2BlackChevys
New member
- Feb 15, 2013
- 161
- 0
Let me start with a little background... My wife and I both travel extensively for work. I left home in Feb. 2010 for a 90 day assignment and wasn't home more than 3-4 days in a row until Jan. of this year! She has been home more than me but not much.
Summer of 2010 the company she works for changes her company car from an Impala that she loved and drove everywhere to a Chrysler minivan that she hated and didn't want to be caught dead in. She decided she wanted a small SUV, and her dad had a regular TrailBlazer that she had driven and liked. Well being that I'm a car guy and we had a Viper in the garage, the only small SUV I was interested in was the Trailblazer SS. (6.0 L engine, 400 hp, 20" wheels etc). I was working in Mobile, AL for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill so I started looking and found a low miles loaded SS in Florida a few hours away. I got a ride from a friend and went and paid cash for it (Thanks BP!). I didn't have time to do much to it before she came to pick it up so when she got it home we sent it to a detailer friend of ours and he did a total paint correction on it and it looked amazing!
The SS had to live outside because we had a Viper in the garage and with my tools etc it just wasn't going to fit. She did a great job of keeping it clean but she works out of town almost as much as I do and we have an automatic sprinkler system. We also live in Central Texas which is on a big slab of white limestone so the water is hard as hell and leaves horrible spots. She would take the truck to get washed each time she got home but this did nothing to remove the spots. I've dealt with these spots before with a little Megs ScratchX, however after 2 years and untold number of cycles of water then 100 degree temps they were baked on like nobody's business! By the time she drove out to see me at Christmas this year the front windows were so caked up she couldn't really see well out of them! I used a little ScratchX and got them see through again at my work apartment and knew I had my hands full when I got home. Our friend the detailer had seen it when he worked on the Viper last and wouldn't even return her calls!
I get home and take the truck to the car wash and it doesn't even pretend to remove any spots. I try simple green and nothing. I do some reading online and try white vinegar at full strength, nothing. I bust out my trusty ScratchX and it takes them off but I would rub my arms off trying to do the whole truck!
I had read about the PC 7424XP on some forums and how it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I watched some videos online and they said you absolutely can't hurt the paint with it, so I figure instead of buying a traditional rotary buffer like I've used before I would just get one of them. I mean, how hard could it be? Spend a couple days buffing off the spots then on with my life... oh how little did I know!
On the videos I watched the guy was all about M105/205 and Hexlogic pads so I get online and place my order...
I order a "kit" from ChemicalGuys that includes the pads I wanted, a few of their products and towels and I got a couple of extra pads and a pad washer. I told them I was going to use M105/205 and they sent me free samples of their equivalent products. (I have not tried them yet).
I don't have any pics from scratch where I started because it was honestly too embarrassing. I did take a few pics of the spots after a wash, simple green, and vinegar. The pics really don't do them justice...
Spots on the rear hatch:
Spots on the hood:
Another shot of the hood:
Close up of spots:
Spots on the glass:
I do a section like it shows on the video... Yay the spots are gone! I fire up my work light to check for swirls etc and discover that the "white spots" are gone but there are nice etched little spots still there! After much creative adult language I get back to work. I decided to throw a piece of tape on the hood to show the before and after with the M105 (Before on top, after on bottom):
Before on left and after on right:
It looks like this is going to turn out awesome so I proceed to do the rest of the truck... I work on the truck anywhere from 4-8 hours a day... and the going is slow. I'm on a speed of 5, using 3 "pea sized drops", "refreshing" the polish with a shot of QDS, and working small sections at a time with slow arm movement and 9-14 pounds pressure. It takes 2 or 3 tries on each section to get the etching and spots gone but it looks great when I get done. I'm doing good and turning the machine on and off before I lift it up so I don't spray stuff everywhere, and then I get to a curved section! BOOM the pad disintegrates into pieces and stuff flies everywhere! Turns out I lifted the pad off the paint a little too much and it was LOADED with product and ate itself! I bought the fancy pad cleaner and used it every time I quit working but never during... and twice after cleaning I go to spin them dry and BOOM! pad everywhere! I order up some more 5.5" pads and get a 4" setup with some pads too. I also try experimenting with machine speed and product amount and nothing seems to be the magic bullet to kill these spots!
I get about a week in to this thing... now my PC starts making a sound like something's loose... I pull the backing plate off and check that the counterweight is tight... yep, but the shaft has a little play in it that I never noticed before... I figure I've been beating the hell out of a "consumer grade" tool for a week straight so I put it back together and let it rip. (I used a washer like it said in the video so it was not the backing plate hitting anything... backing plate and counterweight had 0 marks on them.)
