Paint detailing help

**4thgenceli** · 09-05-2015

It's ugly. I want it shiny again. The paint feels smooth, I don't feel any crap on it. I don't know if that means I can get by without a clay or not. I think some 3M rubbing compound and an orbital polisher will get rid of this. Follow it up with a nice wax.

Facime..I'm looking at you

**Shadowlife25** · 09-05-2015

Clay the car they wax it Tim. Should be all she needs. Her paint is in good condition.

**Facime** · 09-05-2015

Originally Posted by Shadowlife25

Clay the car they wax it Tim. Should be all she needs. Her paint is in good condition.

Disagree. Clay bar wont remove much of that oxidation.

Typical Toyota super red. Its savable if you have enough paint left to get down to fresh stuff. You'll need a compound and a polish. I have been using the Mequiars Microfiber Correction System for a couple years now. The only time it doesn't do the job for me is taking out deep scratches or severe pitting in clear coats. Otherwise there isn't much the system cant take care of. The system is two compounds and two corresponding pads. Its virtually dust free, has a really easy final wipe and on top of that it smells great. There is no need to clay bar before the first stage compound and the second stage is also a synthetic finishing wax so after both stages you're done. If you already have a DA then you can buy a kit for under $85 on Amazon Prime.

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-DMCKI.../dp/B004VFWUXK

That's my recommendation. I promise you if you kick in the bucks for the kit you wont be sorry. That kit should be enough to do several cars and is great for quick touch ups too.

There are other options of course, including hand options, but Im too old to do shit by hand. If you just want to grab something at the local Autozone that will do the trick, get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G3500.../dp/B009OBVRY4

and a bottle of Mequiars Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish.

Some examples of the microfiber correction system results:

before and after:

**Murgatroy** · 09-06-2015

Too much fucking effort. Get a can of flat black Rustoleum...

**Shadowlife25** · 09-06-2015

I am beginning to think that is an auto response whenever someone mentions paint Murg. (lolhittin)

**Car_Barn_Bandit** · 09-15-2015

FYI

I have a 5" orbital, so I'm picking up this kit:

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-DMCKI...meguiars+kit+5

**Facime** · 09-15-2015

I think you'll be really pleased with the results from that.

**4thgenceli** · 09-15-2015

I don't know what size of things I have. My father inlaw gave me a bunch of his buffers to use. One is an orbital and another I think just a standard buffer. I'll just have to give it a whirl and see what happens. I've never done something like this to restore a paint. I had a guy who does detailing say I need to claybar it first then go from there which is why I posed that question. Looking over the Meguiar's product site it says to clay the car first before anything.

I've been using this TurtleWax car wash stuff for the longest time. I know I'll have to wash & dry it before I do anything. Would i have any reason to not use the stuff I normally do? Would a little bit of Dawn be better to cut any grease that is hanging out?

**Car_Barn_Bandit** · 09-16-2015

Tim, you could always use a "tape measure" to figure out the size of the orbitals...

Pete, I'll be doing some paint restoration tomorrow morning. I had to replace my 50" extension after it went missing on my last project. I can't wait to wake my neighbors to the sound of cutting and buffing!

**4thgenceli** · 10-13-2015

Mmmmmmm.

Claybar sexy smooth.

I clayed one of the rear quarters. It helped with some but not all. I'm about to order the Meguiar's stuff recommended above. Shitty thing...I have a 10" DA. Largest pad they have is a 6". Depending on what I find out (either us the 6" pad on the 10" orbital or buy a new one) I'll then either order the pieces or just get a kit. I can get the compounds and wax for $25 shipped.

**BabyBear** · 10-13-2015

Honestly, if you want good results without much headache just do what Facime suggested. That buffer will suit your needs pretty well, is big enough to cover area fairly quickly while still being small enough to get at most areas. It'd be a really sweet setup, just man up and get it. A 10" DA would be awesome for really big flat areas but doesn't work so well on curves of a car.

**4thgenceli** · 10-13-2015

I have the kit on order and I'm picking up a 6" DA to start on it this weekend.

