Finished first detail - Interesting observations

[sws1]

I went out a bought a bunch of stuff last week and detailed my 2002 Pearly White Nissan Pathfinder, which had never been detailed. Washed a few times, but never detailed.



Here was my process:

Clear rims and tires with Sonus / Meguires NXT

Wash w/ Sonus car wash

Dry with Sonus Der Wonder Drying towels.

Clay with Sonus Grey clay

Wash again

Clean with JW Prime

Shine with JW Acrylic Jett



Couple comments:



- Holy crap: I figured that using clay is a good thing, but I could not believe what it did to my car. It took EVERYTHING off the paint. bird doodoo, overspray (from an accident I had), sap marks, boot streaks, everything. It also made the truck 2 shades whiter. No idea how dirty the car was, even when washed. I'm a believer.



- Prime seemed to be easy to put on, but painful to take off. I put it on with the PC, but took it off by hand. Much of it comes off easily, but in areas (like along the edge of the PC path) were painful to rub off. I tryed to put a buffing bonnet on the PC, but it didn't really work.



- Jett goes on an off real easily. I made sure it went on real thin. On and off by hand.



- I was exhausted when finished. 8 hours total. Didnt even have energy to clean up.



BUT, the truck looks brand frekin' new. I can't even believe it. I forgot how nice this car was when I bought it. (Unfortunately, being so clean, it highlighted the fact that the fender and hood which where repaired in an accident don't exactly match.)



NOW, couple questions:

- Clay: It seems that clay is abrasive. Can this leave marks on paint? Anything that could scratch off dried paint overspray seems like it could leave swirls or scratches. I used Sonus Grey.

- I used 3/4 of a bar on my Pathfinder. Is that alot?

- PC: Not sure I understand the movement of the body on this thing. Is the pad supposed to spin at high speed against the paint? Or does it rotate slowly, and vibrate real fast? The reason I ask is that I tried to use a buffing bonnet to take off the Prime, and it was clean that it was rotating very slow (i could touch it), but it was vibrating real fast. If I listed it off the car, it started to rotate fast, but not when touching the car.

 

[the other pc]

...NOW, couple questions:

- Clay: It seems that clay is abrasive. Can this leave marks on paint? ...

A mild clay won't leave any marks. The clay glides over the paint's surface on the film of lube. It only grabs and grinds contaminants that are projecting above the surface.

...I used 3/4 of a bar on my Pathfinder. Is that alot?...

That's quite a bit, but not too unusual for a car that's never been clayed before.

... PC: Not sure I understand the movement of the body on this thing. Is the pad supposed to spin at high speed against the paint? Or does it rotate slowly, and vibrate real fast? ..

It will move in very fast, tight little "orbits" and may also rotate much slower overall. Press lightly and the overall rotation will be fairly rapid. Press hard and you can cause the overall rotation to stop. When using a cutting polish or removal bonnet, most people press hard enough make the rotation very slow and lighten up for waxes and glazes.

... If I listed it off the car, it started to rotate fast, but not when touching the car.

Never lift the PC from the surface until it's turned off and never start it until it's touching the surface. Unless it's touching it will spin wildly and usually toss the pad far away.





PC.

 

[abbeysdad]

- Clay: It seems that clay is abrasive. Can this leave marks on paint? Anything that could scratch off dried paint overspray seems like it could leave swirls or scratches. I used Sonus Grey.

Clay is a combination of polymer clay AND abrasive material that can leave marrs if you're not careful and don't use enough lube during the process. Normally detailing clay just glides over the surface and grabs contaminants, but if you're rubbing too hard and/or without sufficient lubricaton, you could cause some marring.

- I used 3/4 of a bar on my Pathfinder. Is that alot?

I'm not sure what you mean. I "use" the whole bar when I clay and keep folding it in on itself to reveal a clean suface. This same bar can be used again 4 times or so, or until it is badly discolored.

- PC: Not sure I understand the movement of the body on this thing. Is the pad supposed to spin at high speed against the paint? Or does it rotate slowly, and vibrate real fast? The reason I ask is that I tried to use a buffing bonnet to take off the Prime, and it was clean that it was rotating very slow (i could touch it), but it was vibrating real fast. If I listed it off the car, it started to rotate fast, but not when touching the car.

Not sure here - sufficient surface tension (resistence to rotate) may reduce the orbit rotation. I haven't found this to be an issue, but haven't used the pc as a buffer to remove carrier.