Wet sanding, machine polishing, paint-to-match emblems, painted calipers, etc...

[chrisguga]

I posted two days about about the recent detail I completed on my mother`s Maxima here: http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-brag/138347-full-paint-correction-then-some-%2A56k-beware%2A.html



That was my 3rd detail ever. My first detail was on my car and then the second was my wife`s car.



I didn`t take as many pictures during my car`s detail, particularly before pictures, but I hope this thread is interesting to some. I bought the car used with 50k miles. It had been maintained nicely and cleaned pretty well, but not to my standards.



This was my first every detail since I began reading up on proper detailing so there is plenty to improve, but it was a fun learning experience.



I initially became interested in detailing after reading the Adam`s Polishes forums. I bought their starter wash/wax kit and then later bought a Porter Cable machine and their starter polishing kit. A lot of their products are great, but their pads and polishes are very underwhelming which forced me to try wet sanding in a few spots due to some RDS that I couldn`t get out.



This was the first spot I ever tried to wet sand. 2000 grit, then 2500 grit, and then polished out with my basic Adam`s kit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/photo2.jpg



And polished out:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/photo3.jpg



Well, that gave me confidence and I proceeded slowly and carefully:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/photo5.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/photo1-1.jpg



This is back before I had my halogen lights so I only had the garage lights to go by, but it looked pretty nice:

hood:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/photo7.jpg



trunk:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/photo4-1.jpg



I was pretty happy with these two areas, but realized it`s dangerous to go around wet sanding the car when I don`t have a paint depth gauge. I decided to do more research and this is one of the sites I found. I decided to go buy my halogen lights, Tuf Buf 5" wool pads, and Meg`s 105. Wow! One set of this stuff was like 5 tedious sets of my most aggressive Adam`s pad/polish. This totally changed the game for me.



I don`t have a ton of pictures of 50/50 shots and what not as this was my first detail and I`m taking pictures with my iPhone. I don`t know how to properly capture swirl marks like most are able to do.



Here are a few polished shots:

Under the halogens:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/americana7jpg.jpg



Reflection shots before any wax:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/americana8jpg.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/americana.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/americana3.jpg



So before I actually started machining, I wanted to clean up the fender wells and wheels and paint the calipers.



Before and after wheel wells:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheelwelldirty.jpg



Cleaned up nicely:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheelwellclean.jpg



The wheels looked pretty nasty too. Sadly, I cleaned these before I knew anything about deironizor, Tarminator, etc so I just used some APC and random de-tar product I found at AutoZone along with a LOT of elbow grease. I then clayed and sealed them with Adam`s machine super sealant.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheeldirty.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheelclean.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/closewheeldirty.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheelclean3.jpg



I also cleaned and machine polished the faces of my wheels. I need to go back and hand polish them as I know I can do better that way.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheelclean2.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/wheelclean1.jpg



Cleaned the engine with APC, wheel brush, and Adam`s Super VRT:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/americana4.jpg



The interior wasn`t bad, but I dressed it in Adam`s Leather Conditioner:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/2008%20Malibu%20LTZ/IMG_9166.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/2008%20Malibu%20LTZ/IMG_9143.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/2008%20Malibu%20LTZ/IMG_9170.jpg



I hated the gold colored Chevy Bowties on the car and some of the Malibu guys are buying factory color aerosol paint, clearcoat, and painting the Bowties themselves. I figured I`d give it a shot!



So I carefully taped around the Bowties, using a toothpick and razor blade to cover the chrome surrounding the gold portion. Then, I placed my $1 drop cloth across the car in the front and back, cut a little hole for the Bowties, and then taped around the hole to seal it to the plastic.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/tapedclose.jpg



So I laid down 5 coats of paint and 4 coats of clear and let it dry. I knew I`d have to wet sand it down.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/clear1.jpg



You can see how it`s not level at all:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/rough1.jpg



That`s better:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/rough2.jpg



I then hand polished it the rest of the way and was left with this. Please excuse the polish in the cracks. I picked it out with a toothpick once it was dry.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/front2.jpg



I also added this chrome strip on the middle lower front grill. I don`t like tacky add-ons, but I feel it flows nicely with the rest of the front. Here`s the overall look of the front of the car with the Bowties and strip:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/Malibu%20LTZ/IMG_6715.jpg



A co-worker bumped my rear bumper and I had to take it to the body shop to get fixed. They did a decent job on the bumper, but look at the marks they left! I presume they were wiping off polishing dust with a dirty rag?!?



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/3.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/2.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/4.jpg



I`m glad I now have the skills to fix it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/malark/5.jpg



This was my first effort at real detailing. I have just placed a large order for some new items and definitely plan on stepping up my game on this car. More to come and thanks for reading!

[Thomas Dekany]

Excellent detail there. You are good. Very good.

[TLMitchell]

An excellent example of learning by doing with great results! In lieu of a mentor that`s an effective learning method... as long as you`re able to avoid the real expensive "learning moments".



Some high-up corporate muckity muck at GM`s brother in law must own the factory that produces those bowties. They stuck `em just about everywhere. The one on the tailgate of my truck lasted about 15 minutes after I got it home.



Nice work! :clap2:



TL

[jimmie jam]

outstanding result!!