supercharged
New member
- Mar 7, 2006
- 7,305
- 0
THis is my girlfriend's car. It's never been polished before (at least after she purchased it), so it had a lot of swirls. It been through automatic car washes a couple of times.
I started detailing engine first. I covered altenator, and all belts with plastic bags. Then rinsed the engine with a jet of water. I used ZEP Citrus Degreaser (thanks,for recommending this one, Justin) cut 1:1 and sprayed it liberally on all greased parts of engine. I let it soak for a few minutes, and sprayed a little more again. Then used Megs wheel brush to help remove stubborn grease. After cleaning/ degreasing I rinsed the engine off with a jet of water.
I used a terry towel to wipe any major spills, removed plastic bags, and sprayed AA tire foam on all plastic and rubber components. I closed the hood and cranked up the engine, and let it run for about 15 minutes.
Next step I cleaned tires and wheels with DP Gel Wheel claner and OXO brushes. I used EZ brush to clean insed of wheels. Love this brush!!!:righton:
Then I presoaked a car with a foam gun and Poorboy's SS&S solution. The more I use this wash, the more I love it!!!:righton: I washed the car with Shmitt and SS&S in a bucket. Working in a full sun, some soap actually dried on the paint before I was able to rinse it off. The car needed polishing anyway, so I didn't care. I clayed hood, fenders, roof, and trunk lid. It didn't feel very bad, but could use some clay. I clayed after I washed the car, but before drying it. I sprayed clay lubricant on wet paint and clayed. Then rinsed it off. Dried with a Guzzler.
Now onto the polishing. I still had LC pads, and wanted to tackle this one with them. Man, I was wrong. Paint is hard, even working with XMT4 (I started with Pinnacle ASR on orange pad), I was able to remove only abot 50% of defects. So I bumped speed to 6, and almost literally meled the backing plate. That's it! I'm not buying LC pads again.
I brough my E2K flat pads, and decided to give them a try. I was a little worried, so I worked with speed 5.5 on with prange pad and ASR. This combo was doing a better job, but I still expected a better bite. I did not want yellow pad, as I tried LC yellow pad and it really hazes paint up, especially black. So I tried ASR and green E2K pad. Man, I love this combo. Was able to remove 85-90 of scratches and swirls. Using Justin's technique, I lighten up the pressure on a pad, once polish was almost broken down. This was giving LSP ready finish. Hood, fenders, roof, and trunk lid I had to follow up with finishing polish. I used Menzerna PO106ff/Clearkote RMG 70/30 mix on a blue E2K pad. Man, I love this combo. Menzerna really break down well, while RMG gives longer working time. I still ease up pressure when polish was almost broken down.
Afterwards, I gave this car a coat of Pinnacle Souveran Paste.
Pics.
before:
I started detailing engine first. I covered altenator, and all belts with plastic bags. Then rinsed the engine with a jet of water. I used ZEP Citrus Degreaser (thanks,for recommending this one, Justin) cut 1:1 and sprayed it liberally on all greased parts of engine. I let it soak for a few minutes, and sprayed a little more again. Then used Megs wheel brush to help remove stubborn grease. After cleaning/ degreasing I rinsed the engine off with a jet of water.
I used a terry towel to wipe any major spills, removed plastic bags, and sprayed AA tire foam on all plastic and rubber components. I closed the hood and cranked up the engine, and let it run for about 15 minutes.
Next step I cleaned tires and wheels with DP Gel Wheel claner and OXO brushes. I used EZ brush to clean insed of wheels. Love this brush!!!:righton:
Then I presoaked a car with a foam gun and Poorboy's SS&S solution. The more I use this wash, the more I love it!!!:righton: I washed the car with Shmitt and SS&S in a bucket. Working in a full sun, some soap actually dried on the paint before I was able to rinse it off. The car needed polishing anyway, so I didn't care. I clayed hood, fenders, roof, and trunk lid. It didn't feel very bad, but could use some clay. I clayed after I washed the car, but before drying it. I sprayed clay lubricant on wet paint and clayed. Then rinsed it off. Dried with a Guzzler.
Now onto the polishing. I still had LC pads, and wanted to tackle this one with them. Man, I was wrong. Paint is hard, even working with XMT4 (I started with Pinnacle ASR on orange pad), I was able to remove only abot 50% of defects. So I bumped speed to 6, and almost literally meled the backing plate. That's it! I'm not buying LC pads again.
I brough my E2K flat pads, and decided to give them a try. I was a little worried, so I worked with speed 5.5 on with prange pad and ASR. This combo was doing a better job, but I still expected a better bite. I did not want yellow pad, as I tried LC yellow pad and it really hazes paint up, especially black. So I tried ASR and green E2K pad. Man, I love this combo. Was able to remove 85-90 of scratches and swirls. Using Justin's technique, I lighten up the pressure on a pad, once polish was almost broken down. This was giving LSP ready finish. Hood, fenders, roof, and trunk lid I had to follow up with finishing polish. I used Menzerna PO106ff/Clearkote RMG 70/30 mix on a blue E2K pad. Man, I love this combo. Menzerna really break down well, while RMG gives longer working time. I still ease up pressure when polish was almost broken down.
Afterwards, I gave this car a coat of Pinnacle Souveran Paste.
Pics.
before:
