car guy with some neglected paint and questions

[y8s]

Hello Autogeek.

Been browsing around a while getting some information to maybe do some work on my three (soon to be two) vehicles.

One is a 1998 Honda Civic that's been waxed maybe twice and lived a fairly hard life. It's got it's share of paint defects but it would be nice to give it a decent rejuvenating so it doesn't look like the POS it kinda is.

Second car is a 2001 Mazda Miata that I have added my own home brew turbo system to. This car spent about half of its life in garages at various times and the paint is OK except for some swirls and water spots that need to be addressed. I'm selling it and want to make it pretty but not spend too much time on it.

Last is a brand new MINI Countryman that just needs to be finished and protected. There are probably some very very light swirl marks just from having random dealership guys wash it, but nothing serious.

I'm looking at picking up a Griots 6" DA (lifetime warranty!) and some 5.5" LC flat pads (cheaper and seem to be better liked than the CCS) as well as a 5" backing plate.

I'm also looking to go with the Optimum product line since I'm pretty happy with their ONR and car wash soap so far.

I want to start out cheap so I'll likely just get the polisher, pads, liquids, and use my existing stash of microfiber to buff it off. I'll also add a pad brush and pad care products from pinnacle.

My shopping list looks like this (and I have questions at the bottom):

Griots 6" DA polisher
5" hook and loop DA backing plate
6 pack of LC flat pads (2 orange, 2 white, 2 blue)
foam pad conditioning brush
pinnacle xmt pad care combo (pad cleaner + conditioner)
Optimum Compound II
Optimum Polish II
Optimum Poli-Seal
Optimum Opti-Seal (with free applicators! woo!)
Pinnacle XMT Speed Clay (will use with meguiar's ultimate quick detailer)

That's about it.

My questions are probably just to satisfy my curiosity more than anything else...

1. Is the counterweight on the Griot's polisher good enough to use with 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads? For the same price as the porter cable 7424xp, I'd rather have the warranty and funky handle.

2. Any issue going to flat pads as a beginner instead of the CCS pads?

3. Is the Optimum product line good for non-garaged daily drivers? I'm looking for a combination of price point, ease of application, longevity, and minimal environmental impact.

4. Is meguiars ultimate QD a reasonable clay lube?

Thanks! And thanks for providing so much great info.

Here are the cars just for funsies:

(I wont bore you with an ugly civic)

Matt

 

[07gtcs]

Polisher with pads and BP listed should work fine for you. Any QD should make good clay lube. I use Mothers cause its cheap.

 

[Vegas Transplant]

Indoor or not on the polishing?
Are any SS paint system?

Flat pads = more surface area for correction according to forum perspectives.

Consider the MF pads also if using OCC products. Compound II will get you where you want to be...but Hyper polish on MF pads works quicker, IME.

Poly-Seal will walk the dog on the Countryman's swirls. On stubborn areas, add a drop or two of PolishII on pad with Poly-Seal.

Both of my vehicles are outside 24/7, and are protected by OCC products inside and out. The good thing about Opti-Seal is that as a stand alone sealant, you can apply effortlessly after each wash if you choose to.

As far as clay lube, I would stick with ONR since you're going to need to mist panels anyway while compounding.

Passport?
We're relatively close in proximity.

Maint. Vehicle:

 

[y8s]

Polisher with pads and BP listed should work fine for you. Any QD should make good clay lube. I use Mothers cause its cheap.

I have the megs on hand... thanks for the vote of confidence on the pads.

Indoor or not on the polishing?
Are any SS paint system?

Flat pads = more surface area for correction according to forum perspectives.

Consider the MF pads also if using OCC products. Compound II will get you where you want to be...but Hyper polish on MF pads works quicker, IME.

Poly-Seal will walk the dog on the Countryman's swirls. On stubborn areas, add a drop or two of PolishII on pad with Poly-Seal.

Both of my vehicles are outside 24/7, and are protected by OCC products inside and out. The good thing about Opti-Seal is that as a stand alone sealant, you can apply effortlessly after each wash if you choose to.

As far as clay lube, I would stick with ONR since you're going to need to mist panels anyway while compounding.

