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Decided to try a bit of paint correction on my roommate's Charger this weekend. I bought a G110v2 a couple weeks ago, and I've been itching to use it for something other than just spreading wax around on my car. Aside from being absolutely filthy, the Charger's paint was in pretty bad shape. It's never been clayed, probably hasn't even been waxed - the owner runs it through an automatic carwash once in a blue moon, and he told me that on the rare occasion that he handwashes the car, he likes to add a bit of paint thinner to the wash bucket. Yikes.
I started off by washing with NXT Car Wash, a Meg's MF mitt, and a generic bug sponge, using the two-bucket method. Tires were cleaned with Super Degreaser. Wheel wells were cleaned with APC+, which I also tried to use on the plastic wheel covers. Unfortunately, there was so much brake dust buildup that the APC wasn't doing much, but a good soaking in All Wheel Cleaner and agitation with several brushes and a bug sponge did the trick. After drying, a brief inspection revealed that the paint felt fairly rough to the touch, so I broke out the Smooth Surface Clay Kit. Really wish I had bought the blue stuff instead, but the SS stuff worked pretty well.
After claying, the paint felt better, but still not perfect. The car was covered in hard water spots that the clay had failed to remove, and swirl marks were everywhere. Time to break out the DA. If you haven't tried Ultimate Compound, you're seriously missing out - this stuff is awesome! Used a combination of 7" and 4" SoftBuff polishing pads with good results. I would judge this at about a 70% correction - almost all of the swirl marks are gone, though there are quite a few random scratches still present. Considering that I'm doing this for free, and that my roommate isn't real big on taking car of his car, I'm not too concerned about them.
After compounding, I went over the hood with Ultimate Polish on a finishing pad, but really couldn't see any significant improvement (it's a white car, after all), and the sun was coming out in full force, so I called it quits for the morning. Did a quick wipedown with UQD, applied two coats of Endurance spray to the tires, dressed the wheel wells with HD 4:1, and wiped down the side mirrors and exterior trim with UP. Now, I'm just waiting for the sun to start going down so I can throw a coat of wax on it and clean the windows. Here's the car is it looks now...
If the weather cooperates, I'll put up a couple more shots this evening after I wax it.
I started off by washing with NXT Car Wash, a Meg's MF mitt, and a generic bug sponge, using the two-bucket method. Tires were cleaned with Super Degreaser. Wheel wells were cleaned with APC+, which I also tried to use on the plastic wheel covers. Unfortunately, there was so much brake dust buildup that the APC wasn't doing much, but a good soaking in All Wheel Cleaner and agitation with several brushes and a bug sponge did the trick. After drying, a brief inspection revealed that the paint felt fairly rough to the touch, so I broke out the Smooth Surface Clay Kit. Really wish I had bought the blue stuff instead, but the SS stuff worked pretty well.
After claying, the paint felt better, but still not perfect. The car was covered in hard water spots that the clay had failed to remove, and swirl marks were everywhere. Time to break out the DA. If you haven't tried Ultimate Compound, you're seriously missing out - this stuff is awesome! Used a combination of 7" and 4" SoftBuff polishing pads with good results. I would judge this at about a 70% correction - almost all of the swirl marks are gone, though there are quite a few random scratches still present. Considering that I'm doing this for free, and that my roommate isn't real big on taking car of his car, I'm not too concerned about them.
After compounding, I went over the hood with Ultimate Polish on a finishing pad, but really couldn't see any significant improvement (it's a white car, after all), and the sun was coming out in full force, so I called it quits for the morning. Did a quick wipedown with UQD, applied two coats of Endurance spray to the tires, dressed the wheel wells with HD 4:1, and wiped down the side mirrors and exterior trim with UP. Now, I'm just waiting for the sun to start going down so I can throw a coat of wax on it and clean the windows. Here's the car is it looks now...
If the weather cooperates, I'll put up a couple more shots this evening after I wax it.
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