid of most swirls (and left a haze) but not all of them. People here have reported that it takes A LOT of elbow grease to get any results with 3M SMR (but it works well if applied by machine).
 
Yep, follow puterbum's great post! It would take a long time, but the results are worth it. Practice makes perfect!
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Intermezzo330I [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>People here have reported that it takes A LOT of elbow grease to get any results with 3M SMR (but it works well if applied by machine). [/b]</blockquote>Agreed! I spent over 50 hours washing, claying, washing, SMRing, SMRing, SMRing, SMRing, PPCL (X 2 or more) my car!

And yes, being young helped quite a bit! I worked straight through the night a few times doing this stuff, doing it in blocks of 15 hours or so, with breaks for eating if I remembered to :p.

I wasn't comfortable using FI-II on my car for various reasons, so I used the SMR to remove about ten years of swirls and scratches.
It did remove most minor swirls and rounded off the scratches you couldn't feel with your fingernail, but they are still there a bit.

I currently have SG * 3 on the car (going for 6 coats ;)) and I am noticing that it is filling in any hazing I stupidly missed as well as any swirls SMR left behind.

By the way, keep a close eye on your foam applicator! I was horrified to see a flake of metal a couple of millimeters wide on my pad at one point and watched it very closely afterwards. Yes, it came from the SMR.

:eek: puterbum
 
Yo Puter,



I slapped on my third coat of SG last night and my car continued to look better. Sometimes people say that you should layer SG till you are happy with the way it looks. However, I would amend that to "keep layering until the last coat didn't make your car look any better" because I've been very happy with how the car looked since the first coat. I noticed the swirl-filling abilities of SG as well. I wonder how our cars will look after 6 coats!
 
Your car will look even better after 6 coats. I pretty much always had 5-6 coats of Klasse SG on my car. Looked fantastic. Always had people, mostly strangers, asking me what I used on my car. You will also find that more layers will indeed give you some more swirl hiding benefits. Laters
 
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