Chris996

I recently took delivery of a 2011 Black Maxima. The newness of the car is wearing off and I wanted to address an issue that wasn't readily apparent when I purchased her.


Her black paint , while looking pretty good outside , showed the condition of a car that was carelessly washed during her life. I wanted to tackle this , but didn't want to pay a detailer.


A DIYer by nature , and being pretty handy with a polisher on my boat , I took the task on with limited knowledge of auto detailing. I've brought back oxidized gel coat , and my Regulator shines like a pearl. I knew auto paint wasn't as durable as marine gel coat , so after some research , I purchased a harbor freight dual action polisher , Meguiar"s Ultimate compound , and Fleetwax ( which I use on my boat ).


Here she is under light in my garage



I went to work . I got some improvement in the rear quarter panel. This really is a "feel for it " art.

Chris996

Progress started slowly , as I became more comfortable with the polisher

Chris996

I went through quite a few pads , and did more compounding than an experienced detailer would have done , but once dialed in I was satisfied with the improvements





Final product , after a steep learning curve

Chris996

For a 4 year old car , her paint , although not perfect , is looking much better . For a dark colored car , I couldn't be happier with the results. I am NOT a professional , nor were the product I used some secret formula. A dual action polisher eliminates the fear of burning the paint , and need to hire a detailer to vanish swirl marks. Even taking into account that I tore up a couple of pads , total cost was under $100 and that includes purchasing the polisher. Next compounding and wax will come in under $40

Dudemaine

iTrader: (1)

Congrats man, you did a great job. The car looks great.

ThinBlue82

iTrader: (1)

Looks really good. Well done!

Jprocs24

Looks great man, and I was a professional detailer!

Chris996

Thanks for the compliments



As an accomplished detailer , hopefully you can answer a couple of questions


Large areas were easy to work on , but curves or around door handles really tore up pads. Mostly because I couldn't keep even pressure on the polisher it seemed. Any remedy for this or are the pads a sacrificial lamb for these areas ?


Also , what could one expect to get by using more high end compounds ?

Economic_Rage

I detailed cars while I was in college and I have to see you did awesome.

Jprocs24

I wasn't the main polisher where I worked but I do believe the curves destroyed pads quite quickly. When I work on a curve I always fluctuate above and below to keep maximum contact (pressure poins) on the area for the most even polish. Doing that didn't destroy the pads that quickly and I'm not sure how you were doing it. It does depend on the polisher IMO as we used a spot (3") polisher for tight areas like handles.

For the high end compounds I couldn't tell you as I've only worked with 3M supplies. Either way you did a great job with the supplies you had!

1996blackmax

iTrader: (2)

Car looks great! One of my past Maximas was black. It took some work maintaining the paint, but man did it look nice when it was clean.

fame126

congrats man makes me wanna do mine now

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

No car looks better than black when it's detailed and the swirls are out of the finish.. WONDERFUL work brother. Check out some of my work in the "detailing thread"

dexcool

Very nice. My Tuscan sun (or whatever its called) needs some attention as well...

Jprocs24

+1, there's just something about black cars that have a fresh polish.

Chris996

Thanks again for everyone's kind words.


I did check out SR20Power's detailing thread. Much more impressive work than to be seen here.


Its pretty easy to get lost in the laundry list of products that are available for detailing , let alone which ones are best. The biggest thing I took away from this other than the consumer grade products work pretty well , was the need for a dual action polisher ( at least for the inexperienced ). Had I used the rotary which I use on my boat , I'm sure Id had done damage.

BIGIRISHSTL

@ Chris nice job. I just tackled this same thing for both my 7th gems(pun intended) and SR was very helpful. I used the DA for the first time and it was great. My slate one looked almost as bad as your black paint. I used Meg's for compound polish and ultimate wax. I'm ashamed that i haven't been waxing cars for 10 years as I thought the clears and the metallic basically eliminated the need for it. Boy was I wrong. My skate turned 2 shades deeper after I was done. Amazing stuff. Your car looks great. Nice job and keep it up with a spray wax to add a layer for protection once a month.

BIGIRISHSTL

BTW, I cleaned up the B and C pillars as well as the mirror surrounds with same stuff by hand and was also amazed by the results. Again looks great. Black is the best when clean!

