I'm so excited...and I just cant hide it!

joshcaro

joshcaro

New member
Well this was my first detail on my car. It is a 1996 Pontiac Firebird right at 130,000 miles. I've always been extremely anal when it comes to my car and always thought I had the right techniques when detailing my car, but boy was I lacking. I have spent months reading daily all threads and trying to get a grip on the correct processes and products to use.



My car had pretty bad swirls that were not so visible mostly because red hides them well I think. My process was as follows:



1) Poorboys S&W

2) Poorboys SSR 2.5 via PC with Polishing Pad (several times over some spots)

3) Poorboys SSR 1 via PC with Polishing Pad

4) Poorboys S&W

5) Poorboys EX via PC with Finishing Pad

6) Waited 24 hours

7) Poorboys EX via hand with applicator

8) Waited 24 hours

9) Poorboys Natty Paste Wax via hand with applicator



On the wheels and tires:

1) Poorboys S&W

2) Poorboys EX via hand with applicator

3) Meguiars High Endurance High Gloss Gel via tire swipe



Now my car had been clayed about a month ago so I did not do it again.



I think it came out beautiful and I do not believe the pictures do justice what-so-ever. Not to mention Im the worse photographer ever I believe.



Now it is not a perfect finish yet as I can still see very faint swirls and some marring that I would love to get rid of. I believe I should have used a cutting pad with the SSR 2.5 but it was hard to tell so I went with the less abrasive approach. Ill wait a few weeks and redo my detail and try and get it perfect.



Here are some pictures



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Nice work.



Re: Your swirls. Sounds like this is daily driver. I would not try to get every last one out. I have the same problem with my Mazda. It's driven every day and parked outside. I take good care of it, and polish it once a year, but I don't try to take everything out. If I did that, I'd polishing it once a month at least. :eek:



I would just get the worst ones out and then leave it for 6 months, when the accumulated swirls and scratches will be removed again.



Your car will still be the best looking one in your neck of the woods. :xyxthumbs
 
Hehe:) Thanks guys..



Yea its my daily driver, but I purchased it when I was 17 and it then had 107,000 miles on it. I got an excellent deal that I couldnt refuse. So in 3 years Ive only put about 23,000 miles on it. So as you can see I dont put many miles at all on my car and since I've had it, it has usually stayed underneath the carport.



Would you advise using a cutting pad next time?
 
Yes, I would use a cutting pad, and then pull it out to see if the swirls are gone. If not, do it once or twice more. Then to enhance the shine, you a polishing pad once you are satisfied. On your personal car, you can afford to be finicky like that. I sometimes will go from a cutting pad with DACP to AIO/UPP straight away to save time, and the finish is great. But it would be even better to follow up with a finishing pad.
 
great job. the 'bird looks beautiful.



yeah, try a cutting pad with the SSR 2.5 for the major swirls and scratches. it's quicker than using a polishing pad. sometimes if you work the SSR 2.5 right, the finish is great enough that you can go straight to your LSP (last step product). sometimes you get a little hazing that you use SSR 1 w/polishing pad to take out.
 
130K - dang it looks like its just off the showroom floor. Nope, that ain't right, given Mungo and his wool pad on a rotary doing the dealer prep..



Better than new!
 
And where would a complete detail be without doing the interior. Now I will admit its not much of a change when I detail the interior because my interior never gets dirty. But here are a few shots of it anyways.



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Wow, looks really good. I love the z06 rims and how you painted the lower rear bumper black. Also, your seats look really good for how many miles are on your car. Btw, this is coming from a cobra owner...
 
what a fine example of what a detail should look like!!!



at a 130,000 miles you feel proud. i can only hope that my silverado will look like yours when it has that many miles on it.



keep up the good work!
 
CutNAction said:
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Great work..I'm diggin' the chrome Z06 rims!! :up



You have your floor mats in backwards though...the passenger side one is the driver's mat and the driver side one is the passenger's mat.
 
1 Clean WS6 said:
You have your floor mats in backwards though...the passenger side one is the driver's mat and the driver side one is the passenger's mat.
Click to expand...



whoa! :eek: here's a guy who knows his f-birds, he knows and notices little details such as floor mats. :cool: :xyxthumbs :bow
 
wow.. you did a good job for your first detail... to save time you could have eliminated using s&w after the ssr1. dont worry about the swirls.. it looks great, and is well protected... u put a lot of product, work and effort into that, so wait till after winter to do it over. you'll probably have to use ssr2.5 with a cutting pad, then with a polishing pad, then ssr 1.
 
Good eyes 1 Clean WS6, but theres a reason for everything!!



I switch the mats every so often to ensure that one floor mat doesnt get more wear then the other. Since no one sits in my passenger seat it never gets any wear and my driver side one gets all the wear, so if you switch them every so often you keep them from getting extremely dirty and worn out.
 
Your car is proof that how you take care of a car is more important than the mileage. I see cars that are a month old and look nowhere as nice.
 
The car looks awesome.



The wheel/ rear end combo looks awesome, and I wouldn't have guessed it had anything near 130k under it's belt.



You should get some heavy duty rubber mats to put over your carpet mats. It keeps the carpets literally wear free, and you don't have to feel guilty about dirty shoes in the car :)
 
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