imported_beachwolverine
New member
Well, this was my first full detail. I’ve had my Lexus E350 a little over a year and have been caring for it well, based on what I’ve learned at Autopia. There was some minor marring, I assume from the dealer, but I could have done some of it myself.
Part of my inspiration was the “Super Wet� thread by Detaildoc. He has the identical car to mine and I loved the way his looked. I hope I came close to duplicating his finish. I hope he doesn’t mind me playing off this thread.
For the process:
I cleaned the paint with FK1119 – This worked very well, but I found it somewhat difficult to use. You had to be very careful not to let it dry, but it needs to dwell for 5-10 minutes. I kept re-applying to a section so it would not dry. Then you have to rinse very thoroughly.
Next was ONR – just to ensure all the 1119 was off
Next I clayed with Griots clay. The paint was in good condition, so I really didn’t see a whole lot of contaminants.
Next I started test polishing. Here I was surprised. I assumed the Lexus paint was very soft and with such mild marring, I thought I could use PO106FA with a white pad with my PC, but that didn’t cut it (pun intended). I tried SIP with the white, again no luck. I used SIP with Orange and that was the ticket. I’m not a pro and this is my daily driver, so getting *almost* all the marring to disappear was fine. Next time I’ll know where to start.
Next I finished with Menzerna Micro Polish PO87MC. Probably not necessary for my level of work, but I wanted to do this step to add a little something extra.
Lastly – following Detaildoc’s routine, I applied 2 coats of UPGP, 2 of DWG, and 2 more UPGP. I’ve been using UPGP for almost a year now and really like it.
My thanks to all the Autopians that have helped educate me the past year and especially to Detaildoc.
Oh – I need to improve my picture taking too. The “before� pictures didn’t turn out well.
Part of my inspiration was the “Super Wet� thread by Detaildoc. He has the identical car to mine and I loved the way his looked. I hope I came close to duplicating his finish. I hope he doesn’t mind me playing off this thread.
For the process:
I cleaned the paint with FK1119 – This worked very well, but I found it somewhat difficult to use. You had to be very careful not to let it dry, but it needs to dwell for 5-10 minutes. I kept re-applying to a section so it would not dry. Then you have to rinse very thoroughly.
Next was ONR – just to ensure all the 1119 was off
Next I clayed with Griots clay. The paint was in good condition, so I really didn’t see a whole lot of contaminants.
Next I started test polishing. Here I was surprised. I assumed the Lexus paint was very soft and with such mild marring, I thought I could use PO106FA with a white pad with my PC, but that didn’t cut it (pun intended). I tried SIP with the white, again no luck. I used SIP with Orange and that was the ticket. I’m not a pro and this is my daily driver, so getting *almost* all the marring to disappear was fine. Next time I’ll know where to start.
Next I finished with Menzerna Micro Polish PO87MC. Probably not necessary for my level of work, but I wanted to do this step to add a little something extra.
Lastly – following Detaildoc’s routine, I applied 2 coats of UPGP, 2 of DWG, and 2 more UPGP. I’ve been using UPGP for almost a year now and really like it.
My thanks to all the Autopians that have helped educate me the past year and especially to Detaildoc.
Oh – I need to improve my picture taking too. The “before� pictures didn’t turn out well.
