Hello!
I have been reading these forums intently for the last few weeks, as I have been trying to pay more attention to my cars. This is a long story, so please bare with me.
My wife and I own two vehicles; my trusty '95 Nissan Pathfinder (white) and our new(ish) '06 Volvo XC70 (black) which we bought to haul our young family around (our 2 yr old and our to-be-born who is due in a matter of days).
Due to our financial constraints, these vehicles need to last us a long time. My Pathfinder has done just that, but it needs to last another 3 or 4 years until we get into our first house.
I pay very close attention to the mechanical maintenance of my vehicles, and do most of my own work on them, short of anything heavy which requires a garage. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I have done little more than washing the cars once or twice a year (yes, I know... awful). As I said though, I am trying to get into the habit of changing that.
This post is specifically about my Pathfinder.
It's not a typical "soccer mom" Pathy. I live in Canada, and am an avid camper. My Pathy has taken me down some of the harshest logging roads our country has to offer, and even though she still looks great for a girl who is 16 yrs, she definitely has her war wounds. With the arrival of our two kids (well, not two *quite* yet), we have done less and less camping, and I am turning my eye to extending my Pathfinder's life.
This is where help from you guys come in.
Three weeks ago or so, I took my Pathfinder into a professional detailing shop. The plan was to have them do a thorough once-over on her, then I could maintain it from there. The paint is still in great shape, although it did have a layer of oxidation on it (but not very heavy). To test how well the paint could come back, with my limited knowledge and "caveman" approach, I took some polishing compound I had in the garage, did a little 4" circle in the corner of my hood, then put on some Mother's FX I had kicking around. My little 4" circle looked pretty damn shiny (comparatively), so I thought there was hope for my truck.
I took my truck in to be detailed. I showed them my circle. "No problem. We'll clean it right up.", was what I was assured...
I came back after them having my truck from 8AM until 4PM, I now had lovely, polished oxidation. After a mild argument ensued as to what I had requested and why I now had a glistening shiny spot and a completely swirled, awful-looking paint job. I laid down my $200+ and went home in a rage, determined to do this myself.
I have a craptacular orbital Simoniz buffer, and I knew this, along with my Turtle Wax Polishing Compound and Mother's FX were amateur, and I wanted to learn how to do this from scratch to maintenance on my own to not only rescue my Pathfinder's paint, but to maintain our Volvo's as well.
So, I sat down, hit Google and landed here.
After much researching this site, and several others, this is what I have recently purchased in terms of tools and products after a lengthy discussion with a really great tech rep at an on-line detailing store in Canada:
o Porter Cable 7424xp
o LC 5" backing plate
o 2 x LC 5.5" Orange Pads
o 3 x LC 5.5" White Pads
o 1 x LC 5.5" Blue Pads
o Optimum Hyper Compound
o Optimum Polish Compound II
o Collinite 476
o Collinite 845
I purchased the PC over the GG b/c it had a better price in Canada, and from what many have said, both are top notch.
I went with 5.5" pads over 4" b/c I was told that as a newb to machining, I would run less risk of burning my paint and would generally protect me from my own inexperience with a slightly larger pad size.
The same with the Optimum over MG's 105/205 - since Optimum stays wet, I again am protecting myself against the drying of the 105 and possibly screwing things up.
I chose the Collinites to do a 476/845 layering as I want durability over a deeper, shorter-lived show shine.
We just purchased the Volvo in October of this last fall, so I havent really had a chance to get into exterior maintenance of it yet. The paint is noticeably swirled, but still beads water fairly well. I think it will be showroom after an honest day's work on it with my new kit. My Pathfinder though, I'm worried about.
I would just like to get some advice on the approach I should take with my Pathfinder, and its now waxed oxidization.
If you read this, thank you *very* much for your time, and willingness to help out.
Any insight/help/advice on how to go about restoring my Pathy's paint with the gear I have outlined above is greatly appreciated.
