How to make a 2006 300c look great again?

[Sunder92]

After years of neglect, my brother wants me to fix up his 2006 300c. He's even agreed to buy everything for me to make it look brand new again

It's a base 300c with Silver Steel Clearcoat paint. There is corrosion on the rims, deep scratches all over the body and blemishes and scratches on the chrome trimming.

I think I got the rims covered. I found out I could just use some aluminum foil and water to get all the corrosion off.

However, I am stumped on the trimmings and body. For the body, would I have to fill it in with touch up paint, clear coat, then sand it down and polish? Also, are the trimming around the car actual chrome or chrome covered plastic? How would I fix it up?

After everything, I am going to clay it, then use Meguiar's Liquid Cleaner wax then Meguiar's nxt 2.0.

Everything is by hand btw.

Would this bring the car back to life?

 

[Fishincricket]

How to make a 2006 300c look great again?

Ooh, I know this one: trade it in on a Cadillac!

In all seriousness, though.. What's the deal with aluminum foil on the wheels?

And if everything is "by hand" I would certainly think that "touch up paint, clear coat, then sand it down and polish?" Would be off the table... Unless your brother wants to leave the car with you for a few months... And either way you'd definitely wanna compound before you polish. By hand. :shudders:

Your post is kinda all over the map.

I'm still a newb, I may be completely off the mark.

 

[Sunder92]

Ooh, I know this one: trade it in on a Cadillac!

In all seriousness, though.. What's the deal with aluminum foil on the wheels?

And if everything is "by hand" I would certainly think that "touch up paint, clear coat, then sand it down and polish?" Would be off the table... Unless your brother wants to leave the car with you for a few months... And either way you'd definitely wanna compound before you polish. By hand. :shudders:

Your post is kinda all over the map.

I'm still a newb, I may be completely off the mark.

I couldn't find any steel wool, so I thought I'd give aluminum foil a try. It actually turned out pretty good haha.

And I fixed three scratches on my Mazda before by hand. Each scratch was about 3-6 inches long. Only took... Three days lol.

Kinda have to do it by hand because I'm a total newb and do not know how to use an orbital buffer.

 

[Fishincricket]

Well the good news is that the orbitals are certainly "foolproof" by most standards...

Hopefully an expert will be along soon to give some serious thought to your queries..

 

[William D.]

I was in your shoes not even a week ago. No experience with a DA polisher, and was totally lost in a sea of compounds & polishes.

Do yourself a favor, if your brother is OK with it (or you both split it) buy a Griots Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher, a 5" backing plate, a few 5.5" orange and white pads, and some Optimum Compound II, and either Optimum Polish II, or Meguiars M205.

It is so, so easy. A DVD is included that shows you how, you'll get the grasp of it in minutes. You have no risk of burning through the paint, or making it worse. It's a leap of faith, but one you'll never regret.

 

[Sunder92]

Any suggestions on orbitals that cost less than $50? I'm a poor student and I do not think my brother would like to spend that much.

 

[William D.]

Problem is, you won't find a good one in that price range.

A new DA will run you $120-150+, and used ones won't be much cheaper.

Those cheap $20-40 ones you see at auto parts stores and Wal-Mart are all crap. Nowhere near enough power for any correcting.

Doing it by hand will never yield the results a machine can produce. Plus it will take forever in a day, with little/no reward.

If you both split it, you can get a Griots 6" for $60/person. Not much over your budget.

 

[CM8 6MT]

Any suggestions on orbitals that cost less than $50? I'm a poor student and I do not think my brother would like to spend that much.

Honestly, cheap orbitals are only good for applying wax/sealant faster than by hand. Thats it, dont expect any real correction work out of it.

If your serious about detailing, you will get a quality Dual Action. You can get some really good results working by hand, take note that you can apply more pressure by hand, than with those cheap orbital tools you find at local auto parts stores.

Also, if your new at this I would completely skip the touch up/sanding portion for now. You will most DEFINITELY be needing a powerful DA or Rotary in some cases to finish down sanding marks.

