Graduation present - FINISHED W/PICS

Don M

Don M

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To start, 2 bucket wash with Gold Class Wash & microfiber wash mitt., let the car air dry while I gathered the other materials
Started with Ult Compound on a cutting pad, so-so results so I switched to Ult Compound on a polishing pad. Much better. Once I got into the swing of things it went pretty smooth. I did the metal panels of the car then took a look at the front and rear bumpers and thought heck with it and pulled out the rotary with a polishing pad and did the majority of the bumpers with the rotary and the smaller areas by hand. It turned out ok considering that they are 20 years old and badly faded and scratched. The windows were cleaned with Ult Quik Detailer and 2 microfiber towels. Tomorrow I will be doing the interior - just a vac and light cleaning/dressing of the vinyl.

Just a "basic" compounding and sealing. The tires were not dressed in the after pics partially because the cleaner I used - Meguiars All Wheel and Tire Cleaner does such a good job of cleaning the tires, they look really good "naked." Sorry, no sun pics, the clouds weren't cooperating

Ok, enough talk ... on to the pics:

Ignore the crazy woman in the background, it's just the neighbor


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mark98xlt said:
No decontaminating the paint via clay or nanoscrub wash mitt?
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No, but I probably should have, even though the finish was smooth, my pads kept pulling off embedded dirt and had to be cleaned on the fly or replaced more often than usual. :buffing:
 
He came and picked it up yesterday. I didn't post his reaction then b/c I had a lot of cleanup work to do putting all my tools and products away, Anyhow he was something like this when he actually saw the car: :wow::wow::dblthumb2::dblthumb2::righton::applause::cool::coolgleam::urtheman:Im the MAN

He told me that he hadn't thought the car would ever get "clean, red and THAT shiny again." That's also when he told me that "I would have just hosed it down and wiped it off, I don't know how to take care of cars." :poke::bash::cry::doh::dunno::eek::eek::eek:. Travis might be a good kid, smart and all (he's going for pre-med to become an Oncologist after high school). *I* was so shocked that I forgot to tell him anything about vehicle maintenance, I just stood there open mouthed. I suppose I'll have to take him aside next week when he comes over to clean the gutters and SHOW him how to do a proper wash at least and show him which wash mitt to get and give him some MF towels so I'll know he has some decent equipment. Maybe I'll just buy him the buckets (cheap at Walmart) and a quality mitt for his birthday. This boy definitely needs some heavy nudging to get the idea.
 
Looks awesome! Good job! Help me understand - you started with UC on a cutting pad and then switched to UC on a polishing pad and the latter combo gave you better results? You didn't need the more aggressive approach?

I'm new to detailing - I've only worked on my 3 dd's - still trying to wrap my head around this. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.

David
 
david b said:
Looks awesome! Good job! Help me understand - you started with UC on a cutting pad and then switched to UC on a polishing pad and the latter combo gave you better results? You didn't need the more aggressive approach?

I'm new to detailing - I've only worked on my 3 dd's - still trying to wrap my head around this. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.

David
Click to expand...


I did my test spot on the hood (which was the worst area of the car) using Ult Polish and a polishing pad, while the results were OK, they weren't was I was after, I needed something more aggressive so I decided to go with Ult Compound and a cutting pad. While doing the rest of the hood, I noticed that the combination was flashing too quickly for me to work-the compound was drying out before I could really work it into the paint and was causing hazing. I knew I still needed the cut of the compound, so I switched to a polishing pad thinking that maybe it was the cutting pad that was causing the compound to flash too quickly. It worked and I finished the rest of the car. The problem could have been the weather too, it was a cool day and very dry/low humidity so that may have affected the compound.

It probably would have given me better results if I could have stayed with the cutting pad, because even though the pics don't show it, there are still plenty of RIDS and some deeper swirls left in the finish. Another thing that could have affected things was that I didn't clay even though I know I should have - there was a TON of embedded dirt being pulled out onto the pads making me change out / clean on the fly more often than I normally would have.

If I had it to do over again, would I clay first? Absolutely. Would I clay the car if I got my hands on it again? Absolutely. For me the car was a reminder of why you don't skip steps - especially on a neglected vehicle.
 
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