check it out guys... let me know what you think. I think it turned out pretty good.. haven't gotten a chance to wax it... just 2 coats of Zaino Z-5 pro. I bought my Menzerna polishes, poor boy wax, and PC 7424 starter kit from Detailed Image thanks to a lot of help from both George and Blackjack.

The main question I still have is what speed I should generally use with the polishes.. for the SIP I used mostly speed 5 and sometimes 6 on bad areas.. for the PO106ff I stayed at speed 5. I applied the z-5 pro at speeed 1.


Process:
Zaino clay bar
Menzerna SIP w/ orange pad at speed 5 (6 in bad areas)
Menzerna PO106ff w/ white pad at speed 5
wiped it down with some alcohol/water mixture
2x Zaino Z-5 pro w/ black pad at speed 1

again this is my first time so feel free to laugh if I did something dumb but please let me know if you suggest something better... considering that I only used the sealant, I'm really happy with the results... tomorrow I'm going to give her a wash to remove the dust and give her a nice wax...

before:





tried the 50/50 but kinda went over the tape





trunk:


rear bumper:





a few after shots:

 

Nice work. I bet the pictures don't even do it justice. Her VR has just as many swirls and it's not even licenced yet.

 

Wow... You were in pretty bad shape. Looks like you did a fine job with the polishing. Your speeds are fine. I always start out slow to spread the polish (like 2) and then move up towards a 4-5 on a light but and a 5 on a medium to heavy cut. So I think you did good.

 

2 different color rims??

 

Ivoidwarranties I know what you're saying... it's horrifying to see how bad they get swirled up.. I'm doing my Titan next.. It's an 07 charcoal gray, I waxed it when we first got it back in March of 2007 and like 2 times afterward with meguires and auto zone stuff, take it to car washes, take it to the desert, dried with the absorber, washed the entire truck with one mit, I mean, basically I've done all the "don'ts" to that truck and it looks great!! lmao... I don't know why my G is such a princess...

btw, I keep all my towels and mits that I use for the G in one section, and I bought seperate stuff for the truck since it usually gets a lot dirtier..

 

Oh.. Thanks for the compliments to George and I. Glad we could help out.

 

lmao...I knew somebody would call me out on it.. my local car wash ruined the finish on my factory rims months ago... a while back I had a day off and nothing to do... started playing with different colors when something came up and I had to put the wheels back on and leave.. lol... I'm going to stick with the gunmetal on both sides, until I can decide on some wheels. I just need another day off so that I can do it...

 

BlackJack what's up with all the dust that I was creating? there was sooo much white dust... was I overworking the polish?

 

That's just a sign of the polish breaking down. Very typical.

 

I almost cried when I found out the dealership detailed the car before she picked it up. I should have known better to tell them to keep their hands off. My mistake. They F'd this car up.

 

very ncie!! i still wanna hear ur invidias in person!!

 

anytime... just let me know..

 

Looks great!

 

Yeah - VR shows swirls almost as much as BO.

 

Excellent transformation XtatiC, especially for your first time using your buffer. You'll only get better every time you use the polisher and become more familiar with the polishes.

Regarding your polishing speeds, I typically will spread the product at a low speed (~3 on the dial) to outline my working area (usually 18" x 18" or smaller). Then once I'm ready to polish, kick it up full go to 5 or 6. The only time I don't run the buffer at full speed is if it's bothering / numbing my hands. There's usually a noticeable increase in vibration going from speed 5 to 6, but those are the speeds you want to use when breaking the polish down.

Regarding the dusting, my guess is you either used too much polish, or you weren't cleaning out / swapping out your pads and the product was building up and spitting out of the pad. I typically will use 3 pea sized drops per 18" x 18" working area, no more than that. Using too much polish will also diminish your results as you won't be able to completely break down the abrasives as effectively since the polish will dry up before it completely breaks down.

I typically use between 4 - 6 pads per coat of polish. After every 2 or 3 panels, I'll take the pad off (looks like polka dots all over) and swap it out for a fresh one. If you don't have multiple pads to use, then you want to make a conscious effort to clean out the pad after every panel. To do this, simply take a toothbrush and run the buffer at a low - medium speed and gently glide the brush over the foam pad. Do this away from the car as it will typically kick up a lot of product.

The combination of using the right amount of product and fresh pads typically yields little to no dusting for me, but it takes a lot of time and experience to master. Just keep those things in the back of your mind for your next polishing job and see if it's any better. On a car the size of the G, I'd estimate using 1.5 ounces of polish per coat or less to give you an idea.

Also, not sure how fast you moved the buffer, but you want to try to move the PC at a rate of 1" per second, which is SLOW. You want to be applying between 15 ~ 20 lbs of force on the head of the buffer as well when working the polish into the paint.

Back to the results, killer job again on your car, especially since it was your first time. Your results will only improve the more you get to practice with the buffer and polishes. Keep up the great work and keep us posted if anything I mentioned helps next time around.

Thanks for sharing and thanks for the kind words. Now enjoy your new finish, it's certainly night and day!



George