San Diego Miata Club at Meguiar's

[Mike Phillips]

San Diego Miata Club at Meguiar's

Meguiar's is proud to host a detailing clinic for the San Diego Miata Club!

The first part of a Meguiar's detailing clinic is the classroom portion where we learn about paint, products, and procedures, after that we walk around and evaluate the finish on all of the cars at the event that day and try to find two cars in need of some attention to demonstrate the things we learned in the classroom. We found two Miatas, a red one and a black one that looked like they would meet our requirements exactly.

Second up was a red Miata that we used to teach techiniques for using your hand to clay, clean, polish and protects,



Before


After



First up was this black Miata in dire need of some swirl removal. First we wiped the finish down with some Meguiar's Quik Detailer and then clayed the finish to remove any above surface contaminants. After that, we backed the car out of the garage so that everyone present could inspect the finish and see first-hand, in bright sunlight, just exactly condition of the paint.








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[Mike Phillips]

San Diego Miata Club at Meguiar's

San Diego Miata Club at Meguiar's

Meguiar's is proud to host a detailing clinic for the San Diego Miata Club!

Club members talk shop before class starts






Mike

[Mike Phillips]

First up in Meguiar's Garage was this black Miata in dire need of some special attention. First we wiped the finish down with some Meguiar's Quik Detailer to remove any light dust. After that, we backed the car out of the garage so that everyone present could inspect the finish and see first hand in bright sunlight just exactly the present condition of the paint.





The above photo was resized to 600 pixels wide, the below photo is a 650 pixel cropped section taken from the original.



Mike

[Mike Phillips]

The below photo is the original resized to 600 pixels wide



The below photo is a section cropped out of the above photo at 600 pixels wide but in no other way changed to show an accurate depiction of the condition of the paint before we work on it.



Mike

[Mike Phillips]

And one more,



Mike

[Jimmy Buffit]

At this point, you are teasing us, Mike!

A little Speed Glaze, and NXT, and that car is good to go.

BTW, I have a black Miata. When it's good, it is very good.

Jim

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Jimmy Buffit
At this point, you are teasing us, Mike!

A little Speed Glaze, and NXT, and that car is good to go. BTW, I have a black Miata. When it's good, it is very good.

Jim

Hi Jim,

You're right on the money, follow along as I describe the process...


After everyone had a chance to get a good solid look at the condition of this car's finish, we brought the car back inside for to demonstrate how to restore a show car finish with

Products Used
Quik Clay System
G-100a
W-8006 foam polishing pad
W-9006 foam finishing pad
#80 Speed Glaze
Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax
Ultimate Wipe
Ultimate Bonnet

First we taped off one half of the hood.



Then we clayed this half with Meguiar's Quik Clay System,



Mike

[Mike Phillips]

After claying the finish we applied Meguiar's #80 Speed Glaze on a W-8006 with the G-100 on the 5.0 setting. Many Miatas have single stage paints except the metallic finishes which are clear coated. My experience working with single stage paint has taught me that you need to be extra careful around the edges and the high points because typically, not always, but typically will be softer than most factor clear coat finishes so it's important whenever you do any cleaning processes with a paint cleaner or a cleaner/polish.

Also note that often times black single stage paints are some of the softest paint their are because the pigment for black paint is carbon black and this is a soft material, so it makes the resin into which it is blended into soft also.

Knowing all of this, I knew that it shouldn't take a real aggressive product to remove the defects, thus the reason we chose the Speed Glaze over a more aggressive product.



Mike

[Mike Phillips]

After thoroughly but carefully machine polishing the paint withe the Speed Glaze, we applied a coat of NXT Tech Wax with a W-9006 foam finishing pad on the G-100.



Mike

[Mike Phillips]

After allowing the NXT Tech Wax to dry for approximately 15 minutes, we removed it using a Meguiar's microfiber Ultimate Bonnet. We placed the bonnet over a clean, dry W-8006 foam pad.



Then we set the G-100's variable speed setting to 4.5 on the dial and removed the dried layer of wax.



Using the G-100 dual action polisher compete ly took all of the work out of removing the swirls and restoring a show car shine.

Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Then we removed the tape and the cotton towels shielding the passenger side from the hood and the owner drove the car out of the garage so everyone could see the results outdoors in the bright sun. You can actually already see how the driver's side is more clear and richer.




Ready for inspection



I think it is safe to say, everyone was blown away!



Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Here are the results,









Mike

[scrub]

Very nice yet again.

Thanks for doing write ups using products and equipment that most people use, rather than just rotary and Fine cut or something like that. You are showing us real world applications for products that are popular and can help small detail businesses keep costs down and production (quality and quantity) high.

[Jimmy Buffit]

As expected, Mike brings the finer points to light, on what was a relatively simple 'rehab'.

Folks, I'm pretty sure that's an 11 year old (93) single stage paint! Wow, a few simple, but important, steps to perfection.

Great job, Mike! I'm sure the Club, as a whole, was thriilled with the day at Meguiar's!

(I can't understand why the 'other folks' don't do this... it's been Barry's key to success for so many years...)

Jim

[Lt1Corvette]

That has to be one of the best before and after photo's I have ever seen. Not so much the reduction in swirls but the color. I can't believe how much darker and richer that is. 80 speed glaze is very cool stuff. Ow and yes the swirls are gone too, but the black color is amazing.