Car is a 2007 Acura MDX, Nimbus Grey Metallic. Car purchased car at the end of Dec. 2006. Cold weather precluded detailing until the first week of March though I did wash it a couple of times at touch-less car wash to remove some salt and road gunk.
I did quite a bit of research here and decided to seal, and protect paint with Jeff Werkstatt products. Specifically, Prime: Acrylic and Acrylic Jett: Trigger. (I think) I read where the products were easier to apply with a temperature above 70 degrees, so at the first sign of 70 degrees I set off to do my and the car’s first detail. Unfortunately, it was during the middle of the week and I was limited to detailing the car after work that left me with about 1 to 2 hours of good sunlight with which to do the work.
Monday after work:
Washed car with Meguiars Gold Class Car shampoo using two-bucket method. Also used the rinse method where you take the nozzle off the hose and rinse the car letting the water sheet off instead of having to dry off all of the water beads.
Tuesday after work:
Clayed with Clay Magic – The Perfect Finish Kit. Picked this kit up at Auto Zone for $10. It includes a light abrasive clay and lube. It was just the right amount of lube to complete the car. I purchased a second kit in case I dropped the clay on the ground. It was well after 10:00 PM when I finished. I brought a bunch of lamps from the house into the garage to try to compensate for the lack of light. I was amazed at the amount of stuff that came off the paint and onto the clay. This was after all a two-month old, freshly washed car! The gunk appeared to have an orange color.
Wednesday after work:
Washed the car again to get any clay residue off the paint. Began application of Prime: Acrylic by hand. Completed about half the car. Used a foam applicator and it worked well although it was a LOT of work to get it off with microfiber towel. I can only assume the reason was it was so difficult was because the temperature was around 70 degrees.
Thursday after work:
Completed application of Prime: Acrylic and completed first application of Acrylic Jett: Trigger. Used a microfiber towel to apply AJ, which I think was a mistake. The MF seemed to absorb most of the AJ. I think next time I will use a foam pad to apply AJ.
Friday at lunch:
Completed second coat of AJ in a downtown garage. The second coat really made the paint slick, shiny and wet. I heartily recommend to anyone using these products to use at least two coats of AJ.
Saturday morning:
Vacuumed carpet. Treated external plastic with gel-EXTENDED LIFE NEW LOOK TRIM & TIRE GEL and tires with original Armor All. The orginal Armor All was suggested in a post from scottwax. I spayed the Armor All on, waited 15 minutes and then wiped it with a shop towel. The Armor All looked good – a mat finish with zero sling. Also, cleaned glass and plastic lenses with Stoners Invisible Glass.
I am very pleased with the results. The car looks great! It is very shiny and slick and I am confident that with regular washings and an occasional coat of AJ, it will continue to look good and remain protected for six months or so.
I do have a couple of questions:
1. When I look at the hood in the sunlight, I see some cloudy areas – areas that are not as clear as others are. It looks like there is a fog underneath or within the sealant. It affects about 15% of the hood area. What likely caused these cloudy areas and what can I do to fix them in the future?
2. There is some apparent orange peal on the paint. Reflections from surface of the paint, instead of being like that of a mirror, have some distortion in them as if the paint is not perfectly smooth - instead the paint appears slightly rough like that of an orange peal. You might be able to make this out by looking at the reflection in the open door picture below. How can this be fixed?
Much thanks to those of you who share your expertise here!
I have attached a few pictures, though they do not do the car justice.
RR
I did quite a bit of research here and decided to seal, and protect paint with Jeff Werkstatt products. Specifically, Prime: Acrylic and Acrylic Jett: Trigger. (I think) I read where the products were easier to apply with a temperature above 70 degrees, so at the first sign of 70 degrees I set off to do my and the car’s first detail. Unfortunately, it was during the middle of the week and I was limited to detailing the car after work that left me with about 1 to 2 hours of good sunlight with which to do the work.
Monday after work:
Washed car with Meguiars Gold Class Car shampoo using two-bucket method. Also used the rinse method where you take the nozzle off the hose and rinse the car letting the water sheet off instead of having to dry off all of the water beads.
Tuesday after work:
Clayed with Clay Magic – The Perfect Finish Kit. Picked this kit up at Auto Zone for $10. It includes a light abrasive clay and lube. It was just the right amount of lube to complete the car. I purchased a second kit in case I dropped the clay on the ground. It was well after 10:00 PM when I finished. I brought a bunch of lamps from the house into the garage to try to compensate for the lack of light. I was amazed at the amount of stuff that came off the paint and onto the clay. This was after all a two-month old, freshly washed car! The gunk appeared to have an orange color.
Wednesday after work:
Washed the car again to get any clay residue off the paint. Began application of Prime: Acrylic by hand. Completed about half the car. Used a foam applicator and it worked well although it was a LOT of work to get it off with microfiber towel. I can only assume the reason was it was so difficult was because the temperature was around 70 degrees.
Thursday after work:
Completed application of Prime: Acrylic and completed first application of Acrylic Jett: Trigger. Used a microfiber towel to apply AJ, which I think was a mistake. The MF seemed to absorb most of the AJ. I think next time I will use a foam pad to apply AJ.
Friday at lunch:
Completed second coat of AJ in a downtown garage. The second coat really made the paint slick, shiny and wet. I heartily recommend to anyone using these products to use at least two coats of AJ.
Saturday morning:
Vacuumed carpet. Treated external plastic with gel-EXTENDED LIFE NEW LOOK TRIM & TIRE GEL and tires with original Armor All. The orginal Armor All was suggested in a post from scottwax. I spayed the Armor All on, waited 15 minutes and then wiped it with a shop towel. The Armor All looked good – a mat finish with zero sling. Also, cleaned glass and plastic lenses with Stoners Invisible Glass.
I am very pleased with the results. The car looks great! It is very shiny and slick and I am confident that with regular washings and an occasional coat of AJ, it will continue to look good and remain protected for six months or so.
I do have a couple of questions:
1. When I look at the hood in the sunlight, I see some cloudy areas – areas that are not as clear as others are. It looks like there is a fog underneath or within the sealant. It affects about 15% of the hood area. What likely caused these cloudy areas and what can I do to fix them in the future?
2. There is some apparent orange peal on the paint. Reflections from surface of the paint, instead of being like that of a mirror, have some distortion in them as if the paint is not perfectly smooth - instead the paint appears slightly rough like that of an orange peal. You might be able to make this out by looking at the reflection in the open door picture below. How can this be fixed?
Much thanks to those of you who share your expertise here!
I have attached a few pictures, though they do not do the car justice.
RR
