So, finally got a chance to whip out the flex and the rest of the detailing arsenal and finally tackle the paint on the civic. Some things to note: - it was extremely hard for me to see defects in this paint, i had to have a super dark garage, with the halogens at a certain angle, and me positioning myself in awkward spots and angles as well to see any swirling/defects. This was the main cause of the lack of before pics, so sorry for the lack of showing my skills in a before/after sort of way. - Another reason that i may not have seen the scratches all that well, is because maybe i've actually taken reasonable care of the paint on this car. i thought i hadn't been the best with it, but maybe i have? swirls weren't all that bad, a few RIDS, but overall nothing even close to some of the stuff i've seen on here. Products Used: -Mothers clay bar (using what was leftover from before, will start using my riccardo's next ) -ONR diluted to clay lube strength (love this stuff, only had to use 0.5 cap full for all the clay lube for this car...can you say value? -IPA 50/50 -Flex 3401 DA -Meguiars #83 & #80 -Sonus SFX yellow/white/blue 6" flat pads -Collonite #845 applied by foam hand applicator - I washed the car and dried with "the dehydrator" waffle weave towel i got from chris at eshine, i used to use one of those synthetic chamois, and they were okay, but i do like the waffle weaves now! ill have to get more of these! I began the clay barring process, the car has been clay barred twice before in the past few years, and the car wasn't so bad, but still had some contaminants. Heres how the bar looked when i finished: Heres a few pictures of what i was going to be dealing with, more cobwebbing/RIDS than swirls So from there i began to do my polishing. Taking the advice from every detailer, i went with my least aggressive combo. This for me, was a blue pad (sealant, "no cut") + megs 80. I didn't really expect this to work at all, and it didn't really, so i then stepped it up to a white pad + megs 80. This did a little bit more, but it still wasn't getting out some of the lighter scratches i wanted out. I did a few more combo's etc, and kept stepping down until i got to my most aggressive combo (which probably still isn't all that aggressive is it?) which was a yellow sonus pad (orange LC comparable) + megs 83. I was happy with the results (it was the best it was going to get) and i went over the whole car, doing 2 passes of 83+yellow, and then finishing that down over the whole car with 1 pass of 80+white. (does this process sound like overkill or is it normal to have to do 3 passes?). I had applied each polish with a bead in a circle around the pad and spread it on the paint at speed 3, stepped up to speed 6, and the product would usually flash around 3-4 "patterns" across the paint. I did run into times when i probably overworked the product, but its all a learning process! After this process, i was pleased with what i had come out with for this being the first time holding a polisher/using any products besides the test hood i once did. Heres some pics after polishing, but before LSP: I was able to take care of most of the cobwebbing, water etching, and smooth out most of the RIDS. I would rate it about a 90-95% correction, not bad for my first time, it made me happy Now after polishing, i did a quick rinse to get off any polishing dust, and also an IPA wipedown (i know megs #80 has some fillers, so i thought id better do this for that case and also to have a clean surface for the wax to bond to) I applied the collonite by hand using a foam pad, and it was actually quite easy to apply and wipe off, and i barely had to use any of it, that bottle could potentially last a very long time, especially if its as durable as i've read. And now, the civic after the collonite was applied: It was really hard to capture what the car looks like now, but the paint has more "clarity", the flakes really pop now, reflections are deeper and clearer, and my favorite thing of all, i've never felt the paint as slick as this before, just simply smooth as i could have hoped. im working on the interior right now, as well as the engine bay (need more products), and i will update accordingly. Some things to remark on: 1) i enjoyed using megs 80, seems to be very user friendly, had no problems working with this except its general lack of cutting ability, BUT it finishes down very very nicely. Megs 83 on the other hand was a little quirky at times for me, dont' know if i'd buy it again, maybe ill try optimum compound 2 and polish 2? Ill probably buy another bottle of 80 again though to use as a 1 stepper or to finish down stronger products. 2) I used maybe a 1/3 of each bottle, maybe even more doing this entire car....did i use too much? 3) the 3m protection wasn't really taking anything i gave it, i tried going with blue or white pad + megs 80, and it was doing okay but not much, tried 83+yellow (bad idea), so i just stopped and lsp'd it, i'll leave it at that, its my secondary car anyways. 4) this took me FOREVER. the polishing alone, i've probably got ~20 hours into it and thats for a 3-application process. i know im a begginer and i was taking my time but jeez...does it get any quicker? how do some of you guys finish clay-polish-wax all in a day!? im really looking forward to hearing what comments/advice you guys have for me, can't wait to start the S, and my gf's mazda 3 (lots n lots of defects there, should have some better before/afters on that one, and my buddies sti) UPDATES** INTERIOR DETAIL okay, finally got around to finishing up the interior, so hopefully you guys are as happy with i am as how clean the car is now. Now...i apologize in advance about the absolutely horrific sight you are about to see in the "befores", i honestly was disgusted as to how bad i let my civic get inside, but it was a rough winter over here and i was REALLY lazy to do any interior cleaning in -30C weather. I don't have access to an extractor or anything extravagant like that, so all i was able to do was use some over the counter carpet cleaner, did a swiffer dusting everywhere, and then 303 was applied. using the flash in the pics makes alot of the parts shine unevenly and such, but it doesn't look anything near that variant in person. anyways...here we go! backseats scuff marks looks like a garbage dump! tons of dust Pedals seeing the worst of the last few winters Gross! And AFTER! got the pedals cleaned up as much as I could… polished up the exhaust a sneak peek at what ill be tackling under the hood after my vacation… cleaned up the rims, but I will do the wheel wells at the same time as the engine (waiting on a new order of products to use for this!) and the finished car! (minus engine and wheel wells…) thanks again for looking everyone! Will post up pics of the engine detail once I get back from vaca, and shortly after that the S will get a full treatment as well. Stay tuned!
In order to get the results you want you have to give it the time it needs and takes...It looks very good...Keep up the good work...:thumb:
That blue looks stunning. Congrats. As for the products, you may be using a little too much. I will typically use about 2 - 3 ounces of a polish per trip around the car. If I am using a 5 - 6.5" pad, three drops of polish evenly spaced per section. Your time frame isn't far off. I allow anywhere from 4-6 hours to go around a car once. The guys who are doing a wash, clay, polish and wax in a day are not going for 100% correction. They are just mopping the surface to make it shiny, not do any correction. Don't sweat it. Keep posting pics.
phewf. ill definately try to cut back on product use and also i've read that maybe i should try some lower speeds on the flex DA, the products seemed to flash quite quickly, the slower speeds might help extend the working time of the polishes. anyone here know if the new optimum stuff is any good? im thinking about 105/205 as well, but the optimum stuff might be worth a shot as well
good job! that is probably little too much for me as well, the polish. As time goes by and you start detailing more cars, you will be quicker, for sure!
Great work! Yea, I think once you get more in touch with the products and pads, you'll be able to get your starting point down a little quicker. As for the time around the car, you can probably get a little more efficient and with a little less polish, you may do better... But a 3 step detail will take a ton of time regardless of how you look at it. As for the flex, I really like 5 - 5.5 for speed. Seems to work the best for me.
Good job! with regards to polish, I use maybe 3-4 ounces per step. The time I used 4 ounces (maybe even a hair more )was on a Ford F250 extended cab. That was a LOT of paint! And timewise, you are right in there. That's why pros get paid what they do. People don't realize how much goes into paint correction.
