*BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

[TxRado]

This is a follow up thread to my original post approximately 8 months ago as seen here:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24741

Shot of when I got the car 8 months ago:

From After Detail

Paint condition 2 weeks ago:

From Detailed

Wetsanded the deeper scratches with Meguiars 2000 & 2500 grit:

From Detailed

Close up aftershot:

From Detailed

Finished Product:

From Detailed

Products Used:

DeWalt 849

Meguiars G110


Meguiars 105


Menzerna Intensive Polish


Menzerna Final Polish 2


Menzerna Ceramic Polish


Carnuba Moose Wax


We used a large array of pads but here are just a few:

Foamed Wool



Meguiars 9000


I hope you like them!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Great job and thanks for the follow-up posts for this project.

Now that the hard work is over all you have to do now is keep the paint looking showroom new with careful washing and maintenance work



And then you can spend your time doing this..

[Tuck91]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Nice work on the car, looks great!!
Did you use M105 with the G110
Did the new D.A approved formula work well for you?

[TxRado]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Speaking of washing techniques...

I live in an apartment so the "two bucket" method is not easy to follow. I go to a DIY carwash for the power washer with my own bucket and wash Mit. What kind of suggestions do you have for those that don't use the "two bucket" method to maintain the paint?

[Carfire]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Great Job!!!
Great Reflections!!
Nice Work!!

[TxRado]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Nice work on the car, looks great!!
Did you use M105 with the G110
Did the new D.A approved formula work well for you?

Jay felt it was safe to skip a few steps instead of slowly working our way up the chemicals like you all advise here. After multiple pad/compound combination's we finally found the money shot which was the 105 with the purple foam/wool pad on the DeWalt 849. We worked are way down from there.

We didn't use the G110 until we got down to the ceramic sealant and wax.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Speaking of washing techniques...

I live in an apartment so the "two bucket" method is not easy to follow. I go to a DIY carwash for the power washer with my own bucket and wash Mit. What kind of suggestions do you have for those that don't use the "two bucket" method to maintain the paint?

Here's one tip, dedicate a quality mitt to paint only. Don't use for the fender lips, lowest portions of the car or wheels and tires, maybe even avoid the front valance and rear bumper.

Use it only on the major painted panels polished to perfection. If you ever drop it, delegate to to some other car or less critical lower areas and get a new mitt for the major painted panels polished to perfection.

Don't scrub the paint when washing, only move the mitt over the paint enough to loosen surface dirt so it can be rinsed off. Replace the mitt anytime it starts to look tatty.

It's cheaper and easier to replace a mitt than it is to do a major swirl-removal detailing session.

[Justin Murphy]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Here's one tip, dedicate a quality mitt to paint only. Don't use for the fender lips, lowest portions of the car or wheels and tires, maybe even avoid the front valance and rear bumper.

Use it only on the major painted panels polished to perfection. If you ever drop it, delegate to to some other car or less critical lower areas and get a new mitt for the major painted panels polished to perfection.

Don't scrub the paint when washing, only move the mitt over the paint enough to loosen surface dirt so it can be rinsed off. Replace the mitt anytime it starts to look tatty.

It's cheaper and easier to replace a mitt than it is to do a major swirl-removal detailing session.

Good tips here. I think that the average consumer simply does not go back to the bucket enough to rinse out the mitt once dirty. It also helps to have a spray bottle handy of car wash in it to pre-soak the panel before applying the mitt to the paint.

Oh yeah.......
Killer correction work!

[TxRado]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

It's cheaper and easier to replace a mitt than it is to do a major swirl-removal detailing session.

Then again it's so much fun! Thanks for the tips, I've been following them all besides not washing the front and rear. I'll bring along another wash mitt but this would still require two buckets wouldn't it? Otherwise they would both use the same water and the dirt from the secondary mitt would rub off on the primary one.

[Megafast13]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Great Job, you must be brave to wetsand the car

[Nick Chapman]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Great job!

What are your impressions of the foamed wool pad?

[Sal329]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

The car looks great. Now look into some QEW or Optimum No Rinse, 2 buckets, a Proline Grout sponge from Lowes, really good MF towels. Fill up the buckets in the apt with 2 gallons of water each, use the wash solution as directed, wash a panel, wipe with one towel and then a final wipe with the second towel.

[TxRado]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Great job!

What are your impressions of the foamed wool pad?

I loved it! Out of all the pads we used that day the foamed wool pad was my favorite.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Use it only on the major painted panels polished to perfection. If you ever drop it, delegate to to some other car or less critical lower areas and get a new mitt for the major painted panels polished to perfection.

Just to clarify - if the mitt is dropped, can it be washed and re-used for another day? or do you mean that's it, never using that mitt again on painted panels?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: *BLACK* 350z Finally Wetsanded/Buffed/Polished

Just to clarify - if the mitt is dropped, can it be washed and re-used for another day? or do you mean that's it, never using that mitt again on painted panels?

This is just a personal preference, but if the mitt is dropped and the mitt is dedicated to something that's important to you and you've already polished to a swirl-free finish than for the cost of a new mitt as compared to the amount of work, time and products needed to undo any potential swirls and scratches inflicted into the paint due to a contaminated mitt it's better just to delegate the mitt to lower panels, fender lips, plastic grills and bumpers, wheels, etc and get a new mitt for the highly polished panels.

Best thing to do is to focus on the task at hand and do your best not to drop the mitt.

Some mitts have loop of some type at one end to use to hang up to drip dry, (I'm guessing), if you want you could tie a string to this and then attach the other end around your hand so if you let go of the mitt it won't drop to the ground. Just depends upon how AR you want to get.

If I were washing Barry's black 1957 Chevrolet and I dropped the mitt on the ground

I wouldn't pick it up, rinse it off or wash it and then start using it again I would opt to get a new mitt.