Detailing for a perfectionist

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imported_turbomangt

New member
Yesterday I picked up a slick Mercury Marauder. (dark blue) Don't second guess this car, it's a sleeper for sure. Super charged 400hp wheels/tires. the works. Anyway when I picked it up it was night time. When I saw the car it looked already like it was detailed. The owner pointed out that their were swirls all over the car. Hmmmm, I thought, this guy will be tough to please. So the next day I pulled it out of my shop and saw the swirls. In the sun it was most noticable. Here was where I started. after washing and claying I tried to use the optimun polish with the DeWalt and cutting cut, after hearing it removes swirls with the right machine/pad combination. it didn't do it. Keep in mind I don';t to like to use the rotary only when nessessary. Now I went to SSR3 again with the DeWalt and cutting pad, didn't do it either. Then I tried Hi Temp Med cut, again, no luck. (this was one time I was glad I had a nice selection in my cabinet.) Now I was getting frustrated. I grabbed the Meguiars fine cut and at last, it did the trick. A was amazed and somewhat set back why the #2 worked when the others didn't. I continued to go over the whole car with #2. Next I went to ssr2 with a white pad. Followed with optimum and a polishing pad. Finished with my sealant. I looked at the car from every angle in the sun and I was pleased with the outcome. But I remembered how picky this guy seemed to be. Oh, I discovered that as a final pass if I used the DA with a mirco fiber pad (new item) it gives it a nice gloss. The owner was pleased but he really went over the car, this car took way too long to get right. Moral of the story, the good looking cars are harder to detail. Gary
 
Glad to hear you were able to get it just right. Satisfying a customer whose car is already in "good enough for most people" condition must be satisfying. We could use guys of your ability where I live.



Were you applying or removing product with the MF pad?
 
#2 uses different polishing abrasives than DACP, I know on older versions you could almost feel the abrasives between your fingers which may explain why it is able to tackle jobs that DACP and others can't touch.
 
Did you by any chance measure the paint thickness on the Marauder? I've heard they have thin (and brittle) paint. I did one awhile back and the edges of the doors all had chips on them. I was carefull when polishing. I used SSR2.5 via PC and orange LCVC which took most of the noticable swirls off. Topped with WG SG x2. There were also a couple spots of badly blemished CC from bird bombs. BTW, the SC must have been aftermarket, they didn't come stock with them. Nice rides!
 
The buffer was the DeWalt 443 it is a DA machine. I now favor it over my cyclo now. The micro fiber pad was not used to either take off or apply product. Imagion when you are done witrh a car and you use a MF towel to buff out the shine by hand. Now imagion using the DA on low speed with a MF pad. The speed of the DA is much higher then any motion you could use by hand, so what you are doing is buffing to a fantastic shine. I ordered than at top of the line not knowing what they were. When I recieved them I thought, hmmm this looks interesting. Never saw a pad like it before. It also helps remove the haze left behind left when removing wax or sealant. Gary
 
OK, I think I gotcha now...once you mentined TOL. You're using the light blue "ultra suede" MF bonnets for a final buff, right? Yeah, those are pretty nice, I use them on the Cyclo.
 
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