dnoraker
New member
- Apr 19, 2010
- 262
- 0
Subject: 1994 F-250 diesel crew cab, 41k miles
Paint condition: 85% original paint. Rust-free (truck from salt-free south) passenger side of bed repainted by one shop, a panel on the drivers side extended cab area painted by another, as evidenced by different paint texture and gloss level. No dings/dents/deep scratches. Areas of dull paint, grainy texture, a lot of water spot etchings, and heavy swirls from improper washing and waxing. It doesn't appear that it has been run though an automatic car wash. Windows are heavily spotted with hard water deposits.
Owner's goal: get it the best it can be and add Opti-coat. It will be stored winters and used in nice weather for light work and enjoyment.
My goal: surpass expectations, as usual. The paint texture and gloss level is all over the map, and I'm using the CarPro denim and velvet pads (depending on factory or aftermarket paint) to try to better match the paint texture and gloss across the vehicle.
My process:
EXTERIOR:
- wash, full decon with TRIX and speedy prep towel (ONR lube)
- attempt to match paint, bring up gloss, correct swirls and etchings with the CarPro velvet and denim pads and Menzerna FG400
- compound remaining swirls, other defects, and haze left from with D300
- polish with M205/rotary/Megs polishing pad
- polish with Menzerna 4500 and LC blue
-or-
- see if I can do the last two steps as well with Sonax Perfect Finish or Menzerna 4000 and whatever pad works.
- prep surfaces to be coated with CarPro Erasor
- Opti-Coat it!
- polish windows with CarPro Ceriglass
INTERIOR:
- steam and/or extract cloth seats and carpets
- clean vinyl/plastic/rubber and dress with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- clean windows
- clean, degrease jambs
ENGINE:
- per customer request- basic cleaning of paint, rubber, plastic surfaces, but not spraying down with degreaser
I'm early in the process as of this posting, but I wanted to get a few pictures posted of the progress.
Here is the repainted part of the cab after decon and before using the denim pad:
Same panel after two rounds of 6-8 section passes of the denim pad (3-4 passes up/down, 3-4 passes left-right):
Here is the same panel on the opposite side that is factory paint, using basically the same process, but with the velvet pad:
After:
Same process on the passenger side of the hood:
After (notice you can make out the bar code on the fluorescent light:
As you can see, the peel isn't completely removed. But, it is greatly reduced and rounded. The larger peel was partially reduced, but the fine peel that looks like more of a mist was almost eliminated, which I think is what really brought up the gloss. Most of the etchings were removed after two rounds of passes. I didn't see a huge decrease in paint thickness readings. I don't think I saw anything more than maybe 5 microns. most readings were about 95-110 on the factory paint, and were about 90-105 afterward. I probably could have reduced the peel further with more passes, but not knowing how thick the actual clear was, I wasn't willing to do that.
I can't wait to see more posts on these pads so I can tweak my technique. It has been hard to get advice on these thus far on how to achieve the best leveling with removing the least paint and so forth. I tried using the denim pad on a re-painted panel on my Suburban and saw very little difference, but the paint job was actually pretty good with a little less peel than factory. I proceeded to sand that with 1500 and 3000 grit as I had with the rest of that repainted area and it was nice and flat (yes- I had them spray extra clear). I also tried the velvet pad on the hood of my Suburban, which is still factory paint and which I had sanded with 3000 before, and I actually did see a little more improvement in clarity there. Cloud reflections were quite crisp.
Paint condition: 85% original paint. Rust-free (truck from salt-free south) passenger side of bed repainted by one shop, a panel on the drivers side extended cab area painted by another, as evidenced by different paint texture and gloss level. No dings/dents/deep scratches. Areas of dull paint, grainy texture, a lot of water spot etchings, and heavy swirls from improper washing and waxing. It doesn't appear that it has been run though an automatic car wash. Windows are heavily spotted with hard water deposits.
Owner's goal: get it the best it can be and add Opti-coat. It will be stored winters and used in nice weather for light work and enjoyment.
My goal: surpass expectations, as usual. The paint texture and gloss level is all over the map, and I'm using the CarPro denim and velvet pads (depending on factory or aftermarket paint) to try to better match the paint texture and gloss across the vehicle.
My process:
EXTERIOR:
- wash, full decon with TRIX and speedy prep towel (ONR lube)
- attempt to match paint, bring up gloss, correct swirls and etchings with the CarPro velvet and denim pads and Menzerna FG400
- compound remaining swirls, other defects, and haze left from with D300
- polish with M205/rotary/Megs polishing pad
- polish with Menzerna 4500 and LC blue
-or-
- see if I can do the last two steps as well with Sonax Perfect Finish or Menzerna 4000 and whatever pad works.
- prep surfaces to be coated with CarPro Erasor
- Opti-Coat it!
- polish windows with CarPro Ceriglass
INTERIOR:
- steam and/or extract cloth seats and carpets
- clean vinyl/plastic/rubber and dress with 303 Aerospace Protectant
- clean windows
- clean, degrease jambs
ENGINE:
- per customer request- basic cleaning of paint, rubber, plastic surfaces, but not spraying down with degreaser
I'm early in the process as of this posting, but I wanted to get a few pictures posted of the progress.
Here is the repainted part of the cab after decon and before using the denim pad:
Same panel after two rounds of 6-8 section passes of the denim pad (3-4 passes up/down, 3-4 passes left-right):
Here is the same panel on the opposite side that is factory paint, using basically the same process, but with the velvet pad:
After:
Same process on the passenger side of the hood:
After (notice you can make out the bar code on the fluorescent light:
As you can see, the peel isn't completely removed. But, it is greatly reduced and rounded. The larger peel was partially reduced, but the fine peel that looks like more of a mist was almost eliminated, which I think is what really brought up the gloss. Most of the etchings were removed after two rounds of passes. I didn't see a huge decrease in paint thickness readings. I don't think I saw anything more than maybe 5 microns. most readings were about 95-110 on the factory paint, and were about 90-105 afterward. I probably could have reduced the peel further with more passes, but not knowing how thick the actual clear was, I wasn't willing to do that.
I can't wait to see more posts on these pads so I can tweak my technique. It has been hard to get advice on these thus far on how to achieve the best leveling with removing the least paint and so forth. I tried using the denim pad on a re-painted panel on my Suburban and saw very little difference, but the paint job was actually pretty good with a little less peel than factory. I proceeded to sand that with 1500 and 3000 grit as I had with the rest of that repainted area and it was nice and flat (yes- I had them spray extra clear). I also tried the velvet pad on the hood of my Suburban, which is still factory paint and which I had sanded with 3000 before, and I actually did see a little more improvement in clarity there. Cloud reflections were quite crisp.
rops: