My first detail was a failure... PICS!

N

nooboob

New member
Theres alot of typos and syntax errors in this post, but I am waaay to tired to edit... I couldn't sleep last night; I was as giddy as a kid during the first day of camp the previous night and I only got about 2 hours of sleep...



Woke up at 6 a.m. with a smile on my face, thinking about finally getting a chance to detail the damn car. It was a bit cold... I'd say around 70 degrees or so. Sun wasn't up yet, so it was perfeccct...



Anyways, got started... Did everything by the book. (2 buckets, etc). First used Meguiars APC on the rims, scrubbed those suckers using those green scotch-guard pads; looked pretty good.



Then I got started on the actual wash using Optimum Car Wash. Everything going pretty good so far... Suns showing up though.



Then I got started on the clay. (Meguiars clay + Meguairs quick detail lubricant) Claying the whole damn car seemed impossible... It worked somewhat decently removing some of the water-spots on the car. I only went by a few sections that felt like they needed to by clayed. Spent about an hour claying. I was feeling lots of "particles" on the surface of the paint, but I was assuming those were water spots and not dirt or dust, so I saved the rough areas for the polish.



By this time, the sun was fully up and it was starting to get hot.



Then came the part where I was disappointed. I used a PC 7424 on speed 6 with orange pads and Optiumum Poli-Seal as my polish. Now... I spent about 3 hours polishing only the right side of my freaking car. (The right side had the most waterspots). It was to no avail...



I had most of the successs with the window, but that was about it. All the other waterspots just seemed to "dull" a bit, but was still apparently showing... mocking me. I got frusterated and kept polishing but the damn thing wouldn't remove the watermarks or the swirls....



By then it was already sunny and gave up. (It's currently 83 degrees)



Because of the sun being up and it's 12:00 (I spent about 6 hours... only to lead up to polishing one section of my car) I gave up on it.



Now, was it because of the heat that was protecting the waterspots, or was it because of the weakness of the orange pad and the Poli-Seal? I noticed that the heat "cakes" the polish faster, so that might of had SOME effect. Should I go with a tougher compound and pad or what?



I also noticed after I was done, my rotors were piss yellow colored. I'm guessing its calcium deposits from the water? I'm assuming it will go away after driving right?



I also noticed that my orange pad had a slight red tinge to it... Since my car is red, did my pad just scrape some of my paint off?



Heres some pics... Please review and give me some pointers.



















 
"Now, was it because of the heat that was protecting the waterspots, or was it because of the weakness of the orange pad and the Poli-Seal? I noticed that the heat "cakes" the polish faster, so that might of had SOME effect. Should I go with a tougher compound and pad or what?"



Poli-seal isn't a major correcting polish. You will need something much stronger to remove the water spots which have etched your paint. I recommend Menzerna Super Intensive Polish (medium polish), or Meguiars M95(compound) with your orange pad



"I also noticed after I was done, my rotors were piss yellow colored. I'm guessing its calcium deposits from the water? I'm assuming it will go away after driving right?"



It is just surface rust and it will go away after you have braked a few times.



"I also noticed that my orange pad had a slight red tinge to it... Since my car is red, did my pad just scrape some of my paint off?"



Your car is probably single stage paint which means there is no clear coat, so when you polish you are actually polishing the paint"coat" which is why you see red paint. This is ok.
 
keep your chin up there buddy. It takes practice and a lot of trial and error. Not sure of all the conditions but I would think you rushed through some of your process and probably mismatch some of you products and maybe the wrong expectations. Orange pad might have been necessary but I wouldn't expect poli-seal to correct to much . It's a good cleaner with good sealant but it's extremely mild, even for some tough water spots. I've done 6-8 different cars now with my PC. Still an amateur by far. I've been challenged on some cars and then pleased on the next using the same approach for both. some red paint on your pad? is your paint original or OEM single stage? it's normal for it show a little on your pad if so?
 
Thanks for the help GTPAUL.



i will check out this M95... Hope it cuts through.



gmblack3a said:
type and year of car?
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'03 Infiniti G35



NCZ13 said:
dont use scotch bright pads to clean your wheels!!!!!!!!



i cringed when i read that
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why not? what would you recommend instead?
 
nooboob said:
'03 Infiniti G35





why not? what would you recommend instead?
Click to expand...



G35s are not a single step paint. Most likely you might have gotten to an area that might have touched up and not recleared. I would definately be a bit cautious as this also sometimes indicates you striked through the clear coat.



Not Scotchbrite pads! Haha; those will marr the rims. You need to use a wheel cleaner tool specifically for the job like this:



eShine Canada: EZ Detail Auto Brush



Although with a good APC; all you will need is some gentle aggitation with a MF wash mitt to remove the residue. G35 rims are also clear coated so that Scotch Brite pad probably heavily marred/removed some CC. I would do a quick polish on them as well.



