2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4

[rwright]

Hello everyone. I recently completed a 3 step correction on a friend's Auto-X car. The goal was 80% correction because it is used mostly at the track. The car turned out well overall. Please keep in mind this is only the 2nd car I have polished and I am not a professional!

Products used:
Porter Cable 7424XP
Meguiar's M105
Meguiar's M205
Menzerna PO85RD
Lake Country 5.5" Cyan & Tangerine Hydro-Tech Pads
Lake Country 5.5" grey CCS finishing pad
Cobra Indigo Edgeless microfiber towels
Cobra Arctic White Edgeless microfiber towels
Cobra general purpose microfiber towels
Sam's Wholesale yellow microfiber towels
91% Isopropyl Alcohol

LSP - Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 (x2 for even coverage) topped with Pinnacle Souveran paste.

A few before:

Roof before:

After M105:

Front fender before, setting up 50/50 shot:

Front fender 50/50, M105:

Front fender after M205:

Door after M105/M205:

Excited over the reflection!:

Moving on to the bumper. This is where the most work occurred. I worked to the safest level and best of my ability with a DA Polisher. I need to learn wet sanding for situations like this.

Bumper before:

Making progress:

Getting somewhere:

After:

To be continued...

 

[rwright]

Continued...

And for some final shots:

Sorry about the dust

Thanks for looking.

Richard

 

[cobalt9123]

Wow, great results! I love that last shot of the skittle. I'm doing something like this soon on my '07 Cobalt using D151 with not-so-serious as those swirls but still pretty bad. My front bumper is nowhere near that bad, that's just Yikes!

 

[Emile]

Excellent work! Black looks amazing when it has been well-prepped. :xyxthumbs:

 

[DARK HORSE]

Great job Richard, nice turn around. Car looks dripping wet...Thanks for sharing!!

 

[BanditSRT]

Awesome job! I miss my SRT-4. What cool cars.

 

[Little OCD]

looking great! hope you showed him proper 2 bucket washing methods....

 

[Harleyguy]

Looks great Richard keep up the great work

 

[rwright]

Thanks everyone! He stated he was scared to wash it now but I covered the 2 bucket method and I'm hoping he orders a grit guard. I may put it in with my next order and just give it to him. The very last picture was after driving 90 miles through a rain storm. I don't know the details but I believe he just hosed the car down and followed by Meg's UQD.

 

[Shane731]

Nummy job! :dblthumb2:

Did you find this paint to be a pain to work with? I've heard that Neon paint is rock hard.

 

[rohnramirez]

Hmm... no need to be modest. Looks professionally done to me. Right guys?

Great work.

 

[Little OCD]

I agree ramirez. I am curious to the answer to CieraSl's question, as I have only used my DA on my Neon SRT4. I have been curious as to how Dodge paints compare, or even if different colors of Dodge paints have different hardness's. My Orange Blast Pearl paint seem to need a lot of working time with M105/205 with my PC. But, like I said, I have only used my PC on my car and have no other experience with other paints

 

[rwright]

Nummy job! :dblthumb2:

Did you find this paint to be a pain to work with? I've heard that Neon paint is rock hard.

No. I believe it was due to the fact that almost every panel has been re-painted at one time or another. Factory paint, I will tell you when I actually get to correct my own car!

I agree ramirez. I am curious to the answer to CieraSl's question, as I have only used my DA on my Neon SRT4. I have been curious as to how Dodge paints compare, or even if different colors of Dodge paints have different hardness's. My Orange Blast Pearl paint seem to need a lot of working time with M105/205 with my PC. But, like I said, I have only used my PC on my car and have no other experience with other paints

I will let you know when I get to correct my own SRT. See answer above.

 

[Al1515]

Daaaamn, Richard.

Those are some of the best black car pics I have ever seen. Gives hope to junior detailers everywhere.


Al

 

[OGauge4Me]

Nice job on the detail! :dblthumb2:

 

[rwright]

Daaaamn, Richard.

Those are some of the best black car pics I have ever seen. Gives hope to junior detailers everywhere.


Al

That was only my second time machine polishing a car.

Nice job on the detail! :dblthumb2:

Thanks! Much appreciated. I have a few more cars waiting on me, only one is black, sort of. It's the Carbon Black on our new Buick Regal.

 

[BobbyG]

Richard,

I have to say you had a lot to work with when you got started! The car looks superb and better than new. Great job and photos!! rops:

 

[rwright]

Thanks BobbyG! It was a lot of work but very rewarding when I finished. After doing our Cobalt and this Neon, I think I prefer to polish darker paints. As soon as I get a new polisher I have some light polishing to do to our new Regal. It came with some of those dealer clean-up swirls already installed, not too bad but you know us in this world! When we picked up the car I specifically told the salesman "If your guys clean up the car again, I will not buy it". Then he tried to sell me on the Quantum Protection package that my wax won't protect against... Also if the car gets acid rain on it they will repaint the whole car

 

[ZWheat]

When I had my red SRT I dont remember the paint being very hard. Its not as soft as my Berlina Black S2000 but it wasnt rock hard like Nissan/Infiniti paint. My S2000 you look at it wrong and it gets scratches.