 

[HellaBroke]

This is an expensive place...
Porter cable buffer, 5" backing plate $130-160,and 9 hydro tech pads (3 of each color cut polish and finish) $90. This is just the equipment needed to start

Menzerna fg400 $30
Menzerna 2500 $30
Mnzerna 4-4500 $30

70% isopropoline alcohal and a 32oz chemical safe squirt bottle $8 bucks

Menzerna power lock sealanr $30

Microfibers costco style $12

This is a very basic start to to an expensive hobby the list goes on for what you should really have on hand....


You can take the buffer and pads off and buy the lake country hand applicator for much much less but if the car is in the shape your decribing your arm might just fall off...

As far as the chrome trim.... is concerned its plastic dipped chrome so if its that scratched I would look to have it wrapped in dicon vinyl.

Keep us posted post some pictures of its current state and where your going to go with it and what route...
Good luck and welcome
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[Sunder92]

I don't think I'll get too serious about detailing until I have the money for it. It'll mostly just be a side hobby. I don't think I'd be detailing any other cars except mine and maybe my brother's for a while.

Edit:
@HellaBroke- I think I'm going to see what I can do by hand first. If my arm does fall off, I might just invest in a buffer (;

Gonna have to wait until winter's over before I can start though. I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

 

[sharpreflection]

Ok, here is a cheap, effective alternative you can do. First, go to Harbor Freight and pick up the Chicago electric platinum 6” dual action polisher. If you look in a motor trend magazine you can find a coupon for 20% off and with that it’s only going cost you around $50.00. I bought this polisher as a back up and it actually is really nice. Second, they also should have some pads there that are not to bad either. They are orange for compounding and blue for polishing and black for wax. If you Google your area for auto paint supply shops you may be able to find a store that will carry better quality pads. I’m not sure about the area you live in, but, I know the AutoZone here carries Meguiars mirror glaze products 105 and 205. Unless you find a paint shop those two polishes are pretty much all you would need. If you don’t feel comfortable with a polisher I will assure you that anyone can pick it up quickly. Watch some videos on YouTube search for AutoGeeks’ Mike Phillips or Junkman2000, they have some really good videos on how to use the porter cable. Junkman2000 are more geared toward beginners which I think may be more helpful in your case. I would practice on the glass first with a soft pad and some wax to get the feel for it. NXT is a pretty good wax and should be fine but clay everything after you wash and before you polish. Get some microfibers as well. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you

 

[CM8 6MT]

This is an expensive place...
Porter cable buffer, 5" backing plate $130-160,and 9 hydro tech pads (3 of each color cut polish and finish) $90. This is just the equipment needed to start

Menzerna fg400 $30
Menzerna 2500 $30
Mnzerna 4-4500 $30

70% isopropoline alcohal and a 32oz chemical safe squirt bottle $8 bucks

Menzerna power lock sealanr $30

Microfibers costco style $12

LoL so you recommend all these expensive German Polishes, but cheap MF towels from Costco that will marr his paint like no tomorrow? Kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[HellaBroke]

LoL so you recommend all these expensive German Polishes, but cheap MF towels from Costco that will marr his paint like no tomorrow? Kind of defeats the purpose.

Yup when I got to micro fibers and added up what I already wrote down and it was almost at 400 figured thats probably intimidating enough when u start talking about chinchilla towels @ 15 bucks a piece and cobras at 20... people really start thinking your nuts.... I started with costco mf towels and they worked fine for starter towels using brand new ones every time product was removed. No issues here


Find someone brand new to detailing and tells you from the get go they are on a budget and starting from nothing.... then tell them to drop $100 on towels. ... dont think you can turn someone away faster.... swap the menzernas out for the good ol Auto Geek 105/205.... I personally found menzerna easier to work with when I first started... and I went from 105/205 to the full pinnacle line up to now menzerna and wish I started with menzerna.


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[William D.]

You know, as bad as this sounds, I got two Cobra Guzzler microfibers from AG a year or two ago, and they were terrible. Didn't hardly pick up any water, just smeared it around.

Bought a $6 24x36 Microfiber towel from AutoZone, works great. I can wipe down any car I own and it never leaves any leftover water. I usually have to wring it out once, but it's a great towel. Maybe I got a bad one? I use them for rags now, and even then.

