'07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

[wht4drfa5]

I received my shipment of Meguiar's 105 and 205 yesterday and was iching to use it. I had read so many posts with people having great results with both products, so this is why I had to order it.

So I called up my friend with a black CTS - V. I'm just a beginner into all of this detail stuff, so i wanted to test my skill level and see where i stood. So why not test my skill on a black car right? Right!

We washed his car using NXT car soap and dried it using a couple waffle drying towels. Sorry they aren't Meg's, but they work very well also.

After drying I was thinking of what section to use for the test spot? So I went straight for the hood. Here are some before pics (sorry for the pics I'm still learning how to use my camera I just got):








After taking those horrifying pics it was time to get work! I used some a medium clay to clean the surface before starting the buffing. Sorry I didn't take any pics during the process, but here's my break down of what we did.

At first I used my PC with a LC orange pad and didn't get the results i had seen on MOL. So i stepped it up to the yellow cutting pad from LC. It worked better needless to say (had a lot of dusting with this setup). After the 105 app I did the 205 with a white LC polishing pad. I didn't like the results once again. I then switched to the orange LC pad and WOW!. It took out 95% of all the swirls and fine scratches. Following the 205 I used a polymer sealant from 3D detailing. I applied it with a grey LC finishing pad and after hit it with the Gold Class paste wax. Pulled the car out and oh no! Bad case of hazing. I was pissed. I don't know where I went wrong to cause the hazing. I grabbed the swirl X and went to work using a LC orange pad to remove all the hazing and follwed it up with coat of NXT paste wax. And guess what happened? Yep! all hazing was gone! Here are some after pics with reflections.







Now I know it's easy to hide swirls, hazing, marring, etc. in the shade but I liked this shot:



That is the ceiling of the garage along with a shelf to the side. i really like the results that I got after doing all of this work. We only had time to do the hood but after seeing what we were able to achieve on the hood we decided to try and do the whole car. Below is a pic of the car that will be getting a full makeover:



And another one of the hood after we finished it:



Thanks for taking the time to look at my post. If anyone has any input on what I can try differently next time to prevent the dusting or halogramming please let me know.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Looks good! The hazing was likely from the orange pad when using M205. That's too aggressive of a pad to finish with. In most cases the LC green pad is perfect with M205 after M105.

M105 is going to dust at least a little no matter what you do. To minimize it, don't use too much product - 3 pea sized drops are all you need after priming the pad initially. Also, clean your pad after every application of M105.

You may want to also look into the "Kevin Brown" method for M105 and M205 - just do a search on this forum and you'll find it.

Keep posting pics as you go

[wht4drfa5]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Looks good! The hazing was likely from the orange pad when using M205. That's too aggressive of a pad to finish with. In most cases the LC green pad is perfect with M205 after M105.

M105 is going to dust at least a little no matter what you do. To minimize it, don't use too much product - 3 pea sized drops are all you need after priming the pad initially. Also, clean your pad after every application of M105.

You may want to also look into the "Kevin Brown" method for M105 and M205 - just do a search on this forum and you'll find it.

Keep posting pics as you go

Ok. I was using the paper grade from the autogeek website telling me which pad could be used for which app. It said the orange pad was good for polish so I thought "what they hay?" I did clean the pad using a terry cloth towel. Saw someone that had done it like that "on the fly." I have the green polishing pad as well I didn't even think of using it because I didn't think I would achieve the finish I wanted. But for sure when i get a second go at it I'll try it out. Thanks for the tips and I will definetely try them out to see what I can do next time. And I'll look up the "Kevin Brown Method" as well.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

It said the orange pad was good for polish so I thought "what they hay?" I did clean the pad using a terry cloth towel. Saw someone that had done it like that "on the fly." I have the green polishing pad as well I didn't even think of using it because I didn't think I would achieve the finish I wanted. But for sure when i get a second go at it I'll try it out.

Don't get me wrong, you can certainly use the orange pad with M205, just don't finish with it.

The softer pad you can finish up with, while still removing micromarring from the cutting step, the better your final finish will be.

Use M105 to do the cutting and correction, and M205 to refine the finish and remove micromarring left by M105. In our experience, M205 on a green pad almost always does a perfect job after M105. Good luck

[wht4drfa5]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Don't get me wrong, you can certainly use the orange pad with M205, just don't finish with it.

The softer pad you can finish up with, while still removing micromarring from the cutting step, the better your final finish will be.

