My new Thunderbird

[Bird03]

Here's a pic of my new T Bird I picked up in March



It had been sitting at the dealers for quite a while--9 months-- (at $43,000 sticker they are usually ordered and go right home or they sit in dealer inventory for a long time). I got a great deal, but didn't realize at the time how much abuse the car had gone through sitting in the showroom for so long.

After I got it home, the more I looked at it, the worse the scratches and swirl marks got.

My first try was with DC1, DC2, NXT X 2 all by hand. It looked nice, but in the sun or under spots there were too many defects.

I then found this site and started my quest for perfect paint.

Next detail was with clay, #7, NXT X 2 by hand. It was better, but no where close to what I wanted.

Next detail was #9, #7, NXT X 2, NXT booster by hand. Car looked great, but still couldn't pass the sun or spotlight test (defects well hidden, but not gone).

So I went out and bought the PC.

Next detail was #83 w/polishing pad on 5.0, then #7, NXT X 2, NXT booster by hand. Looked really good, but now I was really getting critical. This car crazy thing is getting addictive. The more you do the higher you raise the bar.

For my last detail I decided to do a MEGA DETAIL over a period of a week and do everything that has been talked about on this site.

Clay, #83 w/polishing pad on 5.0, #82 w/polishing pad on 4.0, #81 on finishing pad on 3.0, NXT X 2 on finishing pad on 2.0, NXT booster by hand. Now I'm starting to get close to a show car finish. And I can't say enough about applying NXT with the PC. I want the ultimate result and if it comes out better doing it by hand I would. But the PC spreads it out so evenly and works it in so well, that it removes as easily as dust and is very uniform and level (previously by hand I would remove the haze to find some product that would not dry and was as hard as #7 to totally remove--and then the surface would be blotchy for a day or two before the wax leveled out).

Here's a picture of her at a car show



The best compliment I got at the show was from someone who said "Wow, you really do polish your paint a lot", which is much better to me than hearing nice wax job.

I still have a few defects that are bothering me and I wonder--should I just continue to do my MEGA DETAIL every once in a while and let the defects gradually diminish or should I step up to the rotary and just use it in selected spots?

Thanks for listening and for all your advise.

Mike, I hope you can get us a detailing clinic sometime soon in New England (NJ is too far from Boston for me).

Thanks Wes

[2000]

looks better than when it was new! great looking car!

[Vandelete]

yes it looks very nice.. did you go back to the cardealer for a little showoff?

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Wes,

Welcome to Meguiar's!

Thank you for sharing your experience with our products on your new Tbird. I find it interesting how you started with the Consumer line and worked your way to the Professional line.

While each Meguiar's product line serves a purpose, to really go after and remove serious defects, like a serious enthusiast as yourself, you discovered that you needed the extra versatility of the cleaner/polishes applied by machine to actually remove the defects and create the show car finish you were looking for.

Excellent work! From the picture, it your car's finish has the deep, wet-look shine that everyone admires!

I'm also happy to hear that the information on this forum was of help to you!

As for any remaining defects that are still remaining in your finish, if the PC/#83/W-8006 isn't removing them, then the next best plan of attack would be to learn how to use the rotary buffer and then try to remove isolated defects, one at a time. Such as a deep scratch, or any kind of etching.

For $10.00 you can purchase a video we recently released, "How to remove paint defects"

This video use to be available to watch for free online at BetterCarCare.com, but because of it's popularity and resulting use of bandwidth, David Bynon may have turned off access to it. You can try at this link,

How To Remove Paint Defects


Note: To watch this video online you will need,

RealPlayer for Window’s systems. For all other operation systems, visit Real.com This presentation will not play without the RealPlayer browser plug in or a DSL/cable broadband internet connection.

I always recommend learning how to use a rotary buffer on a car that is not important to you so that if you make a mistake it won't matter. Definitely don't try to learn how to use a rotary buffer your first time on a black Viper.


Mike

[Bird03]

Thanks for the compliments.

I am taking the car back to the dealer to show it off to them in the fall and they're really going to see how poorly they kept the car.

You see I took removeable hardtop off the car when I bought it and it has been in storage ever since. It has had no products applied to it and is probably full of swirl marks and scratches and may even appear to be lighter in color if the "deepens and darkens" claims of these products is really significant.

When the top goes back on I will try to get some good pictures.

Thanks for the info Mike.

Wes