red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

[dnoraker]

I posted my car a couple weeks back, but i went back and tried some different techniques. The first time I used:
Rotary: M84, M83, M82, Nxt 2.0 x 2

This time, I touched up a few spots with M84 or M83 where I didn't get enough swirls out the first time, then knocked out the rotary holograms. The first time, the rotary and M82 left virtually no holograms or swirls, but on some of the rounded areas it left more.

This time, here was my process:

Rotary: M84 (burgandy pad), M83 (yellow pad), M80 (yellow pad)
DA: Scratch-X on black Meguiars finishing pad, Nxt 2.0 x 2 on black finishing pad

It seems like I still have the gloss and reflectivity of the rotary, but without the holograms. These pics are after I washed it again, so it doesn't have anything "filling" any scratches.

I used to do everything on the DA before I had my rotary, but it always was left with hazing when using the 80-series products, even M82. After reading some threads on how to deal with it, I decided to try Scratch-X

One problem with my process still is that the DA didn't completely get rid of any buffer swirls/holograms, as you might have seen in a couple of the sun shots. I think I will tweak my process to this:

Rotary: M80 to get rid of any swirls picked up over the MN winter
DA: M80 to get rid of holograms
DA: Scratch-X to get rid of hazing
DA: Nxt 2.0
grab the sunglasses!

I would welcome any suggestions you may have. I know my process isn't without flaw, and I'm sure you will see things that I missed. It's hard to justify even the time I'm spending on a daily driver when I have so many other things that are more pressing, but it makes me very happy to have the finish at this level where I can maintain it.


Here's an extra pic of my very dirty van. We were baby-sitting our niece who is 3 yrs old and she had walked all the way around the van wiping it with her hand before I realized what was going on . Then she proceeded to walk toward my Altima and I tried really hard not to flip out, but I said, "please don't touch uncle Dan's car! I just spent a lot of time making it shiny!" I hovered around her for awhile after that just to make sure she didn't get any ideas....

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

Awesome! I agree with you, scratch-X and the DA leave the absolute glossiest finish you can possibly get

[VonLego]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

I'm the oldest of nine kids who don't understand... I know the feeling of seeing those tiny finger prints in a week of dust. They all love my "pony car" but the finger marring kills me; however, they have been pretty good about it lately.

[dnoraker]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

A question I have is if I should follow Scratch-X with pure polish, or does Scratch-X have polishing oils? I have some Deep Crystal Polish and #7 Show Car Glaze around. Maybe I could give that a shot next Spring if that would help at all.

[Nappers]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

Beautiful car, sure is sparkly.

Good show

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

A question I have is if I should follow Scratch-X with pure polish, or does Scratch-X have polishing oils? I have some Deep Crystal Polish and #7 Show Car Glaze around. Maybe I could give that a shot next Spring if that would help at all.

Yes you do need to follow up with a polish, as far as I know scratch-x is not a cleaner polish, it's a pure cleaner just like deep crystal cleaner. I used to use #7, but recently discovered #81, IME I've found 81 to be the best pure polish because it takes significantly less effort to use then #7, and the shine is comparable

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

I have to agree with you, your Altima is on fire. Great work. Your car looks great.

[yalerd]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

Very nice work on the Altima!

[audionutmike]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

Great work, it definitely has a glow to it!!!
Congrats!

[christian6984]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

some great work, awesome flake in the finish

[dnoraker]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

Yes you do need to follow up with a polish, as far as I know scratch-x is not a cleaner polish, it's a pure cleaner just like deep crystal cleaner. I used to use #7, but recently discovered #81, IME I've found 81 to be the best pure polish because it takes significantly less effort to use then #7, and the shine is comparable

I've heard good things about #81. I should try that. #7 seems to take some practice to get off.

In a time crunch, if I swapped Scratch-X with ColorX, does that have polishing oils?

[rodriguera]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

dear people.

very good work in your car! congratulations.

i used the similar process im my car.
with rotary: #84, #83, #82, hi-tech yellow wax (carnauba) #26.

i´m not sure. in my next try i have two options

1) scratchX, #85, #83, #82, hi-tech yellow wax #26 x 2

or

2) scratchX, #83, #82, #80, hi-tech yellow wax #26 x 2

which are your choice??

thanks

[dnoraker]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

Of the products you mentioned, this is the order of aggressiveness:

#85, #84, #83, #80, #82
ScratchX (by hand or DA polisher)

I haven't used #85 myself, as it's more aggressive than I've needed most of the time. Unless I have some stubborn scratches on a detail job, or in the case of my Altima, I typically start with the least aggressive option and see if it does what I need. If it's close to the results you want, you may be able to repeat that same product rather than go more aggressive. For instance, #83 2-3 times might be the same as using #84. Unless you're fairly experienced with #84, sometimes you can end up having a hard time getting rid of the swirls it creates- it needs to fully break down in the whole area you work it. It's sometimes easier just to repeat #83 and avoid the risk of swirling or removing too much paint with a compound.

Here's what I would do if I were you:

for maintenance details, M82 with the rotary and a finishing pad should take care of the light swirls from regular washing and using the car. If that's not enough, bump it to M80 or M83 with a polishing pad and then follow again with M82 at a low speed to take care of the holograms from the more aggressive step. I've been able to get the finish nearly free of holograms with M82 as long as I back the speed down under 1000 RPMs for the final couple passes.

I've been able to follow M83 with M82, skipping M80, because M83 polishes to a pretty nice finish and M82 takes it up a notch.

Following up with the DA and ScratchX or ColorX should take care of any remaining holograms. This step can often depend on the hardness of the paint. I've had some paints that I've only used the rotary on that didn't show holograms, even on dark blue after several washings, but other paints that show major holograms.

Be careful of your buffing order that you listed. M82 is less aggressive than M80, which I know is a little confusing because it's out of order.

Hope some of that helps.

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: red 2006 Altima "on fire" again!

I've heard good things about #81. I should try that. #7 seems to take some practice to get off.

In a time crunch, if I swapped Scratch-X with ColorX, does that have polishing oils?

Yes Color-X has a healthy dose of polishing oils. Color-X does not have the corrective power that scratch-X has, so if it isn't knocking out your swirls you will need to step up to scratch-x