Drastic before/afters of in-progress Trans Am resto...

[drew.haynes]

So I am maybe half-done polishing my 93 Trans Am. After some horrendous body work I thought it would never look good again. I`m thankful for the worthless body guy who trashed my paint... as it caused me to find autopia and get more into detailing.



My process so far is 3M 39002 P-It II on a Yellow LC pad, followed in some areas by SSR1 on a White LC pad.



Before - Fender (How bad can it get on NEW paint??)

http://members.cox.net/garyh151/TA/b3.jpg



After (Should I do another pass of 3M or just leave those remaining swirls?)

http://members.cox.net/garyh151/TA/a1.jpg



Before - Hood (Maybe it`s just me, but I think those are holograms... old guy doing body shop for years, you`d think he couldn`t get away w/ that by now)

http://members.cox.net/garyh151/TA/b2.jpg



After - (The dots are some splatter I missed last night)

http://members.cox.net/garyh151/TA/a2.jpg



Before - Nose (ZERO gloss under halogen or direct sun. VERY visible sanding marks)

http://members.cox.net/garyh151/TA/b1.jpg



After - Better? (The rings on the front are also some polish I forgot I put there! I`ll get those off later)

http://members.cox.net/garyh151/TA/a3.jpg



I`ll post another thread when I`ve done 3m on the rest of the car and SSR1 on the whole car... followed by either S100 or #26 liquid.



I wanna know what you guys think. Should I do more in the areas I already worked... good enough... not good enough yet?





Drew

[imported_AZ Ferrari Man]

That is great work! Sorry about the body shop guy, have you asked him what happened? Anyway, I would definately go with the SSR1 on the whole car. One thing to remember with the SSR1 is that it taks awhile to break down via PC. Start at speed 2 to spread and speed 5-6 to work and breakdown polish. Dont be surprised that it takes 2-5 mins a panel even to fully break it down and turn that flashed translucent color. Hope all goes well, you are on the right track.

[drew.haynes]

That is great work! Sorry about the body shop guy, have you asked him what happened? Anyway, I would definately go with the SSR1 on the whole car. One thing to remember with the SSR1 is that it taks awhile to break down via PC. Start at speed 2 to spread and speed 5-6 to work and breakdown polish. Dont be surprised that it takes 2-5 mins a panel even to fully break it down and turn that flashed translucent color. Hope all goes well, you are on the right track.



Thanks alot. Think I should do another pass of 3m in any of those areas? Some of them still have noticeable DEEP swirls from his rotary. Prolly a wool pad he found out behind his shop.

[imported_Picus]

Holy crap; those are some amazingly hideous halograms. I think you might have some hazing left over from the 3M on the yellow pad; SSR1 might not be aggressive enough to take it all out. I`d hit it with SSR2 on a white, or FPII on a white (or opt polish on a white) etc.. some low to moderate level polish on a polishing pad just to continue cleaning up the swirls/hazing/halograms - still you`ve come a long way and it looks infinitely better.



Edit: Just saw your last reply. If there are still some deep halo`s/swirls I`d repeat the process, though I still think it might be wise to have another step in between the 3M and SSR1.



Cheers.

[drew.haynes]

Holy crap; those are some amazingly hideous halograms. I think you might have some hazing left over from the 3M on the yellow pad; SSR1 might not be aggressive enough to take it all out. I`d hit it with SSR2 on a white, or FPII on a white (or opt polish on a white) etc.. some low to moderate level polish on a polishing pad just to continue cleaning up the swirls/hazing/halograms - still you`ve come a long way and it looks infinitely better.



Edit: Just saw your last reply. If there are still some deep halo`s/swirls I`d repeat the process, though I still think it might be wise to have another step in between the 3M and SSR1.



Cheers.





I have some SSR2.5 I can use... but it`s on an orange pad currently. I`m trying not to mix up my pad/product combos too much until I get some spare pads. What about DACP on Orange LC in between the 3M and SSR1? DACP should be closer to SSR2 than SSR2.5 right? I may be able to pick up soem DACP today... I want to start trying more Meg`s products so I have more I can get OTC.

[imported_Picus]

Hrm, neither SSR2.5 or DACP are really light cut... if I had to pick one I`d go with DACP but on a white, not an orange. Even better would be some Megs #80 speed glaze; but that between the 3M and SSR1 on a white pad and I bet you get great results; you might be able to skip the SSR1.

[gav'spurplez]

:secret



never seen pain that bad,



looks better, should try some IP and FPII

[drew.haynes]

Hrm, neither SSR2.5 or DACP are really light cut... if I had to pick one I`d go with DACP but on a white, not an orange. Even better would be some Megs #80 speed glaze; but that between the 3M and SSR1 on a white pad and I bet you get great results; you might be able to skip the SSR1.





Hmm. That still leaves me w/ the one of each pad problem. Think it`s ok to use #80 on my white pad that I`ve used SSR1 on?



Also... are you basically saying #80 is more aggressive than SSR1 but less than SSR2?

[chrisallen]

Oh how I remember those befores!



Chris

[imported_Picus]

Hmm. That still leaves me w/ the one of each pad problem. Think it`s ok to use #80 on my white pad that I`ve used SSR1 on?



Also... are you basically saying #80 is more aggressive than SSR1 but less than SSR2?



I think what I`d do is try 80 first, if it works you`re golden. If not, clean the pad then use SSR1.



Yes, 80 is more aggressive than SSR1 and less than 2, imo. It`s probably more similar to 2 than 1.

[Scottwax]

That is as horrible as I have ever seen anyone swirl paint...and that is about as good as I have seen anyone bring paint that bad back! :bow



I agree with Picus, go with #80, especially on black, definitely adds a richness you can`t get with most other polishes. I`d also finish with #26 over S100 too, it`ll be noticably deeper and darker on black.

[drew.haynes]

That is as horrible as I have ever seen anyone swirl paint...and that is about as good as I have seen anyone bring paint that bad back! :bow



I agree with Picus, go with #80, especially on black, definitely adds a richness you can`t get with most other polishes. I`d also finish with #26 over S100 too, it`ll be noticably deeper and darker on black.





#26 liquid won`t take any of the S100 underneath off?

[Scottwax]

#26 liquid won`t take any of the S100 underneath off?



Sorry, I meant use #26 in place of S100.

[ZaneO]

That`s fantastic progress! I would definitely recommend an intermediate polish/pad combination before going to SSR 1.

[drew.haynes]

Sorry, I meant use #26 in place of S100.



Ok cool. After seeing that S100 reflections picture on black that you put in the gallery... if you say something looks BETTER than that on black... I`ll trust you on that.