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For anyone who sees this and are looking for a all in one product, Dr. Beasley NSP Z1 is nothing short of amazing.
It is a all in one product that leaves very good protection behind. Good water sheeting and beading properties.
Okay, I got inspiration from stilealive's thread helped out by 98cayenneT/A so I have bought a random orbit polisher, the Powerbuilt version that seems to be fairly popular. Looking for some hints and tips. I've always done this work by hand but it is time to dig a little deeper.
The first victim will be my 06 GTO. There is nothing really wrong with the paint other than it is 14 years old and there are a few fixed chips here and there, mostly on the front bumper and hood. I've had it since 2010 and it has been garage all the time I've had it, only been rained on twice if I recall correctly. Pretty sure it was garaged all the time before me, but I think it was driven in some weather early on in its life. Always washed regularly and waxed twice a year, mostly with Meguiar's carnuba plus. The previous owner worked at a GM dealership and had installed some kind of GM paint protection. All I recall is that it was a Dupont product. The warranty has since expired. Mostly I just want to make it shinier than it is currently. Might have some very faint swirl mark like scratches here and there, but you really have to look for them.
If the job turns out okay on this one I'll move on to my classics which also have BCCC paint. Those paint jobs are 20 years old in one case and 10 years old in another. They still look great, but paint settles over time and it is just time for a fresh polishing and if I can do it myself I don't have to take it back to the body shop and pay someone else to do it. No real issue to address on either one of them other than improving general shine and getting down another solid coat of good wax. There is also a 64 GTO in my garage (belongs to my cousin) which I may hit also once I get brave enough. The Chevelles and the old GTO were all painted by the same shop with the same paints. The GTO is just slightly less well done as I don't think it was wet sanded quite as much. The pictures of the classics are a few years old, but they pretty much look the same. If all goes well I might try this all out on my daily, a 2015 Honda Accord Coupe. But it has lots of chips in the lower air dam and the Honda paint is very thin and very soft so I might want to avoid touching that one. It still looks great aside from the chips.
I *think* the wagon would be a little faster than the GTO what with the soild cammed 427 and stupid 4.10 gears, but the GTO has been getting faster and faster of late (long tubes, 1.8 rockers, updated tune).
Anyway, Amazon has yet to ship my polisher so it will be at least next weekend before I can lay hands on it. I did get some synthetic clay which I will try out the next time I wash the car and before I try my hand at polishing.
Okay, so this arrived. And it dawned on me that I have a pair of spare fenders, doors and a hood for the GTO which I can practice on before I attack the real thing. The polisher came with a yellow pad that they state is a medium firmness. I assume that is a good place to start. Do I need to get softer pads for the final finish and application of wax? I was going to start with Griot's 3-in-1 which has wax in it. We will see how it does as a one-step I guess and go from there as needed.
Okay, I got inspiration from stilealive's thread helped out by 98cayenneT/A so I have bought a random orbit polisher, the Powerbuilt version that seems to be fairly popular. Looking for some hints and tips. I've always done this work by hand but it is time to dig a little deeper.
The first victim will be my 06 GTO. There is nothing really wrong with the paint other than it is 14 years old and there are a few fixed chips here and there, mostly on the front bumper and hood. I've had it since 2010 and it has been garage all the time I've had it, only been rained on twice if I recall correctly. Pretty sure it was garaged all the time before me, but I think it was driven in some weather early on in its life. Always washed regularly and waxed twice a year, mostly with Meguiar's carnuba plus. The previous owner worked at a GM dealership and had installed some kind of GM paint protection. All I recall is that it was a Dupont product. The warranty has since expired. Mostly I just want to make it shinier than it is currently. Might have some very faint swirl mark like scratches here and there, but you really have to look for them.
