UDM | CCS | OHC | OP | 2003 Corolla

[michakaveli]

I took a stab at trying to improve the paint on my girlfriend's '03 Corolla (free test vehicle) :-) Finally got a chance to test out my new UDM.

Products I had to work with:
- UDM
- BP UDM comes with
- CCS 6.5" pads (yellow, orange, green, white, blue)
- CCS 4" pads (orange, green, white)
- 3.5" BP from CG
- OHC
- OP
- Chubby micro-fiber towels
- Shmitt
- Griot's Car Shampoo
- DAWN
- Mother's clay (yellow in color, had a new bar laying around unopened)

I washed the car with DAWN using the Shmitt. Gotta say I love using the Shmitt. I thought it elliminated the need for 2 buckets. While washing you can just rinse the Shmitt with the hose and go back to washing. The Shmitt is very soft and glids across the surface.
After the wash I proceeded to clay the vehicle using a DAWN/water solution as a lubricant. Worked well.

After frying the vehicle the next day I proceeded to attack the car with the UDM, yellow CCS and OHC. The vehicle has the usual swirls and scratches that one would expect on a vehicle this age. There was some deeper scratches on the trunk lid and roof that were visible in plain sight.
- While using the yellow pad and OHC I took my time. Worked in areas 2'x2' or less and worked the compound slow and made 3-4 passes in alternating patterns to let the compound do it's thing. Additional I was adding some pressure as if I let the weight of the machine run or just the additional weight of my hand I wasn't getting anywhere. Once I started adding the additional pressure and getting somwhere it took 2-3 passes sometimes to get the swirls and scratches out. Now for some of the deeper scratches it didn't completely remove them, but made them much less visible. You could see after the OHC passes that the paint got slightly hazy and has some new but finer scatches (I knew the compound was doing something :-) )

I tried using the orange pad to reduce some of the new fine scratches btu saw I wasn't getting anywhere so I put that on the back burner. By this point I was figuring out that the paint is rather hard. When I recalled detailing my E300 with a PC and an orange pad I was removing more fine scratches faster than the Corolla.

I then proceeded to using a green CCS pad w/ the OP. Essentially I had to handle this combo the same as I did the yellow CCS and OHC. With a few passes it did remove the fine scratches resulting from the OHC and yellow CCS. I removed the yellow pad and alternated as I was working a certain area at a time to get the hang of it so that I knew how much work to perform until I restored the shine in the area that was worked. The yellow pad became essentially flat by the time I was done using it on the vehicle.
- Is this normal?
- Also the UDM at higher speeds with this pad became must less stable and shook side to side. Normal? Expected?

I didn't like how the smaller backing pad didn't cover the entire hook and loop surface of the pad I was wasn't able to apply my efforts equally on the pad. Would the 5.25" CCS pads work better or be too small for the BP that comes with the UDM?

On the headlights I switched to the 3.5" BP and the smaller 4" CCS pads and they work greak! On speed 6 there was very little vibration and there was noticeable correction to the headlights. In some spots they are scratched deeply (no idea from what) but the green CCS 4" and OP made short work of the correction the 6.5" yellow CCS and OHC performed.


In conclusion, sorry this is rather lengthy. I want to make sure if there are any error(s) with my process that someone can pick up and advise. I am learning that for correction a rotarty will be th ebest candidate as it saves time and performs more "work" than a DA. But, I did notice that with the UDM and working an area slowly the surface may get pretty warm (especially the headlights). I noticed that the UDM is much more powerful that the PC ithout question. I think that smaller pads and the UDM shoudl be a decent minor/moderate pain correction combo? Does this make sense. I'm thinking I will stock up on the 5.25" CCS pads and should be able to use less pressure as the slightly increased roations of the smaller pads will compensate, as in comparison to using a larger pad (i.e. 6.5")

That all I can recall at this time, I'm sure something else will pop up that I forgot.

Comments, SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!

[MikeWinLDS]

I have a comment...pictures to go along with the write-up please!

[bigfoot]

Originally Posted by MikeWinLDS

I have a comment...pictures to go along with the write-up please!

+1

(10character min.)

[michakaveli]

Photos, as requested...



After some heavy polishing with 4" CCS pads

Close-up, you can see the deeper scratches



Other headlamp prior to heavy polishing, even though this one isn't as bad as the previous was



How do you remove this dealer decal?? Attacked it with nails and WD-40 on a paper towel

[bwalker25]

a heat gun or blow dryer can loosen the adhesive on the decals

edit: be VERY CAREFUL with a heat gun

[tom p.]

The paint looks very good, excellent gloss. Looks very clean.

How many hours into this job?

[michakaveli]

Originally Posted by tom p.

The paint looks very good, excellent gloss. Looks very clean.

How many hours into this job?

It took a good 3 hours to wash and clay it. Then probably 2 sets of 3-4 hour stints of cutting, polishing, applying sealant.

Additional note: AIO works GREAT on windows removing water marks. Ran a pass on my beater '95 Neon and the front and rear glass look like new...

[michakaveli]

I didn't like how the smaller backing pad didn't cover the entire hook and loop surface of the pad I was wasn't able to apply my efforts equally on the pad. Would the 5.25" CCS pads work better or be too small for the BP that comes with the UDM?

[Bunky]

I use 5-in CCS pads and had started with the 3.75-in backing plate but quickly changed to the 5-in backing plate that came with the UDM without any problems There was still about some space between backing plate and edge of pad. I just had to be careful near side mirrors, etc.