It's 5pm on a Saturday afternoon and the PC makes this horrible screeching sound and stops working! WTF! I still have at least half the truck to go! I had done some looking locally for a PC and didn't find one so I ordered online. I called my detailer friend to see if he knew where I could get one and he offered to loan me his old one! He was working that night at the shop on a Vette like mine so I got cleaned up and went to see him. I told him about the problems I was having and he never had them happen to him... time to rethink the process. He also uses a Flex and recommended that I get one of those. I also learned what things to watch out for if I decided to do the Vette myself. He even gave me some product to try out too from Zaino.
The next day I take a break from working on the truck and decide to do more research and watch some more videos... turns out I was using way too much product and not cleaning my pads often enough!
At this point I had killed:
2 5.5" orange pads
3 4" orange pads
1 5.5" white pad
1.5 quarts of M105
2 or 3 bottles QDS
1 PC 7424XP
I started out on Monday with a new process and cleaning my pad about once an hour or so and WOW! what a difference! No more pads blowing up and/or eating themselves alive as I am using them! The spots are also going away much more quickly! I get to day 12 (took a couple days off) and I finally finish with the M105!
I get started on the M205 and the whole truck only takes me a few days. I pull the masking off the trim and it's greyed out and covered in water spots too... it makes the whole truck look like hell...
So I tape it off and hit it with some M205...
It turns the white pad black as coal but it works! Looks as good as new (or better even) and no spots!
Then I go to switch backing plates to run my big pads and:
Krazy glue to the rescue and back to work it goes.... then as I finish the trim on the drivers side it falls apart again! Not wanting to jack up my pretty newly polished paint I actually put the 4" pad on the 5" backing plate and carefully did the passenger side!
Done with the machine portion I power wash all the compounds out of the cracks and jambs and then spend the rest of the day cleaning it up. I know that typically these are taped off but there were spots there too that had to go!
Also now that I am done with the machine my beautiful and wonderful wife came out to help and we applied 2 coats of Megs UPW and a coat of M26. I didn't concentrate so much on "paint correction" as I did "spot removal" so I figure I can always go back and work out the RIDS etc as needed before I put something better on to seal it with. Though after the final process you have to really really look to find any defects at all.
I roll the truck out into the sun to check my work and the painted/cleared wheels that looked great compared to the crappy paint now look like crap... so I bought a Mother's Power Cone and I am going to try that with some PlasticX like Forrest recommends or some M205 to make them look as good as the rest of the truck!
I also forgot to mention that I used the M105/orange pad on the glass to kill the spots there too.
I still need to do the wheels, interior, and engine but it's raining and cold out today so I took the day off to run errands. When it gets all done I will post plenty of after pics. Until then here is a reflection shot off the hood I snapped with my phone as we were finishing up for the day yesterday.
Reflection off the hood at sundown last night:
Summer of 2010 the company she works for changes her company car from an Impala that she loved and drove everywhere to a Chrysler minivan that she hated and didn't want to be caught dead in. She decided she wanted a small SUV, and her dad had a regular TrailBlazer that she had driven and liked. Well being that I'm a car guy and we had a Viper in the garage, the only small SUV I was interested in was the Trailblazer SS. (6.0 L engine, 400 hp, 20" wheels etc). I was working in Mobile, AL for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill so I started looking and found a low miles loaded SS in Florida a few hours away. I got a ride from a friend and went and paid cash for it (Thanks BP!). I didn't have time to do much to it before she came to pick it up so when she got it home we sent it to a detailer friend of ours and he did a total paint correction on it and it looked amazing!
The SS had to live outside because we had a Viper in the garage and with my tools etc it just wasn't going to fit. She did a great job of keeping it clean but she works out of town almost as much as I do and we have an automatic sprinkler system. We also live in Central Texas which is on a big slab of white limestone so the water is hard as hell and leaves horrible spots. She would take the truck to get washed each time she got home but this did nothing to remove the spots. I've dealt with these spots before with a little Megs ScratchX, however after 2 years and untold number of cycles of water then 100 degree temps they were baked on like nobody's business! By the time she drove out to see me at Christmas this year the front windows were so caked up she couldn't really see well out of them! I used a little ScratchX and got them see through again at my work apartment and knew I had my hands full when I got home. Our friend the detailer had seen it when he worked on the Viper last and wouldn't even return her calls!
I get home and take the truck to the car wash and it doesn't even pretend to remove any spots. I try simple green and nothing. I do some reading online and try white vinegar at full strength, nothing. I bust out my trusty ScratchX and it takes them off but I would rub my arms off trying to do the whole truck!
I had read about the PC 7424XP on some forums and how it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I watched some videos online and they said you absolutely can't hurt the paint with it, so I figure instead of buying a traditional rotary buffer like I've used before I would just get one of them. I mean, how hard could it be? Spend a couple days buffing off the spots then on with my life... oh how little did I know!
On the videos I watched the guy was all about M105/205 and Hexlogic pads so I get online and place my order...
I order a "kit" from ChemicalGuys that includes the pads I wanted, a few of their products and towels and I got a couple of extra pads and a pad washer. I told them I was going to use M105/205 and they sent me free samples of their equivalent products. (I have not tried them yet).
