VS Ute Paint and Interior

[lordaus92]

Hi Car Care Products,

I am looking at giving my ute a great overhaul in the cleaning and presentation department and am wondering what you recommend.

My starting base is a Holden VS Ute, which has average paintwork and very light marks throughtout it. I have attached a picture below. To me the paintwork looks pretty thin judging by the scratches depth and I am not game to attempt to buff it with a machine.

I am looking at the following process;

1. Wash the car (Remove the dirt)
2. Claybar (Remove the containments)
3. Polish (To reduce the scratches)
4. Wax (To seal the shine in the paintwork)

I am wondering what products you would recommend for hand use as I am willing to put the necessary hours into this.

Next is the interior.

I wish to remove some marks and generally clean the glass and plastics.

1. Clean the seats and interior
2. Clean the dash and plastics
3. Clean the glass

My budget is flexible, but I want to try and get out all up for under $300.

Also, what clothes and rags are necessary.

If you could suggest anything that would help me out, please do so.

Thanks, Chris

[DAKSTER]

Most of the scratches appear to be in the clear coat. After washing, give the scratched areas a good rub back with 1200 to remove as many scratches as you can, then rub the whole car back with 2000 grit. Always use your sandpaper wet.This will take awhile, but saves you accidentally damaged the paint underneath.

Using 2000 grit will be more effective than a cutting compound, and leave less scratches, use it by hand in small circular motions. Do not concentrate on one small area, always rub an area at least a good 6 inches around the scratches. Clear paint comes off as a milky residue, if the residue changes colour then you know you have gone through the clear, in which case you will want to STOP lol.

If its obvious that a scratch is deeper than the clear, then leave it. You can maybe try to fill and hide it with a glaze polish later. A few small scratches left behind wont look as bad as a bunch of paint missing if you try to go too far.

When you have sanded away the worst of the scratches, then start with the clay bar etc

That should leave you plenty of change to pay a pro to detail the interior.. no matter how many products you buy or how much time you spend, you will never beat the clean new feeling that a pro can do to your interior.

[toey@carfx]

WTF!!!!! you got to be kidding attacking the paint with wet n dry. that is the LAST resort.

to the op. to put things into perspective the average commodore paint is 120-160 microns thick, 1 sheet of reflex copy paper is 125 microns, 120-160 is from bare metal to top of clear so it includes colour and primer.......so not much really.

as for hitting the paint with a machine, dont be scared of this, it will provide FAR better results then doing it by hand ever will. if that is the way you want to go then grab a das6 pro plus polisher kit from car care products. this will come with 3 different grade polished, and a veriety of pads which should see your defects dissappear permenetly. it will take alot of time, bewst part of a day just on the machine.

if that isnt for you then most off the shelf polishes (full of fillers) will hide your marks to a certin degree or some dodo juice need for speed all in one polish

now product
wash - duragloss 901
clay - dodo gentle grey and born slippy
wax - any of the dodo range to suit you colour (cant see pics from this computer)
sealant - this will give longer protection compaired to wax, duragloss 601 and 105 combo
interior cleaner (seats and trims) - mint all purpose cleaner or autoglym pm3 in 5L if really bad (diluted down to 7:1)
interior dressing - areospace 303
windows - stoners invisible glass. if badly water spotted then duragloss nuglass polish

it may be best to give the guys a call as i know they are busy and havent had a heap of spare time to jump on here due to their move. im sure mike or pierre will hook you up

[DAKSTER]

You work for a detailer, and of course your methods and knowledge of detailing will be better than mine. However, there is more than one way of doing any job.

I dispute whether wet and dry is a bad option. The scratches are severe and need a bit more than a cut and polish or clay bar by the looks of the photos... hence the 'last resort' option. This is a paint repair, not a detailing job. If you 'cant see pics from this computer' I am buggered if I know how you managed to decide what was needed.

2000 grit is sufficiently fine to provide a near mirror finish on paint, I wasnt advocating heavy sandpaper. Many cutting compounds are far more abrasive than than such a fine sandpaper. A cutting compound applied by machine has much more chance of cutting straight through paint than careful fine grit sanding by hand, especially for a novice user. Obviously care will be needed not to cut through the paint.. the same applies with any abrasive polish too.

My method may not be the one you prefer, but it would work just fine. Just takes the same care and commitment as any other method would.

[Bravotwozero]

I agree 100% with Toey. If the guy is too scared to use an RO, I certainly wouldn't be suggesting wet sanding. And considering the car is probably 15 years old, who knows how much paint is left. I suggest the OP gets a detailer to correct the paint. Then once it is looking as best as it can, learn proper wash and waxing technique to keep it that way. If this is all too hard/expensive then use products with fillers.

[toey@carfx]

now that im home and can now see the pics, i stand by what i first said. most for those marks would come out with the das6, there will be some marks left but wont be white and stand out, doing it by hand just wont be enought. wet sanding and hand polishing dont really go together, you just wont get rid of all the sanding marks.

just had a look on ccp website and did a list for ya
303 236ml
dodo juice duo pack - dark
dodo juice clay and born slippy duo
duragloss car wash concentrate
duragloss nu-glass polish
duragloss protection pack
autoglym multi cleaner pm3
dodo juice need for speed
stoners invisible glass

that comes in at a tad over $360

also you would need good quality microfibres so allow a bit more. id personally either wait a bit longer and get the das6 or make 2 purchases.

as B 2 0 said getting a pro to correct it and you maintain it could be an option but not as much enjoyment from doing it all yourself

[lordaus92]

Okay,

I have decided to try a DAS6 kit, I am just wondering what pads and machines would be best.

I was looking at the following pad setup.

Mint ProTools Four 6" Flat Pad Kit, 6" - 150mm

1 x Mint ProTools Cutting Pad 6 inch Blue

1 x Mint ProTools Light Cut 6 inch Orange

1 x Mint ProTools Polishing 6 inch White

1 x Mint ProTools Finishing Pad 6 inch Black

I am however confused as to what I use the cutting pad for.
Would my products list from toey@carfx change much?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to know as much as I can before I dive deep into this.

[toey@carfx]

if you are going to grab a das6 machine and a set of pads, go for the kit from ccp as they do the machine, set of pads, backing plate and 3 different grades of polish.

as for the list i did, you wouldnt need the dodo need for speed, and you wouldnt need to get both the dodo duo pack and duragloss protection pack so pick what will suit your needs best and go from their.

best bet would be decide what you want and the call up and discuss it with them. pierre will be the one you talk to at the moment as mike is still in usa after going to sema.

also jump onto the ccp website and up the top right they have a how to guide with text and vids to show you how to do everything properly.

[Car Care Products]

Thanks to Toey for his response as we have been flat chat with our move and setting up.

Our apologies for the delayed reply! If no reply within a day, just email or call directly through so we can give you the advise you are after.

Alternatively.. toey has it sorted haha

[JohnMartyn]

Turtle wax dirt remover works great,Turtle Wax Scratch remover does work with smaller scratches, success depends on lots of things.For Clean the seats and interior I am usibg a valeter to jet wash them with hot water, scrub them with a brush and use a hoover that was water freindly to get the water back out.