Waxed door pillar and also used paint touch up kit successfully
03-21-15, 07:13 PM
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
Waxed door pillar and also used paint touch up kit successfully
Slow day in my world today so I thought I would post my minor successes today in case someone was looking for a similar solution.
My car is a 2004 LS430....the door pillars are gloss black......they have been water spotting badly after car washing and were looking lack luster. I needed something to cut just enough to remove the water spots but not too much as to scratch the gloss paint. I used Maguires Deep Crystal cleaner wax on a clean micro fiber towel........my suggestion is to have plenty of wax on your towel and start w lightest pressure first to see what will get the job done. If light pressure works...great, if not go to a light medium......then a medium if needed......note mine were in pretty bad shape....Took me a while to find the correct pressure to apply....for me it was medium hard first coat....followed by med...then soft to remove any scratches. On the other side I pressed too hard and created fine scratches......took me 3 more coats with lighter pressure in different directions to remove the scratches.........Bottom line....now no water spots with decent wax protection against them coming back soon.....and the pillars are a nice gloss black.....huge difference.....maybe a clay bar would have been more efficient...not sure.
I also went after the fewl little imperfections....paint chips on the body. I ordered the Cypress Pearl touch up paint and have been wanting to apply but have never had great success with these kits. Here is what worked for me.......amateur hour....im no detailer but this worked very well.
First determine the type of chip or scratch.....deep small chips should have edges of chip sanded down for blending purposes.......light scratches are easy w this kit......I call it a kit...the thing w the brush and pen combo.....u guys know what im talkin about.
First clean the wax off of the affected area....I used denatured alcohol on a q tip.......then shake the crap out of the tube thing....pull brush out and knock almost all of the paint off of the tip.....less is much better then more. Simply feather the brush across the defect lightly ...do not put too much paint on the defect....just enough. Then let it dry for a couple of hours.......then I used a light rubbing compound on a micro fiber towel.....just think of it as very fine sand paper and you are basically sanding the new paint that u applied down to the same height as the rest of the cars paint.......or think of it as u are melting the new paint into the void by rubbing the compound on it. I kept loading the towel with compound keeping the towel wet w fresh compound rub w medium pressure until u see the new paint sort of blend with the existing. It wont be 100 %.....but it will lay down. At this point u will have light scratching on your paint from the compound. I stepped up to a mild grit cleaner wax to remove the light scratches....again Maguires Deep Crystal cleaner wax.....rub on w clean towel until scratches are gone........and u have finished product. You could then finish with a top coat of wax only if u want....but thats over kill in my world. The defects will now be un-noticeable from 5 feet away....... Mine looks much better......My car only had about 3 chips on one side and a light scratch or 2 on the hood......but these defects would grab my eyes every time I washed my car......now they are hard to find.........
again.......the pros will use different products and change up the methods a bit.....but this worked for me.
Hope this help someone
Good luck
My car is a 2004 LS430....the door pillars are gloss black......they have been water spotting badly after car washing and were looking lack luster. I needed something to cut just enough to remove the water spots but not too much as to scratch the gloss paint. I used Maguires Deep Crystal cleaner wax on a clean micro fiber towel........my suggestion is to have plenty of wax on your towel and start w lightest pressure first to see what will get the job done. If light pressure works...great, if not go to a light medium......then a medium if needed......note mine were in pretty bad shape....Took me a while to find the correct pressure to apply....for me it was medium hard first coat....followed by med...then soft to remove any scratches. On the other side I pressed too hard and created fine scratches......took me 3 more coats with lighter pressure in different directions to remove the scratches.........Bottom line....now no water spots with decent wax protection against them coming back soon.....and the pillars are a nice gloss black.....huge difference.....maybe a clay bar would have been more efficient...not sure.
I also went after the fewl little imperfections....paint chips on the body. I ordered the Cypress Pearl touch up paint and have been wanting to apply but have never had great success with these kits. Here is what worked for me.......amateur hour....im no detailer but this worked very well.
First determine the type of chip or scratch.....deep small chips should have edges of chip sanded down for blending purposes.......light scratches are easy w this kit......I call it a kit...the thing w the brush and pen combo.....u guys know what im talkin about.
