About two months ago, I was looking for a detailing shop for my E-350, 2011. I came across one that offered Wolfgang Paint Sealer, and after searching for this product in the internet, I ended up at autogeek.net. Browsing autogeekonline forum, I got really interested in this new-to-me form of art, so I ended up ordering Wolfgang products, and I applied them to my MB by hand...
About two weeks ago, my daughter got admitted in UF. I then realized it was time for me to get another car (for her), and I decided to make an offer for a Basalt Black, Boxster 09 (yes, I wanted to experience the challenge presented by a black paint as I’d read so much about in the forums). At the dealership, I was so confident on my recently, virtually-acquired detailing knowledge, that I used some scratches and chip in the car to negotiate hard the selling price (and it was a real success; thanks autogeek community; now, I could justify to my wife ordering the Flex3401 with an army of pads, etc., that Nick had recommended a few days earlier).
So, I started by correcting some chips in the hood by using some touch-up paint (abundantly first, then, going over it with 1500+2000 grit, and finalizing with some Meguiars Ultimate Compound -not M105 because Mike advises using the least aggressive first :iagree:. To step UC down, I'll use ScratchX 2.0, and follow with M9 Swirl Remover 2.0; later I’d have come over with the Wolfgang Polish Enhance followed by 2 times Paint Sealer 3.0, and finishing with M26.
I was sort of satisfied with the first result of this correction, but I planned to come back to it later on for improvement. I proceeded to apply UC to the rest of the hood. However, some new imperfections began to appear that UC had made more evident, while being unable to correct, with every subsequent pass. Here is an example of what I saw (see squares enclosing the defects) after the first few passes with UC:
View attachment 14299
Encourage by my 15-minute wet-sanding experience, I decided to help UC a bit by applying 1500/2000 to some of the most prominent defects in the hood. After a while, the (amateurish) decision was then made to wet-sand the entire hood.
After wet-sanding -> UC-> ScratchX->M9->WPPE, the hood started to look amazing, except for the yet-to-be-retouched paint chip mentioned before. For the retouch, I decide to use more paint, enough to refill the chip and to cover an adjacent surface area (significantly large, about an inch in diameter). And here is the result…
View attachment 14300
I expect most would say I simply abuse the paint, but I strongly believe that in addition to that, the main contributor to this disaster was applying the touch up paint to a large area. You see I suspect that doing so compromises chemically the surrounding clear coat (practically dissolving it). In fact, something similar happened in the front-end fender (which I didn't wet-sand at all, but did used similar stupidity of putting too much paint around the chip)
View attachment 14301
Your opinion about this would be greatly appreciated (hopefully before I decide “detail” my son’s Audi, and my wife’s E-350).
Cheers
Andres
About two weeks ago, my daughter got admitted in UF. I then realized it was time for me to get another car (for her), and I decided to make an offer for a Basalt Black, Boxster 09 (yes, I wanted to experience the challenge presented by a black paint as I’d read so much about in the forums). At the dealership, I was so confident on my recently, virtually-acquired detailing knowledge, that I used some scratches and chip in the car to negotiate hard the selling price (and it was a real success; thanks autogeek community; now, I could justify to my wife ordering the Flex3401 with an army of pads, etc., that Nick had recommended a few days earlier).
So, I started by correcting some chips in the hood by using some touch-up paint (abundantly first, then, going over it with 1500+2000 grit, and finalizing with some Meguiars Ultimate Compound -not M105 because Mike advises using the least aggressive first :iagree:. To step UC down, I'll use ScratchX 2.0, and follow with M9 Swirl Remover 2.0; later I’d have come over with the Wolfgang Polish Enhance followed by 2 times Paint Sealer 3.0, and finishing with M26.
I was sort of satisfied with the first result of this correction, but I planned to come back to it later on for improvement. I proceeded to apply UC to the rest of the hood. However, some new imperfections began to appear that UC had made more evident, while being unable to correct, with every subsequent pass. Here is an example of what I saw (see squares enclosing the defects) after the first few passes with UC:
View attachment 14299
Encourage by my 15-minute wet-sanding experience, I decided to help UC a bit by applying 1500/2000 to some of the most prominent defects in the hood. After a while, the (amateurish) decision was then made to wet-sand the entire hood.
After wet-sanding -> UC-> ScratchX->M9->WPPE, the hood started to look amazing, except for the yet-to-be-retouched paint chip mentioned before. For the retouch, I decide to use more paint, enough to refill the chip and to cover an adjacent surface area (significantly large, about an inch in diameter). And here is the result…
View attachment 14300
I expect most would say I simply abuse the paint, but I strongly believe that in addition to that, the main contributor to this disaster was applying the touch up paint to a large area. You see I suspect that doing so compromises chemically the surrounding clear coat (practically dissolving it). In fact, something similar happened in the front-end fender (which I didn't wet-sand at all, but did used similar stupidity of putting too much paint around the chip)
View attachment 14301
Your opinion about this would be greatly appreciated (hopefully before I decide “detail” my son’s Audi, and my wife’s E-350).
Cheers
Andres
