Optimum Polish + scratched CTS hood

A

Anthony O.

New member
While in the process of applying a clear bra on a Porsche Boxster S today I notice his other car, which is a black Cadillac CTS, covered in swirls and ugly scratches.



He asks me if we have time to polish out just the hood. While Ron left to do another car I started polishing the CTS hood.



I did it with one polish, 2 machines (Cyclo & Metabo) and 3 diifferent pads. First was a LC orange pad and the Metabo. I used this only on the worst parts and the OCP did a great job in leveling the paint. Wipe up and removal was a breeze.



I then did the whole hood with the Metabo and an LC white pad. Finished up with white pads on the Cyclo and again OCP. Sealed with OCW.



I did the whole hood while in the garage as the lighting showed more of the damage than could be seen outside as it was really overcast.



Here are two BEFORE shots.



328BeforeCTS-med.jpg




328CTSBefore-med.jpg




After all the polishing one can see a slight difference.



328OptHood-med.jpg




328CTSHd-med.jpg




I could of perhaps gotten better results if I had used the LC orange pad on the whole hood and maybe one more LC white pad pass.



He wants the whole car done now:D



Take care,

Anthony
 
Looks good. Tough to take pics inside.



Do you do most of your polishing outside?(mobile).

Being from Can. i know it would be alot easier to polish outside, but i am used to inside, but know there might be swirls when done without a check.

Outside do you care about wind dust and uv heat while polishing?
 
You might want to compress the before pics a bit less, it is kind of hard to see the scratches. However, the after pics look great!



We actually had good weather today, just had a couple exterior details to do though since they are calling for rain this weekend....again. :angry
 
salty said:
Looks good. Tough to take pics inside.



Do you do most of your polishing outside?(mobile).

Being from Can. i know it would be alot easier to polish outside, but i am used to inside, but know there might be swirls when done without a check.

Outside do you care about wind dust and uv heat while polishing?
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I prefer to detail outside but here in South Texas the weather will only allow that for a short period of time during the year. Which is usually October. Other than that it is either too hot or it's raining....and then we have the humidity to deal with:eek:



I am a mobile detailer so we carry with us a pop up canopy is there is no garage or covering. Real windy days are days I will not detail unless I am able to do so in a garage.



Yeah the pictures came out rather bad, I am going to try and redo them and upload them again and see if that helps, at least with the BEFORE pics.



Anthony
 
Scottwax said:
You might want to compress the before pics a bit less, it is kind of hard to see the scratches. However, the after pics look great!



We actually had good weather today, just had a couple exterior details to do though since they are calling for rain this weekend....again. :angry
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My day got rained out again:( Tomorrow though, including Mon thru Wed, looks promising so I'll most likely miss church to try and get everyone caught up.



I have redone the BEFORE pictures and hope the scratches can be seen better.



Take care,

Anthony
 
Anthony Orosco said:
My day got rained out again:( Tomorrow though, including Mon thru Wed, looks promising so I'll most likely miss church to try and get everyone caught up.
Click to expand...



The rain just made it up here. 3rd or 4th Saturday in a row we've had rain. The farmers have had 5 good years now, how about some dryer weather so we can have a few too, right?



I've got two full details tomorrow, an Excursion and an F-150. Same location though and about 5 minutes from home. Still going to be an all day job. Rain is forecast for Wednesday but regardless, I have an Excalade ESV sitting in a warehouse waiting for me to go nuts on it...and it will need it. He has been letting his wife drive it and she is a chain smoker and quite frankly, a real pig. :(
 
Thank you for the pictures Anthony. I really like the idea of one polish that can be used for heavy to final polish.

How do you like Optimum polish with the Cyclo? Have you used it in the sun?
 
Sullybob said:
Thank you for the pictures Anthony. I really like the idea of one polish that can be used for heavy to final polish.

How do you like Optimum polish with the Cyclo? Have you used it in the sun?
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Yeah I have used it in the sun.....TEXAS sun that is:cool:



No problems with using it and removing it. Ron, my partner, has also used it in the sun on a black car with the Cyclo and no problems with it sticking.



You will notice that the OCP will leave behind an oily residue but this is normal. This is what gives the OCP such a long working time. A few passes with a MF towel and it's all gone.



OCP is also paintable.



Scott -



Yeah, just one week of sun mixed with some clouds and no rain would be great!!!



I just checked the forecast for tomorrow and what was sunshine is now rain:(



Anthony
 
Well I took the plunge last night. I ordered the 'March Factory Special', which looks to be an excellent value.



