My first attempt: 2000 Cougar (the sacrificial lamb)

S

skoles

New member
My car had developed some swirls and fine scratches lately due to some neglect on my part. I've had several people hit me within the year (most hit & go dings) and the desire to do a proper cleaning on it wasn't there since a shiny car just makes dents & dings show worse.



When I don't wash it by hand I take it to a touchless wash and it does a good job. Products I used by hand are:



Meguiar's Gold Class Wash

Meguiar's Claybar

Meguiar's Step 1 Paint Cleaner (or Gold Class Medallion cleaner)

Meguiar's Step 2 Polish

Meguiar's #26 paste wax

Meguiar's High Endurance tire shine



So yea, obviously I'm a fan of Meguiar's products. They worked rather well with the PC except for the GC Medallion paint cleaner which didn't seem to do much (the Step 1 did better). The Polish and #26 wax both went on beautifully but I know it could be better with the proper cleaners.



The Step 1 got about 80% of the swirls, scratches & water spots out. It was probably a combination of my first time and not a hard enough compound to get the remaining 20%. I was going too fast and would catch myself and take my time. I kept the speed on 1 & 2 as to not possibly cause damage.



For a first time I'm happy with it knowing it can only look better as I gain experience. The paint has always been healthy so the car itself feels smoother than glass right now. I only wish it didn't rain 30min after I pulled into the garage (Sunday) and it's been raining since. Tomorrow it's gonna break so I'll get some better outdoor pics.



Sorry for the small, grainy pics. I could only find my 4mb memory stick so I had limited space.



Just a wash & clay:

clayed.jpeg




After the Step 1:

cleaner.jpeg




Waxed shots:

finished.jpeg


finished2.jpeg


finished3.jpeg




No macro shots :( They came out too blurry cause my camera is just old and sucks in low light. You can check out some photos from when I washed & detailed it by hand by clicking here.



I'm gonna do some friends & families cars to pratice on. They said they'd tip well :)



- 2005 VW Beetle convert.

- 1999 Ford Expedition

- 1999 Taurus Wagon

- 2003 Dodge Ram
 
I'd say it was a good initial job. By keeping the speed of the PC so low you reduced its effectiveness though.
 
ScubaStevo said:
Ya, I was just about to say, running the PC at 1 or 2 won't do ANYTHING really. Bump it up to at least 4-5.
Click to expand...



Quoted for emphasis. Keeping it at such low speeds won't allow the PC to remove swirls.



Pretty nice looking car and it has a really nice wet look in the after shots. :2thumbs:
 
Thanks. So you think I'd get better results with the Step 1 had I used it at a much higher speed? Or should I order a better cutting compound and go from there instead?



Makes me wanna start over again and see how that'll look :).
 
i dont really think you can harm the paint even at speed 6 on the pc...you def should crank it up faster than 1-2. Work the polish until it's almost gone/dusty..should help with your swirls a lot. I can't believe you even got any out honestly at those speeds. car looks pretty good tho!
 
I'm new to the PC but I'm thinking that at the low speeds, the polish acted more like a cleaner and would have had a more dramatic effect at faster speeds.
 
Lightman said:
i dont really think you can harm the paint even at speed 6 on the pc...you def should crank it up faster than 1-2. Work the polish until it's almost gone/dusty..should help with your swirls a lot. I can't believe you even got any out honestly at those speeds. car looks pretty good tho!
Click to expand...



Ya, I don't want to sound like a complete *** here, but what ever he "removed" were probably just filled in by the oils in that crystal junk. Its a good product when you're just a beginner and doing it by hand, but with a PC, you should step up to some real products.
 
No you're probably right. The products I used weren't the best compared to the stuff some of you here special order. But I wanted to see how well the products I was familiar with faired when using the PC.



Today in the sun the car looks excellent and you really have to look to find any swirls. I washed it this morning since I drove in the rain yesterday and everything seemed to hold up minus some deep scraches that were gone at first, but seemed more apparent in the sun. They are deep, and like it was stated I didn't go long enough or anywhere as fast with the PC.



It was the first try and I was hesitant about going all gung-ho on it. In a few weeks I'll hit it again properly tho.
 
I'd get some Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze to remove the swirls, it finishes down very well and you can go straight to #26.
 
Please don't be discouraged, you did a good job. It's just that the PC offers so much more when the speed is turned up............and here I am offering advice, like I'm a pro. NOT! :waxing:
 
Unless you actualy lost it (which I doubt from seeing the other mods), the best thing you could do to make your car look better is put the centercaps back on. It doesn't make them look "cooler" to take them off. It just looks like they are missing. I don't get why people do this.



Just some advice...
 
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