Ive got a fairly low mileage 2000 ss that ive tried to wash and wax and keep very clean but no matter how hard i tried i wasnt able to get it to shine like a new paint job. After a lot of forum lurking a a few questions to the meguires guys i decided to try "paint correction" with the 105 205 compounds.
The most ive ever used a buffer for is to put wax on, so it seemed a little daunting to try and buff everything out, but i took my time and i think the results are amazing.

The car was already pretty clean, it just had a decent amount of swirls and contaminants in the clear.

i started by washing it using the two bucket method and some quality soap designed to strip wax and everything. dried it with a leaf blower and some terry towels.
After that i clayed it using meguires quick detail and clay. It was a huge pain in the *** because the clay was sitting outside of the garage and it was super cold and hard for a long time.
After the clay i used the meguires 105 on a porter cable da buffer i borrowed. i spent a lot of time on the hood, bumper and spoiler, the plastic pieces with the most swirls.
After the 105 i cleaned it up with some 205. I still wanted a little more shine so i applied a pure polish after that.
i finished up with some meguires 26 yellow wax. im a big fan of this stuff for a simple wax, it went on easily, hazed up quick, and came back off very easy.

I pulled the tape and used a little spray detailer to remove any finger prints and compound dust then snapped a cpl cell phone pics



















I took these with my phone, and they definitely dont do it justice, it looks better than a factory paint job. the compound was aggressive enough to take out all imperfections and still shine up very well.
I tried to do something about the sail panel but didnt want to use something that would tear up the horrible factory paint on it. ended up just using some 205, polish, then wax. It came out pretty awesome, just not quite as glass smooth as everything else.



Overall im super pleased with it. It took me around 10 hours to complete it all, probably could have been a little quicker but the clay took forever and i went pretty slow trying not to mess anything up. Id like to take some better pictures of it to really show some detail but my camera is dead and i dont think the sun is supposed to be out here for another week.

 

Looks great for your first job, congrats! Looks like you might need some front tires soon though lol.

 

looks real good, i know nothing about paint correction though haha

 

thanks

that front left wore really weird, think it might be the lack of a front swaybar. still has 50 percent or better on all the other tires

 

i dont either, just read a lot about it, asked some questions, and gave it a try. i masked off all the trim and plastic and went slow

definitelt worth the time and effort

 

looks great, i'll be doing my car this year. i'll post a thread about it. tons of pics.

how long did it take you? did it in a garage right? what color pad with the 105 and then with the 205?

 

Turned out awesome man nice work!

 

took around 9 and a half hours
its cold as hell here, only got to 35 er so, i did it in a heated garage

i used lake country pads
orange for the cutting and black for the polishing

 

Good work. Im planning the same thing once it warms up around here...

 

That's how I started. It turned into an addiction and now a business on the side.

 

funny you say that, my buddy with the avalanche.in the pics is paying.me to do his today. i dont think i could fo this full time though, maybe as a side job for some extra money, just takes too much time and patience. its worth it being my own car, idk about other peoples

 

If you are just starting out keep at it. M105/205 are amazing products. There's a bit of a learning curve but its well worth it. My advice is join Autopia.org and read anything Kevin Brown posts if you are serious about getting really good w/ M105/205.

 

This is fantastic advice. Another great site for beginners especially is autogeek.net

I would also check out the Menzerna lineup. I find that line to be a little more "beginner friendly". I also really enjoy the longer working time of their compounds and polishes. The detailing industry continues to evolve at an astonishing rate. There are some pretty wild new products coming out including these newer nano coatings which are super durable. Definitely check those out as well imo.

Welcome to the sickness that is detailing.

 

I've been meaning to post up after reading and looking at all the pictures in this thread, so I'm finally doing it. You did a really good job for this being your first time. I need to do this to my WS6, as there are some swirl marks on the hood, sail pannel and spoiler, but I don't own a Porter Cable. I think I'll try to borrow one and knock it out in a day. Where did you end up buying all the products you used at, and was it in a kit or something?

 

thanks for the positive replies
its something ive wanted to do for a while, just been nervous about messing something up and.not.knowing how to fix it.

 

there is a paint/autobody supply store not far from my house
they had just about everthing i used in stock.
no kit or anything, just followed the advice i was given about the products i bought.
i used the 26 wax because i already had it and its easy to use, same for the clay and spray detailer.
give it a try, just take your time and if you have any questions you can look online, because someone has had the same question already...lol
post up some pictures when youre done

 

Really nice work there. You can get rid of that orange peel on your sail panel with some wet sand paper. If I were doing it, I'd wrap it around "a steel," which is basically a small flexible piece of sheet steel, but you can also use a rigid rubber sanding block. I'd start with 600 grit, then 1200 or 1500, and finish with 2000. Then you can switch to your polishing method with the two compounds. I know it's scary to take sandpaper to your paint and scuff it all up, but if you follow a few simple rules, it will look even better than the rest of the car.

• Go very light on the edges, creases, and corners. It's too easy to sand through the clearcoat in these areas. Luckily, there isn't much of that on the sail panel, just edges.
• Change your sandpaper often. If the surface of the sandpaper looks scraped or clogged, grab a fresh piece. If you don't, you'll just scratch up the area and have to start over.
• Keep the sandpaper and the surface nice and wet to wash away particles.
• If particles or compound build up between passes, wipe them off so that only the grit of sandpaper/compound you have selected is scratching the surface.
• For orange peel, when you start, only sand just until the dark/glossy spots disappear (when viewed dry), and no more. Then progress to the finer grits to sand out the scratches.

I'm not a pro, this is just what I've learned in all my years of sanding and polishing various things. Again, I must emphasize what an excellent job you've done with the car's paint. Definitely worth your effort.

 

Great job, car looks great!

 

Great job man, the car looks awesome! Just detailed mine today but had no time to clay/wax the car... I just picked up a Mequiars Clay kit and imagine it takes some time. This doesn't feel like "Spring" weather coming soon also, so claying my car in 30* weather just doesn't seem my idea of fun ha! Lucky you had a heated garage!!

In your times of reading forums, you ever hear anything good of Meguiars White Wax for white cars??? I picked some of that up as well...

 

Do not recommend wet sanding to someone who just did his first correction within the last week.