[General] How to detail and maintain your cars paint

[Excale]

Well done mate, thanks for the guide.

 

[jellycalais]

Well done mate, thanks for the guide.

Your very welcome, hope it inspires you to have a crack at your own car!

 

[028]

great write up! I will try do this once I find a flat with carport!

 

[toey@carfx]

just a couple of points to add to this write up.

if your car is clear coated and you get colour appear on the pad. STOP!!!! this should only happen on solid colours. if this happens on clear coated paint you have cut threw the clear.

if the clear coat is bubbling, peeling or missing do not polish this section, work around it.

avoid excessive cutting/polishing on seams/creases and panel edges as this is where the paint is thinest.

work in small 50cmx50cm sections as the products dry out in warmer weather. 4 pea sized drops of polish is all that is required to do a section this size, any more is a waste and may not break down the abrasives before the product hazes.

always work in the shade out of direct sunlight

the duragloss pre cleaner 2 used in this thread wont be needed on all cars. if the paint is clayed and has a clear coat it should be contaminate free and will not be needed. if the paint is not clear coated and the paint is hevily oxidised then the pre cleaner can be used to remove the oxidisation.

me personally, i would skip the sealer and glaze and leave the turle wax aswell. instead i would go with duragloss polish bonding agent 601 and duragloss total performance polish 105 (this is really a very good sealant). this system can see up to 6 months protection where as the wax will wear off in under a month. these 2 products will cost $47 from car car products and will do at the very least 10 coats. so it is very ecconomical when you look at it that way

all in all this is a good write up jelly!! should give some punters the confidence to have a go them self. if you are still unsure, car care products have a very good how to section on there website which includes video's

 

[jellycalais]

just a couple of points to add to this write up.

if your car is clear coated and you get colour appear on the pad. STOP!!!! this should only happen on solid colours. if this happens on clear coated paint you have cut threw the clear.

if the clear coat is bubbling, peeling or missing do not polish this section, work around it.

avoid excessive cutting/polishing on seams/creases and panel edges as this is where the paint is thinest.

work in small 50cmx50cm sections as the products dry out in warmer weather. 4 pea sized drops of polish is all that is required to do a section this size, any more is a waste and may not break down the abrasives before the product hazes.

always work in the shade out of direct sunlight

the duragloss pre cleaner 2 used in this thread wont be needed on all cars. if the paint is clayed and has a clear coat it should be contaminate free and will not be needed. if the paint is not clear coated and the paint is hevily oxidised then the pre cleaner can be used to remove the oxidisation.

me personally, i would skip the sealer and glaze and leave the turle wax aswell. instead i would go with duragloss polish bonding agent 601 and duragloss total performance polish 105 (this is really a very good sealant). this system can see up to 6 months protection where as the wax will wear off in under a month. these 2 products will cost $47 from car car products and will do at the very least 10 coats. so it is very ecconomical when you look at it that way

all in all this is a good write up jelly!! should give some punters the confidence to have a go them self. if you are still unsure, car care products have a very good how to section on there website which includes video's

Thanks for the tips Toey! Should really of mentioned about the clear coat before :doh: I suppose my Calais is 17 years old, any clear coat on it would be very minimal anyway.

Thanks for the feedback
Jellycalais

 

[Tentpeg]

Hi guys,

My issues include scratches & dull/stained paint (bonnet) on my VT Comm. Firstly my daughter decided to help dad by cleaning a couple of marks off the boot lid with what I can tell was a kitchen scourer (Pic 1). As you can see they left light swirling scratch marks which I thought would need to be repaired by a panel beater until seeing this thread. Secondly, my bonnet is peppered by water marks & all round dullness even after a good washing. (Pic 2/3). My question is what would you suggest for each issue. I dont have a orbital polisher so I am looking for any methods/products that would do the job with a bit of elbow grease if at all possible. Thanks for any incoming help/suggestions.

Update: Purchased Orbital Polisher (special at Supercheap $35)
Meguiars Ultimate Compound
Mothers Sealer & Glaze

Might start tackling this after lunch & see what happens. Will see if I can get some good before/after pics.

Never done anything like this before so anything could happen lol.

Light scratches from daughter "helping" dad. lol

Dull/stained bonett. Not pretty.


I am not expecting miracles but I am hopeful I can get it back to looking pretty good.

 

[toey@carfx]

The red car will need to be polished with a rotary and a good chance it will need to be wet sanded too as those marks look nasty. I know this because I have my sisters turismo blue vz sv6 in the driveway that was scrubbed to remove bugs n tar with a green scourer.

The black car seems to have bad water etching but a good clay then machine polish should sort that out. Hope you have a finer polish to use between the ultimate compound and glaze as otherwise there will be holograms/marring left from the compound. The glaze may hide them but as the glaze washes out they will reappear.

Don't forget to post some after pics

 

[Tentpeg]

Hi Toey,

The pics are all from the same car, bonett shots were done without flash. The scoure marks look bad but they dont feel deep or anything. As for the bonett, what do you suggest in between the Compound & Glaze? Open for suggestions. Didnt have time to start today so am glad I waited on some advice. Will post some better before pics tomorrow morning.

Rob.

 

[toey@carfx]

Probly go with a swirl remover from the meguiars professional range. Try something around 3-4 on there cut scale.

For the pics take them out in the sun, taking some pics looking directly at the sun, this will show how bad the swirls are. For the scratches take the pics in the sun but not looking directly at the sun. Both these methods should show up the etched water marks and oxidization aswell.

 

[toey@carfx]

Also forgot if you can catch your fingernail on the scratches it's generally too deep to polish out.

What pads are you going to use for the jobs. The lake country pads are well priced. I'd go with an orange to cut, white for swirl remover, and blue of sealant. You can pick them up from either car care products (my main supplier) or waxit. Just google them and have a look on there websites. Ccp has a great how to section complete with vids too