If the job turns out okay on this one I'll move on to my classics which also have BCCC paint. Those paint jobs are 20 years old in one case and 10 years old in another. They still look great, but paint settles over time and it is just time for a fresh polishing and if I can do it myself I don't have to take it back to the body shop and pay someone else to do it. No real issue to address on either one of them other than improving general shine and getting down another solid coat of good wax. There is also a 64 GTO in my garage (belongs to my cousin) which I may hit also once I get brave enough. The Chevelles and the old GTO were all painted by the same shop with the same paints. The GTO is just slightly less well done as I don't think it was wet sanded quite as much. The pictures of the classics are a few years old, but they pretty much look the same. If all goes well I might try this all out on my daily, a 2015 Honda Accord Coupe. But it has lots of chips in the lower air dam and the Honda paint is very thin and very soft so I might want to avoid touching that one. It still looks great aside from the chips.
wow very nice collection, that 2006 GTO will look great when you're done!!
I got the tools I needed over the past week or so. The polisher is not horribly expensive and comes recommended by many. It worked flawlessly and was easy to use. It will be hard to damage the paint with this machine and the polishes I'm using (which is good). But, still being an utter novice I thought I'd try it on my spare GTO hood before I go after a real whole car.
The tools and products.
The before of one of the worst scratches that wasn't through the paint.
And after (it was kind of hard to find the same spot on the hood as the scratch had virtually disappeared).
Whole thing after.
I applied my favorite wax with the machine too. Good results and super easy to wipe off the residue, much easier than doing it by hand. Water was just running off from the slope of the hood panel to the edge.
I have a auto body supply store close that I buy a few things from but the majority of good products are not off the shelf so mostly online.
Carpro, autogeek, detail image, Rag company, ect.
What type of products are you wondering about?
Just picked up a new fbody that has been ceramic coated and was told I need a ceramic coating specific soap. I used to dabble in detailing but I haven't done it in 6 or so years so I'm not up to date with what's the best products to go with
I want to get a new foam gun mine isn't that great, the ceramic specific soap, I need some micro fibers and tire dressing and stuff to keep the interior clean.
Just picked up a new fbody that has been ceramic coated and was told I need a ceramic coating specific soap. I used to dabble in detailing but I haven't done it in 6 or so years so I'm not up to date with what's the best products to go with
I want to get a new foam gun mine isn't that great, the ceramic specific soap, I need some micro fibers and tire dressing and stuff to keep the interior clean.
I go through Carpro a lot.
Carpro Reset is a very good soap for your car.
Carpro Perl is amazing on leather, rubber, plastic.
I go through Carpro a lot.
Carpro Reset is a very good soap for your car.
Carpro Perl is amazing on leather, rubber, plastic.
I liked Carpro products, I'll check them out. The previous owner had the car "detailed" then coated but it looks like a light correction at best. I do love how the water and soap just slides off the paint now though
Showing off some recent work.....
Customer had a couple year old paint job done on his International competition pull tractor. Wanted the orange peel removed so here were the steps...
Well, finally got around to polishing the GTO. I should note, there really wasn't anything to "correct" on the paint, I just wanted to enhance the shine. I really don't see a whole lot of difference out of the process I did today, but at least it is polished and waxed. I also treated the plastic, rubber and leather. I never took the polisher above 3, mostly stayed around 1 and 2 since this was my first time. Max is 6 on this one. I also found that the polisher began vibrating pretty heavily at anything above 3. In the end I think it was because I used too mush polish and the pad got out of balance because it was overloaded with products. When I spun the machine without a pad on it it was almost entirely vibration free. I'll have to be less generous with the polish next time.
I first washed the car. Then I basically washed it again using my synthetic clay bar. Honestly, the finish felt perfectly smooth once washed but I clayed it anyway. That seems to have removed all the old wax which was fine with me. I then went over the car with the machine using Griot's 3-in-1. I let that dry a bit while I polished the stainless exhaust tips and put away some of my cleaning supplies. I then went over it again with Meguair's Carnuba Plus. I let that dry while I did the windows and plastic and leather. I then buffed it by hand with a microfiber and went over it again with a clean one. Here's what I got.
I go through Carpro a lot.
Carpro Reset is a very good soap for your car.
Carpro Perl is amazing on leather, rubber, plastic.
Perl is nice but it just does not last long on trim. I coated all of the trim with DLUX and that holds up and looks even better than Perl. Perl is great for tires though regardless of longevity.
09-18-2020, 03:49 PM
