Newbie: Detailing my MR2

[marioyo]

Hello Autoians,



2 months ago, purcashed my first car - a red 1990 MR2 - and I love it! I want to get every detail in prime condition (without a repaint) and I feel Autopia has a lot to offer. Although having a 17 year old car and little detailing experienceread, I feel that with the use of this forum and the various articles on this website, I can make my car have that perfect shine once again!







I have a lot of free time this week and hope to get a lot done on my car. Being a newbie I am worried about polishing, especially on paint with such defects. I will be be detailing my car entirely by hand (no machine help) to help reduce risk.



MY ARSENAL

MY CAR



MR2

Interior

Bonnet

Close-up

Swirl Marks

Wheels

Waterspots

Oxidization on rear spoiler

Weird 'bubbled' clearcoat

Weird paint defects on roof

Oxidation on wing-mirrors

Any feedback is much appreciated...

 

[One Seventeen]

That buffer will probably mess your paint up more

 

[stuart hicks]

Gonna need a little rpm in the mix i'm afraid. A porter cable if you don't know how to use a rotory yet. That Meg. fine cut is the most aggresive thing you got. May wanna step up to a little more aggressive products (3m medium cut compound maybe). Even with a PC you could burn that rear wing plastic as well as front bumber and mirrors so be careful. Diomondite for the windows and sunroof.



Get your self a new steering wheel cover and some high quality mats too.



I used to have one of those..good little car.

 

[Dan]

The stuff in the top pic looks like some ok products, the stuff in the lower ones is not so good. I'd say go with scratchX first, then #2 and #9 if you don't want to buy additional products. That will certainly help, however the car has some serious issues that will require more aggressive products as well as wet sanding to help the clearcoat issues. Those are definitely not for a noob. The buffer you have certainly does not have a lot of power for correction and more importantly it won't be able to use the right kind of pads.

 

[stuart hicks]

Couldn't tell from the pics but if the black weatherstriping around the window is faded and filled with dried wax residue use Kiwi leather dye on it. Make sure to tape it off so it doesn't get on paint though. May need three or four applications. Stuff does wonders and only 3bucks at wal-mart. Not the shoe scuff cover up but the shoe dye with the foam tip applicator build into the bottle.



Hard to find an old Ferrari with black leather without finding a bottle of that stuff nearby.



Reluctant to try this but finally gave in and i'm blown away with how well it works. last at least a year outside even.

 

[marioyo]

That buffer will probably mess your paint up more

Yeah, my dad used it on his BMW 7er with little detailing knowledge and has really clouded the roof. Once I am competent and happy with my MR2, I will have a go at the roof of his BMW.

Gonna need a little rpm in the mix i'm afraid. A porter cable if you don't know how to use a rotory yet.

Do I really need to use a machine polisher? I have 0 experience with a PC/Rotary and for now, a bit of time on my hands, patience and am willing to do it by hand. Can I not achieve the same/similar results by hand?

I'd say go with scratchX first, then #2 and #9 if you don't want to buy additional products.

Sorry, I'm a complete noob and can't seem to find out what Meguiars #2 and #9 are .

That will certainly help, however the car has some serious issues that will require more aggressive products as well as wet sanding to help the clearcoat issues. Those are definitely not for a noob. The buffer you have certainly does not have a lot of power for correction and more importantly it won't be able to use the right kind of pads.

I'm yet to read up any guides on wetsanding, but it seems like it could be a good choice with the state of my car's paint..

Couldn't tell from the pics but if the black weatherstriping around the window is faded and filled with dried wax residue use Kiwi leather dye on it. Make sure to tape it off so it doesn't get on paint though. May need three or four applications. Stuff does wonders and only 3bucks at wal-mart. Not the shoe scuff cover up but the shoe dye with the foam tip applicator build into the bottle.



Hard to find an old Ferrari with black leather without finding a bottle of that stuff nearby.



Reluctant to try this but finally gave in and i'm blown away with how well it works. last at least a year outside even.

Just had a look in my cuboard and found Kiwi Black Shoe polish and Kiwi Black liquid wax polish, both w/ foam applicators. Will these do? Cheers for the tip, it's amazing the different it makes to a cars appearance by giving attention to these smaller details..



Cheers for the feedback guys



Also - I forgot to mention that I have the exact colourmatch paint-touchup kit from paintscratch.com, and I will have some clearcoat available to me in a few weeks time.

 

[stuart hicks]

One of the kiwi products will fade away quickly where the other last a long time. The one i have says kiwi leather dye..a dye to restore color before polishing. It leaves a matte finish but it's durable and looks alot better than the wax residue covered trim.



To get the polishes and compounds needed to put some life in that car you need speed to break down the polishes. Doing it by hand won't make enough speed and in turn heat to polish that thing.



A PC is a good way to get started without fear of burning. It will do some modest correction and look alot better than it does now but to get the most out of the paint you'd need to wetsand and use a rotary.



At best though it will be a looks good from 10 feet away car but you can learn from the experience.

 

[stuart hicks]

Steering wheel center looks like it has makeup embedded in it. Prolly owned by a chick ( or a drag queen) Use some interior cleaner and a soft bristle tooth brush to get it out.

 

[mr.ikon]

2 and 9 are your meguiars mirror glaze products on the upper left.

 

[marioyo]

One of the kiwi products will fade away quickly where the other last a long time. The one i have says kiwi leather dye..a dye to restore color before polishing. It leaves a matte finish but it's durable and looks alot better than the wax residue covered trim.

I'll look into getting this leather dye.

Steering wheel center looks like it has makeup embedded in it. Prolly owned by a chick ( or a drag queen) Use some interior cleaner and a soft bristle tooth brush to get it out.

I just had a quick go with the toothbursh and some interior polish. At first it seemed to have made a huge difference.. but after taking a photo with flash, it still showed the makeup stains.. Next time I'll use some proper interior cleaner and see how I go



Am I right in saying that it is quite hard to damage my paint when polishing by hand?

 

[marioyo]

am i right in saying this is orange peeling? which i guess can't be fixed when polishing by hand?