First clean the wax off of the affected area....I used denatured alcohol on a q tip.......then shake the crap out of the tube thing....pull brush out and knock almost all of the paint off of the tip.....less is much better then more. Simply feather the brush across the defect lightly ...do not put too much paint on the defect....just enough. Then let it dry for a couple of hours.......then I used a light rubbing compound on a micro fiber towel.....just think of it as very fine sand paper and you are basically sanding the new paint that u applied down to the same height as the rest of the cars paint.......or think of it as u are melting the new paint into the void by rubbing the compound on it. I kept loading the towel with compound keeping the towel wet w fresh compound rub w medium pressure until u see the new paint sort of blend with the existing. It wont be 100 %.....but it will lay down. At this point u will have light scratching on your paint from the compound. I stepped up to a mild grit cleaner wax to remove the light scratches....again Maguires Deep Crystal cleaner wax.....rub on w clean towel until scratches are gone........and u have finished product. You could then finish with a top coat of wax only if u want....but thats over kill in my world. The defects will now be un-noticeable from 5 feet away....... Mine looks much better......My car only had about 3 chips on one side and a light scratch or 2 on the hood......but these defects would grab my eyes every time I washed my car......now they are hard to find.........
again.......the pros will use different products and change up the methods a bit.....but this worked for me.
Hope this help someone
Good luck
03-21-15, 07:32 PM
#3
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
do u mean the touch up paint is just a filler? I would assume since there is no clear coat on a job like this that the touch up paint will eventually fade away.........but simple enough to just re apply
03-21-15, 08:20 PM
#4
If you really wanted to perfect those chipped spots, you better do them the right way, or IMO they'll look even worse. I have to do a couple on my car, but I broke my hand and can't run on full power for now.
Anyways, depending on the depth of the chip, you might need bondo for it to look flawless, or if it ain't too deep, (kind of like a thin scratch) then you'd be fine using paint only.
I've seen some repair kits that have clear coat pens included, so after you fill the gap on your car with bondo/paint you give it a good protection with the clear coat pen.
Again, also depending on the scratch or chip, you might need very small and delicate tools to apply the paint to the body, as small scratches need way less paint than what a cotton swab can hold. So in that case you would need to sand down areas where you over applied the paint.
I advise to do it correctly or you'll kind of regret taking the risk ending up with something horrible.
You can also take a look at Larry's work here in this video. Don't let his madness suck you in, because he has some key points that he makes.
Anyways, depending on the depth of the chip, you might need bondo for it to look flawless, or if it ain't too deep, (kind of like a thin scratch) then you'd be fine using paint only.
I've seen some repair kits that have clear coat pens included, so after you fill the gap on your car with bondo/paint you give it a good protection with the clear coat pen.
Again, also depending on the scratch or chip, you might need very small and delicate tools to apply the paint to the body, as small scratches need way less paint than what a cotton swab can hold. So in that case you would need to sand down areas where you over applied the paint.
I advise to do it correctly or you'll kind of regret taking the risk ending up with something horrible.
You can also take a look at Larry's work here in this video. Don't let his madness suck you in, because he has some key points that he makes.
03-21-15, 09:00 PM
#5
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
hey 911 I agree with what you are saying......and I watched your 32 minute video. Ultimately what that pro did was the same ....in theory .....that I described. Fortunately for me....past touch up jobs that I had done made me more cautious on this touch up job.......the biggest thing I learned was to use very very little paint on the brush or whatever you are using to apply with. The pro in the video took similar steps with diff products........
Clean.........fill.......knock down........blend.........finish....................
In my case my touch up repairs came out looking great because I took my time and didnt over do anything. I gave the best tips I could think of for anyone to avoid making their chips look worse........And honestly if someone were to put a glob off paint on a small chip and it turned out a little sayyyy rough.........the mistake could always be wet sanded good as new by someone with the skills to do it right.
So if u guys have a couple small chips or light scratches.....watch a couple of YouTube videos of the pros doing it......heed some of my suggestions and go for it.........not a big deal at all.