Passport?
We're relatively close in proximity.

Maint. Vehicle:

I think all three vehicles are clearcoated. I am only guessing on the civic. paintscratch.com says it's a clearcoat.

I'll start with compound II and the orange pad and if it goes too slowly, I'll consider ordering something more exciting. I'm not aiming to get the civic to show car shine, just take some years off its face.

I may have a different impression of "walking the dog" than you do, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I considered ONR or maybe an ONR-detailer mix for the clay bar. I guess ultimately whatever stays slippery and doesn't dry out too fast is the winner.

I'll be doing pretty much all my work outside. It may be less than ideal but I have no garage (or the cars would be in it). Obviously I don't want to work in full sun but it may be my only choice -- and I will have to test panels for heat often.

Passport Alexandria. I'm in N. Arlington.

 

[y8s]

Little update on the Miata situation.

I convinced my wife to begrudgingly give me most of Saturday to spend some time correcting the paint on the Miata. See, we have a 1 month old baby and she needs me full time helping her when I'm home. But I managed to sneak away briefly...

Here are a couple of before shots. This car has never been detailed or corrected, just the occasional clay and wax. It's 11 years old and the victim of many performance modification projects that require me to lean over and hang various objects on the fender. That has taken its toll pretty clearly:

The hood wasn't too bad, mostly just small rock chips, swirls, and water spot etching. Some of the etching was too deep to bother fixing on a daily so I hit it a few times and moved on.

First round test spot:

You can see there's still a lot of dullness. The above was done with Optimum Compound II, an orange LC Flat Pad, and a GG on speed 5. I went over it a second time and followed with Polish II / White pad and had satisfactory results.

Here's that front fender again:

I'm fairly happy though I only did the fenders/hood due to time and baby constraints. How could I resist this face:

...

Anyway, some impressions from my first-ever attempt at paint correction with a real set of tools:

1. I'm using either too much product, too much pressure, in too much sun, or too high a speed with the GG + LC Flat Orange + Compound II.
Doing the hood twice with occasional cleanings by terry towel I ended up melting through the pad. In retrospect I should have:
a) used a more aggressive pad (yellow or microfiber, the latter I just ordered)
b) used a little less product
c) compound on speed 4 instead of 6
d) switch pads after the first complete pass on the hood
e) picked up that nylon brush for cleaning (I did now)
f) if I have to work in the sun (70F) do TINY sections at a time.

2. If your (my) test spot doesn't show progress with the products I choose, step up to a more aggressive product (I just didn't have one)

3. Optimum Poli-Seal on a white pad follows Compound II VERY nicely.
I realized that Polish II isn't much more aggressive and I decided to skip it and was pleased with the results. I liked the way the Poli-Seal applied with a white pad and think this will be my go-to on easy projects like my MINI that has pretty flawless new paint.

4. Opti-Seal goes on super easy!
Seriously, it seems like cheating.

Hopefully I'll get time to finish the rest of the car and post the results and also tackle the MINI and Honda at some point.

Matt

 

[Vegas Transplant]

I have the megs on hand... thanks for the vote of confidence on the pads.



I think all three vehicles are clearcoated. I am only guessing on the civic. paintscratch.com says it's a clearcoat.

I'll start with compound II and the orange pad and if it goes too slowly, I'll consider ordering something more exciting. I'm not aiming to get the civic to show car shine, just take some years off its face.

I may have a different impression of "walking the dog" than you do, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Old trucker term.

I considered ONR or maybe an ONR-detailer mix for the clay bar. I guess ultimately whatever stays slippery and doesn't dry out too fast is the winner.

I'll be doing pretty much all my work outside. It may be less than ideal but I have no garage (or the cars would be in it). Obviously I don't want to work in full sun but it may be my only choice -- and I will have to test panels for heat often.

Passport Alexandria. I'm in N. Arlington.

Excellent detail and write up. Seems like a great experience also...you seemed to have not only benefitted from your venture, but learned considerably much.

BTW, babies are cool...mine is now a college senior.

I'm in Bowie. 100% outside detailing also. If I can be of help, let me know.

Happy detailing...:autowash:

 

[sproketser]

Welcome aboard .