Edit:



Wow; your G35 seems like it was driven through a horrible sap storm. Those are all water spots?
 
G35s are not a single step paint. Most likely you might have gotten to an area that might have touched up and not recleared. I would definately be a bit cautious as this also sometimes indicates you striked through the clear coat.



I have no idea what you just said ever since the start of that sentence... Sorry, no clue what single step paint is or what you mean by "touched up and not recleared."





Not Scotchbrite pads! Haha; those will marr the rims. You need to use a wheel cleaner tool specifically for the job like this:



A wheel cleaner... gotcha. It just seemed to me that the rims were... just rims.



I'll probably be picking up one of these: Mothers Wheel Brush makes cleaning your wheels more comfortable with a rubberized grip. Clean your wheels with Mothers Car Care Products!



Seems pretty darn cheap compared to them EZ ones.



Although with a good APC; all you will need is some gentle aggitation with a MF wash mitt to remove the residue. G35 rims are also clear coated so that Scotch Brite pad probably heavily marred/removed some CC. I would do a quick polish on them as well.



Hm... I will polish them once I get my new crap. For the rims, Orange pad + Poli-Seal sound like a good combo, or should I go with something lighter? How do I use the machine to get into the curves of the rims? Do I need to take off the pad and do it by hand?



Wow; your G35 seems like it was driven through a horrible sap storm. Those are all water spots?



Yep... Those are 100% water spots. No sap.
 
nooboob said:
A wheel cleaner... gotcha. It just seemed to me that the rims were... just rims.



I'll probably be picking up one of these: Mothers Wheel Brush makes cleaning your wheels more comfortable with a rubberized grip. Clean your wheels with Mothers Car Care Products!
Click to expand...





For my rims, I just use an old toothbrush on the real dirty areas. Works just as well as the wheel brushes. Wheel cleaner is best bet. I got the Pepboys brand wheel cleaner on sale for 99 cents for a 32 oz bottle. I was pleasantly surprised it works just as well as the Meguiars Hot rims cleaner I have always used.
 
Also, when you feel a rough surface you should clay that area even more until it is smooth again and not skip it for the polishing.



Polishing a rough area will not remove all the bonded contamination it will just pass over it.



You should clay the whole car then polish the whole car.



Keep practicing and soon enough your car will be show ready.:bigups



Josh
 
[quote name='nooboob']G35s are not a single step paint. Most likely you might have gotten to an area that might have touched up and not recleared. I would definately be a bit cautious as this also sometimes indicates you striked through the clear coat.



I have no idea what you just said ever since the start of that sentence... Sorry, no clue what single step paint is or what you mean by "touched up and not recleared."
older cars used a single stage to paint cars. it has only paint and usually oxidizes when not taken car of. it is very common to see paint transfer from the car surface to pad with single stage paint.



newer cars use base coat/clear coat. or 2 stage paint. the first stage is pigment, paint color. the second stage is a clear that provides the shine and protection and is what your car most likely has.



if it was ever repainted, it might not have clear reapplied. or if you burn through the clear, meaning you removed the second layer of of the 2 stage process, you will see this happen.



i have seen some cars that have paint tranfer on a 2 stage when it has been damaged by the elements or previous detail hack job



sorry for misspellings (is that even a word?) i am running and 45 mins sleep in 48 hours.
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You might want to wash the car down again, dilluting the wash solution by half using vinegar, that will help soften the water spots.



Poli-Seal is more of a finishing polish than a correction polish. You will need to use at least Optimum Compound or Meguiars #83 DACP with the orange pad and maybe even more aggressive like gtpaul's #95 suggestion.
 
Thanks for the help guys... Need to wait for several days for the products to come home now... damnation.



I was thinking about ordering this for cleaning the wheels. What do you guys think? It's a fender brush, but do you guys think it's safe enough to use on the wheels? Mothers Fender Well Brush cleans wheel wells beneath the car's fenders. Fender Well Brush has a long handle to scrub behind wheels and tires.



For the rims, Orange pad + Poli-Seal sound like a good combo, or should I go with something lighter? How do I use the machine to get into the curves of the rims? Do I need to take off the pad and do it by hand?
 
nooboob said:
For the rims, Orange pad + Poli-Seal sound like a good combo, or should I go with something lighter? How do I use the machine to get into the curves of the rims? Do I need to take off the pad and do it by hand?
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Just pickup a foam or microfiber applicator pad and apply the poli seal by hand.
 
waterlessdetail said:
Hey....you tried...no failure in trying..
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:bigupsDamn right! You did right by starting with the least aggressive method. Now you need to bump up the abrasiveness of your polish. A good option can be Optimum Polish, and if that doesn't work, go to Optimum Compound with orange pad. Let me show you how a pad used in single stage paint looks like



SANY0404.jpg




The one on the left is supposed to be a orange pad, and the right one is a white one, so what happened to your pad is that "maybe" you went through the car's clear coat:nervous2:
 
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