If u have big defects or large scratches.....put the brush down and pay a pro
Clean.........fill.......knock down........blend.........finish....................
In my case my touch up repairs came out looking great because I took my time and didnt over do anything. I gave the best tips I could think of for anyone to avoid making their chips look worse........And honestly if someone were to put a glob off paint on a small chip and it turned out a little sayyyy rough.........the mistake could always be wet sanded good as new by someone with the skills to do it right.
So if u guys have a couple small chips or light scratches.....watch a couple of YouTube videos of the pros doing it......heed some of my suggestions and go for it.........not a big deal at all.
If u have big defects or large scratches.....put the brush down and pay a pro
03-22-15, 03:58 PM
#7
Yep, even though the Megs Crystal Cleaner Wax claims to remove swirl marks, it also masks swirl marks by filling them in with product only to reveal themselves again after the product wears off. Any product with the ingredient kaolin or kaolinite in its dna makeup is a swirl filler... a great way of hiding swirl marks until the paint is corrected properly
Gotta love youtube.... I go there often for know-how knowledge.. I watched the entire video posted above and my thoughts were afterwards.... why?
That vehicle had too many lines in it making it easy to do a blend spray repair if desired, black paints are the easiest to blend. However, if you look at the size of the panels compared to the damage it leaves no doubt that I personally would have filled scratch with bondo, sanded, sprayed with sealer, base coat, then clear coat
I have to tip my hat to the dude, that was a tedious task... kinda friend to have around when the fish aren't biting.. No drama
As per car chips, the diy method posted above works fine, bondo is not necessary on a chip, if the chip has gone past the primer, then spray some primer in a cap and touch up the chip with primer prior to filling with paint. (Allow primer to dry first) This will not only protect the metal but help serve as a leveler...
In the past I used the Dr Chip kits, now I just have the auto paint supply store make me a pint of paint. No waiting on mail order and cheaper in price.
EDIT} Note, I purchase paint directly from supplier and mix ratio according to instructions, as I always have hardener, reducer, thinner etc, on hand. I mix paint in one of those paper cups used for ketchup at Wendys ( buy them by the 100pk at party store) I then mix my clear and activator 4:1 in a separate cup. Using mini eye dropper, I buy at Walmart or CVS I then mix my clear coat and paint together in a fresh paper cup at a ratio of 1:! - 1drop clear to 1 drop paint. I do have a technique for applying, maybe do a write up with pics some day...END of EDIT
Don't pay too much attention to what I say, I'm no painter and do not want to mislead anyone
Back to March Madness now!
Gotta love youtube.... I go there often for know-how knowledge.. I watched the entire video posted above and my thoughts were afterwards.... why?
That vehicle had too many lines in it making it easy to do a blend spray repair if desired, black paints are the easiest to blend. However, if you look at the size of the panels compared to the damage it leaves no doubt that I personally would have filled scratch with bondo, sanded, sprayed with sealer, base coat, then clear coat
I have to tip my hat to the dude, that was a tedious task... kinda friend to have around when the fish aren't biting.. No drama
As per car chips, the diy method posted above works fine, bondo is not necessary on a chip, if the chip has gone past the primer, then spray some primer in a cap and touch up the chip with primer prior to filling with paint. (Allow primer to dry first) This will not only protect the metal but help serve as a leveler...
In the past I used the Dr Chip kits, now I just have the auto paint supply store make me a pint of paint. No waiting on mail order and cheaper in price.
EDIT} Note, I purchase paint directly from supplier and mix ratio according to instructions, as I always have hardener, reducer, thinner etc, on hand. I mix paint in one of those paper cups used for ketchup at Wendys ( buy them by the 100pk at party store) I then mix my clear and activator 4:1 in a separate cup. Using mini eye dropper, I buy at Walmart or CVS I then mix my clear coat and paint together in a fresh paper cup at a ratio of 1:! - 1drop clear to 1 drop paint. I do have a technique for applying, maybe do a write up with pics some day...END of EDIT
Don't pay too much attention to what I say, I'm no painter and do not want to mislead anyone
Back to March Madness now!
