My Detailing Thread - questions about DA polishers, chemicals, and technique

[OfficeWorker]

I made my own thread for detailing-related questions. Hope no one minds!

So my general routine with cars when I am doing a bigger work-over has gone like this: (Application is with a Porter Cable 7424XP DA polisher & Lake Country flat pads.)

1. Wash
2. Clay bar
3. Ultimate Compound* (moderate aggressiveness) [yellow or orange pad]
4. Ultimate Polish (mild aggressiveness) [green or white pad, usually green]
5. M07 Show Car Glaze** (pure polish, no abrasives at all) [white or blue pad, usually blue]
6. M26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax [black pad]

*I only use UC if I am dealing with a car that had substantially worse paint defects than what most new cars have under the rationale that there is no reason to go for even a moderately aggressive compound if it is not necessary
**I only use M07 consistently with older paints; I'll sometimes use it with modern clearcoats following UP, and sometimes skip straight to waxing

Between this, I do mainly only washes and Meguiar's Quick Detailer detailing spray. I do not use an intermediate wax, hence my preference for M26 given its blend of cosmetics + reasonable durability to give me 3-4 months between waxes.

My 2017 BRZ has a reasonably good paint job, with several exceptions. The whole car had light swirls, which was expected, and signs of very minor industrial fallout, which isn't unusual for this area at all. The clay bar knocked out the minor IF. UP's mild abrasive with a LCC green pad at speed 5 took care of the minor swirls. However, there are about 4 distinct areas where there are more pronounced holograms, as if the person using the rotary buffer paused or applied too much pressure. (Pics of these things come out badly - I did try, but the UP already reduced these to a point where getting them in a pic is difficult.)

UC seems unnecessarily aggressive for these smaller areas. However, UP with the green pad was not sufficient to fully remove these markings. I've historically matched the aggressiveness of the pad with the aggressiveness of the compound, but I feel like I am at a point where one compound/pad combo may be too aggressive, where my next step up with a less aggressive compound + pad isn't enough. Given these two things, what is my best option?

• Applying UP with a more aggressive orange pad and a higher speed?
• Applying UC with a less aggressive green or white pad?
• Using an intermediate compound?
• Something else?

---------------
Also, for leather, vinyl, plastic, and rubber protection, I've settled on two products from 303 (a leather all-in-one and a vinyl/plastic/rubber protectant I use on trim pieces and tires ) because they seem to work reasonably well, they have a rather long duration of effect (45 days of protection), and they don't make things shine or slip like crazy and have minimal residue (I hate shiny dashes and slippery seats.)

Have there ever been any independent tests to examine how well these products work over long-term periods in actually protecting the products they claim to protect? I've searched for this without much luck.

Thanks in advance!

[Teseo]

After all that crap, you considere ceramic coating or its just a bro science?

[86geek]

ceramic coating Opticoat or CQuartz Finest and call it a day. Just my two cents!

[Spuds]

I think you are going to wind up having to use the more aggressive compound to get rid of holograms. But I think your first option followed by second is the logical progression of aggressiveness.

If it we're me, I'd go second option (UC), then finish up with UP again.

I'm an amateur at best for this stuff (more like novice lol), so take my course of action with a grain of salt...

[OfficeWorker]

Originally Posted by Teseo

After all that crap, you considere ceramic coating or its just a bro science?

Well, partly because, while I am by no means a professional (if anything, I am a beginner here), I do enjoy it.

[OfficeWorker]

So this is where I am at in pictures...

The first pic is an overall shot
The second is a problem area with holograms. It is only visible in bright sunlight on select angles in higher resolution photos.
The third is the same area on a slightly different angle without capturing the sun's direct reflection in the image
Remaining pics are closeups of areas where the UP removed all holograms with a green LCC pad. Most of the car looks like this.


I think on the next go I may give Wolfgang's Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 a try, and then later move to a ceramic coating. The more I read about coatings, the more interested I am in them. I've read about Blackfire Crystal Coat, McKee's 36, and Wolfgang UBER coatings, all of which are DIY which is what I would prefer. I will definitely read about the ones mentioned in here as well. However, I obviously want to get the paint looking 100% before applying, which it still isn't at.

[Ultramaroon]

Those are pretty deep burns. Depending on how deeply the clear coat was damaged, I'd start lightly with a wet 2000 grit in a perpendicular direction to the burn and see if you can eliminate the pattern. Finish sand and polish out from there.

[humfrz]

I suggest that you just wash the car, wax it ..... then go drive it.

You are looking at it waaaaay too close ......


humfrz

[86geek]

Take it to a Professional detailer & get your car ceramic coated then sit back & have some beers.

[OfficeWorker]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Those are pretty deep burns. Depending on how deeply the clear coat was damaged, I'd start lightly with a wet 2000 grit in a perpendicular direction to the burn and see if you can eliminate the pattern. Finish sand and polish out from there.

Time to learn something new! I've wet sanded coated headlights but never clear coated paint. The most aggressive compound I've done is M105 with a DA and orange pad, which I've done after someone else has wet sanded (IIRC with 1200 or 1500 grit), and this removed sanding scratches even with my amateur skill.

Having not wet sanded before, this is something I want to learn. And I do have a rotary buffer and a wool pad that could easily make some holograms to play with...all I need is a junkyard hood or panel.

[OfficeWorker]

Originally Posted by humfrz

I suggest that you just wash the car, wax it ..... then go drive it.

You are looking at it waaaaay too close ......


humfrz

Originally Posted by 86geek

Take it to a Professional detailer & get your car ceramic coated then sit back & have some beers.

Admittedly, I'm quite anal about this, partly because I enjoy it. The more I read about ceramics, the more I like. There seems to be benefits both to the ones that are self-applied and professionally applied. OptiCoat looks outstanding. For the self-applied, McKee's 37 also looks quite capable, and I just applied their ceramic to my wheels and am thrilled how brake dust/gunk now simply washes off with nothing but water.

Playing with a new synthetic spray, the car now looks like this:




Which is reasonable but still not great. There's more I feel I can milk from this paint. Before committing to the permanence of ceramic, I want to reach that point. Perhaps a bit neurotic, but we all have our quirks

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by OfficeWorker

Admittedly, I'm quite anal about this, partly because I enjoy it. .............

Well, if it's a hobby ...... then that's OK ......


humfrz

[Ultramaroon]

No doubt it looks nice. Uggh. So much work, though.

You'd probably cry if you saw mine. Imma let it go for a while longer before I do a dramatic resto.

[new2subaru]

Your car looks amazing!