Woot! 2001 Pontiac Montana Door. First try! Lots of pics

[Whitethunder46]

I set up my stuff and practiced some more on my Dad's 2001 Montana with 100K miles. I only did the passenger side sliding door. Has it's share or swirls and such. This was my first real GOOD attempt with the PC and XMT series.

Here's the before:

Applied XMT #3 to a yellow cutting pad.

Half and Half. The line isn't too distinct however.

Close up after polishing with XMT #3 and yellow pad:

close up after XMT #1 and orange pad:

Pics after all said and done. I used XMT Glaze on a blue pad set at speed 4 and moved somewhat quick. Followed this with Natty's Blue by hand, and then sprayed some aquawax on to finish her up:
(With flash)

(No flash)

 

[ehuth1]

Dude thats sweet !! Glad you got to get some experience under your belt. I gotta get me some PC experience as well, I've been doing all my work with a Black and Decker Orbital Sander Polisher from way back when. It took a dump and now I have a few PC's to get me started back up.

 

[6LS2]

Awesome, how was that feeling when you finished?

 

[Whitethunder46]

Awesome, how was that feeling when you finished?

Well it wasn't perfect. lol. But close, There are still a few small scratches maybe 1-2 inch long that are just random. They don't catch or anything, so idk if they can be buffed out? I don't know when to stop in the sense of what can and can't be buffed out with the PC.

 

[Surfer]

How'd you like that XMT Glaze? I can't wait to use it on my truck and top with Natty's Blue. I may grab some CG 5050 wax as well, friend just did and wow, would love to see it topping XMT Glaze.

 

[Whitethunder46]

How'd you like that XMT Glaze? I can't wait to use it on my truck and top with Natty's Blue. I may grab some CG 5050 wax as well, friend just did and wow, would love to see it topping XMT Glaze.

Well, I don't really have anything to compare it too. Nor do I really know what any good paste wax looks like standing alone! Haha. It turned out well for me though. And after the XMT 1, the glaze seemed to almost level everything out.

 

[Surfer]

Well, I don't really have anything to compare it too. Nor do I really know what any good paste wax looks like standing alone! Haha. It turned out well for me though. And after the XMT 1, the glaze seemed to almost level everything out.

Did you have to buff it or anything or did you just work it in and apply NB right after?

 

[Whitethunder46]

Did you have to buff it or anything or did you just work it in and apply NB right after?

I treated it like a wax. Let haze and buff off with an indigo towel.

 

[MikeyC]

For a dramatic half & half shot what you do is tape a towel to part of the panel. After polishing remove the towel and the panel. You'll get a nice line dividing the polished and unpolished areas.

 

[Whitethunder46]

For a dramatic half & half shot what you do is tape a towel to part of the panel. After polishing remove the towel and the panel. You'll get a nice line dividing the polished and unpolished areas.

Haha, yea. Well I was having fun though, lol. Turned out pretty decent.

 

[sparkie]

Bro the door looks good. Glad your liking that PC. Having fun is what it's all about.

 

[D]

Buying all of this new stuff and seeing pictures gets me so damn excited. I cant wait till summer!!!!

 

[JYear]

Looking good...can't wait to try out the PC and the products I purchased.

 

[abrcrombe]

LOL good job man.. I only saw the beginning on the title... "2001 Pontiac" and I thought you had gotten your new car!!

 

[Gary Sword]

That looks good. A definite improvement.

 

[Nica]

Looking good, yea I totally know what you mean about having fun. I agree with Sparkie, you have to have fun to enjoy it otherwise why do it.

Looks good, lookingforward on seeing the rest of the vehicle.

 

[supercharged]

Great job!

 

[justin_murphy]

I love seeing the XMT/EDGE combo!!!

It works sooooooo well!

Glad to see you getting the results that many of us have. You're well on your way bro.

 

[Truls]

Good job. like seeing those half n half pics.

Fun is THE key word in detailing, and it gets more and more fun after each car you detail.

 

[Whitethunder46]

Yea, my dad's car was a good test for it had a lot of light surface imperfections.

My friend came over today to check out mu stuff. I wanted to try it on his car to see if there'd be an impact. Let me start with this: It's an 88 Toyora Tercel, daily driver, and is not garaged. Yea, it was a MESS. I worked on the flat trunk, and about a 2x2 foot area on the left side. Worked in XMT 3 with yellow pad twice for 5-6 min each session. Then followed with green pad and XMT #2 since it was still Horendous.

Let me say this I didn't really change anything, lol. The side I polished actually almost looked worse than the untouched side. It's like I removed years of oxidation and revealed the true condition of these scratches. They were like 3d and upon further inspection, it was almost as if the paint was crackling UNDER the clear. We brought it out in the sun after a coat of Natty's (just wanted to protect the little layer I did polish) and the reflection was surprisingly very clear and crisp when ignoring these strange scratches.

It was a frustrating and strange experience, but I got exactly what I wanted out of it. What can and can't the PC do at the toughest setting (for me, Edge yellow and XMT 3). It rained later though and the beading was INCREDIBLE.

Also, I wanted to try something on his windshield with his approval. He's used Rain-x in the past and so the windshield had an overall good feel. It had the common "markings" or "etchings" that the windshield wipers leave on the glass. I applied Klasse AIO with an Edge Orange pad at speed 4.5/5. WOW! This was awesome, worked very well and left a very nice acrylic coating.

I'm going to try my mom's car tonight or tomorrow which has very very distinct markings in her glass from her wipers. No cleaner will take these outs. I have some painter tape now also, so I'll be able to hopefully do a very clear half and half shot.

Thanks for reading!