2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

[Nemeziz]

Okay guys here's one for ya I bet you've never heard before. A little history first. I bought a 2005 BLACK Mustang V6 and just LOVE it. It is black with the white stripe kit. I absoultly love it, BUT the person who had it before me didn't, and whoooooeee does it show. This person had the ole start it, drive it, run it through a wash that is anyting but touchless. The paint is in terrible shape. It is scratched so bad that even the mirrors on both sides, driver and passenger show scratches in the glass. Those I can replace but the paint is proving to be quite a task. I have buffed the entire car by hand using the Scratch - X, using only Meguiars soft applicator pads and buffing only with light pressure and the Meguiars Soft Terry Cloth series. It seemed to "hide" them for a bit, but they seem to have returned. I have thought about color sanding, but am unsure how to approach it. My step-father is going to do his 88 Monte SS but he is new to it too. I was wondering if you guys have any advice. I can get close-ups of the paint if it will help. This is a stock factory paint job, and when it's clean it does shine like crazy at a distance, get too close however, and it would make any car loving, Meguiar using, person sick to their stomach. I realize that my daily driver cannot be perfect, but I damn sure am gonna make it as close as I can. And right now it's far from that. ANY thing would help. I am in Hendersonville, TN if anyone is in my area that has any expertiese, I would love to meet with you. Please help me out!

[skitelluride531@cubs]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

Sounds like you could use the help of a trained professional with a G100 or rotary buffer.


From the way you described the condition of the paint, you are unlikely to solve your problems with just your two hands. I could be wrong though as I have not seen the paint in person or pictures. However, before you start wetsanding your finish, I definitely would suggest either investing in a G100, and investing in some nice meguiars products to see how that works on your paint.

[Murr1525]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

Pics would be great.

For one thing it doesn't sounds like you might not have worked the ScratchX in enough. It is not a wipe on wipe off product, it needs worked in really well, till it turns from white to greasy clear. And a few applications.

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

But going straight to wet sanding is a bit of an extreme step. You would be best just starting off with investing in a PC to try and remove the swirls first.

Give these a read...

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

[everglo]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

To go from ScratchX to color sanding is waaaay extreme. To try and ScratchX your whole car by hand is not advised either. I would invest in a G100 polisher. You can find one for about 100 bucks new. It is well worth the investment. Throw in some 83, 80, and your fav LSP and you can't go wrong.

[Tungsten]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

I have a firm belief that you don't own black cars, black cars own you. I have had three black cars in my lifetime and each of them were high maintenance as far as looks go. Black is easily the most sexy color on practically any car as long as it is spotlessly clean, but as soon as it gets dirty the car becomes the ugliest thing on the street.

My favorite color on the S197 Mustangs has to be the new Redfire Metallic with Tungsten Grey coming in a close second.

As for local help, check out www.tennesspeed.net and register as a new user. It's a forum that I run and there are a ton of local Nashville car enthusiasts on it. Quite a few of us are avid detailing nerds.

Also consider www.svtoanashville.com ... the local chapter of the SVT Owners Association. It is open not only to SVT vehicle owners, but owners of all FoMoCo products.

Happy detailing!

[ueb0258]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

I live in Nashville and would be more than happy to help you with the loaner of my DA and array of products. Hit me with a PM and maybe we can set something up and try to take out the blemishes.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

Step away from the sandpaper!!!!!

I live in Nashville and would be more than happy to help you with the loaner of my DA and array of products. Hit me with a PM and maybe we can set something up and try to take out the blemishes.

This is a fantastic offer (you just gotta love MOL and it's members!!) and I suggest you jump on it and don't even think about wet sanding. A big part of the reason you saw no success with the Scratch-X is because you were "buffing only with light pressure" - Scratch-X needs some real passion behind the pad to do its thing. Do yourself, and your car, a huge favor and take ueb0258 up on his offer.

[Nemeziz]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

You guys are awsome!!! Thank you all for all of the advice. I would like to meet up sometime. It is Thursday night Oct. 5th. I am going out of town tonight to Ohio. I will be back on Monday. I will PM you my cell phone and we can find a place round here in Rivergate or Hendersonville, or somewhere convinenat for the both of us. I really appreciate it and hope we can do something. I do think that it's true black vehicles own you! I will repost on Monday. Once again thank you guys so so so very much!!

Rick

[ueb0258]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

I look forward to hearing from you. I have a black BMW that is way due for a detail myself.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

I have thought about color sanding, but am unsure how to approach it. My step-father is going to do his 88 Monte SS but he is new to it too.

For about 99% of the people on the planet earth, attempting to wet-sand a factory finish is a recipe for disaster.

It's important to understand that when you "hear" about wet-sanding, or color-sanding, it is a process that is almost always done in a body shop situation. What this means is that the paint has been freshly sprayed onto the car and after only a day or two, the painter's helper is sanding and then compounding the paint with a rotary buffer.

It's not a procedure you want to do to paint that was applied at the factory, baked on until it's fully cured and dried and hardened.

Body shops that plan on wet-sanding a car apply enough paint, (extra paint), to give them some extra material to remove during the wet-sanding process.

At the factory, robots spray the paint following a very strict software program that applies enough clear paint for the service life of the car assuming it's properly taken care of, not extra paint so that down the road some owner can go out into their garage and take-on a wet-sanding project.

It's easy to sand down the paint on a car, the hard part is removing the sanding marks. Large flat horizontal panels are easy to sand and buff, small, narrow panels, vertical panels, panels with body lines, curves and edges are difficult to buff.

Back away from the sanding papers.


Purchase a dual action polisher or borrow one from your buddies. Purchase some M83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish and some M80 Speed Glaze with about 2-4 W-8006 foam polishing pads.

Break the panels up int small section about the size of a normal microfiber polishing cloth and work these small section one at a time, going around the entire car and overlapping each new section into the previous section.

Use good technique and you'll be able to remove a majority of the swirls and scratches from the paint. Whatever you don't remove is a sign the defect is deeper and you probably ought to learn to live with it because after you've done all this cleaning and polishing and the waxing, no one will be able to see these deeper defects unless they know where they are or you point them out to them.

We demonstrate this every Wednesday and Saturday here at Meguiar's.


Before


After

[F-150]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

"frequent car care is easy car care"

[rascal]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

Well, the car I own now is my first black one. I had a red car before, but black is a different breed to keep clean and looking good. That is why I joined MOL. I armed myself with all the right products (G100, #83, NXT Wax) and right technique to keep my new black car clean as possible. The car wasn't taken car of all that well by the previous owners, but I have fixed a majority of the problems. This is a great forum to for advice and support. Can't wait to see your results after the PC work.

[SpoiledMan]

Re: 2005 Mustang, HELP ME!!!!

Black cars are easy! You get to see what you've done right or wrong right away.