I don't have any pics from scratch where I started because it was honestly too embarrassing. I did take a few pics of the spots after a wash, simple green, and vinegar. The pics really don't do them justice...
Spots on the rear hatch:
Spots on the hood:
Another shot of the hood:
Close up of spots:
Spots on the glass:
I do a section like it shows on the video... Yay the spots are gone! I fire up my work light to check for swirls etc and discover that the "white spots" are gone but there are nice etched little spots still there! After much creative adult language I get back to work. I decided to throw a piece of tape on the hood to show the before and after with the M105 (Before on top, after on bottom):
Before on left and after on right:
It looks like this is going to turn out awesome so I proceed to do the rest of the truck... I work on the truck anywhere from 4-8 hours a day... and the going is slow. I'm on a speed of 5, using 3 "pea sized drops", "refreshing" the polish with a shot of QDS, and working small sections at a time with slow arm movement and 9-14 pounds pressure. It takes 2 or 3 tries on each section to get the etching and spots gone but it looks great when I get done. I'm doing good and turning the machine on and off before I lift it up so I don't spray stuff everywhere, and then I get to a curved section! BOOM the pad disintegrates into pieces and stuff flies everywhere! Turns out I lifted the pad off the paint a little too much and it was LOADED with product and ate itself! I bought the fancy pad cleaner and used it every time I quit working but never during... and twice after cleaning I go to spin them dry and BOOM! pad everywhere! I order up some more 5.5" pads and get a 4" setup with some pads too. I also try experimenting with machine speed and product amount and nothing seems to be the magic bullet to kill these spots!
I get about a week in to this thing... now my PC starts making a sound like something's loose... I pull the backing plate off and check that the counterweight is tight... yep, but the shaft has a little play in it that I never noticed before... I figure I've been beating the hell out of a "consumer grade" tool for a week straight so I put it back together and let it rip. (I used a washer like it said in the video so it was not the backing plate hitting anything... backing plate and counterweight had 0 marks on them.)
It's 5pm on a Saturday afternoon and the PC makes this horrible screeching sound and stops working! WTF! I still have at least half the truck to go! I had done some looking locally for a PC and didn't find one so I ordered online. I called my detailer friend to see if he knew where I could get one and he offered to loan me his old one! He was working that night at the shop on a Vette like mine so I got cleaned up and went to see him. I told him about the problems I was having and he never had them happen to him... time to rethink the process. He also uses a Flex and recommended that I get one of those. I also learned what things to watch out for if I decided to do the Vette myself. He even gave me some product to try out too from Zaino.
The next day I take a break from working on the truck and decide to do more research and watch some more videos... turns out I was using way too much product and not cleaning my pads often enough!
At this point I had killed:
2 5.5" orange pads
3 4" orange pads
1 5.5" white pad
1.5 quarts of M105
2 or 3 bottles QDS
1 PC 7424XP
I started out on Monday with a new process and cleaning my pad about once an hour or so and WOW! what a difference! No more pads blowing up and/or eating themselves alive as I am using them! The spots are also going away much more quickly! I get to day 12 (took a couple days off) and I finally finish with the M105!
I get started on the M205 and the whole truck only takes me a few days. I pull the masking off the trim and it's greyed out and covered in water spots too... it makes the whole truck look like hell...
So I tape it off and hit it with some M205...
It turns the white pad black as coal but it works! Looks as good as new (or better even) and no spots!
Then I go to switch backing plates to run my big pads and:
Krazy glue to the rescue and back to work it goes.... then as I finish the trim on the drivers side it falls apart again! Not wanting to jack up my pretty newly polished paint I actually put the 4" pad on the 5" backing plate and carefully did the passenger side!
Done with the machine portion I power wash all the compounds out of the cracks and jambs and then spend the rest of the day cleaning it up. I know that typically these are taped off but there were spots there too that had to go!
Also now that I am done with the machine my beautiful and wonderful wife came out to help and we applied 2 coats of Megs UPW and a coat of M26. I didn't concentrate so much on "paint correction" as I did "spot removal" so I figure I can always go back and work out the RIDS etc as needed before I put something better on to seal it with. Though after the final process you have to really really look to find any defects at all.
I roll the truck out into the sun to check my work and the painted/cleared wheels that looked great compared to the crappy paint now look like crap... so I bought a Mother's Power Cone and I am going to try that with some PlasticX like Forrest recommends or some M205 to make them look as good as the rest of the truck!
I also forgot to mention that I used the M105/orange pad on the glass to kill the spots there too.
I still need to do the wheels, interior, and engine but it's raining and cold out today so I took the day off to run errands. When it gets all done I will post plenty of after pics. Until then here is a reflection shot off the hood I snapped with my phone as we were finishing up for the day yesterday.
Reflection off the hood at sundown last night:
rops:
