I haven't posted any of my detailing jobs in awhile, so I thought I'd show you guys what I did Saturday...

Check out the before and afters. This car needed some TLC pretty badly, as the owner has been busy and just hasn't taken care of it much in the past few months. There were swirl marks aplenty but after all was said and done, it looked like a brand new car.

My Process:
Meg's Crystal Wash
Claybar
2 passes with the Edge green pad (medium cutting pad) and Poorboy's SSR 2.5
1 pass on the hood with Edge yellow pad (full cutting pad) and Poorboy's SSR 2.5
1 full pass with Edge orange (light cutting pad) and Poorboy's SSR 1
1 full pass with Edge white (ultra-fine finishing pad) and Poorboy's EXP synthetic sealant - cured one hour

I used other misc. stuff on all the trim and interior.


Swirl city


Full shot pre-wash


Yuck!


More door swirls


Check out all the dirt layers


Who knows the last time that top was treated!?!


Alright, I won't scare you anymore. Now for the good stuff:

Look at the reflection - no swirling and it looks like glass!


Another:


Everything is so clean and sparkling:

 

Wow! That car looked really dull before you started. Have you got any full car afters?

 

from well used to brand new in less than a day!!

very nice report-
what did you use on the wheels?

 

How did the plasticd screen come up after ?

 

Looks good but there seems to be a lot of steps. Why two passes with the green pad and 2.5 before the 2.5 and a yellow pad?

 

I noticed that too. Maybe he didn't do a test spot first?

 

I don't have any "full" car afters - by the time I finished it was very dark outside and we both had plans to go out so I took a few shots in a hurry.

For the wheels, I initially washed with car wash and then did another cleaning with Dupont teflon wheel cleaner.

I forgot to take an after plastic window shot He was amazed that he could actually see through it after I polished it as he thought it was long gone. He's replacing the top anyway, as there are two small rips. I used raggtop cleaner/protectant on that - and it turned out very nicely.

As for the amount of steps, I found that the green pad did a good job on the first pass, but it needed another quick pass to get out some of the tougher scratches here and there. After the first pass, I'd look at the reflection and the surface was pretty nice and slick, but there were those random ones still there that I knew a finer pad wouldn't get out easily so I did another full pass. The hood had many deep scratches so after the first pass with the green, I just swapped the yellow one on to finish it up. I don't like using the yellow pad that often if I don't have to, and only bring it out if the surface is really marred up. After that, the orange pad and SSR 1 got all the smaller scratches that the green/yellow pad makes. The result was really, really nice and the owner was very impressed!

I went over the rest with the white pad because it's great to use as a sealant applicator! I then buff off by hand an hour later with a soft microfiber.

 

[QUOTE=MikeyC,Oct 30 2006, 01:58 PM] I noticed that too.

 

Ooh. Once again, I feel the need to try to juggle my schedule and see if I can't arrange to be in the same place as Justin at the same time.

Hey, Justin... What times and days are you normally available? I'll see if I can plan around your free time and arrange to meet up. May have to ask for a day off or something, maybe.

 

Did you use a Random Orbital or a Rotary Buffer?