austin
08-13-2003, 06:23 AM
thought id share this with you guys. hopefully, it will inspire some of you to give your paint a last chance before bringing your car to the paint shop...
two nights ago, i bought an electric orbital buffer from kragen with hopes to smooth out the black paint on my car, which seemed to have lost some of its luster over the last 7 years. a good amount of swirl marks, hard water marks, and fine scratches seemed to never want to come out, no matter how much work i put into it. the machine was only $20, and i thought it was worth a shot, since 4 hours of clay bar, 2 hours of scratch-x, and endless bottles of polish, wax, and glaze didnt seem to be doing the trick.
i started by giving the car a good wash and clay barring every inch of the car to get most of the contaminants and dirt out from teh surface of the paint. this took a good 3 hours, and by that time i was already pretty tired. went out to eat and came back home at around 10 to my nice clean cool dry car in the garage. this is where the fun started. i hung around for a while, taking the buffer out of the box, looking at it and playing with it, "revving it up" and fooling around with it, really just procrastinating getting started.
at about 11pm, i finally started to get a feel for the buffer by applying a little bit of meguires #5 fine-cut cleaner, which is a very mildly abrasive compound that is meant to be used with a rotary orbital buffer such as the one i was using. i started on the hood, and worked the car one panel at a time until i finished the whole car. i worked the compound into each panel twice, buffing out the residue between each application. this took a good 3 hours by itself, since i was making sure i worked very slow and steady, while learning the feel of the machine. on certain areas, such as the hood, roof, and decklid, i went over them a third time with the compound to really get out the swirl marks and surface scratches. by the time i was done, the paint felt way smoother, and it looked like most of the scratches and swirl marks were gone. the paint just looked a little bit dull and there was still a lot of dust left from the buffing compound.
after i buffed out all of the fine-cut compound and wiped away as much of the residual dust it left behind, i started with the polish. i use p&s brand polish and wax, which is what the guys that detail at the local porsche dealership use and recommend. it is only available wholesale directly from the company's warehouse in hayward. i have a big ass tub of it, since i used to buy them in small bottles and decided it was good stuff, better than meguires and zymol imo. i slipped on a new terry polishing sock over the orbital buffer and went to work. this time, i worked the polish in with the orbital buffer and polished it out by hand with a 100% cotton cloth diaper (i highly recommend picking some of these up for your detailing work). after one even appliaction all over the entire car, the paint looked way better. it was really really shiny, and there was not a single swirl mark in sight. i was very impressed with my own work. it looked and felt almost like brand new paint, except for some small rock chips scattered across the hood and front bumper. i finished with a second polishing session on the hood, roof, and decklid, and some hand polishing in the curvy areas and crannies, where the orbital polisher simply couldnt reach, or certain complex curves where i was afraid that the edges of the machine polisher might have burned through the clearcoat (ie. the sideskirts, the curve over the rear fender, the hood hump, etc). i was very satisfied with the results, even though i was working on my 6th hour by that time. i would need a lot of practice if i were going to do this professionally for somebody expecting their car back the same day :( the paint looked and felt like glass it was so smooth. the black color really looked a lot deeper than before, good enough where my thoughts of a repaint went out the window.
by this time, it was about 4 in the morning, and i was getting very fatigued and hot. i had my shirt off, the garage door open, and i had downed four bottles of crystal geyser. i decided to take a short break and grab some good ol' jack in the box. i dropped my girlfriend off (who had been patiently waiting and keeping me company this whole time) and came back home to seal it all up with some wax and glaze. i used some p&s ultracoat finishing wax, which has carnauba and polyurethane stuff in it, which is supposed to protect your paint better than the normal stuff (i think its supposed to be similar to that "perma plate" stuff the dealer tries to sell you when you buy a new car). im not sure how superior it is to their normal carnauba line, but i just know that im down to the bottom of the bottle, and so far its seemed to do its job very well and last for at least a whole month without fading much. its thicker than their normal wax, so i think it must have some better holding properties. maybe its just psychological. i went through the same routine, one even coat around the whole car, applying with a terry bonnet on the orbital buffer, polishing out by hand. this method seemed to be working well, since i didnt see any swirl marks or dull spots, even under close inspection with my flourescent flood lightbar. i sealed it up with meguires #7 (?) professional series glaze/sealer, which i applied all by hand. i gave the car a once over and cleaned up any spots of leftover glaze that i might have missed, and i cleaned up all the buffer/polish/wax dust that had built up in the door jams and trim crevices around the car.