Use M105 to do the cutting and correction, and M205 to refine the finish and remove micromarring left by M105. In our experience, M205 on a green pad almost always does a perfect job after M105. Good luck

Cool sounds good. I have plenty of those pads. As far as a follow up to the 205, what do u recommend? I had originally used Meg's #20. Is that product still good enough? Or is there something new you would use? Like #21 perhaps? And after that, what would your LSP be? Thanks for all the info. i feel like a detailer in training. haha

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Personally I love #20, it is my favorite sealant. I like to top M20 with M26 after about a day of cure time...looks fantastic on black!

[Golden]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Looks really nice! What does the owner think of it?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Great work, huge improvement.

[wht4drfa5]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Personally I love #20, it is my favorite sealant. I like to top M20 with M26 after about a day of cure time...looks fantastic on black!

Yeah I like it too. it came off really easily. Do you apply it by hand or machine?

Looks really nice! What does the owner think of it?

We were both really happy. It was my first time using a product like 105 or 205. Once we did the test in the final sun check to look at the finish we were high fiving and what not. Felt like we accomplished something huge haha.

Great work, huge improvement.

Thanks. Can't wait to do the entire car. I have a black 5 series lined up for the same treatment. I'll be happy if i can achieve the same results on that car as well.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Yeah I like it too. it came off really easily. Do you apply it by hand or machine?

Both, but by machine whenever possible. Goes on thinner and more evenly. 2 pea sized drops per panel

[wht4drfa5]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Both, but by machine whenever possible. Goes on thinner and more evenly. 2 pea sized drops per panel

Per panel? Or per section? I don't have to work it in like I would a polish right? just move the machine around and make sure it has a thin even layer of product?

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

Yeah per *panel*, like the complete hood, door, quarter, etc.

You are just spreading it around, no need to "work it in" I like to spread it in 2 directions to ensure full coverage, but it is a quick spreading

[Michael Stoops]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

After drying I was thinking of what section to use for the test spot? So I went straight for the hood.

So you did a test spot before you started, great!

At first I used my PC with a LC orange pad and didn't get the results i had seen on MOL. So i stepped it up to the yellow cutting pad from LC. It worked better needless to say (had a lot of dusting with this setup). After the 105 app I did the 205 with a white LC polishing pad. I didn't like the results once again. I then switched to the orange LC pad and WOW!. It took out 95% of all the swirls and fine scratches. Following the 205 I used a polymer sealant from 3D detailing. I applied it with a grey LC finishing pad and after hit it with the Gold Class paste wax. Pulled the car out and oh no! Bad case of hazing. I was pissed. I don't know where I went wrong to cause the hazing. I grabbed the swirl X and went to work using a LC orange pad to remove all the hazing and follwed it up with coat of NXT paste wax. And guess what happened? Yep! all hazing was gone! Here are some after pics with reflections.

Were all of those individual test spots, or did you do the whole car only to find you had all that hazing?



Here's something that might surprise you (and maybe frustrate you a bit given all that work you did): we had a student at a recent Saturday class who brought in a Cadillac CTS, also in black. We used Ultimate Compound via G110v2 with our yellow Soft Buff 2.0 polishing pad (W8207) and attacked the bad swirls and even scratches left by sea gulls landing on his hood. The finish looked fantastic, and the car owner went home later than day and finished the rest of the car. He was amazed that he got all of the defects out with just that combination. We later talked about taking the finish to the next level and he followed up with M205 on a W9207 finishing pad, then a coat of M26. He was blown away and started detailing cars of coworkers after - they were blown away too!

Our point being - you don't always need really aggressive liquids (M105) and pads (LC yellow) to get the job done.

[wht4drfa5]

Re: '07 Black Cadillac CTS - V

So you did a test spot before you started, great!


Were all of those individual test spots, or did you do the whole car only to find you had all that hazing?



Here's something that might surprise you (and maybe frustrate you a bit given all that work you did): we had a student at a recent Saturday class who brought in a Cadillac CTS, also in black. We used Ultimate Compound via G110v2 with our yellow Soft Buff 2.0 polishing pad (W8207) and attacked the bad swirls and even scratches left by sea gulls landing on his hood. The finish looked fantastic, and the car owner went home later than day and finished the rest of the car. He was amazed that he got all of the defects out with just that combination. We later talked about taking the finish to the next level and he followed up with M205 on a W9207 finishing pad, then a coat of M26. He was blown away and started detailing cars of coworkers after - they were blown away too!

Our point being - you don't always need really aggressive liquids (M105) and pads (LC yellow) to get the job done.

I did the hood only as my test spot. But I did tape off a section to see what worked the best. I know now that I didn't need the 105/205 for the job, I just wanted to see what I and the product were capable of. I did a red scion w/ UC and the results were great as you can see from the pics. But I just wanna see what else I can do for my own knowledge i guess. I can't wait to take the class tomorrow as see what else I can learn. Also I signed up for the advanced class in Oct, I hope I get chosen from that lottery.