I got the car on Nov 16, 2010. I was really anxious to give it a full detail. The first weekend all I could do was a wash and apply a booster wax (Zymol blue wash, topped Duragloss aquawax #951)
Next weekend was thanksgiving, and all I could do was a was just a wash and quick detailer (Zymol blue again, One Grand Show off)
The first weekend of December I finally had the chance to work on the paint. Washed the car (zymol blue wash) and clayed the paint (mothers clay bar, mothers showtime QD as lubricant) It took me like 3 hours, but I guess I took out all of the rail dust particles. Did the tires and wheel wheels, but only applied the showtime quick detailer to the paint. After the claybar, the paint felt smooth and looked shinier, but upon closer inspection you could see the swirls marks for the dealers washes. Furthermore, you could see all the micromarring left by the claybar
(click on the thumbnails to see them bigger)
Next weekend I finally had the chance to polish the paint (already Dec 11, and unfortunately sub freezing temps, the weekend of the monster freezing storm) Washed the car normally in threshold temps (Eagle one wet) and was able to dry. Decdied to polish only by hand, mainly to bring out gloss and take out micromarring. The swirls marks were not the objective. It was so cold (12 F) that the polish would freeze on the paint almost on contact. I had to use a heatgun to heat panel by panel, and heat the pads and products. A 500 watts halogen used to light the panels was also used to keep products warm.
Procedure, Products and tools used:
Turtle wax premium polishing compound, applied by hand with a 4" Lake Country white pad (polishing). Decided on the TWPPC as it doesn't dust because a wash after polishing was really not feasible. After each panel was polished, I applied Finish Kare 1000P wax (synthetic, really a sealant). Then, move to next panel, polish and wax again.
The car was free from micromarring, looked much shinier, and most important, was ready for the winter slush. FK 1000P is quite durable, looks very good on light paints, but its best attribute is how easy it sheds dirt. Dumbly, I didn't take any pictures of the finished product. Next weekend just washed, and same for the new year weekend (nice weekend, I should have polished on this one
). Applied Mothers FX spray wax, and finally took the pictures. Tires dressed with turtle wax platinum ultra gloss tire shine spray. 3/4 shots front, left and right
3/4 shots rear, left and right
Front and rear shots
3/4 shots from farther away.
Side reflections and tires.
More side shots
Looks good, but will look much better once I have the chance to machine polish it
Interior shots coming soon
Alex
sold)