I have been reading these forums intently for the last few weeks, as I have been trying to pay more attention to my cars. This is a long story, so please bare with me.
My wife and I own two vehicles; my trusty '95 Nissan Pathfinder (white) and our new(ish) '06 Volvo XC70 (black) which we bought to haul our young family around (our 2 yr old and our to-be-born who is due in a matter of days).
Due to our financial constraints, these vehicles need to last us a long time. My Pathfinder has done just that, but it needs to last another 3 or 4 years until we get into our first house.
I pay very close attention to the mechanical maintenance of my vehicles, and do most of my own work on them, short of anything heavy which requires a garage. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I have done little more than washing the cars once or twice a year (yes, I know... awful). As I said though, I am trying to get into the habit of changing that.
This post is specifically about my Pathfinder.
It's not a typical "soccer mom" Pathy. I live in Canada, and am an avid camper. My Pathy has taken me down some of the harshest logging roads our country has to offer, and even though she still looks great for a girl who is 16 yrs, she definitely has her war wounds. With the arrival of our two kids (well, not two *quite* yet), we have done less and less camping, and I am turning my eye to extending my Pathfinder's life.
This is where help from you guys come in.
Three weeks ago or so, I took my Pathfinder into a professional detailing shop. The plan was to have them do a thorough once-over on her, then I could maintain it from there. The paint is still in great shape, although it did have a layer of oxidation on it (but not very heavy). To test how well the paint could come back, with my limited knowledge and "caveman" approach, I took some polishing compound I had in the garage, did a little 4" circle in the corner of my hood, then put on some Mother's FX I had kicking around. My little 4" circle looked pretty damn shiny (comparatively), so I thought there was hope for my truck.
I took my truck in to be detailed. I showed them my circle. "No problem. We'll clean it right up.", was what I was assured...
I came back after them having my truck from 8AM until 4PM, I now had lovely, polished oxidation. After a mild argument ensued as to what I had requested and why I now had a glistening shiny spot and a completely swirled, awful-looking paint job. I laid down my $200+ and went home in a rage, determined to do this myself.
I have a craptacular orbital Simoniz buffer, and I knew this, along with my Turtle Wax Polishing Compound and Mother's FX were amateur, and I wanted to learn how to do this from scratch to maintenance on my own to not only rescue my Pathfinder's paint, but to maintain our Volvo's as well.
So, I sat down, hit Google and landed here.
After much researching this site, and several others, this is what I have recently purchased in terms of tools and products after a lengthy discussion with a really great tech rep at an on-line detailing store in Canada:
o Porter Cable 7424xp
o LC 5" backing plate
o 2 x LC 5.5" Orange Pads
o 3 x LC 5.5" White Pads
o 1 x LC 5.5" Blue Pads
o Optimum Hyper Compound
o Optimum Polish Compound II
o Collinite 476
o Collinite 845
I purchased the PC over the GG b/c it had a better price in Canada, and from what many have said, both are top notch.
I went with 5.5" pads over 4" b/c I was told that as a newb to machining, I would run less risk of burning my paint and would generally protect me from my own inexperience with a slightly larger pad size.
The same with the Optimum over MG's 105/205 - since Optimum stays wet, I again am protecting myself against the drying of the 105 and possibly screwing things up.
I chose the Collinites to do a 476/845 layering as I want durability over a deeper, shorter-lived show shine.
We just purchased the Volvo in October of this last fall, so I havent really had a chance to get into exterior maintenance of it yet. The paint is noticeably swirled, but still beads water fairly well. I think it will be showroom after an honest day's work on it with my new kit. My Pathfinder though, I'm worried about.
I would just like to get some advice on the approach I should take with my Pathfinder, and its now waxed oxidization.
If you read this, thank you *very* much for your time, and willingness to help out.
Any insight/help/advice on how to go about restoring my Pathy's paint with the gear I have outlined above is greatly appreciated.