32 oz. bottle of Optimum Polish

1 Gallon of Optimum Car Wash

1 Gallon of Optimum Tire Shine

1 Gallon of Optimum Protectant Plus

1 Gallon of Optimum Car Wax (SunX TM).



Anthony, We're planning to detail a new black LaCross this weekend. It has the usual light swirls from the 'dealer treatment', but nothing major. I was thinking of using OP via the cyclo with green light cut pads, followed with OCW using finishing pads. In your opinion, is OP too abrasive for a new finish? Also, Have you been topping OCW with a wax or using it as a stand alone?
 
mgm121499 said:
Well I took the plunge last night. I ordered the 'March Factory Special', which looks to be an excellent value.



32 oz. bottle of Optimum Polish

1 Gallon of Optimum Car Wash

1 Gallon of Optimum Tire Shine

1 Gallon of Optimum Protectant Plus

1 Gallon of Optimum Car Wax (SunX TM).



Anthony, We're planning to detail a new black LaCross this weekend. It has the usual light swirls from the 'dealer treatment', but nothing major. I was thinking of using OP via the cyclo with green light cut pads, followed with OCW using finishing pads. In your opinion, is OP too abrasive for a new finish? Also, Have you been topping OCW with a wax or using it as a stand alone?
Click to expand...



Yeah that package deal is a great buy:up



You'll also find that the Protectant Plus is a great product to use on coated leather and vinyl. Very low sheen and helps to repel the collection of dust.



As for the Polish, I would use white pads for the initial cleaning/polishing step instead of the green pads. You'll find that the OCP, while not that abrasive for a new car, can level out those pesky halo scratches if you allow the Cyclo to really work the OCP. Do small areas and remember that OCP is designed to last for a good while.



There may be some OCP residue left on the paint after you wipe it off but don't be alarmed by this, this again is normal. As long as you have quality MF towels you are good. After you polish an area and remove the residue any remaining residue will be removed by the OCW.



Spray the OCW right over the area and wipe it in and buff it dry. I do this with usally 2 MF's and I can polish and wax an exterior in 30 minutes. Once you get the hang of it you may never go back to conventional waxing.



Make sure you post up some pictures.



Anthony
 
Anthony,



Two questions:



1. Where would you rate optimum's polishes in comparison to Meguiars, Poorboys, etc?



2. Will i be able to achieve results using a PC? Or should i look into gettting a rotary to fully utilize OP?



Thanks,



Craig
 
RCBuddha said:
Anthony,



Two questions:



1. Where would you rate optimum's polishes in comparison to Meguiars, Poorboys, etc?



2. Will i be able to achieve results using a PC? Or should i look into gettting a rotary to fully utilize OP?



Thanks,



Craig
Click to expand...



Great questions.....hope I can do them justice in my reply.



I believe OCP to be superior to anything Meguiars has, at least those products which I have tried, just for the fact that it has little to no dusting properties. Even if it was on par with the meguairs products, just knowing it created little to no dust would be enough for me to have it.



It is less abrasive than DACP but levels paint far better. Has alot longer workable time and I also found that the splatter from DACP is very difficult to remove if left standing for some time. OCP splatter removes easily, even after sitting long periods of time.



If I compared it to Poorboys I would say, abrasive wise, that it is right along SSR2.5 but polishes better than SSR1. So in other words where you may need Poorboys SSR1, 2 and maybe 2.5, you only need OCP. Sounds far fetched but again all work on the CTS hood is done with OCP and 3 different pads. So SSR 2.5 is closest.



You will naturally get better results with a rotary and OCP and while I get great results with it and my Cyclo, I have yet to use it with a PC. I am guessing that OCP with a PC and an LC polishing pad set on 5 would give you some great looks as long as you worked it in well.



The OCP though does leave an oily finish behind but this is not a fault of the product but rather by design. It wipes off easily with a good MF towel.



Hope that helps, if not let me know.

Anthony
 
6']['9 said:
When can i come get some?:D
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Give me a call dude:cool:



SilvaBimma said:
I'm guessing we can expect TOL to be carrying the new products this month?
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LOL, Irene asked me about it and she said....."Do I really need to carry another polish?"



She may not be carrying it because she feels she has so many already, especially with the Menzerna line. I am guessing though that when enough people seek interest in it she may carry it. For now I just buy mine from Optimum. Optimum also makes a really nice tire dressing in a sprayable form and a interior dressing but Irene may not carry those either as she already carries several choices.



I'll be posting up my reviews of these products soon.



Anthony
 
I had to bust out my PC today after finishing the Escalade from Hades on my own hood. Looks like my neighbor's cat walked through the mud then jumped onto my hood, then slid down. :angry



I decided to try Optimum along with a yellow Propel Cutting pad. It did a really good job and even with a cutting pad and the PC, I could see no marring at all. It looks like about 90% of the scratches were gone under halogen lighting, couldn't see them at all in the shade. I probably should have worked a bit longer but with drizzle headed our way, I needed to glaze it quick and rewax the hood.
 
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