OK, I'm new to the world of detailing, although I'm a fully capable tool user. About to embark on detailing my 2003 S2K. I need your help on a few things (yes, I'm reading the FAQ's stickies, etc) - here goes:

1.


This chip has a 'blister', or raised area, that I can't expect you to see in the photo, about the same size or slightly larger than the chip itself, adjacent to the chip. That is, if I took a needle to the right chip edge, I could pop up a chip of paint. Question: Should I pop up this blister prior to the touch up paint stage, and increase the size of the chip by 100%, or, paint the chip, only and 'work' the area?


2. There are 2 parallel scratches - I can't tell if they are through the clear coat into the paint, or into the clear coat only. Should I attempt to hair-line-brush-fill these with touch up paint? That is, how do you know if these need touch up paint, or not? If not paint, how do you remove scratches this deep? Photos:



3. The overall paint appears to be in very good condition. Light swirls only seen. What steps (from the How To's pages on this site) are thus necessary to just bring out more shine? Can I eliminate some of the steps/PC wheels/polishes? Which ones?



I'm about to purchase a clay bar, and the Detailers Domain Uber PC KIT with Menzerna Polishes and Einszett Glanz - http://www.detailersdomain.com/index.asp?P...PROD&ProdID=359

Am I on the right track in buying this package? Too much? Too little? (I want to support our sponsors on this site).

Your help is greatly appreciated. I will photo-document the steps for posting, for other newbies like me, probably wondering some of the same things.


Thank you.

 

good post and lotsa questions, so i might miss some-
but i will start the responses:

1. are you sure that you need to clay? wash, dry and inspect by feeling the paint. if its as smooth as a baby, then forget the clay. otherwise clay should get that paint baby smooth!

2. your worst problem is that blister. its a paint problem- proper fix is to remove the paint in the area and repaint. gonna take some sanding and paint removal in the area. then repaint and reclear. someone else here might be able to fill in the how to details. if that was mine i would prob let a body shop do the fix.

3. that scratched area appears to be repairable. prob an aggressive polish on an aggressive pad. then step down to repair the haze from the compound.

4. your light swirls can be easily fixed with a swirl remover or other light polish and menzerna makes the most popular polishes (because they work and work consistently).

we look forward to the pics of your process... as well as any more questions that you might have.

and since you sould like a wacko-wanabe, i am looking forward to seeing a pm in my inbox requesting that i make you officially wacko by badging you!! (be sure to include the link to your thread where the pics are when you send the badge request pm to me).

 

Thanks for the reply!

The car was just washed, and California Dusted. I've run my hand over the paint, and it does feel very smooth, but I've read to try this with your hand inside of a baggie. I just did this, and now I can feel "micro pimples" through the bag into my hand. The baggie actually seems to sensitize my palm to these micro zits. (without the baggie, my hand 'grabs' on the paint also.

As for the suggestion on a body shop to repair my largest chip/blister. Rats. I was hoping to be able to do this myself. Perhaps someone else can comment on a technique that may have worked for them on a chip this size?

Thanks again.

 

First of all, thank you for posting such excellent pictures to accompany your questions. It really does help a lot!

On the dimple, I'm with wanabe. That's going to require the addition of paint to that panel, and for most of us, adding paint to a surface is where detailing stops, and bodywork begins. I wish I had suggestions, but I don't. Every time I've ever tried doing touch ups myself, I'm disappointed in the results. It's just something I don't know how to do well.

On those scratches. This isn't a 100% hard and fast rule, but it's a good ballpark. Run your fingernail across the scratch. Does your fingernail pass over it easily, or can you feel it "catch" in the scratch? If it catches, chances are pretty slim that polishing will fix it. It can certainly make it less noticeable, but it's unlikely to remove it completely.

Finally, to your claying question - if you feel that roughness through the baggie, then yes, you should clay the car. Here's a suggestion. Clay one panel first. Then, with your bare hand and no baggie, run your hand across the clayed panel, and then across one that you haven't yet clayed. This will tell you what the difference should feel like. You'll be surprised.

Anyway, if those are the worst of the defects on your car, consider yourself fortunate. Mine's all eaten up with rock chips and scratches from autocrossing it, but I still keep it looking as good as I can!

 

its a great kit and you can get the 10% off, I'm heading back home will take a look at the questions in a bit.

 

Lee,

I believe Karl answered most of the questions the way I would have, is there anything you need clarification on?