(This thread can be moved to the review section, if needed.)
WOW !! What fun a PC can be.
I raced home from my morning errands (25K service on the Jetta) and broke out the supplies. After a thorough scrubbing of my wife's car (1996 Volvo 960) to get rid of a week's worth of construction debris from the Palmetto (lots of tar and crud), I pulled into the garage and dried thoroughly. After a little lunch and a dip in the pool to cool off, I clayed the trunk lid with Pinnacle PolyClay to a smooth finish. So far, so good. The trunk and roof are roughly (pun intended) in the same condition, so this is my comparison viewpoint.
I got ahold of my PC 7336 SP and pad kit from CMA along with the 3M SMR (dark formula) and Viper Detailing cloths. After buttering the yellow pad with SMR, I set the speed to "2" and went at it. It took a while to get used to the vibration (makes it difficult to type!), but soon got the rhythm down. I increased the speed to "6" towards the end. After wiping off the residue, I saw some pretty good improvement, but felt I still didn't have the technique right yet.
I put more SMR on the pad and reset the speed to "2" (gotta remember to do that!). This time I bared down a lot more and really worked it in. As the as the SMR began to haze (and the petroleum distillates began to smell stronger) I increased the speed to "6" and increased the amount of pressure so that the PC was really working hard (and heating up!)
By this time, I think I was really getting the hang of it. I noticed the SMR breaking down to a fine powder and began to lessen the pressure on each pass over the panel. By the 8th or 10th sweep, I was only guiding the machine and letting only the weight of it rest on the panel. I made 2 more sweeps and turned it off.
NOW I can see the difference! The trunk lid was not in too good a shape at all with many scratches, some of which I have no hopes in removing. But many of the other swirls and light scratches were either gone or significantly reduced.
I SMR'd 3 more times, and felt that I was at the point of deminishing returns. I'm still quite pleased with the results, and the scratches that still exist are much less noticeable. At this point, the finish is almost as smooth as glass. I'd gone from a point where I could only see the glow of a lightbulb in the ceiling to reading that it's a 100 watt bulb from Sylvania. Pretty respectable, I think. :xyxthumbs
I moved on to the P21S Paint Cleansing Lotion with a white pad and did 2 sets of that, using the same technique as above. After buffing, I noticed that the scratches that remained are more rounded over and smooth. Much, much better.
On to another white pad and Klasse AIO. Just one set of this using the same technique as above. And finally, 1 set of Klasse SG, once again, using the same technique as above.
While waiting for the SG to set up, I'm in here exercising the fingers and posting my results. The time's up so, off to put on a wool pad and Viper MF Bonnet and buff it out. Then out into whatever sun is left to see how my handiwork turned out and to take some photos (which I'll have to develop and scan (unless someone wants to donate a digital to me (hint, hint))).
Not only that, but I think that the wife is only partially peeved at me for the expense, since her car is looking a lot better. At least I hope so !!
I'll add more afterwards, as dark is only 2 hours away, so I don't think I'll get much farther tonight. I still have to figure out how to wash the pads, too.
Continuation:
I put on the wool pad and one of the Viper MF bonnets and buffed off the SG. I noticed that there were some areas where it didn't want to come off easily, but a few shots of detail spray and the PC on full speed, I was able to buff everything to a really nice gloss.
The roof will be my next target and if there's time remaining tomorrow, then I'll add another layer of SG to the trunk lid. The rest of the panels will have to wait for next weekend. I also want to at least have an hour to wash my car, too!
I rinsed out my soap & rinse buckets and made up a new solution of PowerWash+ to wash out the pads. Since the SMR pad had been out the longest, I started with that. I am using the dark color formula, so the yellow pad was really dark gray. A few moments scrubbing produced a nice clean pad. After rinsing well and squezzing out as much water as I could, I reattached the pad to the PC and at the highest setting proceeded to get my belly wet from the spray. This worked really well, but left the center of the pad still a little wet. After about an hour, they were completely dry.
My last thing to do was to wash all my towels. Interesting experiment/hint that seems to work well for me. I add 1 full scoop of OxyClean and 1 quarter scoop of Tide Free to the washer (Hot wash/Cold rinse with an extra rinse cycle) and find that it does a fatastic job of getting rid of all dirt, polish, etc. Give it a shot. The 6 lb bucket we bought for $20 at Costco has lasted us over a year. We use it for primarily washing the tile floors in our house, but it has a lot of other uses, too.
Sorry for the long post, but like with my first time Klasse experience, I got carried away!
WOW !! What fun a PC can be.