**Facime** · 10-13-2015

Everyone always suggest clay barring first because its a good starting point and because many people cant determine if they need that step or not. In most cases, if you don't know if your paint needs to be clay'd, then you need it.

For me, I'm almost always doing something drastic like rotary buffing with a wool and some heavy compound or even color sanding with 3K as my first step so generally clay bar just isn't needed.

Also, a lot of orbitals and other DA's use a similar backing pad mounting system so sometimes you can just remove the backer and install one to go with the kit you buy. The only problem with that is knowing the correct speed to run at (if the machine you are using even has a speed control). I bought the Meguiars DA because that way I could go their recommended speeds. just made it easy for me to dive right in.

with the MFCS they really stress not overusing the product and to brush or use compressed air (what I do) to fluff your pads frequently (I blow my pads out after each section). Their claim is that the product and the pads work together for the best results. The product is there to help the pad do its job, not the other way around.

Also, the amount of pressure you use is part of the process as well. Meg's released a heavy cutting pad for the system but its essentially just the normal cutting pad without the foam backer. This gives you the ability to really apply more pressure. I wasn't all that satisfied with it as a "heavy cutting" tool and when I need that much cutting I usually resort to my rotary/wool anyway. It is however useful as an intermediate step between heavy handed rotary work and standard correction processes.

As for soap, yeah, I use dawn for any type of washing where I plan to come back in with a polish, but not for everyday washing. I'm also really anal about the prewash step. Ive been known to wash a car for several hours before I'm happy with it. This includes the door jams and under the hood and trunk/hatch and spending some time in the wheel wells. Don't forget to wash under the fuel door as well. If there is one thing I cant stand its picking up shit on my microfibers from a lower panel or wheel arch when I'm doing my wipe down after using the finishing wax.

**4thgenceli** · 10-16-2015

Thanks.

I have the kit coming tomorrow and I'm picking up a variable speed tomorrow. I'll go over the quarter panel section I clay'd and see what happens. If it comes out, woot. If not....hello new paint job.

**Facime** · 10-16-2015

it will come out, just be careful about buffing through to the primer coat. A DA and the MFCS is pretty safe, but its still possible to buff too long or too hard and run out of paint thickness.

**4thgenceli** · 10-17-2015

Kit came in today.

Opened it up, read the directions, seems pretty straightforward.

Came home, finished claying the top upper half of the passenger rear quarter panel after a quick cleaning.

Busted out the kit, used some elbow power to get a feel for it before I go power tool crazy.

Pads:

I think these speak for themselves.

**4thgenceli** · 10-19-2015

Once equipped with the proper tools...

**jdm_celica_gts** · 10-19-2015

Damn great work, now you just need to go over the entire car to make it really shine!

**4thgenceli** · 10-19-2015

Originally Posted by jdm_celica_gts

Damn great work, now you just need to go over the entire car to make it really shine!

That's the plan. I can only handle the tool for maybe a minute or two. I'm going to take Pete's suggestion and drop the RPM down a bit on it. Right now it vibrates so much that my old carpel tunnel hands have a hard time keeping control of it. I'll do a panel a night. She's back in the garage now so no worries about the elements getting to her again.

**BabyBear** · 10-19-2015

Try to get the pad as centered as you can as well, it vibrates like a bitch if its not. It shouldn't vibrate too much though. I don't remember my porter cable machine having any issues with that at all, even at high RPM, and I think the megs one is either a rebrand of the porter cable or something very similar. I never ran it full tilt though.

**4thgenceli** · 11-14-2015

Update:

I realized that when I did the first tests I forgot that it was a variable speed....and never turned it down. That explained why I couldn't really handle it. I brought the speeds down and kept it between 2 and 4 for the respective tasks. Pulled her outta the garage so I had the working space, brought out cords & everything. I'm quite pleased with the results. It's not PERFECT but in my viewpoint it is. There's little pits here and there on the paint so I'm not going to overly fret about it. At least it doesn't look like someone poured white water down the body.

And some side by side comparisons: