nadir_s

well... after practicing on my dad's corolla, i think i have a pretty good feel for my new PC and the LC pads that I bought last month. I'm at the end of spring break and this is the last weekend I think i'm ever going to find time to do a full detail on my car. Here's some quick info on the paint:

-1996 superblack (8 yr old paint)
-the front driverside door was repainted last year when my neighbor backed into it so it is almost in perfect condition

-the entire front side of the car (front fenders, hood, bumper) is covered with tiny chipmarks from 160k miles of driving.
-the hood is in the worst condition... heavy swirls, chips, and now spiderwebbing.

- I did attempt klasse last year by hand but only good results were the side doors/panels


I just washed the car... it was high noon so there's some waterspots on the car... hopefully the claybarring tonite will remove those.

Okay, here are some pics of what the car looks like right now... the BEFORE shots:

heavy swirls / chipmarks on hood:


spiderwebbing / swirls


overall hood condition... swirls !


side angle... hope to get more clarity/depth:



With that said/shown...
I am hoping to hit the car w/:
clay bar -> 1Z Ultra Polish -> 1Z Paint Polish -> Klasse AIO -> then what?

I could go klasse SG, Zaino, or 1Z express polish. btw, is there a cure time for klasse AIO? I am leaning more towards Klasse SG but I heard it was too much effort lol. I probably will go for SG though... I'm going to do the detail tonight when I get back from work. Hopefully I will spend alot of time tomorrow too detailing it and finally finish up sunday morning or something. Hopefully it won't be that long.

Any advice/tips would be much appreciated! thanks

Bman

Holy smokes! Wow, if I can see the swirls that clearly in pictures, they must be really bad in person. Usually imperfections don't show up as well on film, which is why I don't find pictures "reliable", but that's pretty graphic there.

As you're going through each polishing stage, check your work as you go to make sure you're correcting the damage you're trying to remove at that stage (that nasty bird etching, which probably needs to be polished out, and any hazing that the previous polish may cause for examples).

AIO doesn't have a cure time. Just make sure the paint is perfect looking (or as perfect as you need it to be ) before progressing on to the final stages of AIO and (whatever). Good luck!

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

I also notice you have some water spot etching. The polishes should remedy that as well.

1Z Ultra would be a good starting point and then follow with 1Z Polish and then Klasse AIO. But as Bman said, make sure you are checking your work as you go along and watch your pad selection in each instance.

nadir_s

I was able to get rid of alot of swirling and some of the water etching...



More pics tonite. thanks for al lthe help.

Bluesbrekr

iTrader: (4)

That's a great improvement, nadir!

I'd suggest using the Klasse SG after the AIO. Even though I have a PC, I apply the SG by hand. If you apply it according to directions (meaning a very small amount) it is easy to remove. Then let it cure for 24 hours and top it off with S100.

nadir_s

I think i have a light haze on the car.... i don't see as much depth as i saw before. Is it because I need to add some wax/oils in it? I thought the klasse AIO would give me a noticable depth/shine.

Bluesbrekr

iTrader: (4)

You may need to polish the paint with something more abrasive. Did you use anything between the clay bar and AIO? AIO is a polish, but it containes almost no abrasives. I like Menzerna. Intensive Polish (more abrasive) and Final Polish (less abrasive). Because my 2K2 paint was in good shape, I used the Final polish with my PC. I was amazed that it added depth to such new paint. Then I used the AIO, SG and S100.

nadir_s

The haze happened after the detail

I did 1ZUP -> 1ZPP -> AIO

Bluesbrekr

iTrader: (4)

I've not heard or seen a finish get hazy after polishing. Maybe try another application of AIO and then SG or wax?

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

nadir: Which pad did you use when you applied the 1Z Ultra? Did you use the white or yellow pad?

nadir_s

I used yellow with the UP and white with the PP.

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

Nadir, my friend, that's why you got the hazing. This is clearly a case of using too aggressive a pad on a surface that didn't warrant it.

When you are using a PC or rotary, you want the polish to do the work. In your case, the white pad should have been sufficient.

To correct your hazing, use the white pad only with 1ZPP. Then follow with 1ZMP to get rid of the finer swirls and hazing. Then do AIO and SG, You may have to do 2 passes with the MP. Also, what speed are you running the PC at?

nadir_s

damnit! This is what happens when you give a noob a PC.

I started the UP/yellow @ 3k and eventually moved up to 5-6k...

well, next week i'll end up re-doing it. I will follow the method you suggested. Thanks!