The Twanksta

So after seeing the pictures of my car, a friend of mine (Blacknot) just had to have his done. We started this detail at 8AM and he didnt leave until 10PM The car at first glance looked pretty good, I kept asking him why he wanted it done because it looked good already. He said there were lots of swirls, which once we washed it down, you could see lots of swirls and marring. Keep in mind this car has nearly 90k on it and is an 04'!

Exterior:
Optimum Car Wash
Meguairs Instant Detail Spray
Adams Clay Bar
P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel
Adam's Undercarriage Spray
Menzerna IP
Menzerna 106FF
Menzera PO85RD
Lusso Oro

Tools:

Single Work Lamp
Dewalt Hi Speed Rotary
LC CCS Orange Pad
LC CCS White Pad
LC CCS Blue Pad
Tons of Microfiber Towels
DD "Uber" Red Drying Towel
DD "Uber" Wool Mitt
Grit Guards
3m "green" Masking Tape

Here are the pictures:

The car before we even washed it, looks good but not as good as were going to get it!!












After the wash, stripped of wax.














All Taped up


A Happy Tape




After using Menzerna IP, 106ff, and Final Finish(my little wacko helper in the corner )








Wrapped up for the night(finished)


The next morning, two coats of wax.




Wave to my Wacko helper again!










Wishing it could be as shiny as mine

The Twanksta

Wanabe, I think "Blacknot" deserves a Wacko badge after this one! He helped out alot! Now we just gotta teach him to keep it this shiny!

tekstar

HAHA nice tape up job

excellent work twanksta. another job well done. did you try skipping the 106ff and going straight to the po85rd?

The Twanksta

Yes, I played around with that on my own car. I have noticed that each step has been making a huge difference for me, using the po85rd gives it a MUCH better gloss at the end, plus its so easy to work with it takes literrally no time at all for that last step.

Ive noticed Im still getting slight trails with the IP, which I still need to perfect. The 106ff does a GREAT job at getting rid of any trails Ive made with the IP. The po85rd just makes it pop that much more. I also think I read that FMINUS said the po985rd gives the flat blacks a much glossier finish. Not sure about other colors though...thanks for the comments!

tekstar

thanks

diabolus2k

Nice job... what did you use to inspect the paint after finishing down with PO85RD? I'm curious if it's gentle enough to finish down without leaving holograms on Berlina? I know 106FF won't, and after doing some testing with 3M Ultrafina a couple weeks ago, it still leaves some very light holograms behind as well. FPII will do the job, but it has very little cutting power. I guess I'm wondering if PO85RD is a suitable replacement for FPII on Berlina?

The Twanksta

I noticed on my own car a VERY SLIGHT hologram on a couple spots, but did not notice any on this detail. I believe the ones on mine were from the IP though, The 106ff is working pretty well for me and not "causing" any holograms but actually getting rid of them.

While I was experimenting on my car, I found that you can only work the 106ff for a VERY short period of time. I found the best results with 1 low speed pass(1k rpms) and then 2 passes(both horizontal and vertical) at 1800rpms. It will then wipe right off with little effort and good results.

Blacknot

Thanks again. Twanksta and btw it's an 04

The Twanksta

Well it looks like an 07!

diabolus2k

Well, from my experience and the experience of others, the problem with 106FF is that it is known to "fill" due to its lubricating oils (this was a hotly debated topic over on Autopia), and that the fillers are very hard to remove, making it difficult to notice unless you were to wipe down a panel with IPA or PrepSol a couple times after polishing.

106FF has a good amount of cut for a finishing polish, since it was designed for the newer ceramic clearcoats. However, because of this, I've had a hard time finishing down perfectly with it on Berlina paint, even with a blue LC pad. I thought that 3M Ultrafina would remedy this, but it appears to have a similar amount of cut as 106FF, and therefore leaves some very faint holograms on the paint as well.

Does PO85RD finish down cleanly on Berlina? If so, did you work it the same way you worked 106FF? If it does, I'd like to give it a try, since it has a little more cut than FPII..