Orange Peel removal on 09 JeeP SRT8

4u2nvinmtl

4u2nvinmtl

New member
Well I got myself a porter cable, denim pads, and some M101 compound over the holidays and I figured I'd try out a DA for the first time ever on my Jeep SRT8 (strting tonight 01-17-2015). My goal is to remove the orange peel panel by panel (one panel a week) so far I’ve only done the rear hatch because the whole process takes a long time!

This being my first post on this form I guess I’ll give a little back ground: I got into car detailing when I picked up my Jeep SRT8 but I didn’t like how the factory paint reflected light (that was a year ago), since then I’ve slowly been learning about car detailing and I’ve been washing my SRT8 weekly by hand (year-round)…

This is the process I did to start removing orange peel on my factory paint:


  • Wash using; 2 buckets, grit guards, 2 chenille wash mitts, roof brush, wheel brush, and good car soap
1. Pressure rinse off mud/salt​
2. Lather from top to bottom moving side to side (my order; roof w/roof brush, sides w/chenille wash mitt, front, back, wheels /w wheel brush)​
3. Flood rinse (hose no attachment)​
4. Quick detail mist​

  • Dry using; borderless microfibers (my order: same order as I lathered)
  • Clay bar using; Nanoskin Autoscrub mitt w/ quick detailer (it’s like clay bar but way quicker)
1. Dry​

  • Polish using; Porter Cable 7424xp, Meguiars M101, 5inch CarPro Denim orange peel removal pad(s)
1. I did 5 to 10 overlapping passes (once each way; side to site up and down = one pass) using M101 on a denim orange peel remover pad​
2. Inspect (repeat if not satisfied)​

  • Klasse All-In-One applied using Porter Cable (windows and everything)
1. Buff off any residue with microfiber​

  • Klasse Sealant Glaze
1. Apply one panel/wheel at a time and buff off right away using a microfiber​
2. Apply a second coating to the same panel but don’t buff off until the last panel is done​
3. Let cure 24 hours​


Here’s the before and after results done by me a total novice/first timer with a PC!!:

Before:


After:


Jeep before:


Jeep after:
 
4u2nvinmtl- That's great OP correction, let alone for somebody with limited experience at such stuff!

I *am* a bit surprised that you were able to go to (nonabrasive) KAIO directly after the M101/denim step though. The M101/denim must've left a much better finish than I would've expected (just goes to show how little I know about such stuff).

That vehicle must be all sorts of fun!
 
Nice work

Things will go faster if you do 3 passes, clean the pad, apply more compound and then do more passes

After 3, I found that the pad was glazed and was not cutting anymore

I used M100, some have said that the older compounds may work better

FG400 did not work well at all. Gummed up, no working time, difficult to remove
 
Nice....I tried the denim pad with Megwires 105 and did not get great results, but I didn't make as many passes as you did. I'll have to pick up some 101, this looks great!
 
Congrats MR. 4u2nv. SRT8 lookin' good. I like the above poster's recommendation of adding a bit more compound. I'd do maybe 6 section passes and then try and add more compound after a quick pad cleaning if necessary.
 
I didn't think you could remove orange peel with a PC. That's awesome you were able to get those results! I thought those pads were for rotary use
 
Looks great, do you have a paint gauge. Orange peel removal look great, just be sure you have enough clear to work with in the future.
 
JSFM35X said:
Looks great, do you have a paint gauge. Orange peel removal look great, just be sure you have enough clear to work with in the future.
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same, I've had quite the interest in orange peel removal from customers but when dealing with oem paint I refuse. It's just too thin, longevity wise.

Great Job though, came out perfect.
 
JSFM35X said:
Looks great, do you have a paint gauge. Orange peel removal look great, just be sure you have enough clear to work with in the future.
Click to expand...

This is the only thing keeping me from doing it to my own vehicles. I have had the urge several times, but then I think about how long I want to keep our vehicles and having as much clear coat as possible seems more important
 
First off I'd like to say thanks to everyone for the very supportive comments it's really motivating to read!

