Quest for Near-Perfection

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Jonnyk429

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END RESULTS: http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/119228-quest-near-perfection-2.html#post1283950



INITIAL POST:



I'm new to the detailing game, but have done hours of research and have experience using the full Turtle Wax ICE Product Line (Wash, Liquid Claybar, Regular Claybar, Wax, etc).



Even though I spent 5 hours going through the process, I was not happy with the results and have stripped everything. Below are pictures after claybarring the product and starting out fresh.



Products to be used:



Claybar (Already Completed)

Porter Cable Ultimate Detailing Car Polisher

SFX-1, SFX-2 and SFX-3 with appropriate pads

Mothers FX SynWax



They should arrive by Wednesday and I will post the after pics after everything is finished



If anyone has any tips, I'd be glad to hear them



2003 Mercedes SLK 230 (Black)



Pics BEFORE application:



Swirls:

1zx48qe.jpg


Scratches on Passenger Door:

iekzyw.jpg


Scratches on Hood:

20pxcll.jpg
 
You are going to need to use a DA or rotary for this. Use the swirl X with a DA and do at least 3 passes on and Orange pad from LC. If it still not good enough, you probably have to use compound. GL!
 
I hope you're going to be using a machine (rotary, da, etc...), otherwise you'll probably be just as disappointed with the end product.



edit: Just saw this is probably for your benz? if so, if it uses the nanohard clear i think you're going to need something stronger than those.
 
I was going to do by hand, but don't want to end up back where I started again



Will start researching for the right DA...
 
Jonnyk429 said:
I was going to do by hand, but don't want to end up back where I started again



Will start researching for the right DA...
Click to expand...



If it has the nanohard clear, then I believe by hand would be beyond a waste of time.



if you've never used a macine before, you should look at the cyclo - idiot proof and very easy to use. minimal learning curve. good products with it are Menzerna and gloss it, atleast imho.
 
Be careful. Some of those may have reached the basecoat. With a machine, you could burn the clear and do a lot of damage trying to get to the bottom of those.



Sometimes you just need to stop at 80% and be happy.
 
That's a swirled up/scratched up surface. Not something the completely non-abrasive TW Ice should be dealing with. It will do its best to fill in the roughness, but TW Ice can't cure it.



After you polish up the surface with abrasives, try the TW Ice again. It's marvelous.



What I'd do is go to Autozone, and pick up some TW Premium Grade Polishing Compound /Rubbing Compound or else some KIT Scratch out, and practice polishing the surface by hand. It will give you some idea about how abrasive products work.



Being realistic, it makes sense to focus on reducing the surface hazing, and rounding the edges of deeper scratches. Entirely getting rid of surface scratches costs you too much in clear coat for what you get.
 
Maybe it's too late, but Menzerna polishes work very well on Mercedes. Also, Bilt-Hamber Auto Balm is fantastic at filling in those leftover swirls and looks great at the same time, all while not staining your trim and can also be used as a windshield protectant to sheet off water. Only downside to it is that it doesn't really bead, which I like because it will sheet off water more and keep your car cleaner.
 
Thanks for all the help/suggestions



Using the Porter Cable Ultimate Detailing Car Polisher:



I will be using the SFX-1 on the heavy areas and scratches, SFX-2 all over the car and SFX-3 all over the car. I will then follow up with the Mothers SynFX wax.



Hoping for the best, but really excited and anticipate great results
 
Jonnyk429- Welcome to Autopia!



As AppliedColors mentioned, some of the marring may very well be too deep for safe removal. It's not just a matter of hitting the basecoat, you can't thin the clear too much or it'll fail prematurely. I generally wouldn't take off more than half-a-mil (0.0005") and some of those scratches might be deeper than that. The good news is that it'll take *so* long to remove that much clear via PC that you'll probably say "good enough" long before you take off too much.
 
YoMike said:
Remember, keep the porter cable moving don't hang in one spot allowing it to heat up the paint.
Click to expand...



