[sikedsyko]

Note: This writeup is in progress, I just got really sleepy doing it and went to bed

So let me start off by saying that this is my first detail where I'm attempting to take a car in very poor condition, back to a near show room finish. So far, I'm failing to achieve the results I'd hoped for Anyways, on to the car.

This is my Dad's 05 Dodge Durango. It's about to tip 160k miles, sits outside all day everyday, and the only time it ever gets washed is twice a year from the free car wash he gets with an oil change... But its not all bad, I've found out tonight that the paint on these vehicles is insanely tough. It's honestly got less 'through the paint' rock chips than my babied Cobra. What this means is that the truck is repairable, and over the coming weeks I plan on getting it into fantastic shape, I'm talking a detail I'm estimating will take 40+ hours for the inside and out. Oh and this is my gift to my Dad for his Birthday

I somehow lost my first few pictures, before I started the wash. Here's one right after being pressure washed and 2 bucket method washed. Being dried with an Uber Waffle Weave.



So I started out cleaning the wheels and tires with Sonax Full Effect and Zep Citrus, respectively. Again, no befores here, but you can tell by how much purple is showing up from the Sonax that these things were dirty. Pressure washed them off after rubbing it in and letting it sit for a while. Makes me jealous how well Sonax works on machined wheels, because it doesn't work as well on my polished wheels.



Moved onto the wash, using a two bucket method with Sonax Gloss Shampoo and a cheap sponge from Walmart, because my Uber Wool Mitt wasn't getting anywhere near a car this dirty. While rinsing you can see that the water does not bead at all, made it really hard to dry the car. Dried with an Uber Waffle Weave towel, which I haven't been very impressed with so far. I'm thinking about picking up a couple Uber Super Drying Microfibers next.





Moved on to Aquartz Iron Cut next. Sprayed it very liberally all over the car and to the wheels for good measure. Then spread it around with the wash sponge while it was very slightly damp. It doesn't show up well in my pictures, but there was alot of iron showing up all over this car. Just a layer of it over the whole thing. Got some more iron off the wheels too. Rinsed it down with the pressure washer and dried the car again.

[dannyboy281]

More pictures please Nice work so far man. I forgot what machine do you use again?

[Zatrekaz]

Looks like a fun project...

I am gonna be tackling my parent's 09' Nissan Versa here soon that the shop has had for 10 weeks. I washed it, IPA'd, and applied some SynWax today. However that is just until I can get it into the garage for a good polish.

[brokenweasel]

That looks good, I did almost the same thing with a neon a few weeks ago, except I just practiced on the hood since the rust on other parts would have eaten my pads alive. Subscribed to see what kind of pads/compounds you use on it.
Neon before

after:

Originally Posted by sikedsyko So I started out cleaning the wheels and tires with Sonax Full Effect and Zep Citrus, respectively. Again, no befores here, but you can tell by how much purple is showing up from the Sonax that these things were dirty. Pressure washed them off after rubbing it in and letting it sit for a while. Makes me jealous how well Sonax works on machined wheels, because it doesn't work as well on my polished wheels.

I have the same wheels as you (It looks like) and sonax doesn't do much for them. What do you typically use?

[sikedsyko]

Sorry I didn't finish this last night, I was like fallling asleep in my chair writing it.

So after rinsing and drying from the Iron Cut, I decided to work the vehicle in section rather than making passes over the whole vehicle. So I clayed the hood, front grille area, and quarter panels. I was having to turn the clay every few strokes from contamination. After claying I made 3 passes with an orange Uber pad and Menzerna Power Gloss, A few areas on one quarter panel had to be done with a green pad, because my only orange pad started caking from being full of polish and was dusting like crazy. Then followed that up with 2 passes of Menzerna Super Finish on a blue pad. IPA Wipe down, then topped with Menzerna Powerlock.

Dirty clay from 1'x1' section.


