Green Saturn**Extreme**

[OctaneGuy]

Today I detailed two cars. This posting is for the second one--after I had already spent 5 hours detailing a Ford F-150. Tools I used are Makita Rotary, G100, NXT Tech Wax, M80, #7 Show Car Glaze, Clay Bar & Quik Detailer.

Working on the F150 was a great experience--lots of large flat panels, and I splattered so much M80, I really got a lot of practice controlling the Makita, such as to keep splatter down--its important to control the speed to work product around area before buffing it as well as entering from Right to Left. Also, at times when I didn't have enough M80 on my pad, it would skip around and make smooth control difficult.

Here's the subject:
Doesn't look too bad from afar

But up close....eeeek!!!

Even after washing it still felt like sandpaper

Not to mention the gouges, scratches, tar, sap, bird droppings, etchings!!!


After lots of buffing with my Makita Rotary Buffer with M80, some #7 Show Car Glaze polish, and NXT Tech Wax with my PC, it looks like this!






Deep, dark, reflective!


Not 100% swirl free, but close and probably 500% improvement.

Can you believe this is what the trunk used to look like?


I love the rotary! I also tried some ColorX and while it worked great, I needed more time on the Makita--since I did this car to learn, I wanted to maximize my time spent.

[benhui86]

thats like the paint condition on my sister's escort!! do u think the pc would have done the job just as good even if its not as efficient?

o yah amazing makeover!!

[OctaneGuy]

Thanks! I used the PC after the rotary, and the paint was really oxidized. I think if you did ColorX first with a terry, then used the PC, you would get a huge improvement. I also used Goo Gone to remove some tar residue. I also did clay after paint cleaning rather than before due to the amount of stuff being pulled off. But nevertheless, I pulled out a lot of deep scratches, that a PC couldn't touch.

[Superior Shine]

sweet, what a sence of satisfaction huh????

[Ranger72]

Major improvmenet!

[OctaneGuy]

Yeah the owner just bought the car for like $4k--had 2 previous owners, and she really didn't care about whether it was clean or not. I was there only because her roommate, Linda, has a MINI, and was selling the F-150 and wanted my help in restoring the finish to increase its resale value.

For me I saw the Saturn as practice time, and a chance to play with my rotary on a car that wasn't loved but in the end, the owner was super pleased---even felt it looked new again.

Well I knew where the scratches were--I pulled a lot of them out, but were all the way through the primer and I could only minimize them.

The roof was especially bad because the previous owner tied a surfboard directly to the roof a lot, and the roof was so scratched and rubbed--looked like train tracks!





And after



You could still see scratches, from certain angles, but the gloss and reflectiveness really overpower the defects.

Originally posted by Superior Shine
sweet, what a sence of satisfaction huh????

[Mike Phillips]

Nice work Richard!

You've really come a long ways since when we first met!

[OctaneGuy]

Thanks Mike!! Well I got MOL and you to thank for that!!!

Here's some pix of the Ford I did. White is a lousy color for showing results---I'll keep the pix in this thread rather than making a new one.

Ok, here's Linda's truck after it was all detailed. White is a really difficult color to shoot well. It's not reflective like darker colors, it always looks flat. I tried to shoot this in the shade/sun to show some reflection and gloss
BEFORE

Lots of Swirls! Only been waxed at car wash!

Washing with NXT Car Wash

I like smaller cars---It was hot today, and working under that 12x12 EZUP didn't help!





AFTER

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Nice work Richard!

You've really come a long ways since when we first met!

[OctaneGuy]

A few More of the Truck

[rusty bumper]

Nice work Richard!

But can you give me a better shot of your ladder?.....Looks like something that I could use.

[OctaneGuy]

Thanks!! Sorry I don't have any shots of the ladder--it was something I borriowed from the owner--nothing special--so I thought. It was light--aluminum, and folded flat. Tall enough to let me get to the top, but I prefer something with a longer platform cause I was reaching in every direction and having to move the ladder each time.


Richard

Originally posted by Rusty Bumper
Nice work Richard!

But can you give me a better shot of your ladder?.....Looks like something that I could use.