nickclark08
New member
So, was going to post this to the "What did you do detailing wise today" thread, but figured the post would be long with all the photos. So, here is my first click n brag, documenting my first polishing session. 
BACKSTORY
Subject car is my wife`s `05 Toyota Camry. My wife got it almost brand new in 2008 with ~15k miles on it (elderly gentleman owned it, and barely drove it). Had some paint issues when she bought it (scratches, nicks, dings, etc.) but was in overall good shape.
Fast forward 120k miles, countless trips to the tunnel wash, sitting outside in college parking lots unwaxed, and just general abuse. Car had never been waxed in the years she and I have had it (`til I joined Autopia and wisened up). Actually, the worsening oxidation and ways to fix / minimize it are what led me here in the first place.
Yesterday, the trunklid was the focus of my efforts. As you can see, the paint condition is pretty bad.
Severe oxidation, start of clearcoat failure, the works. The oxidation is present on other areas of the car as well. I tried a test spot by hand on the C pillar just to see if the paint was totally shot (hand applied Meg`s Ultimate Compound then Ultimate polish). Appeared to be salvageable... (shiny triangle shape at the base of the C pillar)
Ok, so fast forward a few months. I buy the Porter Cable DA, backing plate, pads, and a bottle of HD speed. Now just needed some time to tackle the job. Opportunity presented itself yesterday, So I got to work.
PROCESS
Polisher: Porter Cable DA
Pads: Lake Country Orange (compounding stage) and White (Polishing)
Polishes: Meguiars Ultimate Compound / HD Speed
Wax: Nattys Black
Car had been washed Saturday with 2BM method using Poorboys SSS and a micro chenile mitt. Area had been previously de-contaminated using BDX and clay, so was able to skip that step before polishing (paint still felt smooth - only been about 2 weeks). Given the one-day span between washing and polishing, I wiped the area down with Poorboys Spray and Wipe to get rid of the light surface accumulation of dust. Then I went to work.
I used the PC set at speed ~5.5 for the compounding stage. About 4-5 passes each area, working slow due to being in the sun and all the oxidation getting "scrubbed" off. I was brushing my pad after every section, and it was pretty gummed up. Being my first time polishing, I made the mistake of applying too much pressure, then wondering why the machine was just jiggling around not doing much. Duh, using too much. Lightened up the pressure, and things went smoothly after that.
Starting to get some gloss back....
Finished the compounding, with some areas taking a second go-over. Paint was hazy and somewhat splotchy (understandable given the previous condition), but the HD Speed on setting 4 cleared up most of it. 3-4 section passes using lighter pressure.
I tried to get some sun shots, but the sun was completely washing out the pics. Here you can sorta make out the "splotchiness" left even after the polishing stage.
Not perfect by any means, but still very much improved. My goal was to bring back the gloss a little bit, and hopefully slow the oxidation process some. As it really needs a repaint, I figure I didn`t have anything to lose by at least seeing what I could do. Finished it off with a coat of nattys black, and made sure to include a Merlin Shot:
Looking forward to improving the other oxidized areas, and polishing out the rest. Megs UC performed admirably in the sun, and both products had very little dusting (mostly just the obscene amount of oxidation coming off.
Thanks for reading!
BACKSTORY
Subject car is my wife`s `05 Toyota Camry. My wife got it almost brand new in 2008 with ~15k miles on it (elderly gentleman owned it, and barely drove it). Had some paint issues when she bought it (scratches, nicks, dings, etc.) but was in overall good shape.
Fast forward 120k miles, countless trips to the tunnel wash, sitting outside in college parking lots unwaxed, and just general abuse. Car had never been waxed in the years she and I have had it (`til I joined Autopia and wisened up). Actually, the worsening oxidation and ways to fix / minimize it are what led me here in the first place.
Yesterday, the trunklid was the focus of my efforts. As you can see, the paint condition is pretty bad.
Severe oxidation, start of clearcoat failure, the works. The oxidation is present on other areas of the car as well. I tried a test spot by hand on the C pillar just to see if the paint was totally shot (hand applied Meg`s Ultimate Compound then Ultimate polish). Appeared to be salvageable... (shiny triangle shape at the base of the C pillar)
Ok, so fast forward a few months. I buy the Porter Cable DA, backing plate, pads, and a bottle of HD speed. Now just needed some time to tackle the job. Opportunity presented itself yesterday, So I got to work.
PROCESS
Polisher: Porter Cable DA
Pads: Lake Country Orange (compounding stage) and White (Polishing)
Polishes: Meguiars Ultimate Compound / HD Speed
Wax: Nattys Black
Car had been washed Saturday with 2BM method using Poorboys SSS and a micro chenile mitt. Area had been previously de-contaminated using BDX and clay, so was able to skip that step before polishing (paint still felt smooth - only been about 2 weeks). Given the one-day span between washing and polishing, I wiped the area down with Poorboys Spray and Wipe to get rid of the light surface accumulation of dust. Then I went to work.
I used the PC set at speed ~5.5 for the compounding stage. About 4-5 passes each area, working slow due to being in the sun and all the oxidation getting "scrubbed" off. I was brushing my pad after every section, and it was pretty gummed up. Being my first time polishing, I made the mistake of applying too much pressure, then wondering why the machine was just jiggling around not doing much. Duh, using too much. Lightened up the pressure, and things went smoothly after that.
Starting to get some gloss back....
Finished the compounding, with some areas taking a second go-over. Paint was hazy and somewhat splotchy (understandable given the previous condition), but the HD Speed on setting 4 cleared up most of it. 3-4 section passes using lighter pressure.
I tried to get some sun shots, but the sun was completely washing out the pics. Here you can sorta make out the "splotchiness" left even after the polishing stage.
Not perfect by any means, but still very much improved. My goal was to bring back the gloss a little bit, and hopefully slow the oxidation process some. As it really needs a repaint, I figure I didn`t have anything to lose by at least seeing what I could do. Finished it off with a coat of nattys black, and made sure to include a Merlin Shot:
Looking forward to improving the other oxidized areas, and polishing out the rest. Megs UC performed admirably in the sun, and both products had very little dusting (mostly just the obscene amount of oxidation coming off.
Thanks for reading!
