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A bit of a different mix on this Thursday night as we got off to a slow start - hey, people have to get off work and drive to get here and SoCal traffic can be a nightmare!
One of our TNOG regulars, Allan (aka jokeman) has this Lexus SC430 in an awesome shade of red that he normally keeps at an extremely high level. Like darn near flawless. But tonight he popped the hood and revealed this:
It's an easy fix, however: a little spray down with Engine Cleaner....
....some light agitation with a soft brush.....
... a light rinse with the hose....
... blow it dry with compressed air...
....spray some M40 (or Natural Shine, Hyper Dressing, etc)....
... wipe off the excess and this is what you get.
On to the next project. Well now, this doesn't look too terrible, does it?
But upon closer inspection, this little BMW Z3 has some serious needs!
Break out the MT300, mount a burgundy foam cutting disc to it, and dispense of Ultimate Compound to the pad. Left side is "before"....
... right side is "after". One pass, very little effort, and this is the result. No polish. No wax. Just UC on a cutting disc.
With a couple of new DA users on hand, we cut them loose to finish off the whole car. There is no better way to learn than by doing, and the Z3 actually provides some interesting curves and contours to overcome.
Another "before" shot....
... and another "after" shot in the same spot. Keep in mind that this was done by someone who had zero prior experience with a DA. If this is how he starts his paint polishing career, that's pretty terrific!
The end result as we finished the night. Beautiful!
Up next, a black Honda Accord that had already been polished by it's owner. Still in need of some TLC as the swirls were bad enough for already having been polished, but there were other needs as well.
We discussed a few options based on his previous attempt to correct the paint and decided to go with something a bit more aggressive. We opted for M100 on a burgundy cutting disc to cut through the swirls, etchings, RIDS, etc. This left a haze in the paint due to the combination of aggressiveness of the liquid/pad and the way the paint responded. But it also removed the defects, which the owner had not previously been able to accomplish. So, a little haze in exchange for the defects being eradicated - we'll take it. The haze is easy enough to deal with. Look at the image below and concentrate on the square light fixture reflected in the paint: below the fixture the paint is hazy, so much so that you can actually see the pad marks in the paint. That was just M100/cutting disc and the way this particular paint responded to it. But now look just to either side of the light fixture, and above it, and the paint is nice and clear and glossy. It used to look like the hazy paint seen below the light fixture, but just a quick pass of M205 Ultra Finishing Polish on a yellow foam polishing disc removed the haze completely. With the haze now gone, it's ready for wax.
One last thing; a discussion came up about White Wax and it's ability to remove defects from any color paint. Someone mentioned that they tried it but it didn't touch the defects. When asked how they applied it, the response was typical for how any wax is typically applied: light pressure on a finishing pad, quick movements, and a large coverage area. OK, that's all fine and well for spreading a non cleaner type wax but in order to maximize the cleaning and defect removing capabilities of White Wax, it needs to be treated as if it were a compound, not a wax. Sounds kind of crazy, right? But when you consider that White Wax contains some very potent abrasives, it actually makes a lot of sense. To that end we did a little demo on the deck lid of the Z3. Instead of a traditional wax application process (finishing pad, light pressure, fast movements, large area) we treated it as if it were indeed a compound (cutting disc, moderate pressure, slow movements, repeated passes, small area) and obtained the results shown in the clip below. As a one step, White Wax is pretty amazing stuff. And please keep in mind that a "one step" process is intended to be a simple process to noticeably improve the appearance of the paint. A "one step" process is not at all intended to be a shortcut to a concours or show car shine. It does not result in absolute perfection - you just can't rush that. But going from the heavy swirls on the right side to such a massive improvement on the left - in a single step - is pretty cool. Remember, this process is removing defects and adding wax protection in a single step, making this a true "one step" process. Wipe off the residue and you're done. That's it.
One of our TNOG regulars, Allan (aka jokeman) has this Lexus SC430 in an awesome shade of red that he normally keeps at an extremely high level. Like darn near flawless. But tonight he popped the hood and revealed this:
It's an easy fix, however: a little spray down with Engine Cleaner....
....some light agitation with a soft brush.....
... a light rinse with the hose....
... blow it dry with compressed air...
....spray some M40 (or Natural Shine, Hyper Dressing, etc)....
... wipe off the excess and this is what you get.
On to the next project. Well now, this doesn't look too terrible, does it?
But upon closer inspection, this little BMW Z3 has some serious needs!
Break out the MT300, mount a burgundy foam cutting disc to it, and dispense of Ultimate Compound to the pad. Left side is "before"....
... right side is "after". One pass, very little effort, and this is the result. No polish. No wax. Just UC on a cutting disc.
With a couple of new DA users on hand, we cut them loose to finish off the whole car. There is no better way to learn than by doing, and the Z3 actually provides some interesting curves and contours to overcome.
Another "before" shot....
... and another "after" shot in the same spot. Keep in mind that this was done by someone who had zero prior experience with a DA. If this is how he starts his paint polishing career, that's pretty terrific!
The end result as we finished the night. Beautiful!
Up next, a black Honda Accord that had already been polished by it's owner. Still in need of some TLC as the swirls were bad enough for already having been polished, but there were other needs as well.
We discussed a few options based on his previous attempt to correct the paint and decided to go with something a bit more aggressive. We opted for M100 on a burgundy cutting disc to cut through the swirls, etchings, RIDS, etc. This left a haze in the paint due to the combination of aggressiveness of the liquid/pad and the way the paint responded. But it also removed the defects, which the owner had not previously been able to accomplish. So, a little haze in exchange for the defects being eradicated - we'll take it. The haze is easy enough to deal with. Look at the image below and concentrate on the square light fixture reflected in the paint: below the fixture the paint is hazy, so much so that you can actually see the pad marks in the paint. That was just M100/cutting disc and the way this particular paint responded to it. But now look just to either side of the light fixture, and above it, and the paint is nice and clear and glossy. It used to look like the hazy paint seen below the light fixture, but just a quick pass of M205 Ultra Finishing Polish on a yellow foam polishing disc removed the haze completely. With the haze now gone, it's ready for wax.
One last thing; a discussion came up about White Wax and it's ability to remove defects from any color paint. Someone mentioned that they tried it but it didn't touch the defects. When asked how they applied it, the response was typical for how any wax is typically applied: light pressure on a finishing pad, quick movements, and a large coverage area. OK, that's all fine and well for spreading a non cleaner type wax but in order to maximize the cleaning and defect removing capabilities of White Wax, it needs to be treated as if it were a compound, not a wax. Sounds kind of crazy, right? But when you consider that White Wax contains some very potent abrasives, it actually makes a lot of sense. To that end we did a little demo on the deck lid of the Z3. Instead of a traditional wax application process (finishing pad, light pressure, fast movements, large area) we treated it as if it were indeed a compound (cutting disc, moderate pressure, slow movements, repeated passes, small area) and obtained the results shown in the clip below. As a one step, White Wax is pretty amazing stuff. And please keep in mind that a "one step" process is intended to be a simple process to noticeably improve the appearance of the paint. A "one step" process is not at all intended to be a shortcut to a concours or show car shine. It does not result in absolute perfection - you just can't rush that. But going from the heavy swirls on the right side to such a massive improvement on the left - in a single step - is pretty cool. Remember, this process is removing defects and adding wax protection in a single step, making this a true "one step" process. Wipe off the residue and you're done. That's it.
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