I raced home from my morning errands (25K service on the Jetta) and broke out the supplies. After a thorough scrubbing of my wife's car (1996 Volvo 960) to get rid of a week's worth of construction debris from the Palmetto (lots of tar and crud), I pulled into the garage and dried thoroughly. After a little lunch and a dip in the pool to cool off, I clayed the trunk lid with Pinnacle PolyClay to a smooth finish. So far, so good. The trunk and roof are roughly (pun intended) in the same condition, so this is my comparison viewpoint.
I got ahold of my PC 7336 SP and pad kit from CMA along with the 3M SMR (dark formula) and Viper Detailing cloths. After buttering the yellow pad with SMR, I set the speed to "2" and went at it. It took a while to get used to the vibration (makes it difficult to type!), but soon got the rhythm down. I increased the speed to "6" towards the end. After wiping off the residue, I saw some pretty good improvement, but felt I still didn't have the technique right yet.
I put more SMR on the pad and reset the speed to "2" (gotta remember to do that!). This time I bared down a lot more and really worked it in. As the as the SMR began to haze (and the petroleum distillates began to smell stronger) I increased the speed to "6" and increased the amount of pressure so that the PC was really working hard (and heating up!)
By this time, I think I was really getting the hang of it. I noticed the SMR breaking down to a fine powder and began to lessen the pressure on each pass over the panel. By the 8th or 10th sweep, I was only guiding the machine and letting only the weight of it rest on the panel. I made 2 more sweeps and turned it off.
NOW I can see the difference! The trunk lid was not in too good a shape at all with many scratches, some of which I have no hopes in removing. But many of the other swirls and light scratches were either gone or significantly reduced.
I SMR'd 3 more times, and felt that I was at the point of deminishing returns. I'm still quite pleased with the results, and the scratches that still exist are much less noticeable. At this point, the finish is almost as smooth as glass. I'd gone from a point where I could only see the glow of a lightbulb in the ceiling to reading that it's a 100 watt bulb from Sylvania. Pretty respectable, I think. :xyxthumbs
I moved on to the P21S Paint Cleansing Lotion with a white pad and did 2 sets of that, using the same technique as above. After buffing, I noticed that the scratches that remained are more rounded over and smooth. Much, much better.
On to another white pad and Klasse AIO. Just one set of this using the same technique as above. And finally, 1 set of Klasse SG, once again, using the same technique as above.
While waiting for the SG to set up, I'm in here exercising the fingers and posting my results. The time's up so, off to put on a wool pad and Viper MF Bonnet and buff it out. Then out into whatever sun is left to see how my handiwork turned out and to take some photos (which I'll have to develop and scan (unless someone wants to donate a digital to me (hint, hint))).
Not only that, but I think that the wife is only partially peeved at me for the expense, since her car is looking a lot better. At least I hope so !!
I'll add more afterwards, as dark is only 2 hours away, so I don't think I'll get much farther tonight. I still have to figure out how to wash the pads, too.
Continuation:
I put on the wool pad and one of the Viper MF bonnets and buffed off the SG. I noticed that there were some areas where it didn't want to come off easily, but a few shots of detail spray and the PC on full speed, I was able to buff everything to a really nice gloss.
The roof will be my next target and if there's time remaining tomorrow, then I'll add another layer of SG to the trunk lid. The rest of the panels will have to wait for next weekend. I also want to at least have an hour to wash my car, too!
I rinsed out my soap & rinse buckets and made up a new solution of PowerWash+ to wash out the pads. Since the SMR pad had been out the longest, I started with that. I am using the dark color formula, so the yellow pad was really dark gray. A few moments scrubbing produced a nice clean pad. After rinsing well and squezzing out as much water as I could, I reattached the pad to the PC and at the highest setting proceeded to get my belly wet from the spray. This worked really well, but left the center of the pad still a little wet. After about an hour, they were completely dry.
My last thing to do was to wash all my towels. Interesting experiment/hint that seems to work well for me. I add 1 full scoop of OxyClean and 1 quarter scoop of Tide Free to the washer (Hot wash/Cold rinse with an extra rinse cycle) and find that it does a fatastic job of getting rid of all dirt, polish, etc. Give it a shot. The 6 lb bucket we bought for $20 at Costco has lasted us over a year. We use it for primarily washing the tile floors in our house, but it has a lot of other uses, too.
Sorry for the long post, but like with my first time Klasse experience, I got carried away!
, so my solution was to spread the ompound around at 2, and move to 5. and it left a supper glossy swirl free finish.