....I'll post it again! I should have a few more pics to add to it before the weekend.
Now that I've put about 20 hours into my paint since November, I finally have the paint the way I want! True, some of that time was glazing and sealing after deeper polishing, so probably half the total time is pure polishing and claying.
This is what I started with in November when my Dad still owned the car. He had bought it from my brother who in the two years he owned it, never waxed it. As you can see, lots of scratches, cobwebbing and paint transfers on the door. The rear fender was already polished at that point.
When I got my PC in early April, I went over the car again. It still looked pretty good but still had some cobwebbing and deeper scratches that needed more work (used some PBs SSR2 and #9)When I borrowed the car in late May to pick up my kids for the summer, I went over the car again a bit more aggressively (#80 then VM) and I got the majority of the cobwebbing and scratches. When I bought the car about a month ago, I just did a quickie on it with VM and CMW because I was just too busy to spend the needed 3-4 hours to take the paint from about 92% to 98%.
This is how it looked last week (AS California Clearcoat, EX w/caranuba topped with Natty's). Yes, the lighting is different but that is exactly the way the paint looks in the shade.
Now that school is starting in the next week, business slacks off about 20% (picks right back up after school starts, does this every year), so on Sunday, I went over the horizontal surfaces with #80 and a cutting pad, then #80 with a polishing pad. I then went over the whole car with #9 and a polishing pad (speed was 6 on all three steps). I then applied NXT with a polishing pad and a speed of 4.5 to 5. I finished off with Wolfgang Sealant by hand. I probably should have waited 24 hours for NXT to completely cure and apply WG, but I never know from day to day if I will have time to work on my own car. I did get some very light streaking with WG, probably since I applied it right after buffing off the NXT. Washed my car today and the streaking was gone. Applied another layer of WG and now I will wait a week and apply a 3rd layer. After that, I will probably go with a coat of Natty's or Souveran.
Tonight, I parked under some strong halogen lamps in a parking lot and the cobwebbing is gone! Still some very light scratches visible, but they seem to be too deep to completely remove and you really need to look to see them anyway.
I'll get some pics in the next day or two, the roll in my camera is almost done so I snap the pics and get them printed along with a picture CD so I can post them.
Now that I've put about 20 hours into my paint since November, I finally have the paint the way I want! True, some of that time was glazing and sealing after deeper polishing, so probably half the total time is pure polishing and claying.
This is what I started with in November when my Dad still owned the car. He had bought it from my brother who in the two years he owned it, never waxed it. As you can see, lots of scratches, cobwebbing and paint transfers on the door. The rear fender was already polished at that point.
When I got my PC in early April, I went over the car again. It still looked pretty good but still had some cobwebbing and deeper scratches that needed more work (used some PBs SSR2 and #9)When I borrowed the car in late May to pick up my kids for the summer, I went over the car again a bit more aggressively (#80 then VM) and I got the majority of the cobwebbing and scratches. When I bought the car about a month ago, I just did a quickie on it with VM and CMW because I was just too busy to spend the needed 3-4 hours to take the paint from about 92% to 98%.
This is how it looked last week (AS California Clearcoat, EX w/caranuba topped with Natty's). Yes, the lighting is different but that is exactly the way the paint looks in the shade.
Now that school is starting in the next week, business slacks off about 20% (picks right back up after school starts, does this every year), so on Sunday, I went over the horizontal surfaces with #80 and a cutting pad, then #80 with a polishing pad. I then went over the whole car with #9 and a polishing pad (speed was 6 on all three steps). I then applied NXT with a polishing pad and a speed of 4.5 to 5. I finished off with Wolfgang Sealant by hand. I probably should have waited 24 hours for NXT to completely cure and apply WG, but I never know from day to day if I will have time to work on my own car. I did get some very light streaking with WG, probably since I applied it right after buffing off the NXT. Washed my car today and the streaking was gone. Applied another layer of WG and now I will wait a week and apply a 3rd layer. After that, I will probably go with a coat of Natty's or Souveran.
Tonight, I parked under some strong halogen lamps in a parking lot and the cobwebbing is gone! Still some very light scratches visible, but they seem to be too deep to completely remove and you really need to look to see them anyway.
I'll get some pics in the next day or two, the roll in my camera is almost done so I snap the pics and get them printed along with a picture CD so I can post them.
