so i almosted died today detailing

[shyne]

i say it was about 10 strait hours of detailing today for me sheesh. My wrist, arms, legs and back are sore. I have to say i`m not totally satisfyed with my work today.



1-first i did my typical car wash routine (wash & dry)



2-first time i ever claybarred. I used the autopida block & glide set. I was pretty good, it got most the crap came out of my paint. I still see some contamination the surface of the paint though. Maybe i wasant trying hard enough? my paint is 12yrs old and never has been claybarred before from my knoweldge. i used up nearly all the 16oz of lube. for the most part from looking at the clay after rubbing it i mainly saw yellow. My guess it was from my #26 yellow wax. I saw some dirt and other things also, but the claybar mainly picked up the wax i think.



3-washed the car again +dry of course



4-used megauirs premium paint cleaner with a terry pad. I really liked it, it actually left my paint squeaky clean. kinda messy at points cause even when i wipe off the excess theres still some spots left. went through 2 pads using the paint cleaner. it left my paint very clean though.



5-used megauirs #7 show car glaze. this was when things started to get difficult. i tryed using a small amount but at times it would be difficult buff out. used about 2 pads with this one too, left a nice kinda wet look to it.



6-finally topped it off with some s100. i was so excited to use it after what i seen on autopia, but i was somewhat dissapointed. It was very smooth though like butter to apply, easy wipe on and wipe off, but there wasant any signifigant slickness to me..maybe my hands were all rough from previous paint work?...it added some shine, but i couldnt really tell because by the time i finished it was dark already.



7-waxed my chrome rims with some megaiurs #26 high tech yellow wax.



8-used 303 aerospace on my tires.



after that i was worn out. damn detailing job! i was hoping for more shine and gloss from all this but the results werent too different from my regualr wax jobs. I`ll have to wait till tommorw when the sun comes out and see how the paint really is.



what do you guys think? could i have gone wrong somewhere? i`ll upload some pictures when i get them onto my my computer.

[FoundMyPath]

Wait til you wake up in the morning to check out the handiwork. Cars detailed best viewed in the sunlight! ;)

[ShawnE94SL]

Agreed! I just used S100 for the first time on Sunday. It was a cloudy day so I couldn`t really see any difference. However, when I came out Monday morning and the Sun was hitting my car.......it was just beautiful :cool:

[LouisanaJeeper]

Next time wash your car with Dawn before claying, this will strip off the old wax

[shaf]

Well I don`t know how weathered, swirled, etc. your paint is after all those years, but step 4 in your process, the polishing, is the most critical. Ideally you are supposed to get the paint looking the way you want it in the end at this stage. Relying on the glaze to hide things and for the wax to help even more usually doesn`t work too well, at least not in the long-run.



Did you read up on the proper way to use polishes by hand? Technique is a big factor, and if you just lay it on the paint and wipe it off, it`s going to do jack.



The next time you feel like doing a total overhaul you might want to spend more time polishing (maybe the Medallion would get it in one shot next time) and then step up to something a bit stronger if you find that`s not working.

HTH

[shyne]

Originally posted by 4DSC

Well I don`t know how weathered, swirled, etc. your paint is after all those years, but step 4 in your process, the polishing, is the most critical. Ideally you are supposed to get the paint looking the way you want it in the end at this stage. Relying on the glaze to hide things and for the wax to help even more usually doesn`t work too well, at least not in the long-run.



Did you read up on the proper way to use polishes by hand? Technique is a big factor, and if you just lay it on the paint and wipe it off, it`s going to do jack.



The next time you feel like doing a total overhaul you might want to spend more time polishing (maybe the Medallion would get it in one shot next time) and then step up to something a bit stronger if you find that`s not working.

HTH



today when my car was in the sun it looked real nice way better than yesterday. also i felt the surface was smooth. Ive waxed with #26 before and to me it got the paint slicker IMO. the shine was nice but i was expecting something better. I also noticed some fine swirls!! looked like i cause them from hard buffing or something. overall very good job, i guess i was just expecting too much from 12year old paint.



4DSC, i havent read the post about proper polishing, i`ll do a seach later to find it.



here are some pics

[shyne]

side view

[miata_roadster]

If you`re not satisfied with the shine now, you`ll have to go to heavier stuff. Life is tough for us detailers, but you`ve got to battle it out to win ;). I`d either add on more polish or go to some exotic or EXPENSIVE hardware to achieve a more wet look. Overall I think it`s a beauty. Reflections is good. I know you`re thriving for that wet look, right? Good luck and polish/wax smart ;).



Happy Motoring,

Kurt

[miata_roadster]

That side view should MOST definitely satisfy your thirst for wet and deep shine looks :). GOOD JOB! Don`t put down your work here!



Happy Motoring,

Kurt

[GoodnClean]

Hey, its SW03ES from the Lexus Owners Club Board ;)



From having detailed pre, and post PC, I can tell you that the PC can take you where only your dreams have been lol. A PC would give you much better results during the polishing step. Might be worthwhile to invest in one if thats what you`re after.



I think the car looks great regardless though. The only problems I can see are what looks like some light clearcoat failure on the top of the front bumper, and the gold badges are worn (that happens most of the time though). Great work, it looks fantastic, especially for a 12 year old car done by hand!

[shyne]

goodnclean, i`m also from the lexus owners club borard!



i`ll consider PC in the future, but right now i`m fine with this. the front bumper and the rear bumper are the same! i dont know why but its totally fading and cracking. the read bumper is the worse, you can practally see white.

[fuggedit]

Just reading the title of this thread made me think... "You know, that`s not a bad way to go out... detailing". Of course if it happens to me I just hope I was in the final stages of the detail like doing the quick detailer or something... would really hate to have it happen with the wax still on the car...

[GoodnClean]

Originally posted by shyne

goodnclean, i`m also from the lexus owners club borard!



i`ll consider PC in the future, but right now i`m fine with this. the front bumper and the rear bumper are the same! i dont know why but its totally fading and cracking. the read bumper is the worse, you can practally see white.



I know, thats why I said who I was ;)



As for the clearcoat failure, thats pretty uncommon on the Lexuses, at least from what I`ve seen. I`m sure people on here can tell you different if they`ve detailed a lot of older ones. My guess would be perhaps the bumpers were repainted at some point.



A good body shop probably wouldn`t charge you much to just respray those top bumper panels. They wouldnt have to respray the whole bumper, because the lower trim is a different color seperated by the chrome strip around the trimline. It would depend on whether or not they had to remove the bumper cover...

[godofthunder]

Where can I find the propper way to polish...in the e-book?



Also, should I use a foam terry, or a cloth terry to appply something like Megs. #7 (the polish). Im going to be doing everything by hand, caus the buffer I had isnt that good (cheap one from WalMart)



Jon

[andriver]

Hey Shyne, not bad for 12 year old paint. Perhaps another layer of S100 will do the trick.....Andrew