Team-BHP - A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent (Post 3300765)

I find waxing manually is quite tricky; is there any applicator locally available which makes gripping easier while applying the wax? Can the same be used for
claying as well? Any suggestions please? Thanks n cheers

I believe what you are looking for are something like this:

http://bringingbest.in/index.php?rou...&product_id=74

or this:

http://greenzcarcare.com/Wolfgang-Fi...id-241294.html

Something else too:

http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-polishing-pal.html

The usual tbhp disclaimer stands - I am just an end user of these online stores.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent (Post 3300765)

What you need is this but it isn't available locally. Can be ordered from spautopia in UK via airmail and including shipping will cost around Rs. 900. I am recommending this purely based on your concern about "gripping" but I personally do not find it difficult to apply waxes using a humble foam applicator. I have used Dodo Finger Mitt applicators and they are quite useful to work with very small panel pots but regular foam pads work just fine for wax application. I have ordered from spautopia and the package always arrives in a week with no trouble and they offer excellent customer service and support.

Hi,

I have a 3-year-old Alto, Ecru Beige, which has been maintained pretty well with covers on always when parked, never wiped dry so as to not induce any swirls, washing once a month (car used only on weekends) with wash and wax concentrate from Turtle Wax, only cloth used for wash/dry being old, used vests. I am attaching a photo of the car when it was new and it looks more or less the same now. I would be interested in using some paint protection, and with my limited knowledge about wax/sealant, etc., I am thinking of using a clay and then Collinite 845, assuming it would give the protection required for the paint. Now, my query is:
1. Are there chances of inducing any swirls while claying and waxing? If yes, what is the right method to do them?
2. Am I doing the right thing by going with only Collinite 845 or is there anything else that needs to be done?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedaltothefloor (Post 3295962)

I am guessing the car paint has not been machine corrected at least in the last 4 years. In this case, it is more important that either you get the paint machine corrected at a reliable detailer or rope in a friend who owns a rotary / DA polisher or pickup a machine buffer if it is part of your plan to buy one. Your paint will benefit most from good two stage polishing process involving a good compound and a good polish like Optimum Hyper Compound/Optimum Hyper Polish or Meguiar's 105/205. It will remove the oxidation, swirls and scratches and the finish will be worth protecting with a good wax or sealant of your choice.

As a last resort, if you decide to prepare the paint by hand; my recommendation would be to invest in a Tri foam applicator to work the polish of your choice. As far as choice of Polish is concerned, my first recommendation would be Autoglym Super Resin Polish. It is filler heavy and will mask most paint imperfections. It is easily available in India through Autoglym India and a bottle will cost you Rs. 800. You can seal the finish with any wax or sealant of your choice like Optimum Car Wax, Collinite845, Duragloss 111, UPGP etc.

If you want other options in polishes, you can get yourself a bottle of Optimum Poli Seal from Eco Car Care in Bangalore and this is an All in one. It will polish the paint ( works better via a machine but will still clean it by hand) and it has a sealant in it. It will work beautifully if you top it up with OCW or Opti Seal. Or any other sealant or wax for that matter.

The key is to prepare the paint to be in good condition by machine or hand polishing it prior to waxing/sealing. The wax or the sealant won't add much to the finish, it will only protect the finish that you achieve through polishing.

Thanks a lot for the elaborated info

Would be great if you could share which machine buffer to be opted for and from which source (online, if possible)? please:

So last week my car came back from servicing with 7 repainted panels, and I decided that I shall not attempt anything other than a simple wash for this weekend, as the paint should breathe for 2 weeks before I attempt orange peel removal+any minor swirl correction+protection.

However, after washing, I decided to do something about my hood (not included in the 7 repainted panels) which I found was pretty swirled up, and in the process, try out a couple of prodcuts which were lying unused for long.

So first clayed the entire hood using megs clay and UWW as QD.

After claying the hood looked like this:

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_145250.jpg

I decided to do a test pass with LC CCS yellow pad + Sonus swirlbuster polish
(Yes I know , yellow might sound like a overkill, but there were swirls, scratches, deep scratches and birdbomb etchings on the hood)

After a single pass over the test spot (left of where my finger is till 1 inch from the top):

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_145945.jpg

After 2 passes over the entire hood

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_151203.jpg

Decided to protect with AutoGlym HD wax

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_151640.jpg

After buffing off the wax

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_152222.jpg

Products & tools used

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_151623.jpg

A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide-img_20131207_151631.jpg

Sorry - only had my cell phone handy for shooting.

