Ford Focus my '01 vs Scouring Sponge

[Dibbuz]

Time to show something of my work for a change :xyxthumbs:

My Brother-in-law has bought a "new"car: a Ford Focus from 2001.
Unfortunatly he bought it without seeying the car first. It came via someone he knew and trusted it was good.... the car itself is great except the paintwork...

The previous owner has washed the car with a scouring sponge!
That surely left it's mark on the car!

We only had 1 day to get the paint to shine again and since I'm the only one who had to do the polishing we had to compromise on the results. There wasn't simply enough time to get everything out.

Steps teaken:
-automated carwash (to save time since the painwork could not have been any worse)
-claying with Dodo's Purposeful Purple and Poorboy's Spray & Wipe 1:1 delitued
-Polishing with Festool RAP150 FE, Meg's Solo Light Wool pad en Meg's M105
-Finishing with Festool RAP150FE, Kompressor pad Black and Menzerna Final Finish (85RE)
-Glazing with D/A, 3M Blue finishing pad and Wolfgang Polish Enhancer
-Waxing by hand with Poorboy's Natty's wax (LOVE THE SMELLL!)
-Tires with Wolfgang Black Diamond gel
-Trims cleaned with Meg's APC and dressed with PB's Trim Restorer
-Glaswork with Meg's NXT glass cleaner, ECA and Dodo's Mint Merkin

Before:

Very hard to focus on white paint lol

Cleaning Trims:

Lots and LOTS of little black spots:

Clay after a small section:

Before:

After:

 

[Dibbuz]

Now this little thing to take care of. PTG readings were 165-170 so a good chance there is enough paint to do some sanding.

Is used a Festool 2mm excentric machine and Festool sanding pads (2000 and 3000 grit).
After sanding: (it's not out of focus, it's just that flat!)

After polishing

It wasn't pure clearcoat and not single stage either. It was a mix of both:

Too much white to be clearcote and if it was single stage there would my pads would be full of white paint but there was just a little. Later someone else who had done a white Focus told me the same.

Total removal of paint was about 10-15 microns.

Another nice surprise on the other side:

After:

Fun 50/50:

Some reflections:

Notice the straight line of the window where I sanded with the machine:

Some inches to the left:

Here it comes again:

and a few inches to the left:

 

[Dibbuz]

Afters:

Some beading pictures next day (with a phone camera)

Thanks for looking!!

 

[ironman1982]

Awesome job! I enjoyed the pictures. Quite a job for only a day. I hope your brother-in-law appreciated the effort. Tell him Christmas is coming soon!
:xyxthumbs:

 

[MetaEnder]

Looks great! I'm sure he'll be very happy with it, ha. Thanks for posting!