2012 Miata : Journey back to factory condition

[grego33]

I'm getting back into detailing after a few years off. My previous experience and equipment was from my 1998 VW GTI VR6. It was Ginster Yellow and single stage. So this is my first go at anything with a clear coat.

First, a couple of overview shots:

It's not in terrible condition, but it has light dealer swirls all over. Probably some of my own as well. I've been working on it a little here and a little there. I've done the trunk, hood, and front fenders. I'm happy with the improvement but not as happy as I hoped to be. Perhaps I'm being too particular?

Here's an example of what the whole car looked like:

Here are all the products I've used:

I started out with the Menzerna FPII on a green 6" CCS pad. Both Menzerna polishes and my 6" CCS pads have been sitting in the garage (pads in ziploc baggies and in a drawer) for a few years. They are all branded by Classic Motoring Accessories if that tells anyone anything. Their last project was my GTI and they worked wonderfully on that. I didn't notice any significant difference with any of the CCS orange/green combinations with the FPII or SIP.

My next step was to order up some 5" hexlogic pads (white, orange) and Megs 105 and 205. I found the 105 pretty difficult to use and it actually seemed to leave more marring than I thought it should. That was easily taken care of by the 205. I've settled on using 205 with the white pad solely. It takes care of all of the light swirls, but not the deeper ones or some of the other random scratches.

Here is my best 50/50:

Some things I'm having trouble with are leftover deeper swirls. The 205 doesn't seem to take care of that. It could be process or product. And there is some random scratching here and there. I'm having a terrible time getting photos of any of those that still have any detail when I resize them to upload to my gallery. I also have a lot of spots like these:

So I just wanted to share some of this and introduce myself. I'd love to hear any advice anyone has to offer. Hopefully more progress pics will come as I get further along. I have an unrelated full time job and two little kids so this project is happening a panel here and a panel there. Next on my list is my wife's '11 VW Tiguan and my DD an '08 Honda Fit. I'm really looking forward to both. The Fit especially as it's Blackberry Pearl and has some pretty significant swirls.

Thanks! :dblthumb2:

 

[grego33]

I failed to mention that I use a PC 7424. Not an XP. I don't think they had those when I bought mine.

 

[chris.ganucheau]

If you don't think you're getting enough cut with the white pad and the m205 you can try and step up to a orange pad with the m205 so that it will have more cut.

Also are you trying to get 100% correction? I think your after picture looks good. But I understand you wanting it to be even better. It comes with the territory lol.

 

[grego33]

Haha yeah it definitely comes with the territory. I started out looking for 100% correction. But since I wasn't getting that I've fallen back to getting rid if a majority of the swirls. So I've been doing a panel every couple of days and sealing whatever I just polished with the DP Poli-Seal. But I would like to go back and tackle the rest one day so I'm curious what people's thoughts are on those.

I really need to get some better photos of some of the leftover swirls and scratches and figure out somewhere else to upload hi-res images. The forum gallery seems to make me downsize to the point the details are lost.


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[chris.ganucheau]

Just curious, but you are either doing a IPA wipe or using CarPro Eraser? The M205 has oils in it will sort of mask your actual results.

 

[grego33]

Yes. I've been doing IPA wipedowns and inspecting with a Brinkmann after every section pass. I've been making 5-6 passes per section.

One thing I haven't been able to get a feel for is the softness/hardness of the paint. And I haven't read any specific mentions anywhere else about this specific car's paint. I tend to think it's on the soft side but I'm not sure.


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[grego33]

... you can try and step up to a orange pad with the m205 so that it will have more cut.

Good call! rops:

I know I tried that combo before but just gave it another go and that seemed to be the ticket. The white pad and 205 was taking care of the swirls but there were always some leftover scratches. The orange pad and 205 took care of both and aside from a few spots here and there I didn't have to go over anything twice.