Overall - the Sonus swirlbuster is an easy to use low cut polish, great for tackling swirls, but not so effective against scratches even when paired with LC yellow CCS pad.

The Autoglym HD was was hand applied with a yellow foam applicator and buffed off easily after 10 minutes with a regular microfiber. It's winter, so I am expecting the protection to last for quite a while (cool weather + no rain)

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackasta (Post 3313952)

Compounding/polishing can be done immediately after paint. Its better to tackle sooner since paint will be softer and will respond better to compounding/polishing.

However make sure you use only silicone free compounds and polishes during this phase. No wax or sealants for a month after repaint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi (Post 3313964)

Ya - but don't want to leave the paint unprotected (read as - I'm lazy - don't wanna work twice - compound once week and then again clean the paint and protect it in another :P ). Thus wanted to wait a couple of weeks to do everything at once.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackasta (Post 3313952)

Great work blackasta. Its really nice to more & more bhpians upgrading to machine polishing DA & rotary. Finish achieved is impeccable and makes compounding by hand look ridiculous. Your black car would look fab once compounding has been done all round with wax applied as well. Do post more pic after completing remaining sections:thumbs up

I need to get my DA quick.lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackasta (Post 3313952)

Orange peel removal are you planning to do by wet sanding ? Or has it already been done by the body shop guys ? Ideally it should have been wet sanded and compounded at the body shop and you should be doing the final compounding and polishing step yourself in pursuit of a deeper richer gloss ! (Maybe even sanding it yourself with a finer grit)

Have you met the body shop guys and explained your expectations ? I find it much better to let them know in advance the way in which you want the end result.

7 panels is quite a lot of work ! Its going to be really tiring, id suggest spreading out the effort.

As Sunny has rightly mentioned, you can start right away wth the compounding and polishing, just avoid waxes and sealants till it cures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit (Post 3315383)

As I have seen for previous repaints, they do wet sand and compound, so I did not have any conversation with them regarding that.

I intend to use the carpro denim pad + DA for removing orange peel (which, as I checked the last weekend, is nothing major). Shall start with a rear quarter panel (smallest area IMO), and check out how comfortable I am with the denim pad.

I plan to follow the steps mentioned here: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-polisher.html

The step by step here (http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/...ad-review.html) is also very good, but this is with a rotary.

If anyone has used denim/velvet pads, please let know for any tips etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit (Post 3315383)

Have you met the body shop guys and explained your expectations ? I find it much better to let them know in advance the way in which you want the end result.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit (Post 3315383)

7 panels is quite a lot of work ! Its going to be really tiring, id suggest spreading out the effort.

Please keep this in mind. I could do hardly 1-2 panels on a weekend even with a rotary, since you have a DA it may take longer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackasta (Post 3315445)

I intend to use the carpro denim pad + DA for removing orange peel (which, as I checked the last weekend, is nothing major). Shall start with a rear quarter panel (smallest area IMO), and check out how comfortable I am with the denim pad.

I have used the velvet pads on the rotary. They are very slow and clog up very fast. Perhaps it needs an adjustment to my technique, but frankly I haven't used them much to be sure whether its the pad or is it me. Worst part is since its a cloth, you cannot just wash, dry and re-use the pad as easily as with foam pads. You have to let it dry.

It does leave a good finish, however it was too slow. i finished the rest of the panels using sandpaper. I have denim pads but yet to try them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi (Post 3315462)

Very true. I got my hatch and front left door repainted recently. I told them to put extra coats of clear since I'll be wet sanding to remove any leftover orange peel. So in the end they gave me back a car which had a horrible finish, but more clear so that i can finish it the way I want to.

Please keep this in mind. I could do hardly 1-2 panels on a weekend even with a rotary, since you have a DA it may take longer.

I have used the velvet pads on the rotary. They are very slow and clog up very fast. Perhaps it needs an adjustment to my technique, but frankly I haven't used them much to be sure whether its the pad or is it me. Worst part is since its a cloth, you cannot just wash, dry and re-use the pad as easily as with foam pads. You have to let it dry.

It does leave a good finish, however it was too slow. i finished the rest of the panels using sandpaper. I have denim pads but yet to try them.

Thanks for the valuable tips.

I shall try and target one panel per session initially.

Could you please share where you got the velvet pads from? I have one denim pad, but I intend to get one more as the clogging up is reported from all quarters.

I shall try and post a few pics of the refinished panels for suggestions from members.