even though i had already cleaned the windows after washing the car, i had to do it again because the detailing crap had splashed all over the windows while using the orbital buffer. took me three appliactions stoner invisible glass to get all the residue off. that stuff is so hard to clean off after it dries, i think next time im going to mask off all the windows before doing it again. it was now about 7 in the morning, and i was ready to go to bed. i shined up the tires with armor all, and i was finally done! i could have probably finished in half the time, but i am very anal about getting every inch of the car at least once with each step, and it was my first time. i think next time i could probably finish in about 4 hours instead of 8. i definitely feel like i got a good workout, since my whole body is sore, not just my arms or back. i dont know how people could do this day in and day out for their job. they must get really buff.
i took the car outside yesterday in the sun and shot some pictures. even in the sun, there is not a swirl mark in sight, and the paint definitely looks a lot smoother and deeper. id recommend this to anybody that feels their paint could use some work and is willing to put in some time and elbow grease for their baby. if anyone is planning to do it, id recommend applying and spreading the detailing product first by hand before starting with the orbital buffer. for the first half hour or so, i was just squirting a line of compound to the car, then going at it with the buffer. this managed to splash the stuff all over my windows, garage floor, clothes, and shoes. after i started spreading it across the finish with the orbital pad first without starting the motor up, it was a lot cleaner, and there was a lot less to clean up. also, id recommend masking off your windows, since this stuff is a pain in the ass to clean off the windows after it dries up. email me if you have any questions, id be glad to help.
if youre in the bay area, you are more than welcome to swing by and check out the paint in person if you need some motivation. if you are lazy, i might be willing to do it for you for a couple hundred bucks. you would have to leave your car with me for a few hours. im not trying to solicit here, im just trying to offer a service to the lazy guys here who want their cars to bling some more. the only reason i want to do it is to help and because i could use the workout to burn off this summer gut i have built up. i could also use the cash to buy more parts for my car! :cool:
ill try to get the pictures up in the next few days. i hope this inspires some of you guys to try it out on your own cars. i am very happy with the way mine turned out, im pretty sure you will be too! good luck, and if you get so sore you cant move your muscles without them cramping up, dont say i didnt warn you!
two nights ago, i bought an electric orbital buffer from kragen with hopes to smooth out the black paint on my car, which seemed to have lost some of its luster over the last 7 years. a good amount of swirl marks, hard water marks, and fine scratches seemed to never want to come out, no matter how much work i put into it. the machine was only $20, and i thought it was worth a shot, since 4 hours of clay bar, 2 hours of scratch-x, and endless bottles of polish, wax, and glaze didnt seem to be doing the trick.
i started by giving the car a good wash and clay barring every inch of the car to get most of the contaminants and dirt out from teh surface of the paint. this took a good 3 hours, and by that time i was already pretty tired. went out to eat and came back home at around 10 to my nice clean cool dry car in the garage. this is where the fun started. i hung around for a while, taking the buffer out of the box, looking at it and playing with it, "revving it up" and fooling around with it, really just procrastinating getting started.
at about 11pm, i finally started to get a feel for the buffer by applying a little bit of meguires #5 fine-cut cleaner, which is a very mildly abrasive compound that is meant to be used with a rotary orbital buffer such as the one i was using. i started on the hood, and worked the car one panel at a time until i finished the whole car. i worked the compound into each panel twice, buffing out the residue between each application. this took a good 3 hours by itself, since i was making sure i worked very slow and steady, while learning the feel of the machine. on certain areas, such as the hood, roof, and decklid, i went over them a third time with the compound to really get out the swirl marks and surface scratches. by the time i was done, the paint felt way smoother, and it looked like most of the scratches and swirl marks were gone. the paint just looked a little bit dull and there was still a lot of dust left from the buffing compound.
