First Black Car Detail w/rotary

[kayel17]

Hello All,

Inspired by Anthony O and CleanDean, I purchased a Makita. Sweet machine! I just detailed a Toyota Camary, an every day highway commuter with over 100K miles.

There were a few deep scratches, some marring, rock chips and door dings.

1. I washed, then clayed.

2. Used 3M heavy compund on some spots with a wool pad w/makita set at 1800. Being very careful to stay away from edges and peaks. This took care of the deep scratches, but left some serious swirls.

3. Switched to a 3M foam compund pad, Makita to 1500 and Perfect-It III fine compund. Did this to the entire vehicle.

During this step, saw the car was repainted in some areas because I saw some orange peel. Didn`t worry about it, b/c customer didn`t care. Can orange peel be removed with a rotary or should they be sanded?

4. Switched to a 3M polishing pad and used their finishing polish

5. Another polishing pad and machine glaze for dark cars, they have a light car one also, which left me wondering if the glaze was filling in any of the swirls.

6. Washed the car to get rid of all the splatter and wool residue.
Saw very minute swirl marks in some small areas, in the sun, with my head at a 90 degree angle, with one eye half closed and my nose pressed up to the car. :-) Customer did see them and was "shocked " to find out swirls are not part of the process! :-)

7. Dressed the tires and did interior windows.

7. Applied Race Glaze polish with a rotary and foam polishing pad, removed with a MF. I was having static issues with my MFs, (I washed and dryed them them the night before, didn`t use any fabric softner or dryer sheets) how do you guys deal with static? Or could it be I have cheap MFs, I bought them from Wal-Mart.

8. NXT by hand and removed with an orbital.

So what do you think? Where might I be able to improve on this process? The whole process took about 8 Hrs.

[kayel17]

Here are a few befores:

[kayel17]

another

[kayel17]

whole rear view

[kayel17]

Now for some afters

[kayel17]

passenger side

[kayel17]

reflections

[kayel17]

last one of the tires, excuse the different pictures sizes, going to use the smaller ones from now on.

TIA!

[M23Accord]

Wow, killer job.

[TQB]

Looks awesome man.....What did you use on the tires?

[Clean Dean]

Great job !!!


Used 3M heavy compund on some spots with a wool pad w/makita set at 1800. Being very careful to stay away from edges and peaks. This took care of the deep scratches, but left some serious swirls.

SLOW DOWN !!! I have never used 3M products, but today I removed a large scratch from the trunk of a Mitsubishi Galant using Meguiars Power Cleaner Compound (probably very similar to the 3M compound). I set the rotary at about 1000 to 1200 RPMs when working with wool and aggressive compounds. It is safer and will not create hologram-like swirls in darker paint.


During this step, saw the car was repainted in some areas because I saw some orange peel. Didn`t worry about it, b/c customer didn`t care. Can orange peel be removed with a rotary or should they be sanded?

I have found that Toyota paint characterisically has some uneven orange peel even on their newer Camry`s. The best way to remove orange peel is to wet sand, but charge accordingly, its a lot of work, and do not forget to use a paint thickness guage. I recommend also using the finest grade paper that gets the job done. I typically remove orange peel with 2000 grit.

Once Again, GREAT JOB !!! Once you are proficient enough to achieve consistent result with the rotary on black, the other paint systems such as light colored pearlescent and metalic paints will be a breeze. You look like you well on your way to mastering the rotary.

MF towels... Get some towels PAC or pakshak.com. You will definetely see a big difference in quality.

[denverdetail]

kayel17,
Nice job. See the rotary is not so scary. Especially after you see how much better it works than a PC. It encourages you to get better with the rotary, and you will. If you want my opinion, dump wool all together, stick to foam, superior in every way and if you keep it clean you`ll never see swirls. Also, they are far less likely to burn. To handle dust and static, its not your MF`s. It happens to us all. I use a dust mop and quick detailer, I like Final Inspection.
www.denverdetail.com

[Anthony O.]

Originally posted by kayel17
Hello All,

Inspired by Anthony O and CleanDean, I purchased a Makita. Sweet machine! I just detailed a Toyota Camary, an every day highway commuter with over 100K miles.

There were a few deep scratches, some marring, rock chips and door dings.

1. I washed, then clayed.

2. Used 3M heavy compund on some spots with a wool pad w/makita set at 1800. Being very careful to stay away from edges and peaks. This took care of the deep scratches, but left some serious swirls.

3. Switched to a 3M foam compund pad, Makita to 1500 and Perfect-It III fine compund. Did this to the entire vehicle.

During this step, saw the car was repainted in some areas because I saw some orange peel. Didn`t worry about it, b/c customer didn`t care. Can orange peel be removed with a rotary or should they be sanded?

4. Switched to a 3M polishing pad and used their finishing polish

5. Another polishing pad and machine glaze for dark cars, they have a light car one also, which left me wondering if the glaze was filling in any of the swirls.

6. Washed the car to get rid of all the splatter and wool residue.
Saw very minute swirl marks in some small areas, in the sun, with my head at a 90 degree angle, with one eye half closed and my nose pressed up to the car. :-) Customer did see them and was "shocked " to find out swirls are not part of the process! :-)

7. Dressed the tires and did interior windows.

7. Applied Race Glaze polish with a rotary and foam polishing pad, removed with a MF. I was having static issues with my MFs, (I washed and dryed them them the night before, didn`t use any fabric softner or dryer sheets) how do you guys deal with static? Or could it be I have cheap MFs, I bought them from Wal-Mart.

8. NXT by hand and removed with an orbital.

So what do you think? Where might I be able to improve on this process? The whole process took about 8 Hrs.

Hey great job and I am honored to have been a part of your inspiration.......especially with the likes of Dean included in there:bigups

Nothing wrong with wool pads IMHO but the cheaper brands can do more damage than fix so buy good ones as you usually get what you pay for.

As Dean said slow down a bit on your RPM`s when using a mechanical cleaner (diminishing abrasives) as it allows the abrasives to work better. Chemical cleaners respond better with a higher speed.

Again.............great work!

Anthony

[PakShak]

Looks great! Good job with the rotary.

Hmmm...tell me if I`m wrong but that car sure looks like a Toyota Corolla instead of a Camry. The emblem on back gives it away. :D

With Aloha,
Ranney :)

[kayel17]

Appreciate all the good words and advice. Learned to slow down, there are different cleaners, (mechanical and chemical). You guys have been very, very, very helpful. Every time I log on, I always have great notes to take.

TQB: I don`t use sprays on my tires, I use a foam applicator and Megs High Gloss Endurance

Ranney: Just saw your site, will be getting an order from me very very soon.

THANKS ALL!