Before Compounding



50/50's after 3 passes with Power Gloss



After 2 passes with Super Finish



So as you can see, there's still some swirling and chipping that I was not expecting to see after 3 passes with Power Gloss. I'm definitely going to be added a yellow uber pad to my next purchase, to try to get better results. I also have some Meguiar's Ultimate Compound that I will probably try out, just to see its results.

Not satisfied with my results so far, but the truck is still a night and day difference. About to head outside to tackle some more panels right now

Oh and Danny, I know you want me to buy your rotary, and trust me so do I, but its not in the financial cards right now for me I just got back from paying a $230 speeding ticket

[Zatrekaz]

One of your main problems, is you letting you pad cake up. You should never let it get to that point. It will cause your results to lessen.

After each section, rinse the pad immediatly after with a strong stream of water. This will remove 90% of the polish and clear resiude. Slap it on the PC, spin dry, and your good to go.

Also... something I have noticed about older paint like this. Some scratches and such will just not come out. It does not mean your method of attack is not good enough. For a vehicle this age with this type of neglect, you should be 100% contempt on the finish you are getting there.

[sikedsyko]

Well tonight I tried out the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound I had laying around. Honestly I was way happier with it than the Power Gloss. It was doing in 2 passes what the other was doing in 3. Also, I didn't have any caking with the Meguiars. Is Ultimate Compound the consumer brand of M105?

Tonight I did the whole drivers side. 2 passes with Ultimate Compound on an Orange pad, followed by 1 pass with Super Finish on a blue pad, IPA, then a layer of Powerlock.

Tomorrow I'll try your advice Zat, and wash out the pad after each section and give the Power Gloss another try.

Oh, and I got a late start tonight so I didn't take many pictures. Just a few of some of the defects. This car was attacked by a pop-up canopy a while back and has white paint rubbed off all over it.

I could still see this one a little in person.

[dannyboy281]

[quote=sikedsyko;4067471
Oh and Danny, I know you want me to buy your rotary, and trust me so do I, but its not in the financial cards right now for me I just got back from paying a $230 speeding ticket [/QUOTE]

Its cool man I understand

Originally Posted by Zatrekaz One of your main problems, is you letting you pad cake up. You should never let it get to that point. It will cause your results to lessen. After each section, rinse the pad immediatly after with a strong stream of water. This will remove 90% of the polish and clear resiude. Slap it on the PC, spin dry, and your good to go. Also... something I have noticed about older paint like this. Some scratches and such will just not come out. It does not mean your method of attack is not good enough. For a vehicle this age with this type of neglect, you should be 100% contempt on the finish you are getting there.

Good advice and Justin is right you wont get a great finish with a PCXP on older paint that is weathered and highly swirled. I dont care if you use Flex 3401 or a Griots D/A with M105 and surbufs or with D300 compound and a cutting pad a D/A polisher just doesn't have what it takes to get the job done to show car results on older finishes. Remember this is regards to older paint that is, new finishes well thats a whole different story because you can get amazing results with them on newer finishes.

Rotary polishing with a Lake Country Purple Foam Wool pad or Yellow Uber with say M105, Menzerna Powergloss or the UK replacement of it which is better FG 500, the UK Scholl Concepts S3 Gold, the UK 3M Fast Cut Plus, or Mothers Professional Heavy Duty 81232. Is what is needed to restore an old, weathered, highly swirled finish or you will just have to wait until next time until you do a multistage correction again to try and remove the left over RDS again.

[Zatrekaz]

Originally Posted by sikedsyko Well tonight I tried out the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound I had laying around. Honestly I was way happier with it than the Power Gloss. It was doing in 2 passes what the other was doing in 3. Also, I didn't have any caking with the Meguiars. Is Ultimate Compound the consumer brand of M105? Tonight I did the whole drivers side. 2 passes with Ultimate Compound on an Orange pad, followed by 1 pass with Super Finish on a blue pad, IPA, then a layer of Powerlock.

Hmm... better results with Ultimate Compound? I bet you what you are notcing is that is finished down better than the Power Gloss, eh? That does not mean it worked better per say, which leads me to my next point:

Straight from orange to blue? Your gonna have some compounding haze left doing that. You need to go Orange -> White/Green -> Black -> Blue.

