kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

I've had a friend's car at the house since earlier in the week, and put about 13-14 hours into detailing it the best I could. I did a 2-step polish and acheived probably an 85% correction on it. The deeper scratches and swirls are still there, just less noticeable. Here's the process...

-degreased and washed with Dawn detergent to strip the wax
-all-purpose cleaner (APC) diluted 5:1 for the wheel wells
-APC diluted 10:1 for wheels, inner wheels, and lower parts of the car that had a lot of grime.
-clayed with an agressive Clay Magic bar to remove and fallout, and overspray that was on random parts of the car
-wiped down with IPA (rubbing alcohol mixed 50/50 with water) to make sure every bit of wax or silcone was off the car and the paint was as bare as possible for compounding.
-i used an Edge double-sided pad for all the polishing. wool on one side, white foam on the other
-compounded with M105 using wool......also picked up a new Makita buffer, this thing rocks.
-followed M105 with M205 and finishing pad
-same polishing process for taillights and center section
-IPA wipedowns were done between each step of polishing to make sure the oils from the previous polish were not left behind.
-all exterior plastics and rubber cleaned and protect for F303 Aerospace Protectant
-tires dressed in Blue Satin
-wheel lips polished with Mothers Mag polish, along with the corsa tips
-wax and protected with Mothers #26

Before pics

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

During

fender done






door done, qUarter untouched

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

After

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

There was a bad stain on the right decal here from when the dusted for fingerprints when it was stolen. Jay wanted it off, no problem for 105/205





Easy on me, I have only been detailing for exactl a year now, and this is car #15 or so. EVERY car I have done, I have used this Edge buffing pad. As you can see, the results arent 100%, but are still OK....I only charged $160 for this. Now, I'm going to look into buying the 3m double sided pads equivalent to the eDGE SYSTEM that 3M bought out....when the price comes down. But I absolutley LOVE this adapter and the double sided pads, they are great!

bowtie_racer

Looks really good. I need to do this to mine.

chevyman9306

iTrader: (9)

that is like night and day and for $160 that is well and i mean well worth the money

91rs355

iTrader: (27)

THat looks fantastic, what a difference a good detail does

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

Thanks guys! Bowtie....if you have never used a high speed rotary before, I wouldn't suggest starting on your Z28. Find some old junk panels to practice on. You can really mess your paint up if you are just beginning....so I would practice on something like a beater car where it wouldn't really matter if you messed up! But if you are experienced with it, have at it and post up some before/after pics!

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

Thanks! This was for a good friend of mine that I've known ever since I got into the local car scene 5 years ago, and I try my best to be fair with my friends on a price, but it still be worth my time ya know? If it wasn't for a friend, it probably would have been in the $250-$275 range, and thats actually still cheaper than most of the good professionals who actually know what they are doing (not the corner detail shops you see everywhere....tthey are hacks)!

bowtie_racer

I have a little experience. Good idea I will take your advice and practice on a beater first. Thanks!I need to clay bar at the very least.

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

Anything and everything you ever want to know about buffing, cleaning, detailing in general...check out www.autopia.org

bowtie_racer

Thanks

Nacho SS

iTrader: (4)

Nice work, a black car, the detailer's final exam.

223HAWK

iTrader: (11)

Wow Night and Day for $160...Id charge $300...

Looks like you know what your doing..Finally someone taped **** off adn did it right lol.. Could have taken a next step but with what you got..Looks amazing!

You should look into the 3M "perfect it" 3 step compounds and pads..Used is since I was 16 and I love it for black. It is the BEST iv seen for black paint! I use the 3rd step, blue compound on the blue pad probably once a month...something eles that might help..idk if you did it or not..I use micro fiber rags and I cut the edges were they are swen together..that scratches black..But Looks like you did a good job..start chargin a bit more..even if it is buddys!!..They got a car like that they can afford it..

95formulalt1

iTrader: (13)

wow looks great! cant wait till spring so i can take out my car and clean it up.

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

Yea, I do one panel at a time and tape every edge up. From what I have read....the 3M stuff is more catered to body shops and people that are tryin to get cars in and out quick. All I need to do is get a bigger selection of pads. Most of the op dawgs in detailing swear by the Meguiars 105/205.....it eliminates the need for 3 step polishes and take it down to 2 steps with the use of microabrasives. I plan on getting abour 5 different levels of cutting pads, so before long I believe I should be able to achieve closer to the 95%-98% correction rate that I am looking for.

As far as the microfibers, that's all i use as well, and have different colors dedicated to different tasks (yellow for paint, blue for glass, green for wheels, etc)...but all I do is cut the tags off. I'll try one with the edges cut off and see how I like it, I was just always scared they would come apart and fray that way! Thanks for the compliments and advice, I'm still learning!

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

That car came out great, dude, nice job!

slayerized6

iTrader: (12)

looks good. how did you car for the vinyl stripes? Did you go over the edges of the vinyl with the orbital?

kyles2000z

iTrader: (8)

you can polish vinyl just like paint, but you must keep the buffer moving so the heat doesnt build up and melt through it. i kept the RPMs down around 800 on the edges, and bumped them up to 1200 for the big parts. I polished the vinyl here with the same process as the paint with great results.