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Edit - Well that's just fantastic...I spelled "pics" incorrectly, ha ha. Oh well...my detailing is luckily better than my forum-topic spelling.
This cars paint was in rough shape from a LOT of improper washing over the last 11 years. It hadn't been washed in quite a while and was incredibly dirty and had a massive amount of brake-dust buildup to the point that I was worried I wouldn't be able to remove it all.
When I set up with my halogens this is what I was working with. The ENTIRE CAR looked like this:
The wheels, like I said, were looking rough to the point that I really had no idea what they'd like when I was done with them:
There was a lot of water-spotting going on all over the chrome trim on the car:
I dont think the exhaust had been polished/cleaned in....ever:
And some other pictures of the car as I found it:
So on to the cleaning.
I first went after the wheels with Chemical Guys GRIME Reaper diluted 5:1. It DESTROYED the buildup on these wheels. It was the first time I had used it, and I love it. Notice the spot that isn't quite like the others
And the finished product:
I started off foaming the entire car down with an Autogeek branded Foam Gun and DP extreme foam soap.
Then went over the entire car with a claymagic blue claybar. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I still got some contaminant up from the hood, roof and trunk. I also clayed the front window for good measure.
So at this point I was told that if I stopped now the car would look better than it had looked in YEARS, ha ha. They couldn't believe the swirls when I showed them the pictures. I guess it's true that until you know what you're looking for on a white/silver car most people really don't see how bad the damage really is. They certainly could see the difference when I took before/after photos of the same location though
This is after a pass of Menzerna SIP on an Orange Pad working at Speed 6 on my Porter Cable.
So now time to take care of the entire car....
I worked the SIP over the entire vehicle and followed up with Chemical Guys P40 Finishing Polish on a white pad at speed 5-6
So after 7ish hours on the car here were my results. The depth of this paint and clarity was beyond what I thought I could do with just a two-stage polish. There were still some LIGHT scratches remaining but they were so light that I could not capture them in a photo and I don't think any normal person would ever see them on a white car unless they knew what to look for.
If I was doing it again and the owner wanted to step up to a 3 stage polish I would've done a pass with 105, SIP and then the P40 Finishing Polish.
So on to the results...
It was a lot of work, but it came out great in the end. I tried out a lot of new products and was happy with all of the results.
This cars paint was in rough shape from a LOT of improper washing over the last 11 years. It hadn't been washed in quite a while and was incredibly dirty and had a massive amount of brake-dust buildup to the point that I was worried I wouldn't be able to remove it all.
When I set up with my halogens this is what I was working with. The ENTIRE CAR looked like this:
 | This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
The wheels, like I said, were looking rough to the point that I really had no idea what they'd like when I was done with them:
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
There was a lot of water-spotting going on all over the chrome trim on the car:
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
I dont think the exhaust had been polished/cleaned in....ever:
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
And some other pictures of the car as I found it:
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
So on to the cleaning.
I first went after the wheels with Chemical Guys GRIME Reaper diluted 5:1. It DESTROYED the buildup on these wheels. It was the first time I had used it, and I love it. Notice the spot that isn't quite like the others
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
And the finished product:
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
I started off foaming the entire car down with an Autogeek branded Foam Gun and DP extreme foam soap.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
Then went over the entire car with a claymagic blue claybar. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I still got some contaminant up from the hood, roof and trunk. I also clayed the front window for good measure.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
So at this point I was told that if I stopped now the car would look better than it had looked in YEARS, ha ha. They couldn't believe the swirls when I showed them the pictures. I guess it's true that until you know what you're looking for on a white/silver car most people really don't see how bad the damage really is. They certainly could see the difference when I took before/after photos of the same location though
This is after a pass of Menzerna SIP on an Orange Pad working at Speed 6 on my Porter Cable.
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
So now time to take care of the entire car....
I worked the SIP over the entire vehicle and followed up with Chemical Guys P40 Finishing Polish on a white pad at speed 5-6
So after 7ish hours on the car here were my results. The depth of this paint and clarity was beyond what I thought I could do with just a two-stage polish. There were still some LIGHT scratches remaining but they were so light that I could not capture them in a photo and I don't think any normal person would ever see them on a white car unless they knew what to look for.
If I was doing it again and the owner wanted to step up to a 3 stage polish I would've done a pass with 105, SIP and then the P40 Finishing Polish.
So on to the results...
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
| This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2 and weights %3. |
It was a lot of work, but it came out great in the end. I tried out a lot of new products and was happy with all of the results.
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