 

[CM8 6MT]

Yup when I got to micro fibers and added up what I already wrote down and it was almost at 400 figured thats probably intimidating enough when u start talking about chinchilla towels @ 15 bucks a piece and cobras at 20... people really start thinking your nuts.... I started with costco mf towels and they worked fine for starter towels using brand new ones every time product was removed. No issues here


Find someone brand new to detailing and tells you from the get go they are on a budget and starting from nothing.... then tell them to drop $100 on towels. ... dont think you can turn someone away faster.... swap the menzernas out for the good ol Auto Geek 105/205.... I personally found menzerna easier to work with when I first started... and I went from 105/205 to the full pinnacle line up to now menzerna and wish I started with menzerna.


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Hmmm yeah you dont need to spend a fortune on MF towels to start off. Chinchillas? Nah, Cobra 530 Golds for me. 3 pack for $12.99 . Not sure where your getting your $100 dollar figures from. The 105/205 combo is pretty old. I find that M101 or D300+MF discs would take your Menzerna to school and back anyday as far as ease of use, and final finish. But thats just me

 

[Sunder92]

Got some pictures. Sorry they're so dark. Had to do it in the garage because there's a snow storm right now. Good news is that I didn't find much spiderwebing or swirl marks. Bad news is there are a bunch of deep scratches, not only on the body, but the chrome/plastic trimmings as well.

Some light corrosion:

 

[HellaBroke]

Get a 16oz bottle iron x snow soap to help remove the contamination embeded in the paint.
Meguires medium clay http://www.autogeek.net/megovclay.html. use some meguires quick detaiker for the clay lube (youtube how to clay a car if you have never done it) clay all painted surfaces! This will most likely remove the paint transfer in the one picture you posted as well as the rest of the embeded particals. ( it will be mentiined to use the baggy test method to determine if claying is nessicary google baggy paint test if your curious id be willing to put money on it needs to be clayed)
From there isolate your deeper scratches determine if they can be corrected if a finger nail will catch dont bother your not going to be able to remove it by compound and hand.... from there move to the lesser scratches and then to the swirls in the finish... least agressive means possible this dosent mean compound the entire car and then polish the whole car most swirls will come out with a polish. And lastly I recomend after you have corrected the paint you seal it with a sealant of your choice search them there are tons collonite or an inbetween like this
http://www.autogeek.net/collinite-insulator-wax-845.html

Good luck remember to take pictures along the way as you go read read read before you start.... before day light while your washing it while your claying etc...

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[cardaddy]

LoL so you recommend all these expensive German Polishes, but cheap MF towels from Costco that will marr his paint like no tomorrow? Kind of defeats the purpose.

I'd have to put a "maybe" on that. Some paint they don't hurt at all. Also depends on the LSP I've noticed. And of course it helps to keep them clean and sorted. If mine get any dirty spots of smudges on them they NEVER hit paint again. (not even as ONR wash rags)

Then again, the first stage was done by hitting the ol' paint with tin foil and steel wool!

 

[Sunder92]

So I found out I got some money coming my way. It's not much, but hopefully it can pay for a $100-$120 orbital buffer.
What would you guys recommend?

 

[HellaBroke]

http://www.autogeek.net/porter-cable-7424xp.html
On sale 130

And these pads

http://www.autogeek.net/hydrotech-low-profile-3pack.html

I like these pads they work well with the pc polisher, I try to have 3 of each pad blue, orange, and red.
Blue is a cutting pad orr most aggressive, orange is polishing, and red is finishing or ur glaze/sealant/wax application.

You can get away with one of each.... id recommend 3 of each though... reason is you can work with one have one soaking/cleaning and the other drying. Read up on cleaning pads... after you clean them stick it on the machine spin dry it on speed 6 and then let it sit to dry... if your pads are still moist it takes away from how they will cut/polish...

What I just listed are good useful tools however a lot of reading is infront of you read up on what products you choose to use, techniques used etc... I use a pc and it can do amazing good things if you take your time and read how to use them. Mikes book the art of detailing is a very good informative read and is avalible to download on the autogeek site highly recommend you start your reading there.
Ill post more information links to threads that you will find useful. When you make your mind up on products post them up here so people can provide you with useful information.
A highlight to a lot of your reading will be "least aggressive means possible"
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