Last edited by xtr3me; 03-22-15 at 10:59 PM. Reason: READ EDIT
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03-23-15, 05:29 PM
#8
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
interesting.........as it turns out the Meguiars that I used was Meguiars Cleaner Wax......I thought it was deep crystal but wasnt......I will assume that u guys will say this product is also a filler......in that case what product should I have used to step up from the compound to remove the scratches? Should I have ramped up to another " compund product " that says for light scratches......then follow that with wax of my choosing?
Extr3me has already been kind enough to give me a list of preferred detailing products.....but we didnt discuss compounding.....
Extr3me has already been kind enough to give me a list of preferred detailing products.....but we didnt discuss compounding.....
03-23-15, 11:45 PM
#9
interesting.........as it turns out the Meguiars that I used was Meguiars Cleaner Wax......I thought it was deep crystal but wasnt......I will assume that u guys will say this product is also a filler......in that case what product should I have used to step up from the compound to remove the scratches? Should I have ramped up to another " compund product " that says for light scratches......then follow that with wax of my choosing?
Extr3me has already been kind enough to give me a list of preferred detailing products.....but we didnt discuss compounding.....
Extr3me has already been kind enough to give me a list of preferred detailing products.....but we didnt discuss compounding.....
It does remove light swirl marks but will also mask markings. More than likely you are removing the majority of micro marring and swirls, but it may be filling markings that you can't see w/o artificial lighting. Regardless, this is good as it will cause the paint to shine - Reflecting rather than refracting light. By no means, were we trashing the product, merely agreeing that it has swirl filler properties. It does leave a nice end result!
Look on the bottle of regular (A12) Megs Cleaner Wax, it states"Americas #1 Selling Wax," of course its been on the market since 8 track players, afros, bell bottoms, tube socks and converse shoes were hip. Been around that long, speaks for itself, I would say
I have a bottle of the A12 cleaner wax and use it on my old da pads before I trash them, I'll polish the glass top stove, shower glass and shower/tub, etc..
There are much better products available today IMO, but it is still considered by many as one of the best bangs for your money. It is considered an AIO (all in 1) - {cleaner, polish, protectant }. I question the wax properties and longevity though. So I would recommend a wax of choice also. It's at the bottom of the charts as aggressiveness is concerned, keep in mind that our Japanese paints have soft clear coats so it may just be the product that works for you. If you want a easy on, easy off wax that will last 4-6 months. I recommend Collinite 845 @ $18 a bottle. Remember thin is in (apply thin coat) - Read online reviews
Waxes, polishes, compounds and coatings are so subjective, one of the reasons I try and stay away from detailing forums
03-24-15, 06:35 AM
#10
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
Thanks Extr3me........Will purchase a bottle of Coll 845 and check it out. I would pay 50 per bottle if something works well. I remember back in the old days when I would wax my 1975 Cutlass Supreme that the paint would feel buttery smooth and I couldnt even set something on the hood or it would slide off. For some reason these days as I bounce from product to product looking for the Holy Grail .....the only way to get that buttery smooth feel is to clay bar. Maybe Collinite will take back to the days of my Cutlass w swivel bucket seats and reversible seat pads......thats right....I could remove the captains chair top and bottom inserts and flip them around.....u want vinyl or velour .....my lady liked the velour 
I wish I still had that car...great cruiser. As u can see I am still in a cruiser...and 30 yrs later my lady likes premium leather that is perforated to heat and cool her to her satisfaction .......Honestly I had a 2002 Toyota Avalon with velour seats in it before the LS and we both loved the old school comfort. We called it the couch car. Ok....this ramble is over......Im out
I wish I still had that car...great cruiser. As u can see I am still in a cruiser...and 30 yrs later my lady likes premium leather that is perforated to heat and cool her to her satisfaction .......Honestly I had a 2002 Toyota Avalon with velour seats in it before the LS and we both loved the old school comfort. We called it the couch car. Ok....this ramble is over......Im out
03-25-15, 05:00 AM
#11
Driver School Candidate
Wow thanks for posting guys i was at the auto parts lookin at the various products, good thing i didnt buy any got a damn headache looking an reading all the labels lol
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