Which pads are you using? LC, Uber, Hydro?

What you most likely have going on... Power Gloss is giving you a lot of cut, and leaving haze/compounding swirls. Following that up with a finishing polish and a blue will not remove it, thus making it seem that you have things not corrected when in fact what you are noticing is your own compounding swirls.

Try this...

Power Gloss/Orange -> Super Finish/White or Green -> Super Finish/Black(omit if finish is satisfactory) -> Powerlock/Blue.

IF you have a glaze:

Power Gloss/Orange -> Super Finish/White or Green -> Super Finish/Black(omit if finish is satisfactory) -> Glaze/Black -> Powerlock/Blue.


This will get you the best results. If you do a pass of SF/White/Green and it looks like its gonna need more than a black pad can give ya, go for SF/White/Green again.

[Zatrekaz]

http://www.detailersdomain.com/Surbu...ack_p_424.html

hint hint

[sikedsyko]

Here's what I have pads/polish wise.

In order of cut: From Greatest to least
Menzerna Power Gloss
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish
Menzerna Super Finish


Uber Pads in order of cut from Greatest to Least
Orange
Green
Blue
Grey

[dannyboy281]

I have some surbufs for sale man that I bought less than a month ago I only used them once on my good and bumpers then washed them. I can't use them anymore because I sold my pcxp. I know phil has them for sale but I can match his price and still it will only cost you $5 to ship with me ill also throw in something else :-) let me know they did a great job at correcting the finish when compounding almost as good as a rotary.

[1996 GT]

Truck is looking great, i did the same as you the other day, found some Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and fixed a few flaws.

Originally Posted by brokenweasel That looks good, I did almost the same thing with a neon a few weeks ago, except I just practiced on the hood since the rust on other parts would have eaten my pads alive. Subscribed to see what kind of pads/compounds you use on it. Neon before after: I have the same wheels as you (It looks like) and sonax doesn't do much for them. What do you typically use?

The day i brought the mustang home.


After i finished detailing it.

[Zatrekaz]

Originally Posted by sikedsyko Here's what I have pads/polish wise. In order of cut: From Greatest to least Menzerna Power Gloss Menzerna Super Intensive Polish Menzerna Super Finish Uber Pads in order of cut from Greatest to Least Orange Green Blue Grey

You need to follow this then:

PG/Orange -> SIP/Green -> SF/Blue
You could throw in SF/Grey, but it would not do much. A Glaze would be good with the grey pad, or even a blue pad if you want to skip SF.

This is my order:

M105/Orange -> M205/Green -> PO85RD/Blue -> Glossworkz Glaze/Grey

Never go from a compound on orange to a med/finishing polish on blue. To the untrained eye it may look fine, but to anyone who knows what they are looking at, it will show the remnants of compounding haze.

[sikedsyko]

Thanks for the tip on progressing pads//polish. Tonight I did the whole driver side and the back with:

Powergloss-Orange
Power Finish-Green
Super Finish-Blue
Powerlock-Grey

And I must say, it came out quite a bit better than the Ultimate Compound, and the combo I did on day 1. Some shots from tonight. I'd say it's about 85% corrected. Tomorrow I should be able to finish up the other side and maybe redo the hood tomorrow. Then I'm moving onto trim and the interior.

[sikedsyko]

What should I do about this plastic chrome trim? Go at it with Meguiar's Plastx? I've got a 2" orange pad that goes on a drill that I could use.

[dannyboy281]

Superfinish on a blue uber if you dont get the desired cut then jump to a green uber use lighter pressure than you normally would and bump the speed down to 5.

[Zatrekaz]

I would take Super Finish to it by hand first and see how that works. I used M205 by hand on my Dodge Dakota's grille and it worked wonders.

[Blank]

damn good job man, and danny seems like tickets are screwing you all over first my speeding now this one.

[dannyboy281]

Herb not sure what you mean man LOL. But let we will have to find a date when we can get the correction done