ObsidianGT's before and after Detailed Image
 

I thought I'd share my experience with those thinking about becoming DIY weekend detailers.

Unfortunately I had not discovered this site before I purchased my Black Obsidian G, so it's been through hell starting from the idiots at the dealership who first washed it, a few automatic carwashes, and all the way to the mobile carwash guy who's been murdering my clearcoat for the past few weeks.

I've been doing my research here on this site and a few others and decided to take car detailing into my own hands. The products I used were purchase all from www.detailedimage.com . Read some of their guides and what I say below might make a bit more sense. I followed the directions pretty closely.

• Wash & Dry using the two bucket system. I have a grit guard only in the rinse bucket. I use a sheepskin mitt on the top parts of the car, and an Ulti-mitt on the lower parts. Waffle weave towels are the secret to drying your car. Throw your Autozone/Walmart/QVC chamois and "super absorbers" in the trash.
  
  
• Clay using ClearKote's ClayBar and Lube. I was kind of skeptical of this step since it glided so easy. Maybe I was using too much clay lube (I used almost the entire bottle, but only about 1/3rd of the bar), but I knew I couldn't use too little, it has to glide over the paint and not stick to it. Clay is an abrasive, after all!

This is the FIRST TIME I have done any of this, and although the results aren't stellar, I think they're excellent for a first-timer like myself. The small white spots in the "after" photos are dust from the Menzerna PO106FF polish. It's hard to get rid of without a blower.

The "before" photos are after a proper two-bucket wash (yes, believe it or not).

Continued...

• I polished using ONLY Menzerna's PO106FF finishing polish with a white pad using a Porter Cable 7424 with 6inch counterweight and 6inch velcro backing plate. I underestimated how bad my clearcoat swirls were. It wasn't powerful enough to really cut deep into the swirls and waterspots or perhaps I should have used an orange pad. But it did a great job nonetheless. It leaves a LOT of dust, but that's my only complaint as it seemed very easy to apply and remove otherwise. Don't be afraid to use it on it's highest setting with a light polish like this. For the hard to reach places I would tilt the machine and use the edge of the pad. I would recommend you mask off emblems and crevices.
  
  
• Applying Glazewas fairly easy. I used Chemical Guy's EZ Cream Glaze with Acrylic Shine II. I noticed after the polishing that there were still some significant swirls and water spots. I was fairly aggressive with it, too. The glaze helped fill in some of the swirl marks and really gave it a great shine afterwards. It's very gooey, like a syrup. It smells like bubble gum. The application of the glaze was similar to polishing, just that it went much faster. I used a black finishing pad to apply it. I let it sit for about 2 hours (really, I was just tired at this point).
  
  
• I forgot to order a sealant, but I'll probably be using Chemical Guy's M-Seal Pure. Sealants are a form of synthetic wax that give you about 5 months of protection similar to wax, but don't have nearly as nice of a shine like wax.
  
  
• I used Poorboy's World Natty's Blue Paste Wax. As has been recommended around here, apply paste wax by hand using an applicator. But, since you have to use very little effort to apply the wax, it's not a big deal and is actually FASTER than even applying glaze. You could probably apply two coats of wax in the same time it takes to apply glaze by machine. Simply wax on, and wax off with a microfiber cloth (which reminds me, get like a dozen of these, they're great multi-purpose towels).

I forgot to mention that you can actual clay bar your windows. It gets them squeaky clean.

Some more pics below... remember that in the "After" pictures the spots you see are dust from the PO106FF polish.

Here are pictures of the hood close up, and the trunk. These were pretty bad. I did notice that the hood and trunk were the worst with water spots, obviously. The dust is pretty bad on the trunk, I should have wiped it off but I was kind of overzealous to take the "After" pictures.

why does it look like you have a lot of water marks

Here's the last of the pictures. I took a very close shot of the paint so you could see the extent of the damage.

Also note that the flash REALLY brings out the detail of the imperfections. Normally you can't see this sort of damage unless the sun is hitting the car and you're in just the right angle. And the last picture is what it looks like without the flash under normal lighting (indoors with multiple halogen lights above).

The paint isn't perfect (you can see some of the outlines of the remaining water spots), but it's getting there and I'm just a newbie at this! I'm going to do some more research about what steps to take against those. Possibly I might go with a heavier polish and pad, or maybe do multiple passes of PO106FF once a month until it's where I'd like. Oh, and trust me, just get the Porter Cable. Even with it, you're still doing hard work, but I cannot even begin to imagine trying to apply a polish by hand. It would be very time-consuming and very, very strenuous work. Not fun.

Apparently, once you get your paint in the shape you want it, you should polish twice a year. Schedule it after your dentist appointments! Oh, and forget the myth about wearing down your clearcoat; you can polish with a Porter Cable regularly for 20 years before it even becomes a problem. Clearcoat is brittle, but we have plenty of it.

I still have some light water marks, but if you're referring to the large blurry areas on the "After" pictures, those are dust particles from the polish that are floating around and reflecting off of the camera's flash. There are dust particles on the car in the "after" photos, too. The PO106FF created a lot of dust when I used it.

do you have chrome stock wheels?

Yeah, they're the stock wheels in chrome. I generally dislike chrome wheels and have never had a car with them, but on black they just come alive. They really grew on me.

no i wasnt referring to the dust because i read the post and understood it but. water marks

Yeah, it still has some swirls and water spots, but the difference is massive compared to what it looked like just yesterday. I'm not a pro and this is the first time I have ever done this sort of thing, so I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm sure after some more trial and error I'll get the hang of it.

The purpose of this thread was to try and encourage people who are on the fence about taking up the detailing of their car. Realistically, a newbie is not going to get "mirror perfection" on their first go, and I didn't expect to myself. But, I also didn't expect to get the results as good as I did on my first go.

oh ok i see good start up thread though you will get tips from detailed image and garnak canuck as soon as they see this thread so good luck im still learning my self

Yeah! Canuck and George are awesome! :)

There are a few others around here that have been very helpful, too. No offense, but I just can't remember all their names (I think Blackjack is one of them?) This is a very helpful community.

you should of gotten rid of those spots before waxing

I probably would of tried SIP on a different pad, and then used the other

good work! thanks for your pix...

I had a similar experience but I happen to have a yellow pad with Optimum OHC (I think its equivalent to Merzerna PowerGloss polish) on hand and it really works pretty well at removing the majority of those watermarks and swirls...

Shouldn't be hard for you to just dawn it to remove your sealant/wax and redo the areas with the most problems later.

Also, after polishing each area, follow it up with a couple of sprays of FK1 (#425 Ultra Slick Poly Wipe Spray Detailer) detailing spray. It has anti-static properties that keeps the dust from building up like that so you can seal/wax on a clean surface.

pretty good results being that it's your first time. You might want to try Lake country orange pads in either 6.5", 5.5" or 4" with either Menzerna 106ff or SIP. Even more aggressive is Purple Foamed Wool Pads which alot of pros really like for faster cutting power and decent finish. Remember, the smaller the pad size the more cutting power. Make sure to work the polish until its just about clear. (usually 3-5 mins) and overlapping 50% using an up/down motion and side/side motion moving about 1"-1.5" per second. Hope this helps.