D.Stillwell

Very, very nice job. Black is tough to keep clean like that and suffers from fade but like said above a clean black car is really a looker and beauty. 7th gen Maximas look especially hot in black from what Ive seen.

I still miss my old black/black Infiniti.

And it makes a huge difference whether a car has been washed/waxed properly over its life. Heck, most black cars at 5yrs old have paint that looks like crap. Most silver cars do, for that matter.

People with way newer cars ask me all the time how I manage to keep my paint so fresh on a 13 year old car...its all maintenance and proper waxing.

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Yes Chris it is really easy to get lost the massive amount of crap that you can buy to keep your car clean. I forgot to ask, did you use any kind of clay bar system on your paint? If you didn't i suggest that you do. Half the time you can regain A LOT of luster in your paint by just doing that. You can feel the imbedded dirt and grim being pulled off your car.

Did you use a wax and or sealant.

Chris996

I did clay bar the car prior . I certainly could feel the difference . I also used Fleetwax Insulator wax afterwards . Its what I use on my boat.


I think you can debate protective qualities of popular waxes forever . If your criteria for "protection " is beading water , most will bead for quite awhile. Ive used all the popular and some not so popular ($$). I personally don't think any offer any significant UV protection. My boat is compounded in the beginning of our short season , and waxed monthly , but will require a mid season compound to remove oxidation. It's environment is harsher than a cars and gel coat is more porous than paint . but a monthly waxing doesn't prevent oxidation.


Im very interested to try Optimum's Gloss Coat , as Ive heard it and it's predecessor are a game changer when it comes to protection. Any experience with either ?

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Do you mean the permenant coating? I wish i could get some of that stuff, they make it an exclusive product by only allowing dealers can own the product and prof detailers so Eff them. I like Meg's stuff I didn't try much else really. I want to get my hands on a good quality Gel tire dressing.

Chris996

http://optimumcarcare.com/ocoat1.php?li=10


This is their consumer version. I believe they have a professional version that is close to a permanent coating.

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

hmmmmm, I might give this a try…..

BIGIRISHSTL

That sounds very final and not reversible to me. I think I will stick with waxes and sealants till I get to your guys level of decontam. I would be so worried I put this on and had an imperfection. I will say it does sound amazing to have on ones car. Keep us posted if you guys pull the trigger.

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Clay bar can still remove it. It's just the type of chemical bond that is made to your car which is tighter than most sealants (obviously). The beading effect is supposed to last I think up to two years. So When I finished polishing my max I might think of doing that. You can still layer waxes on top of that to give it depth in the finish. I say $70 for a protection up to two years of paint protecting giving that I you wouldn't have to reapply anything if you didn't want to.

I wouldn't buy it thinking you're going to get a "shine" out of the product being that isn't what it's for, remember that is why we polish our cars.

BIGIRISHSTL

Gotcha. So it's a super sealant so to speak. What about normal sealants? I heard CG jet seal lasts a long time. What about Meg's stuff since you use it and I use their products almost exclusively?

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Other sealants are great too, it's just how ofter you have to reapply them. The thing of me is a wax should honestly be reapplied every month IMO.
From my hours of reading on Autogeeks i've determine that it's not worth spending an absorbent amount of money on waxes and sealants. The avg cost of a "good" paste wax is about $60, but don't get sticker shock you can coat a car about 50+ times with that tin. It's best to your use a DA to add wax to your car as it tends to spread it much thinner and uniform and uses way less product. With a paste wax a 3" foam pad is good or whatever size pad fit in the can.
For liquid wax and sealant I use my 5" foam pad, goes on VERY fast and uniform. DO note, WHATEVER pad you use for sealant it will be used for that FOREVER, that stuff does not come out of pads easy or almost not at all, when you try to wash a pad with spent sealant on it you will notice how hydrophobic it is.
IMO, you can use Megs products forever and be fine, I know I will unless it's something they don't make or it's been tested by others that it don't stand up to the next brand. It's like when people say "Mc Donalds have the best fries but Wendy's have the best Nuggets kinda thing. If CG makes something better than the next use it, you can't have brand loyalty in this stuff when there really are some great companies and products out there.