Nick McKees37
McKee's 37 Product Support
- Jan 6, 2011
- 7,265
- 0
Last weekend I tackled a re-painted Ford F150 with the help of Bryan@Autogeek and FrankS. The condition of the paint was much worse than I had originally thought, so I didn't hesitate to accept the extra help!
The owner of this F150 had the truck re-painted a couple months ago, and while the quality of the paint job is pretty good, the finishing work (wet sand, cut, and buff) was less than stellar. The goal of this detail wasn't to create a show-car finish, but to bring the quality of the finish up to an acceptable level by removing the imperfections that stuck out like a sore thumb.
This was easily accomplished by using a combination of Rupes polishers and the new Lake Country HD foam pads (coming soon!). I'm a huge fan of Optimum Hyper Polish, and I've been drying to get my hand on the new formula, so I deemed this the perfect opportunity to put it to the test.
Products used:
- Rupes Polishers (21ES, 15ES, 75E Mini)
Lake Country HD foam pads (coming soon!) - Optimum Hyper Polish Spray (New Formula)
- Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0
- BLACKFIRE Total Eclipse Tire & Wheel Cleaner
- Pinnacle Signature All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate
- Low Profile Tire Brush
- P21S Polishing Soap
- Mothers Tire, Wheel & Well Brush Kit
- Wolfgang Auto Bathe
- Synthetic Sheepskin Wash Pad
- Complete Car Wash System with Dolly
- The Guzzler Triple Kit
- Metro Blaster SideKick
- Pinnacle GlassWork Water Spot Remover
- Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Glass Coating
- Lake Country Coating Applicator 2 Pack
- Super Plush Junior Microfiber Towel, 16 x 16 inches (lots of them)
- Optimum Metal Polish
- BLACKFIRE Total Trim & Tire Sealant
- Solution Finish Black Plastic & Vinyl Restorer
- Detailer’s Trim Detailer
- Detailer’s All In One Headlight Restoring Polish
The truck didn't look all that bad from 10 feet away. The condition of the paint became apparent upon closer inspection...swirl marks, sanding scratches, pig tails, and light water spots were everywhere.
The truck was also very dirty. The owner had not washed it since it was painted a few months ago.
Before washing the truck I polished the glass. The reason I did this is because glass polishing is messy, and the last thing I wanted to was wipe abrasive glass polish off paint that I just cleaned. Mike Phillips is an advocate of this method, and it will save you a generous of time cleaning up.
I used Pinnacle GlassWork Water Spot Remover with a Lake Country 5.5 inch CCS Orange pad on a Porter Cable 7424xp.
Check out the before and after:
I washed the truck using Wolfgang Auto Bathe and a Synthetic Sheepskin Wash Pad. Even though I was planning on polishing the paint, I didn't want to create more work for myself (or Frank or Bryan) so I washed it with care. While I washed the truck Bryan meticulously scrubbed all the plastic and rubber trim using Pinnacle Signature All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate and a Low Profile Tire Brush. Thanks Bryan!
Wheels and tires were cleaned using a combination of Mothers wheel brushes and BLACKFIRE Total Eclipse Tire & Wheel Cleaner.
The billet grill was polished using P21 Polishing Soap. This is one of my all time favorite car care products. I performed this step during the wash stage so I could simply rinse any remaining residue versus wiping it off. Piece of cake!
We dried the truck using several Guzzle Waffle Weave Drying Towels. These are super soft, extremely absorbent, and come in several sizes. Pictured below is the largest of the trio - Ultimate Guzzle which measures a whopping 28 x 44 inches. The built-in pockets make it easy to hold onto.
Since water likes to hide EVERYWHERE, I blew out all the cracks and crevices with a Metro Blaster Sidekick.
While Bryan was taping all the plastic trim on the F150, I spent a couple minutes poking and prodding at the new Lake Country HD pads. Lake Country developed these pads with large-orbit/stroke DA polishers in mind. The quality and construction of each pad is superb.
The pads are available in 2 sizes (6 and 7 inch, respectively) and 3 levels of cut.
- Blue = Cutting
- Orange = Polishing
- Red = Finishing
It's safe to say that Lake Country had the Rupes 21ES, 15ES, and 12ES in mind for their new HD pads. The 7 inch pad is for the 21ES, while the 6 inch is for the 15ES and the 12ES. The backing plate fits perfectly for each size.
Here's a Rupes LHR 21ES equipped with the 7 inch polishing pad.
I will say that the new Lake Country HD pads performed flawlessly for this detail. They are very smooth on the Rupes polishers, and they provide a respectable amount of cut and a great finish. Two thumbs up Lake Country!
On to the new formula Optimum Hyper Polish....This has always been one of my favorite polishes because it provides a long buffing cycle, and wipes off effortlessly. The new formula provides more cut AND a nicer finish. Win win!
Here's a test spot I did on the hood using a Lake Country ORANGE HD polishing pad on the Rupes LHR 21ES.
The majority of the defects were removed, with a few rids and pigtails remaining. The goal wasn't to create a 100% flawless finish worthy of a show car. This F150 is a daily driver so we accepted good enough, which was about 85% correction in this case.
Once the entire truck was polished, we wiped it down with a 15% solution of IPA. This is what Optimum recommends to prep the surface after polishing.
Here's Frank and Bryan applying Opti-Coat with Lake Country Coating Applicators. I showed them a couple different ways to apply it, and we all agreed on the laying a bead of product directly onto the paint and then spreading it with the applicator.
Opti-Coat is actually very easy to apply. The biggest mistake people make is they get apprehensive and don't apply enough product. Another common mistake is removing excess product too soon, thus resulting in the coating not properly adhering to the paint. Optimum recommends waiting a couple minutes before leveling any high spots with a microfiber towel. We allowed the product 3-4 minutes to "set up" before gently leveling any high spots with a Super Plush Microfiber Towel.
Since Frank and Bryan were doing such a great job applying Opti-Coat, I went ahead and polished the (real) chrome wheels with Optimum Metal Polish, then coated them with Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Wheel Coating. I also treated the acres of exterior trim using a combination of BLACKFIRE Total Trim & Tire Sealant, Solution Finish, and Detailer's Trim Detailer.
The headlights, while not horribly dull and faded, were also polished. I used DP All In One Headlight Restoring Polish with a Lake Country THIN Foamed Wool Pad on a FLEX PE14-2-150. I then applied DP Headlight Protectant Spray.
Here's how the truck looked when we were finished:
And in the sun the next day:
