Work in Progress - 2005 Toyota Camry

[nickclark08]

So, was going to post this to the "What did you do detailing wise today" thread, but figured the post would be long with all the photos. So, here is my first click n brag, documenting my first polishing session.

BACKSTORY

Subject car is my wife`s `05 Toyota Camry. My wife got it almost brand new in 2008 with ~15k miles on it (elderly gentleman owned it, and barely drove it). Had some paint issues when she bought it (scratches, nicks, dings, etc.) but was in overall good shape.

Fast forward 120k miles, countless trips to the tunnel wash, sitting outside in college parking lots unwaxed, and just general abuse. Car had never been waxed in the years she and I have had it (`til I joined Autopia and wisened up). Actually, the worsening oxidation and ways to fix / minimize it are what led me here in the first place.

Yesterday, the trunklid was the focus of my efforts. As you can see, the paint condition is pretty bad.



Severe oxidation, start of clearcoat failure, the works. The oxidation is present on other areas of the car as well. I tried a test spot by hand on the C pillar just to see if the paint was totally shot (hand applied Meg`s Ultimate Compound then Ultimate polish). Appeared to be salvageable... (shiny triangle shape at the base of the C pillar)





Ok, so fast forward a few months. I buy the Porter Cable DA, backing plate, pads, and a bottle of HD speed. Now just needed some time to tackle the job. Opportunity presented itself yesterday, So I got to work.

PROCESS

Polisher: Porter Cable DA
Pads: Lake Country Orange (compounding stage) and White (Polishing)
Polishes: Meguiars Ultimate Compound / HD Speed
Wax: Nattys Black

Car had been washed Saturday with 2BM method using Poorboys SSS and a micro chenile mitt. Area had been previously de-contaminated using BDX and clay, so was able to skip that step before polishing (paint still felt smooth - only been about 2 weeks). Given the one-day span between washing and polishing, I wiped the area down with Poorboys Spray and Wipe to get rid of the light surface accumulation of dust. Then I went to work.

I used the PC set at speed ~5.5 for the compounding stage. About 4-5 passes each area, working slow due to being in the sun and all the oxidation getting "scrubbed" off. I was brushing my pad after every section, and it was pretty gummed up. Being my first time polishing, I made the mistake of applying too much pressure, then wondering why the machine was just jiggling around not doing much. Duh, using too much. Lightened up the pressure, and things went smoothly after that.

Starting to get some gloss back....





Finished the compounding, with some areas taking a second go-over. Paint was hazy and somewhat splotchy (understandable given the previous condition), but the HD Speed on setting 4 cleared up most of it. 3-4 section passes using lighter pressure.



I tried to get some sun shots, but the sun was completely washing out the pics. Here you can sorta make out the "splotchiness" left even after the polishing stage.



Not perfect by any means, but still very much improved. My goal was to bring back the gloss a little bit, and hopefully slow the oxidation process some. As it really needs a repaint, I figure I didn`t have anything to lose by at least seeing what I could do. Finished it off with a coat of nattys black, and made sure to include a Merlin Shot:



Looking forward to improving the other oxidized areas, and polishing out the rest. Megs UC performed admirably in the sun, and both products had very little dusting (mostly just the obscene amount of oxidation coming off.

Thanks for reading!

[Marc08EX]

Great work! Meg`s UC is one of the best compounds in the market and readily available.

[nickclark08]

Thanks! Yeah, I will be picking up another bottle. All I had was a sample 4 oz and I almost ran out lol

[Angus]

Daaaang! Nice work reviving that tired old paint!! Happy to see it and hear your recent purchases have done their job

How many pads did you get? I bet they were getting very gunked up with so much oxidation coming off... if you haven`t picked one up yet, a pad conditioning brush really helps clean reside off:

Foam Pad Conditioning Brush

A very handy tool to have when dealing with hammered paint like the above.

[nickclark08]

Thanks Angus!

YES, the pads during compounding were getting absolutely caked. I got 3 orange and 3 white, and used 1 orange and 1 white during my work. Probably should have used more than one orange pad... Live and learn. I did (thankfully) pick up a pad brush in my order of pads and HD speed, which helped out big time getting the gunk off. I was brushing out the orange pad after every set of passes.

Again, appreciate the suggestion on the pads and HD speed. It was awesome to work with, no (or minimal) dusting, super long work time (even in the sun), and wipe off required zero effort. I will probably pick up HD cut and HD polish for use in the future.

Daaaang! Nice work reviving that tired old paint!! Happy to see it and hear your recent purchases have done their job






How many pads did you get? I bet they were getting very gunked up with so much oxidation coming off... if you haven`t picked one up yet, a pad conditioning brush really helps clean reside off:

Foam Pad Conditioning Brush

A very handy tool to have when dealing with hammered paint like the above.

[Migue]

Looking great, not bad at all for being the 1st time, and you had a lot on your plate with all that oxidation. Glad you liked HD Speed, stuff keeps going on forever and it wouldn`t surprise me if you cut the oxidation when using it on the orange pad. It`s worked for me on single stage paint before, even by hand.

[nickclark08]

Appreciate it! Working in the sun didn`t help, but there was a clear difference in working times between the UC and HD Speed. Like you said, the speed just kept going and going.

Speed on an orange pad.... hmmm I`ll have to try it. I have areas on the car that aren`t near as bad (just lots of swirling). Can one also go the other way? (for example, Ultimate compound on a white pad)? Is there really any reason to?

Obviously still learning

Looking great, not bad at all for being the 1st time, and you had a lot on your plate with all that oxidation. Glad you liked HD Speed, stuff keeps going on forever and it wouldn`t surprise me if you cut the oxidation when using it on the orange pad. It`s worked for me on single stage paint before, even by hand.

[Migue]

I`ve never tried UC on polishing pad, if you`re curious then why not try it? Since Speed is easier to work with, give it a shot with the Orange Pad, I started loving this combo after trying it out for the first time . This was done with that combination :

Trunk Test Spot 2..jpg
Rear Profile 1-B4.jpg
Rear Profile 2- After.jpg

[Accumulator]

nickclark08- Nice work, and I`m really glad you shared it with us. This is the kind of detail that I love checking out.

Heh heh, now about the engine compartment and undercarriage....

[Angus]

Speed on an orange pad.... hmmm I`ll have to try it. I have areas on the car that aren`t near as bad (just lots of swirling). Can one also go the other way? (for example, Ultimate compound on a white pad)? Is there really any reason to?

Obviously still learning

Sure can! And that`s the beauty behind doing a test spot to figure out what pad/polish combo will achieve the best correction results on the given surface.

For example, I was able to polish my old Honda Civic`s soft black paint using nothing more then UP + a zero cut finishing pad. Would that same combo work on the my BMW`s ROCK HARD sapphire black metallic paint? Nope! Not a chance.

[nickclark08]

haha thanks!

regarding the undercarriage/engine, all in due time trying to get the shell looking good, then interior, engine, etc. lots of work resurrecting neglected cars I`m finding out. Ounce of prevention ; pound of cure and all that.

nickclark08- Nice work, and I`m really glad you shared it with us. This is the kind of detail that I love checking out.

Heh heh, now about the engine compartment and undercarriage....

[nickclark08]

Learn something new new every day! Haha. I was of the mindset of "compound with compound pad, polish with polish pad" etc. Most of the car isn`t covered with the advanced oxidation, so knowing I can mix pads/polishes is definitely something I will keep in my back pocket.

Thanks again everyone. I`ll update this thread as I am able to document the progress. Car won`t be perfect when complete, but will definitely be in better shape (really, can only go up from here).

Why invest the time and not just buy a new one? Car is mechanically sound (runs much better than it looks haha) and I want to see how much I can improve it without "starting over" with a repaint. We shall see.

Sure can! And that`s the beauty behind doing a test spot to figure out what pad/polish combo will achieve the best correction results on the given surface.

For example, I was able to polish my old Honda Civic`s soft black paint using nothing more then UP + a zero cut finishing pad. Would that same combo work on the my BMW`s ROCK HARD sapphire black metallic paint? Nope! Not a chance.

[Sizzle Chest]

Very nice work and results! You really brought it back from the dead! Nice! Keep it up!

[Accumulator]

Why invest the time and not just buy a new one?

I`m a huge fan of keeping vehicles that work for you instead of jumping into something else right away. Took me a while to figure that one out....