after i buffed out all of the fine-cut compound and wiped away as much of the residual dust it left behind, i started with the polish. i use p&s brand polish and wax, which is what the guys that detail at the local porsche dealership use and recommend. it is only available wholesale directly from the company's warehouse in hayward. i have a big ass tub of it, since i used to buy them in small bottles and decided it was good stuff, better than meguires and zymol imo. i slipped on a new terry polishing sock over the orbital buffer and went to work. this time, i worked the polish in with the orbital buffer and polished it out by hand with a 100% cotton cloth diaper (i highly recommend picking some of these up for your detailing work). after one even appliaction all over the entire car, the paint looked way better. it was really really shiny, and there was not a single swirl mark in sight. i was very impressed with my own work. it looked and felt almost like brand new paint, except for some small rock chips scattered across the hood and front bumper. i finished with a second polishing session on the hood, roof, and decklid, and some hand polishing in the curvy areas and crannies, where the orbital polisher simply couldnt reach, or certain complex curves where i was afraid that the edges of the machine polisher might have burned through the clearcoat (ie. the sideskirts, the curve over the rear fender, the hood hump, etc). i was very satisfied with the results, even though i was working on my 6th hour by that time. i would need a lot of practice if i were going to do this professionally for somebody expecting their car back the same day :( the paint looked and felt like glass it was so smooth. the black color really looked a lot deeper than before, good enough where my thoughts of a repaint went out the window.
by this time, it was about 4 in the morning, and i was getting very fatigued and hot. i had my shirt off, the garage door open, and i had downed four bottles of crystal geyser. i decided to take a short break and grab some good ol' jack in the box. i dropped my girlfriend off (who had been patiently waiting and keeping me company this whole time) and came back home to seal it all up with some wax and glaze. i used some p&s ultracoat finishing wax, which has carnauba and polyurethane stuff in it, which is supposed to protect your paint better than the normal stuff (i think its supposed to be similar to that "perma plate" stuff the dealer tries to sell you when you buy a new car). im not sure how superior it is to their normal carnauba line, but i just know that im down to the bottom of the bottle, and so far its seemed to do its job very well and last for at least a whole month without fading much. its thicker than their normal wax, so i think it must have some better holding properties. maybe its just psychological. i went through the same routine, one even coat around the whole car, applying with a terry bonnet on the orbital buffer, polishing out by hand. this method seemed to be working well, since i didnt see any swirl marks or dull spots, even under close inspection with my flourescent flood lightbar. i sealed it up with meguires #7 (?) professional series glaze/sealer, which i applied all by hand. i gave the car a once over and cleaned up any spots of leftover glaze that i might have missed, and i cleaned up all the buffer/polish/wax dust that had built up in the door jams and trim crevices around the car.
even though i had already cleaned the windows after washing the car, i had to do it again because the detailing crap had splashed all over the windows while using the orbital buffer. took me three appliactions stoner invisible glass to get all the residue off. that stuff is so hard to clean off after it dries, i think next time im going to mask off all the windows before doing it again. it was now about 7 in the morning, and i was ready to go to bed. i shined up the tires with armor all, and i was finally done! i could have probably finished in half the time, but i am very anal about getting every inch of the car at least once with each step, and it was my first time. i think next time i could probably finish in about 4 hours instead of 8. i definitely feel like i got a good workout, since my whole body is sore, not just my arms or back. i dont know how people could do this day in and day out for their job. they must get really buff.
i took the car outside yesterday in the sun and shot some pictures. even in the sun, there is not a swirl mark in sight, and the paint definitely looks a lot smoother and deeper. id recommend this to anybody that feels their paint could use some work and is willing to put in some time and elbow grease for their baby. if anyone is planning to do it, id recommend applying and spreading the detailing product first by hand before starting with the orbital buffer. for the first half hour or so, i was just squirting a line of compound to the car, then going at it with the buffer. this managed to splash the stuff all over my windows, garage floor, clothes, and shoes. after i started spreading it across the finish with the orbital pad first without starting the motor up, it was a lot cleaner, and there was a lot less to clean up. also, id recommend masking off your windows, since this stuff is a pain in the ass to clean off the windows after it dries up. email me if you have any questions, id be glad to help.
if youre in the bay area, you are more than welcome to swing by and check out the paint in person if you need some motivation. if you are lazy, i might be willing to do it for you for a couple hundred bucks. you would have to leave your car with me for a few hours. im not trying to solicit here, im just trying to offer a service to the lazy guys here who want their cars to bling some more. the only reason i want to do it is to help and because i could use the workout to burn off this summer gut i have built up. i could also use the cash to buy more parts for my car! :cool:
ill try to get the pictures up in the next few days. i hope this inspires some of you guys to try it out on your own cars. i am very happy with the way mine turned out, im pretty sure you will be too! good luck, and if you get so sore you cant move your muscles without them cramping up, dont say i didnt warn you!