A lot of my friends and family think I’m crazy to be so obsessed about the look and finish of my paint but I take pride in my SRT8 and would love to start hitting up the car show seen. I also find there’s a huge gap between the people who maintain their car them self’s and the people who just take it to get washed and wrenched on, frankly it’s hard to break through to any car owner in Montreal, Canada.

Even my own mother said my Jeep only looks good because it's an SRT8 (she didn’t think it was the detailing that made it stand out at all). So I figured I would do my Mothers new Ford Fusion (2015). I just did one pass with m101 and a medium cut foam pad, followed by AIO and sealed it with Klasse (two layers). When I was finished not only did it look way better than when she got it from the dealer it looked better than my SRT8!

Her Ford Fusion has that really dark red color that doesn’t show right unless the car is super clean. When I showed her the finished product (16 hours later) she thought that I had repainted the car LOL... She couldn’t believe how it sparkled like a gem even at night in a parking lot of a grocery store. Now when people ask which car is yours, she says "mine is the shiny one".

Detailing is quickly becoming a passion for me and I hope to keep expanding my skills! A paint gage will likely be one of my next purchases (recommendations are appreciated).
 
JSFM35X said:
Looks great, do you have a paint gauge. Orange peel removal look great, just be sure you have enough clear to work with in the future.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I dont have a paint gauge. It was my first time using the PC, and I bought it with the intent of trying to remove the orange peel and maintaining the finished look. I was advised my every pro i spoke to, that I should use a paint gauge, but I also dont plan to do this process more than once and from what i've read on the Jeep SRT8 forms the clear coat is very thick (in some places it the factory clear has runs and you can feel its very thick like a varnish). With that in mind and looking at the cost of a paint gauge i omitted it.

Down the road i'd like to have the Jeep SRT8 repainted.
 
Update: Well I got a lot of positive feedback and great advice, and I wanted to update my post with new pictures and details as requested.



FAQ’s:

How long does it take? If anyone else plans to do this with a PC-7424, M101 and 4x Denim pads (two 5.25 inch two 4inch pads), please keep in mind it takes about 2-3 hours a panel done section by section (for me on my Jeep's paint), plus the time it takes to wash and clay (takes me 2-3 hours), so I typically spend around 6 hours start to finish just to do one panel, not including polishing that I will do last once the orange peel is removed.

Why am I waiting to polish? Because I had zero skill and zero technique when I started just weeks ago. I also knew I would get better at it, as I progresses and might have to redo some panels as my skill and technique improved. Sure enough it’s the case, my latest panel looks the best and took the least amount of time. So rather than having all my panels with a different quality finish (more or less orange peel) I will hone my skill with M101 and the denim pads until most if not all the orange peel is gone from all the panels before moving on to M205 polishing.

How am I protecting/sealing the compounded panels before I polish? I’m using Klasse AIO applied by PC-7424 followed up by 4 layers of Klasse SG applied by hand (24 hour cure time, WOWO application of each layer) as winter protection until I polish.

What’s your LSP going to be? I’m still not 100% sure but I’m leaning towards Klasse AIO, and 4 layers of Klasse SG (24 hour cure time, WOWO application of each layer), but I’m open to suggestions!

Who taught me? I'm getting a few people asking where I learned my technique and I’ve got to say I learned it from Junkman2000 on YouTube (thanks to forum member MTLian for advising me to watch these videos). Junkman breaks it down in such a way that I totally understood how to buff my paint before I had even purchased my PC-7424 (never had buffed a car before)


Other details:

This Jeep SRT8 is daily driven and sees about 20,000 miles of city driving a year. I live in Montreal, Canada were there are 5 months of relentless winter weather, where the streets a riddled with pot holes, roads are layered with salt, and cars are caked with rust preventing grease (including my Jeep SRT8) that eventually that leaks out all over the paint/finish and onto other cars by way of road spray.


Updated results:

Before


After


Before


After



Note: I'll keep updating this thread regularly until the entire process is completed.

P.S. Can't wait to be posting photos of the Jeep fully polished and orange peel free!
 
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