Your expert help needed please - Obsidian black pearl Subaru paint

lawrenceSA

lawrenceSA

New member
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Messages
1,713
Reaction score
0
Hi all

I really need some advice from you knowledgeable AG's...

I have detailed around 20 or so vehicles so far but most have been VAG cars with generally hard clear coats.

I have a customer bringing a modified 2003 Subaru WRX in Obsidian Black Pearl to me and he is looking for a close to a perfect finish as possible. The paint work is not terribly swirled, however I read that this is a particularly soft paint system.

What I am trying to get my head around is what changes when dealing with the softer paint like this? Has anyone ACTUALLY detailed one of these cars before? If so, what products/pads did you use?

I fully understand the concept of using the least aggressive method and am therefore thinking of trying out Menz SF4000 as the initial test but am not sure what pad to use. I currently have LC pads (green and orange CCS pads) and am more than happy to purchase some additional pads if need be.

ANY Advice you can give me in this regard would be sincerely appreciated as I can tell from discussions with the owner that he is VERY fussy (as he should be) and I want to make sure I knock his socks off, so to speak.

He also has some really bad waterspots on all of his windows which is a real issue for him.

Now I have never polished glass before nor have I needed to remove tough waterspots from glass before, and so again any advice would be greatly appreciated (products/methods etc)

Once again, thanks in advance

Lawrence
 
I'm a noob and still learning but the other day I was talking with someone about water spots and was told to use 000 steel wool with polish and if that was not working to well then use the same thing but with a compound. Hope others here can chime in and let me know if this was good advice. Feed back please
 
I'm sure you'll get more help, still early for some folks.
 
lawrenceSA said:
I fully understand the concept of using the least aggressive method and am therefore thinking of trying out Menz SF4000 as the initial test but am not sure what pad to use.

I currently have LC pads (green and orange CCS pads) and am more than happy to purchase some additional pads if need be.
Click to expand...

The green and orange CCS pads will work to remove medium to severe swirls and scratches but for polishing and finishing out you're going to want some LC 5.5" Flat pads in both white and black.

5 1/2 inch and 6 inch Buffing Pads on Autogeek's Online Store



lawrenceSA said:
He also has some really bad water spots on all of his windows which is a real issue for him.
Click to expand...

I don't ever recommend using steel wool of any grade on glass, steel scratches glass and I've owned enough cars to have seen it first hand. In fact I scratched some glass accidental with my steel watch band recently and then spent almost 2 hours removing the scratch.

Get a dedicated water spot remover that uses a glass safe mechanical abrasive and abrade the water spots off, it's really the best way to get crystal clear, completely smooth glass.


:)
 
Mike don't the flat pads have more cut than CCS? why would they polish or finish better than CCS ?
 
weekendwarrior said:
Mike don't the flat pads have more cut than CCS?
Click to expand...

I "think" that more the more important difference between the cut ability of foam as it specifically related to flat vs CCS is the type of foam not the shape of the foam.


weekendwarrior said:
why would they polish or finish better than CCS ?
Click to expand...

IF you re-read the OP's post he states,


lawrenceSA said:
I have a customer bringing a modified 2003 Subaru WRX in Obsidian Black Pearl to me and he is looking for a close to a perfect finish as possible.

The paint work is not terribly swirled, however I read that this is a particularly soft paint system.
Click to expand...

I don't know for a fact that the paint on this car is truly "particularly soft" as it's not in front of me to do some testing on.

If I assume the OP is correct, and I hate to assume but sometimes when using a text based communications system to talk to a guy in South Africa I have to just go with it.

Assuming the paint is particularly or "very" soft, then you want everything possible working for you and in my humble opinion, a flat surface offers a greater and better chance of finishing out perfect against another flat surface as compared to an irregular surface finishing out on a flat surface.

This is just my opinion based upon experience and time spent thinking about all things paint polishing related for most of my life.

Good question though...


:)
 
Most all subaru paint is soft . I agree with the flat pads for polishing as less time and more even area. Just take your time and the paint will really pop with all the flakes in it :) I just did a legacy gt wagon in the same color took me a full Saturday 12hrs and another 7hrs Sunday to make it look good.

Pj C. senior detailer at Subaru of Moncton.
 
Thanks for reply Mike. I only ask since I also have a Subaru in the fleet and bought CCS for it. I read here and in other threads about people having success on Subie paint with flat or Hydrotech pads over CCS which has me thinking about picking some up and doing a comparison. wouldn't hurt to have choices either I imagine.
 
weekendwarrior said:
Thanks for reply Mike. I only ask since I also have a Subaru in the fleet and bought CCS for it. I read here and in other threads about people having success on Subie paint with flat or Hydrotech pads over CCS which has me thinking about picking some up and doing a comparison. wouldn't hurt to have choices either I imagine.
Click to expand...

Keep this in mind...

When it comes to removing swirls and creating a show car finish, in order of importance are,

  1. Abrasive technology
  2. Tool action
  3. Technique
  4. Pad type and design
You need to nail all of the first three things right off the bat, if you do this then pad type and design is the least influential assuming you're using quality proven pads.


Make sense?

:xyxthumbs:
 
Great info - thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge with me.

I love this place:xyxthumbs:
 
I own a WR Blue Subie and have worked on Plasma Blue and Obsidian Black... all different years and soft clear does seem to be common between them all.

For me, I've never had to go more aggressive than M205 and a black finishing pad. If that wouldn't have worked I would have stuck with M205 and tried stepping up to a white pad next, but never had to.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top