Finally got the micro-scratches out of my baby! Read my story.

[ben_r_]

Originally Posted by kindred6ul

Congrats! She looks better than new. There's nothing more satisfying than detailing a car especially when you know you've done an outstanding job. I noticed you used all meg pads. Did you feel that using a harsher abrasive like maybe 3m compound to at least cut the process down at least one run w/ the PC? I can't wait till i get my PC 7424 im gonna just polish random cars in the neighborhood.

Well as you read at first I tried 80 and that was not nearly abrasive enough, so thats when I when on to the 83. Had I started with the 83 yea I would have saved a lot of time, and for the next black car I know what already, but I wanted to be extra careful with my car. I was paranoid, what can I say?

[ben_r_]

Originally Posted by slowandlow

i have seen and owned a few black cars and my dads 1992 dodge stealth rt turbo has less scratches than that. also is the porter cable a da buffer?

Yes it is a random orbital or dual action variable speed buffer.

[ahohnstein]

Originally Posted by ben_r_

Here is a pic of my end result after two days and about 12 hours of work. This pic was taken around sunset but it at least gives an idea.

Ben- can you post some pics in daylight?

[ben_r_]

Originally Posted by ahohnstein

Ben- can you post some pics in daylight?

Well I wont have a chance to till sat. But Ill take some and add it to this thread.

[ULTiMaX99]

wow beautiful results! if you were in socal you woulda loved the meguiars detail clinic we had 2 weeks ago.

[kindred6ul]

Originally Posted by ben_r_

Well as you read at first I tried 80 and that was not nearly abrasive enough, so thats when I when on to the 83. Had I started with the 83 yea I would have saved a lot of time, and for the next black car I know what already, but I wanted to be extra careful with my car. I was paranoid, what can I say?

Yeah im gonna have to order 83 i don't have that in my arsenal. After i get my PC im going to do the clay polish, PC w/ 83 then AIO Zaino followed by NXT for LSP all applied by the PC. I have a huge amount of respect for you since you've basically went from no detailing experience to a guru in a few months. I've known about autopia and the PC for almost 7 years since my first car, but i've never manned up the courage to make the purchase for the 7424. I already have all of the consumer based Meg products and Most of the 1st and 2nd gen Zaino products and have allot of experience by hand. Your Post inspired me to finally get going and detail the "REAL" way. Thanks!

[ShoFly]

Nice write up and great job!

[Old Oiler]

My wife decided to take out a support pillar in a garage last year. How in the world it did not dent the fender, I'll never know, but never-the-less, it went to bare metal!

I don't think the black Obsidian has a clear coat on it. I could see no evidence of separate layers.

I took an airbrush and repaired it myself with some paint the dealer gave to me.

Came out very good.

Ben, you did an impressive job with that paint to say the least!

I have found that "SpeedShine by Griotsgarage.com is some of the best stuff for inbetween washes. His other car care stuff works really well also. I'm still partial to the Zymol wax that you have to store in the icebox though.

Cheers,
Old Oiler

[15951]

Great improvement, but I think you should consider finishing with a finer cutting polish before waxing/sealing the next time. Your "afters" seem to show some marring/hazing in the paint which would be completely removed after a couple of passes with a less aggressive polish. A less aggressive pad can do the trick as well.

I'm a car care nut as well. I use Zaino products currently, but if you really want to see depth on black paint, try Pinnacle's Souveran wax...it doesn't last more than 3-4 weeks (pretty much the same as NXT, in my experience), but it looks amazing. When I used Sourveran, I used it as a topper on Klasse AIO - looked great, and AIO lasts nearly as long as Zaino.

[Drunkebuda]

hummm i want to buy a pc but how easy isit to burn the pain????

[ben_r_]

Originally Posted by kindred6ul

Yeah im gonna have to order 83 i don't have that in my arsenal. After i get my PC im going to do the clay polish, PC w/ 83 then AIO Zaino followed by NXT for LSP all applied by the PC. I have a huge amount of respect for you since you've basically went from no detailing experience to a guru in a few months. I've known about autopia and the PC for almost 7 years since my first car, but i've never manned up the courage to make the purchase for the 7424. I already have all of the consumer based Meg products and Most of the 1st and 2nd gen Zaino products and have allot of experience by hand. Your Post inspired me to finally get going and detail the "REAL" way. Thanks!

No problem! And thats great that you are finally going to get the PC. Here is a link to the one I bought, really good deal on amazon considering there is no shipping or tax charges!

Originally Posted by Old Oiler

My wife decided to take out a support pillar in a garage last year. How in the world it did not dent the fender, I'll never know, but never-the-less, it went to bare metal!

I don't think the black Obsidian has a clear coat on it. I could see no evidence of separate layers.

I took an airbrush and repaired it myself with some paint the dealer gave to me.

Came out very good.

Ben, you did an impressive job with that paint to say the least!

I have found that "SpeedShine by Griotsgarage.com is some of the best stuff for inbetween washes. His other car care stuff works really well also. I'm still partial to the Zymol wax that you have to store in the icebox though.

Cheers,
Old Oiler

Well, I have heard this rumor before about the black lexus' not having a clear coat and now that I have polished the car I can assure there is in fact a clear coat as after polishing my pad is the exact same color. Had this been a single stage paint there would have been black all over my pad.

Originally Posted by 15951

Great improvement, but I think you should consider finishing with a finer cutting polish before waxing/sealing the next time. Your "afters" seem to show some marring/hazing in the paint which would be completely removed after a couple of passes with a less aggressive polish. A less aggressive pad can do the trick as well.

I'm a car care nut as well. I use Zaino products currently, but if you really want to see depth on black paint, try Pinnacle's Souveran wax...it doesn't last more than 3-4 weeks (pretty much the same as NXT, in my experience), but it looks amazing. When I used Sourveran, I used it as a topper on Klasse AIO - looked great, and AIO lasts nearly as long as Zaino.

Thank you for the tip! I did notice the slight haze left over from the polishing. I tried to remove it by just going over the whole car with a clean micro fiber and got some of it off but not all of it. I thought it was just some of the 83 product left over that the wash didnt get off. I just waxed over it, but thought about using a cleaner wax or something first before waxing. Ive never used a cleaner wax before though so I wasnt sure if that would have helped. On the other note, I have been wanting to try both Klasse AIO and some of the Zaino line. Im working towards a more autopian product line up... I just made the switch to Lake Country CCS pads both 4" and 6" with flexible backing plates. Lastly yea I know all these LSPs only last a few weeks, that why I have ever intention of waxing the car once a month and doing NXT quick detailer every two weeks.

[ben_r_]

Originally Posted by Drunkebuda

hummm i want to buy a pc but how easy isit to burn the pain????

With a PC.... Near impossible. Read here, buy here, maybe find a how to DVD (I got one off ebay, watched it and then resold it) and youre good to go. Trust me youll never look back!

[mandyfig]

Great advice! I might invest in a PC!

[IEMaestro]

That's why I would never buy a black car again...too much trouble to keep clean!

[iceman1117]

Originally Posted by spin

Iceman and I are detailing our cars on saturday, we got UDM's, im going to show you what a real detail is =D

You got it spin ... We will post pics of before, during, and after.