Chuckmotor
New member
This past Monday, my friend gave me a real detailing project. Time to test out my detailing skills. The car was a Mazda (323?), about 15 years old and as oxidized and dull as can be. Bird crap was baked on to the paint, scratches galore, and its last wash was, according to my friend, about two years ago. I was excited to test out Perfect-it II Rubbing Compound with the PC using a (several, actually) wool pads, which after only a couple applications made the pads look like Christina Aguilara's make-up pads.
First, I gave the car a good washin' with some Dawn. It needed it. When cleaning the tires with tire cleaner, cakes of mud, dirt, and grime flaked off and flowed down into a drain on the street. A2Z wheel cleaner brought the wheels back somewhat, but I later used some metal polish (Eagle One Mag Chrome Aluminum-- great stuff) to help remove years of building road tar, rust, and baked on brake dust. The wheels are far from perfect and never will be because they are so badly damaged, but they look much better than before.
After grabbing the PC, I started out with Perfect-it II Rubbing Compound on a wool pad, I believe at level three to spread it around, and as it started to work in, I sped up the speed to as much as 6, depending on what all was needed. I was amazed at the product. I worked the stuff in for about a minute in small sections, and when I buffed out the product by hand, a bright red gloss was brought out! I did this over the entire car, and it looked great so far.
Then I whipped out the 3M FI-II so I could remove the swirl marks and further bring out the gloss. I used a foam cutting pad, but I didn't notice as big of a difference after using the FI-II, obviously, but it worked great still. This stuff needs to be worked in quite a bit so that the abrasives can break down, and if applied right, the residue won't be too stuborn to remove. Otherwise, if you fail to work it in enough, removal can be a pain and QD will be needed to assist. The gloss was amazing after this, and the swirls were gone as well.
I was debating whether to use Meguiar's #7 or #9 Swirl Remover. In my expierence, the #9 is great stuff and rids of swirls wonderfully, but the #7 seems to add more oils and make the car look wetter. If the sun weren't starting to come down, I would have done both, but I had to choose. I went with the #7 because almost all of the swirls were gone, and the #7 works great by hand. Because we were running out of light, I could use that by hand while my friend used the PC with the FI-II. I simply did the parts of the car that he had already used the FI-II on. As I expected, the #7 added wonderful oils that gave a great wet look. It was deep and wet looking, and I was amazed at how far we had come. Almost there! Time for the wax!
My friend spread Meguiar's #26 paste wax on one side of the car with a foam applicator while I did the other side. We let it dry for about 25 minutes; meanwhile, we sipped lemonade and tea and admired how far we had come. We buffed out the #26 with MFs, and it came off perfectly-- no streaking, hazing, or other spots. It wasn't tough to remove, either! We stepped back and said, "Wow!" a few times. It looked so much like a new car that my friend said, "Dude, where's my car?"
Actually, he didn't say that. The car looked dripping wet and incredibly glossy. The next day, people were asking him where he got his car re-painted!! I took some before and after shots, and though neither really capture how bad and how great the car looked before we got started and after we finished, the difference was still heavenly!
Hopefully this picture will work. As stated, the non-digital camera doesn't really capture how bad it actually looked, but you deffinitly get the idea! This should be a before photo:
First, I gave the car a good washin' with some Dawn. It needed it. When cleaning the tires with tire cleaner, cakes of mud, dirt, and grime flaked off and flowed down into a drain on the street. A2Z wheel cleaner brought the wheels back somewhat, but I later used some metal polish (Eagle One Mag Chrome Aluminum-- great stuff) to help remove years of building road tar, rust, and baked on brake dust. The wheels are far from perfect and never will be because they are so badly damaged, but they look much better than before.
After grabbing the PC, I started out with Perfect-it II Rubbing Compound on a wool pad, I believe at level three to spread it around, and as it started to work in, I sped up the speed to as much as 6, depending on what all was needed. I was amazed at the product. I worked the stuff in for about a minute in small sections, and when I buffed out the product by hand, a bright red gloss was brought out! I did this over the entire car, and it looked great so far.
Then I whipped out the 3M FI-II so I could remove the swirl marks and further bring out the gloss. I used a foam cutting pad, but I didn't notice as big of a difference after using the FI-II, obviously, but it worked great still. This stuff needs to be worked in quite a bit so that the abrasives can break down, and if applied right, the residue won't be too stuborn to remove. Otherwise, if you fail to work it in enough, removal can be a pain and QD will be needed to assist. The gloss was amazing after this, and the swirls were gone as well.
I was debating whether to use Meguiar's #7 or #9 Swirl Remover. In my expierence, the #9 is great stuff and rids of swirls wonderfully, but the #7 seems to add more oils and make the car look wetter. If the sun weren't starting to come down, I would have done both, but I had to choose. I went with the #7 because almost all of the swirls were gone, and the #7 works great by hand. Because we were running out of light, I could use that by hand while my friend used the PC with the FI-II. I simply did the parts of the car that he had already used the FI-II on. As I expected, the #7 added wonderful oils that gave a great wet look. It was deep and wet looking, and I was amazed at how far we had come. Almost there! Time for the wax!
My friend spread Meguiar's #26 paste wax on one side of the car with a foam applicator while I did the other side. We let it dry for about 25 minutes; meanwhile, we sipped lemonade and tea and admired how far we had come. We buffed out the #26 with MFs, and it came off perfectly-- no streaking, hazing, or other spots. It wasn't tough to remove, either! We stepped back and said, "Wow!" a few times. It looked so much like a new car that my friend said, "Dude, where's my car?"
Actually, he didn't say that. The car looked dripping wet and incredibly glossy. The next day, people were asking him where he got his car re-painted!! I took some before and after shots, and though neither really capture how bad and how great the car looked before we got started and after we finished, the difference was still heavenly!Hopefully this picture will work. As stated, the non-digital camera doesn't really capture how bad it actually looked, but you deffinitly get the idea! This should be a before photo:
- but your work is spectacular!
