it's that time, people. starting tomorrow, i'm taking 4 days to make my car look like it should. the shop's done, and i gotta regain my title as the man with no life who does nothing but make a real nice shine.

i know i asked this before, but what is your sequence for breaking down what's on the car and building it back up. someone critique me. btw, i know i brought this up before, but i lost the thread.

day 1
1/ redo the top with 303
2/ dawn wash the car
3/ wash with zaino soap
4/ clay bar the car with z6 as lubricant
5/ wash the car
6/ dry the car
7/ remove swirls

now onto the polishing:
8/ 3 coats of z2 w/ zfx <-- day 1 & 2
9/ 3 coats of z2 w/ zfx <-- day 2 & 3
10/ top coat of p21 <-- day 4

i would throw in there cleaning the rotors and doing the tires with P21, but that's been taken care of. i'm welcome to any criticism, and one question that comes to mind is should i remove the swirls BEFORER i start the process or AFTER i've clay bared. this will be my first clay bar, so i'll be moving slowly.

 

tanner- i would skip the dawn... cant remember whether you got new paint- but i think not.
if not, then i would do a good polishing instead of the dawn (and prob instead of the clay).
so, i would wash, polish and zaino-
a slight bit diff from your plan, but prob the same results!

 

I'm with wanabe. No need to clay if you are doing swirl removal.

If she drops it off i'll be doing my sister-in-law's car this weekend. It's a black 2002 Celica and it has NEVER been washed. It has tree sap, water spots and swirls galore. The paint is so dull and scratched up it looks hazy. I'm thinking about 8-10 hours inside and out (mostly out). I'm skipping the sissy polishes and going right to DACP with the PC or Medium Cut Cleaner with the rotary. I'll take pics along the way. Since she doesn't take care of it she's getting Zainoed. It may last 3-6 months for her. I hope it turns out well.

 

*whew* day one over with. 10 hours out there with her, and she's already looking nice. i'm putting two more coats of z2 on tmw, then saturday topping it off with p21, and i'll be done. she's a perty beast.

 

Here's a little progress on the Celica. I did the hood and front fenders. The paint is seriously messed up and oxidized like mad There must be 30 paint chips on that hood. It was so hazed at first it wouldn't really show a reflection. There is also some stuff i just can't get out. It looks like little tiny bubbles in the clear coat. 40 minutes working DACP with a yellow pad. 30 minutes working SWP, then to SEPC and a white pad. I thought about using medium cut cleaner and my rotary but this car is just going right back under a big oak tree on a busy street. There isn't any swirl fillers, wax or polymers on there yet. The paint is squeaky clean and already shines. My garage lights are terribly harsh and show every tiny fault, I have a combination of 150 watt floods and a few 300 watt halogens hanging in there right now.

 

way to restore that car, bro. it looks great. after 3 coats of z2, i decided it was going to be enough. the shine really came on a lot quicker than i expected. it's only going to get deeper as i built it up.

sooo .... mike and flitcroft, who's your daddy?!?! yeah!!!

 

Let's see all that hard work!!!

 

here's the other two i uploaded. i posted in the gallery as well.




i'm going out later tonight to play with some of the settings on the camera to see what creative things i can come up with.

 

VERY nice wortham

 

wow, great job wortham
and ubetit!
love the pics-

ubetit- you should post those up in a new thread... sounds like you made cinderella into a princess! nice before and afts-

wortham- looks like shes finished- all dressed up now!! very very nice dude...