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first step was removing the bugs from the front bumper. sprayed it with meguiars bug & tar remover:
wiped off with a terry cloth towel
bugs are now gone
then cleaned the rims, tires, and wheel wells
ok now we can actually wash the car. for washing I use a grit guard in the bucket, its basically just a raised plastic screen. the idea is when you put the sponge back in the bucket your not soaking up the dirt into the sponge again (since it stays below the screen)
the cleaner you keep the sponge during washing, the less chance you have instilling swirls marks/scratches into the paint
so here I go washing the car. I start at the top of the car and work my way down, only doing 1 panel at a time. I check the sponge often to make sure its not getting too dirty
once its all done the whole car is dried to prevent water spots
ok now the car is ready to go into the garage.
after washing the car there is still some bonded contaminants in the paint. heres what it looks like:
so what we do is use clay bar to remove them
ok now the surface is prepped and feels smooth as glass.
now that the bonded contaminants are removed, heres how paint typically looks below that
next step is measure the thickness of the paint
paint thickness looks good everywhere on the car. this means theres plenty clear coat left to buff out the swirl marks/scratches
so on with the buffing process. the hood had alot of RIDS (random isolated deep scratches) those require several passes to completely remove them
I decided to use M105 ultra cut compound
all the trim pieces were masked with painters tape to prevent any compound/wax from getting on them
after the paint is buffed, next thing is polishing. polishing restores the gloss in the paint
final step is waxing
also had to install front and rear strut bars. the computer had to be relocated to the cowl area to make room for this
heres the finished engine bay and stut bar installed
unfortunately it was dark out by the time we got done. heres some pics for now, cant wait to see daytime pics!
wiped off with a terry cloth towel
bugs are now gone
then cleaned the rims, tires, and wheel wells
ok now we can actually wash the car. for washing I use a grit guard in the bucket, its basically just a raised plastic screen. the idea is when you put the sponge back in the bucket your not soaking up the dirt into the sponge again (since it stays below the screen)
the cleaner you keep the sponge during washing, the less chance you have instilling swirls marks/scratches into the paint
so here I go washing the car. I start at the top of the car and work my way down, only doing 1 panel at a time. I check the sponge often to make sure its not getting too dirty
once its all done the whole car is dried to prevent water spots
ok now the car is ready to go into the garage.
after washing the car there is still some bonded contaminants in the paint. heres what it looks like:
so what we do is use clay bar to remove them
ok now the surface is prepped and feels smooth as glass.
now that the bonded contaminants are removed, heres how paint typically looks below that
next step is measure the thickness of the paint
paint thickness looks good everywhere on the car. this means theres plenty clear coat left to buff out the swirl marks/scratches
so on with the buffing process. the hood had alot of RIDS (random isolated deep scratches) those require several passes to completely remove them
I decided to use M105 ultra cut compound
all the trim pieces were masked with painters tape to prevent any compound/wax from getting on them
after the paint is buffed, next thing is polishing. polishing restores the gloss in the paint
final step is waxing
also had to install front and rear strut bars. the computer had to be relocated to the cowl area to make room for this
heres the finished engine bay and stut bar installed
unfortunately it was dark out by the time we got done. heres some pics for now, cant wait to see daytime pics!
What is it? A little piggy?
. Thanks for the great write up.
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