Surprising my sister (DUW)

[victory]

So, my sister has been studying abroad in Europe for the last semester and should be home later this month. As a little surprise, i decided to work on her severely neglected Toyota that`s been sitting in front of my parents house for a few months. Hopefully when she returns she can avoid ripping off the front end on a guardrail like she did last time i detailed it.



Of course, last time i detailed it i didn`t have this spiffy new porter cable and a host of new polishes, so it had that fresh wax over swirly mess look. So, some of you have doubtlessly spotted my ulterior motive on trying my hand with my PC and new products on a car that`s not mine. Well, you got me. I`m not a saint. A lot of her friends are hot too.



Here`s what i have to work with

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0388.jpg

The distance shot belies the horror



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0391.jpg

holy crap! I`ll do my best on this panel. Apparently, this is the body panel to key the **** out of at her college.



So, i gave the car a bath to see what lies under the caked on dirt

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0392.jpg

swirly



So, i started to clay and my clay lube was flashing off the hood under the sun and there was already a coat of pollen forming. Time to take this show on the road and get into a garage



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0394.jpg

Packed my ****.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0395.jpg

You wish you had access to a garage this cool. Big overhead lighting, big portable halogens off the trucks, tons of work room, power comes down from the ceiling.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0397.jpg

Another look at the hood. Bad swirls, bad RDS. god awful messy paint contamination



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0399.jpg

this isn`t as good a shot of the panel of hell, but you can see the extent of the swirls in the camera flash. The entire car is like that.



so, i clayed and got to polishing. For clay I`m using a chemical guys clayblock, which i love because I`m a klutz and drop clay all the time. This i can just wash off and it works as well as anything.



I started on the right side of the hood with XMT360 on a white pad and got exactly bupkis. My strongest combo, XMT3 and an CCS Orange 5.5" pad was getting the paint swirl free, but leaving some of the RDS, muted by still there. I`d have to live with it. I realized that overestimating corrective abilities of product and pad combo`s on a PC must be a newb mistake. I`ve since ordered XMT4 and a greater variety of pads. No bother, my sister will be thrilled with the results anyway.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0402.jpg

not a great shot, but you can see the improvement on the right side of the hood.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0403.jpg

The results. A few RDS`s left, but a remarkable improvement nonetheless. The paint was LSP ready after the XMT3/CCS Orange combo. Thanks to the entire Autopia community for the resources provided on this sight. I really got the PC use down quick after all the research, and apparently, the XMT line is fairly newb proof. Minimal dusting, easy working, good results.



Following polishing i went over the car with some quick detailer then topped with collinite 845. This car needs all the protection it can get once my sister gets home.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0404.jpg



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0406.jpg

firetruck in front fender



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0407.jpg

more firetruck reflections. Some will notice there appears to still be some scratches on the trunk, i`m going to have to remind my sister that the trunk lid is not a table to toss your crap on. Best I could do with the products i had.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/clubsoda22/Car/samidetail/IMG_0409.jpg

The former body panel of the apocalypse. Ended up really muting the scratches.



Thanks again to the Autopia community.

[pampos]

Great job there...Your sister will love you more now : )

[victory]

Great job there...Your sister will love you more now : )



Hey pampos, believe it or not, she spent the semester studying in Cyprus. Really loved the area, said it was beautiful. Right now she`s hopping all around Europe.

[Mr.Concours]

Great work,I`m sure she`ll be pleased.

[pampos]

Hey pampos, believe it or not, she spent the semester studying in Cyprus. Really loved the area, said it was beautiful. Right now she`s hopping all around Europe.



Lucky girl... : )

I am glad when people know about Cyprus or at least where is located :D

We are just a dot on the map(if we are on the map)

[Bert]

So, my sister has been studying abroad in Europe for the last semester and should be home later this month. As a little surprise, i decided to work on her severely neglected Toyota that`s been sitting in front of my parents house for a few months. Hopefully when she returns she can avoid ripping off the front end on a guardrail like she did last time i detailed it.



Of course, last time i detailed it i didn`t have this spiffy new porter cable and a host of new polishes, so it had that fresh wax over swirly mess look. So, some of you have doubtlessly spotted my ulterior motive on trying my hand with my PC and new products on a car that`s not mine. Well, you got me. I`m not a saint. A lot of her friends are hot too.



You forgot to include pictures of her friends.:cool:

[steelwind101]

Hi!



The work looks great and that colour really comes in to its own when its swirl free.



You said about under estimating the power of some products and combos, dont worry too much with regard XMT line, IMO its fairly mild. I have not tried XMT 4 but hear it has the extra cut to bring the range inline with other polishes.



Geoff

[victory]

Hi!



The work looks great and that colour really comes in to its own when its swirl free.



You said about under estimating the power of some products and combos, dont worry too much with regard XMT line, IMO its fairly mild. I have not tried XMT 4 but hear it has the extra cut to bring the range inline with other polishes.



Geoff



Actually, i said OVERestimating. I figured XMT3 on the orange pad would take it all out, and when it didn`t i came to the conclusion that i was being overly conservative in my ordering. Won`t make that mistake again. I`ll be sure i always have the appropriate cut for the job.

[Roishe Cheng]

Don`t worry dude, you did a great job without moving into rotary territory. I have a PC and a Makita rotary. I know what the PC is capable of, it can go pretty far, but it all comes down to how much time and stamina you have. That`s right, stamina, you can be out there with a PC for 6-8 hours doing 3 step process on really badly swirled panels.

[victory]

heh, i was out for 6-8 hours just figuring out first timer stuff and taking it slow

[KMHAWAIIDH]

Looks good! Nice work area! Great job!

[Way2SSlow]

Well done. Serious improvement for sure!! If your sister is anything like mine, she`ll be thrilled when she sees her ride!

[imported_Sludge]

Great job. You really turned that car around. I love your workshop. :)

[victory]

I love your workshop. :)



Only problem is you have to drop everything you`re doing when the siren goes off. :D



BTW, a half dozen paramedics want to know what i charge.