Neglected Camry, need advice!

M

Mr.Dan

New member
This car belongs to my uncle, it is a 96 Camry with approx 220k km on the odo. He isn't here half the year, so let's just say he doesn't really care about the condition of the paint. Since he is away right now, i borrowed his car and practice some techniques with my PC.



I've never worked on a car with this bad of a paint conditioni before. Here is a shot under the sun...







Here is a shot in the garage where i'll be detailing it in:







I jumped to using OC with a LC Orange pad, figuring the polish and white pad won't take out those types of swirl. Applying pressure to the PC and go as slow as i can, on speed 6. This is the best i can do...







A close-up:







As you can see, there are some scratches that i just couldn't take out. At one point, i even tried to use a yellow pad with OC (The only compound i have), but that didn't do much except for creating a lot of haze, which i eventually took out using OP.



To me, it looks MUCH better already, but i don't consider this as an "extreme makeover". Am i reaching its limit on the PC, and need to use a rotary to take the remaining scratches out? Or should i keep going at it and work on my technique. I find that using speed 6 on the PC gets tiring and lose focus on my pressure and passes.



Sorry for the long post, any help is much appreciated!!
 
You can do it. Your obviously going to have to put some additional time into it with Orange and OC, or swap to something a little stronger. Those should be able to come out. Vast improvement though! Looks a hell of a lot better!

3 passes, overlap 1/2-2/3, work on a smaller area would be my first bit of advice.......
 
I would recommend using your Yellow pad with the OC to help knock out the deeper swirl marks. It may cause some hazing but thats because it cutting deeper. Make sure your working the OC long enough for the abrasives in it to break down when using the yellow pad, that should help eliminate some hazing. Afterwards I would recommend OP on an Orange Pad to clear up the hazing.



If that doesn't work I would invest in some OHC or something similar. Ive never used OC to compare it to OHC, but I can personally attest to the fact that OHC works very well in correcting more serious paint defects.
 
About working the product in...



I noticed OC doesn't dust like other polishes do, and it seems like it never goes clear. Does the picture below look like the products been broken down?







Thanks for the encourgement. I guess i'll keep trying
 
I just got done doing a Camery also 1998 that was horrible.



I used OHC and a yellow pad first and it took out most of the swirls and scratches. From your picture above (and i'm no pro) but i would have worked it a few more passes just for good measure since Opt polishes done dust.
 

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Looking at your pics, Mr. Dan, I would say that it could definitely stand to be worked a little longer. Make sure you polish going both up and down and left and right also.



Mach30SiR, my experience with OHC has been very comparable to what you were able to accomplish. Nice work!!
 
what is ohc? can someone help me. i've managed to understand the other abreviations but i can't get this one down. thanks.
 
and it could be applied by pc? it's a compound? doesnt' ti take a long time to break down a compound using a pc? or is this product possible to break down but has strong cutting capabilites.





thanks for that awsome link. :usa
 
I use OHC with a PC with great results. You will have to work it in longer than you would with a rotary, but you still get outstanding results. IIRC OHC is a diminishing abrasive that breaks down from from shear friction alone. You will definitely have to go over the car again with something finer like OP or FPII though, because it does leave some hazing behind.
 
and you woudl use this for major scratches and deep swirls? such as things the meguires #83 or poorboys ssr 2.5 woudl not be able to remove?



btw, is the poor boys ssr 3 the same as the OHC? or rather. an equivalnt? or is the OHC used exclusivly for the rotary.
 
SSR 3 is not the same as OHC, dusts more and hazes more and cut is very similar to OHC. OHC is a dream to use(I use a PC), cuts really well and no dust. Hard to remove though(well,harder than menzerna), and hard to tell when it is broken down.
 
You don't want to use alot.

If you do, the oils will overide the abrasives and will never cut nor go clear. A dime size per panel is all I ever use.

Thank Scottwax for this info.
 
Thanks for all the advice!



I went at it yesterday on another part of the vehicle, and the results were much more satisfactory!



Before:







After:







I did this with OC and a orange pad. Focusing on my speed and pressure, and ensuring enough pass, i find that the OC w/ orange pad produces much better results than the yellow pad. No hazing at all, read to use a lsp.



I think on certain parts of the paint, i will leave it as it is.







The scratch seems too deep and i don't feel comfortable removing any more clearcoat. Maybe i'll try OHC with an orange pad when i order the bottle, but till then, i'm happy the way it looks. Thanks fellow autopians!
 
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