The PC doesn't really build heat.... You have to put a LOT of pressure in the same spot for a while for it to even get warm. Its a rotary you don't want to leave in one spot.
 
Should have wrote this awhile ago, but have been very busy.



I spent a three day weekend on it. About 14 hours of actual work. As said earlier, I used SFX-1 on the deep scratches, SFX-2 all over for swirl marks and SFX-3 all over for the final polish.



The SFX-1 helped hide the scratches by smoothing over the edges, but in the right light they are just as visible.



SFX-2 helped the swirl marks, but they are still there (much more visible now that it’s been two months)... I had the car professionally polished about 18 months ago, but they used a rotary and I'm pretty sure they burned some paint on a corner of the trunk (so not too sure about the rest of the car's clear coat). I was afraid of taking off too much clear coat after their damage, so I only did the SFX-2 once. Maybe next spring I'll do this all over the car again and then one more time a few years later when I'm ready to sell it.



SFX-3 brought out a BEAUTIFUL shine and made water as well as soap bead up like crazy. It was absolutely gorgeous after this stage.



I put two applications of the Mothers SynWax on. Once with the DA and once by hand 15 hours later. Can't say I'm really impressed with it (although it looked good at first). After a month I noticed my car was a grayer black and didn't hide the swirl marks near as well as Turtle Wax ICE. I used my bottle of Turtle Wax ICE again this week and now it looks amazingly black again and does a much better job with the swirl marks and hiding scratches. Not sure what I'll do the next time I want to wax it. The ICE takes FOREVER to buff out on my car for some reason (20 mins for the hood alone)



Here are the end results about two weeks after the 14-hour job. They look pretty good, but up close (or with direct sunlight) is when you still see the swirl marks.



6nxhme.jpg


2wqbql3.jpg


2j32kbq.jpg
 
Jonnyk429 said:
Can't say I'm really impressed with it (although it looked good at first). After a month I noticed my car was a grayer black and didn't hide the swirl marks near as well as Turtle Wax ICE. I used my bottle of Turtle Wax ICE again this week and now it looks amazingly black again and does a much better job with the swirl marks and hiding scratches. Not sure what I'll do the next time I want to wax it. The ICE takes FOREVER to buff out on my car for some reason (20 mins for the hood alone)
Click to expand...



Isn't ICE amazing on a nicely polished surface? :cool: Might want to try one more round of SFX-3 on white pad, to get the surface even smoother.



ICE doesn't really haze/dry like traditional car waxes (just leaves behind a sort of clear beady layer of waxy silicones(?) that haven't formed a film), so I just use time to figure out when to buff it off. Wait 5-8 minutes for the solvents to flash off, and then buff it with a Autozone polishing MF. Usually I apply it to one panel, while waiting for the other to dry off.



Also have to be careful that you don't apply too much. In that case it can saturate your MF towel which makes it somewhat slower to remove. (If you want to see something interesting, try washing the MF you used to apply the ICE, probably never seen a towel that beads water before). I like to apply ICE first going over the panel horizontally, then vertically, and then finally in the direction of airflow over the panel. A spray or two of the ICE QDcan also help in buffing it off.



Once the ICE has had a day to cure, I like to apply Lucas Slick Mist (available at Advanced Auto Parts) as the final touch.
 
GoudyL said:
Isn't ICE amazing on a nicely polished surface? :cool:
Click to expand...



Yeah, really isn't half bad :-) Just gets a lot of negativity from the detailers, perhaps since its a Turtle Wax product and priced higher than the normal OTC.



Next time I'll probably buy the highly rated Carnauba wax to put on top a different synthetic wax for the extra shine. Just didn't feel like adding another $45 to what I was already spending this year.



If anyone has suggestions for tackling the swirls next year, I'd like to hear them. Just wish I knew how much clearcoat I have to spare. Next car I'll be taking care of myself :up
 
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