Hello everyone. This is my first time posting here, although I've browsed the forums many times over the past few years gathering information on polishing and waxing, among other things.
This is my 2000 Contour SVT that I've had for 7 years. Using information I found here on this site I polished this car by hand two years ago using Meg's Ultimate Compound, and waxed it with NXT 2.0. It ended up looking worlds better than ever, but was just too much work for me. Since then it has not even been washed until now.
I bought the 6" Griots Garage Orbital Polish and Wax kit from Amazon when it was on sale last year for $120 intending to use it in the fall. Never got around to doing it until this weekend. So the car has been sitting outside all year without so much as a wash. Here are a few before shots. Hood, trunk, fenders, and some other areas were pretty oxidized.
I didn't take any other before pictures because I didn't really plan on posting this, but the whole car looked much like those shots.
I didn't clay the car after washing even though I'm sure it would've looked much better, but I just don't have the time to clay the whole car. I used the Ultimate Compound again for the areas that had heavy oxidation as the Griots Machine Polish 3 that comes in the kit wasn't cutting it. For the rest of the car I used the Machine Polish 3. I found the orbital definitely worth the money as I did the whole car in one weekend compared to the 4 weekends it took me by hand. I also found it much easier to wipe the polish off when using the orbital than by hand. After polishing I applied NXT 2.0 wax using the orbital and again found the wax easier to wipe than by hand. The outside glass was cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass which I had a tough time getting to work properly. I ended up having to use the IG like a wax, letting it dry on the window and then wiping it off with a MF cloth. Once I did that the glass looked, well, invisible.
Heres a few after shots. Again I didn't take many shots as I didn't plan on posting this. The garage pics don't really do the car justice, but it was all I could get for now since it was almost midnight when I finished. Overall I have around 12 hours total into this project, and I'm extremely happy with the results. Too bad it's going to rain tomorrow
This is my 2000 Contour SVT that I've had for 7 years. Using information I found here on this site I polished this car by hand two years ago using Meg's Ultimate Compound, and waxed it with NXT 2.0. It ended up looking worlds better than ever, but was just too much work for me. Since then it has not even been washed until now.
I bought the 6" Griots Garage Orbital Polish and Wax kit from Amazon when it was on sale last year for $120 intending to use it in the fall. Never got around to doing it until this weekend. So the car has been sitting outside all year without so much as a wash. Here are a few before shots. Hood, trunk, fenders, and some other areas were pretty oxidized.
I didn't take any other before pictures because I didn't really plan on posting this, but the whole car looked much like those shots.
I didn't clay the car after washing even though I'm sure it would've looked much better, but I just don't have the time to clay the whole car. I used the Ultimate Compound again for the areas that had heavy oxidation as the Griots Machine Polish 3 that comes in the kit wasn't cutting it. For the rest of the car I used the Machine Polish 3. I found the orbital definitely worth the money as I did the whole car in one weekend compared to the 4 weekends it took me by hand. I also found it much easier to wipe the polish off when using the orbital than by hand. After polishing I applied NXT 2.0 wax using the orbital and again found the wax easier to wipe than by hand. The outside glass was cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass which I had a tough time getting to work properly. I ended up having to use the IG like a wax, letting it dry on the window and then wiping it off with a MF cloth. Once I did that the glass looked, well, invisible.
Heres a few after shots. Again I didn't take many shots as I didn't plan on posting this. The garage pics don't really do the car justice, but it was all I could get for now since it was almost midnight when I finished. Overall I have around 12 hours total into this project, and I'm extremely happy with the results. Too bad it's going to rain tomorrow
