Y2KSVT
New member
- Jul 27, 2010
- 823
- 0
Okay, so this was my first attempt with my brand new PC7424XP. I know this isn't a full detail, but I didn't know what else to call it. My focus was bringing my paint back to life, so I apologize up front for any dirt you might see on the wheels, wheel wells, and windows. 
Let me begin by saying I bought this car in May of '09 and really haven't done anything to it besides occassional washes and oil changes. Getting out of the car scene and getting married is what I'll blame that on. :laughing:
This car has been ridden with swirls since I bought it. It was originally a leased vehicle and I think I'm the 5th or 6th owner, which I found out when I got the title. So it was definitely due for some swirl and scratch removal.
Here was the method I chose and the products/tools that I used:
Wash with two bucket method using:
- Dawn dish soap
- 2 cheap buckets with Meguiars grit guards
- LC foam wash pad
- Craftsman air compressor to blow out water
Clay bar all painted surfaces and the sunroof using:
- Meguiars clay kit
- Griot's Garage Speed Shine MF towels
Polish all painted surfaces using:
- PC7424XP on speed 5
- LC 5.5" flat orange pad
- Meguiars 105
- Cobra black MF towels
- Cheap terry cloth towels to clean pads on the fly
- Craftsman air compressor to blow off dust
Wax
- Poorboys Natty Paste Wax (Red)
- Cheap MF applicator pad from Wal-Mart
- Griot's Garage MF polish removal cloths
Tires
- DP Tire Gel
- Flex Foam Tire Dressing Pad
I'll start off with a picture of how the car was sitting; dirty and lifeless.
Now that the car is all cleaned up, it's time to address some of the issues that I wanted to eliminate. Some of the scratches were just too deep.
Swirl City!!
Some road rash in the front bumper.
More road rash
I should mention, when I first bought the car, and before I knew anything about machine polishing, I did clay bar the entire car and apply some Zaino products to the paint, so there wasn't a lot of above surface contamination since May/June of last year. Here's what the clay looked like after most panels.
Here she is getting taped up
I couldn't get a really good 50/50 shot, but here is a before and after on the hood. My clear coat is getting what I believe is called "sealant popping" as evidenced by the little pock marks in the after shot.
Before
After
I was able to knock down some of the front bumper road rash, to the point that I was satisfied.
Here's a nice shot to show the reflection in the side of the car
A nice hood reflection of myself
I liked this 50/50 reflection off the hood, looking at the garage. It's like the garage door is coming right out of the paint!
An overall shot of the entire car.
And here's a shot of one tire with DP tire gel, if anyone is curious what it looks like with one application. I think it looks great, and it held up well to the 800 mile round trip on my wife's Elantra 2 weekends ago.
Overall, I'm completely satisfied with the end result. I walked outside at 7am Sunday morning, took three quick breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and didn't come back in until 9:40pm. So I'd say 14 hours of work.
Needless to say, I'm fairly sore today, but I feel like I learned a lot and could definitely get the job done in quite a bit less time the next time around.
Due to the amount of time it took to polish the entire car and with how well the M105 both removed swirls and polished the paint, I didn't feel the want/need to go onto M205. The paint looked awesome and was ready for the Natty's Red Paste Wax, which really made this paint pop!
Any and all feedback, positive or negative, is very welcome. Thank you for reading my first thread in the Show n' Shine forum!
Mark
Let me begin by saying I bought this car in May of '09 and really haven't done anything to it besides occassional washes and oil changes. Getting out of the car scene and getting married is what I'll blame that on. :laughing:
This car has been ridden with swirls since I bought it. It was originally a leased vehicle and I think I'm the 5th or 6th owner, which I found out when I got the title. So it was definitely due for some swirl and scratch removal.
Here was the method I chose and the products/tools that I used:
Wash with two bucket method using:
- Dawn dish soap
- 2 cheap buckets with Meguiars grit guards
- LC foam wash pad
- Craftsman air compressor to blow out water
Clay bar all painted surfaces and the sunroof using:
- Meguiars clay kit
- Griot's Garage Speed Shine MF towels
Polish all painted surfaces using:
- PC7424XP on speed 5
- LC 5.5" flat orange pad
- Meguiars 105
- Cobra black MF towels
- Cheap terry cloth towels to clean pads on the fly
- Craftsman air compressor to blow off dust
Wax
- Poorboys Natty Paste Wax (Red)
- Cheap MF applicator pad from Wal-Mart
- Griot's Garage MF polish removal cloths
Tires
- DP Tire Gel
- Flex Foam Tire Dressing Pad
I'll start off with a picture of how the car was sitting; dirty and lifeless.
Now that the car is all cleaned up, it's time to address some of the issues that I wanted to eliminate. Some of the scratches were just too deep.
Swirl City!!
Some road rash in the front bumper.
More road rash
I should mention, when I first bought the car, and before I knew anything about machine polishing, I did clay bar the entire car and apply some Zaino products to the paint, so there wasn't a lot of above surface contamination since May/June of last year. Here's what the clay looked like after most panels.
Here she is getting taped up
I couldn't get a really good 50/50 shot, but here is a before and after on the hood. My clear coat is getting what I believe is called "sealant popping" as evidenced by the little pock marks in the after shot.
Before
After
I was able to knock down some of the front bumper road rash, to the point that I was satisfied.
Here's a nice shot to show the reflection in the side of the car
A nice hood reflection of myself
I liked this 50/50 reflection off the hood, looking at the garage. It's like the garage door is coming right out of the paint!
An overall shot of the entire car.
And here's a shot of one tire with DP tire gel, if anyone is curious what it looks like with one application. I think it looks great, and it held up well to the 800 mile round trip on my wife's Elantra 2 weekends ago.
Overall, I'm completely satisfied with the end result. I walked outside at 7am Sunday morning, took three quick breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and didn't come back in until 9:40pm. So I'd say 14 hours of work.
Needless to say, I'm fairly sore today, but I feel like I learned a lot and could definitely get the job done in quite a bit less time the next time around. Due to the amount of time it took to polish the entire car and with how well the M105 both removed swirls and polished the paint, I didn't feel the want/need to go onto M205. The paint looked awesome and was ready for the Natty's Red Paste Wax, which really made this paint pop!
Any and all feedback, positive or negative, is very welcome. Thank you for reading my first thread in the Show n' Shine forum!
Mark
