Acura TL-S 1st time detail

B

bostonpete

New member
I finally had the opportunity to do my first detail on my 2007 Acura TL-S. I recently bought a home and now that I have a driveway and garage I was excited to try this out.

I started off with a wash and tried the clay bar. I was blown away with how much stuff it was able to remove, and how smooth my car was after.

Here are a few before shots.

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As you can see, the car was in pretty bad shape, I used PB's SSR2.5 and SSR1, I was able to get the swirls out, but some of the scratches I had a tough time with, and in the interest of time, I just had to keep going.

After the polishing, I put a coat of the PB Black Hole Glaze... and that stuff is just amazing, it really adds some solid depth to the black.
Then I finished it off with some of the PB EX Sealant.
If I remember correctly the sealant needs to cure for 24-72 hours, and then i'm going to wash it (again) and put on some Natty's Blue.

It took 8 hours, but was totally worth it. Here are some of the after photos.
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I think this one really speaks for itself...
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Unfortunately the sun went down, so i couldn't get any "in the sun" shots, buy I might try to take some when i wax it next weekend.
 
:wow: 1st timer...yeah right...:rofl

That is a remarkable turn-a-round mate.:inspector:


I see you are using all the right products.:rockon you are well on your way to becoming a member of the"WWA" (WaxWasters of America):rockon
 
Good work.:bigups Got any after pics with the halogens?

Out of curiosity why do you plan to wash again before applying the Natty's Blue?
 
Thanks, I had put the halogen away after polishing, and I was too tired to go back downstairs to get it and grab some more photos... :)
I do want to take a couple more to show that there are still some scratches I couldn't get. I think I may have needed to work the polish in longer.

I was thinking that if the car got dirty before I could wax again, I would need to wash before waxing. I guess if it's not too bad, I could just use some of the PB S&W with some microfibers, and then wax from there... I'm just assuming it's going to get dirty before then... I might just try to wax it tomorrow after work and be done with it... hopefully that's not too soon after the sealant.

-Pete
 
What a great turn around bostonpete. Keep up the good work. The detailing thing can be very addicting on keeping the car shiny all the time(don't feel bad on the 8 hours it took). My xc which i detailed 3 weeks ago took 20+hrs since i clayed, polished and waxed and cleaned my rims inside and out.
 
Show us some pics before you polish further.

How aggressive did you get with the 2.5? What pad? How many passes?

I'm assuming you used a PC?
 
:inspector: wow :wow: there was a lot of abuse ... big improvement :bigups

with a pc it's pretty hard to remove all the damage in one polishing session, but when you detail again, you can now concentrate on the scratches and swirls that were deeper ;)
 
Now that's what I call quality time.

Great job !!!

I'd either wash it or S&W before wax. And you can do it today. Prepared to be blown away.
 
Troy@DetailCity said:
Show us some pics before you polish further.

How aggressive did you get with the 2.5? What pad? How many passes?

I'm assuming you used a PC?
Click to expand...

After looking around the forum, I think I didn't use enough SSR 2.5, and I didn't work it in long enough. I did use a PC. I started with SSR1 and the white pad, then went to SSR 2.5 with the white pad. The 2.5 on the white pad made some progress, but not as much as i was hoping for. I then went to the SSR 2.5 on the orange pad, which went even further.

How do you guys break out the sections on that you work on at a time? 1/2 the hood, front tire section, each door, 1/2 the hood.. etc... Is that too much of a section to do at one time?

I'll probably take another pass as my car in a couple weeks. Trying to use more of the SSR 2.5, and going longer per section. Next weekend I need to work on my wife's red civic. That was part of the deal for me to buy all this stuff, I had to keep her car shiny as well :D

Should the SSR 2.5 essentially take away all the swirls and small scratches and leave only some light hazing that would be repaired by the SSR1?

We've got a nice day here today, so I think i'm going to S&W to clean off any residue, and then put down a coat or two of Natty's. :wow:
 
bostonpete said:
After looking around the forum, I think I didn't use enough SSR 2.5, and I didn't work it in long enough. I did use a PC. I started with SSR1 and the white pad, then went to SSR 2.5 with the white pad. The 2.5 on the white pad made some progress, but not as much as i was hoping for. I then went to the SSR 2.5 on the orange pad, which went even further.

How do you guys break out the sections on that you work on at a time? 1/2 the hood, front tire section, each door, 1/2 the hood.. etc... Is that too much of a section to do at one time?

I'll probably take another pass as my car in a couple weeks. Trying to use more of the SSR 2.5, and going longer per section. Next weekend I need to work on my wife's red civic. That was part of the deal for me to buy all this stuff, I had to keep her car shiny as well :D

Should the SSR 2.5 essentially take away all the swirls and small scratches and leave only some light hazing that would be repaired by the SSR1?

We've got a nice day here today, so I think i'm going to S&W to clean off any residue, and then put down a coat or two of Natty's. :wow:
Click to expand...

yes ... be sure to work the SSR2.5 thoroughly ..speed 5+ until you see the product disappearing and the shine popping through ;)
 
After work today I put on 2 coats of Nattys Blue. After reading a post from Rabbi, I put on some S&G in between the 2 coats and was impressed with the results. Thanks everyone for your tips and tricks, this forum is a wealth of information.

I pulled out the halogen and was able to get a couple photos of some of the left-over scratches, and some odd scratches that I think may have been caused from my polishing (maybe too little product not worked in enough?)

I'll start with the good news. Here are some pictures after my 2 coats of Natty's, and some bold n bright on the wheels, rubbing them with a foam sponge leaves a nice matte finish.
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And now the not so good...
Here's one in the sun, the base blue color of the Nighthawk Black Pearl really comes out now!
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And here are the odd small scratches.
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Any ideas what would have caused these? I'm almost positive they were not there prior to the polishing step.

:thanks
 
The hood reflection is great. It almost looks like you got something on your applicator (from the scratch pics)
 
Poorboy said:
you didn't work the SSR2.5 long enough , otherwise it looks great :)
Click to expand...

Yea, I think that's the plan. I think i need to use more SSR also, looking at another thread, i probably used 1/2 that amount for a 4x4 section. I also think i was moving the PC around to quickly, I was afraid of hurting the paint, but some further reading shows that's pretty difficult with the PC. Someone elses' thread said they moved their PC around slowly. Apparently patience is key!

The amazing thing is that even with those scratches the car still looks better than when I got it brand new... I can't wait to see how it will look when i can polish all those scratches out.

All in all, this car is on a lease and ends next year, and I'm just trying to hone my skills on this car to get ready for my next car (which I will probably buy and not lease).

:thanks for all your tips everyone!!
 
It almost looks like you had a contaminated pad to me but those aren't your typical pig tails from a DA so I'm not sure what caused those.

Like Steve said work with the SSR2.5 longer. Don't be afraid to apply some pressure and make sure there is no contamination.
 
Troy@DetailCity said:
It almost looks like you had a contaminated pad to me but those aren't your typical pig tails from a DA so I'm not sure what caused those.

Like Steve said work with the SSR2.5 longer. Don't be afraid to apply some pressure and make sure there is no contamination.
Click to expand...

yes those pigtails look like product not being worked fast enough to be broken down and starting to clump on the pad :cool:
 
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