Before I get started, my car's exterior is STOCK. I have amber corners and do not plan on changing them out. Also, please don't tell me to drop my car, I think I'm planning on saving my money for something RWD...
Anyways, Sunday morning, I went outside at 9 AM, and handwashed my Maxima, and then started the Meguiar's 3 step program: Paint cleaner, Polish, and finishing wax (complements of Gold Class Paste Wax). I wanted to clay bar, but circumstances kept me from doing so. These were applied with a generic $20 6" random orbital buffer. After the polish, it is amazing how much the Deep Evergreen comes out to shine. It made me realize how dull my finish was before. Here's the results:

 

loosk good, well worth the effort and time

 

The sad thing is, public works decided to spread sand/dirt on my road on Monday, so my car is now covered in dirt...

 

Looks good. Can you get the rock chips fixed on the hood somehow, say at ChipsAway or whatever you have where you live that isn't a body shop as such.

My color is quite similar, DJ2, Black Emerald. Don't feel compelled to buy clear corners and lower your car like every other man and his dog. I actually feel the amber corners look bette with my paint job and I'v been flamed before for saying that and I could care less.

 

I totally agree with the amber corners, without clears on the back, I think they would look out of place. I'll look into the rock chip removal, too.

 

How many miles on your car? If it runs good, just hang on to it and don't make yourself car poor like so many young guys do. I've been there and done that and the smart thing to do is take it easy until you get on your feet financially.

 

Your car looks good. I would definately redo it again with a claybar, this way the products actually adhere to the paint and not the contaminates. Good work though. Whats with the sand and salt so close to May?

 

looks good, id def go over that with a claybar... well worth the time and money

 

They cut up the side of the road since the grass has encroached on the road (we don't have a curb) to make it wider, however, they didn't pick up the excess, they just spread it around. rmurdoch, I just clocked 138k miles on the odometer.
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and redo it with a clay bar, I was surprized because the paint cleaner seemed to clean the paint pretty well.
As for the RWD comment, I'll probably keep the max, but if I find a reasonable project that I can pick up for pretty cheap, I'll probably get it. My dream is to own a 300zx, and I'm hoping the right offer comes along...

 

Well 138K on a 96 Maxima is nothing. Your tires look to be relatively new and you have a newer tranny and clutch so you're good to go for years to come.

 

looks good.. you need to lower that 4x4 and get some clear corners..

 

take your time with it man... wish i had. i like the clears on my deep emerald car, but i thought about tinting them an amber color, along with my clearance lights-might look a bit like a civic, but it might not look that bad.

 

Looks good man but you should have put armor all inside the wheel wells to make them black too, just a tip for next time just spray inside the wheel well and then wax the car to get the excess off the paint

 

what you did is fine. Except I'd waste that time putting in new springs/shocks.

 

Its amazing what a good wash & some wax will do for an older paint job. I had similar results w/my 96' last month. Car looks good. This guy said the rest

 

sorry for breaking the topic and dumb question, but what does clay bar mean?

 

Its a system that cleans the paint, you use a spray type wax and then use a clay bar to run over the paint, its amazing how well that works too

 

Lots of posts about it in detailing. Basically, clay removes stuck on dirt and contaiminants. If you feel your paint after you just washed it it won't feel smooth like glass. Feel it with a plastic baggie to amplify your touch. After clay the paint will be very smooth, but not optimally glossy. A good polish makes it shine, followed with a wax that willprotect and deepen your shine.

 

how risky is waxing with a random orbital? is it easy to pick up and do without burning the paint? is it the recommended way?
i'll probably just check the detailing stickies.

i think that clears look good on some paint jobs while the amber may look better on others.

 

It's pretty hard to burn the paint with an orbital, as far as i know. A rotary, on the other hand, can easily do some damage if you don't know what you're doing.

 

If you do not clay your car, especially if it has never been done before, you will never get a quality shine. Claying is an absolute must if you are going to "detail" your car.

 

I would invest in a Porter Cable. It's high quality orbital polisher. I too was worried about polishers, but after gettting my PC, I am all about orbital polishing. Good luck

 

Random orbit basically replicates the manual waxing motion, and usually does not go to as hight of a speed as a high speed rotary one does. This buffer that I have goes to 2600 rpm's at no load. It's all about keeping the buffer moving, never resting on one spot, nor pressing down, and the speed of the buffer that makes it seemingly unrisky. For $20 and a couple more thrown into terry cloth bonnets, it does a respectable job, and keeps your arm from getting extrememly tired. I couldn't imagine doing that whole ordeal again by hand...

 

nice and clean, need to give my car the same treatment this friday.

 

I had always kept a coat of wax on the car, but the paint cleaner (swirl mark/fine scratch + contaminant remover) and polish, really did a great job. I can't believe how green my car is now (Deep evergreen owners know what this is about - my car looked black at most angles).

 

so a $20 orbital buffer does a good enough job? i don't want to spend the money for a porter cable.

 

IMO, it is useful for cutting down the time it takes to apply products like these, such as the wax. However, it will not repair your paint like a PC would. As long as you're careful when using a buffer, i.e. not pressing down, keeping it moving, etc., then you should be fine. It's pretty much commonsense. Make sure you go to wal-mart or advanced auto or someplace like that and pick up terry cloth bonnets instead of the ones they come with (unless the ones the buffer come with are terry cloth). Be sure to get one that is random orbital, and is not a rotary and is not a high orbitting speed, and you should be fine.

 

i was looking at this craftsman one, http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...cal=TOOL&cs=e1

will that suffice?

 

Looks good man. If you get some 3M FineCut compound and even without a machine, just apply by hand, you can bring even more gloss out of that clearcoat.

 

As long as it is random orbital, it'll do fine. I had a 10" buffer, and that felt too big for the contours of the car, which is why I went down to a 6" buffer.

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

oh cool. i was just wondering if 10" will be too big. i guess i'll pick up their 6" model.

 

Will it be a good idea to just claybar the car or this is pointless without doing anything else? I have some swirls on my hood for some reason...how do I get rid of those?

 

You can pick up products that say that they remove swirl marks, such as 3M swirl mark remover. clay barring will leave your paint without wax, so the least you should do after claying would be to wax your car.

 

daam that shiet is clean, but 9 hours??

 

The only thing those $20 buffers do is make it so you dont have to do it by hand. If you want to get rid of swirls and have your paint looking really good, you need a pc or rotary.

 

9 hours with breaks (I gotta eat), and letting the wax come to a haze. I probably put a good 6.5-7 hours of pure work though.



That's what I said in the above post, but most of the swirls I had went away with using the paint cleaner/swirl mark remover treatment. It just makes things easier.

 

looks nice, u should see if theres nething u can do about the stone chips on the front though

 

Armani- I LOVE YOUR SIG

 

wow very clean

 

how long does it take to clay bar a car