nasageek

iTrader: (1)

Just finished detailing my blue 2005 Scion XB. Its my daily driver Hopefully in a week or two, I'll finish up detailing my GS400.

I bought the XB used about 2 months ago and it had a TON of swirls. It was HORRIBLE. Only reason I bought the car, it had really low mileage and the maintenance was all up to date.

I used the Menzerna line of products to help take out the scratches and swirls. I just bought a Flex 3401 as my polisher/DA of choice. This was my first time using any industrial grade DA (I’ve used the cheapo autozone/kragen orbitals in the past). I bought all of the Menzerna products and the Flex 3401 from Phil at Detailers Domain. He gave me the best price out of anyone and his customer service is top notch. He answered all of my annoying questions with great professionalism. He just made a loyal customer

First I used the Menzerna Power Gloss with a yellow pad to take off the majority of the swirls. Next I used the Menzerna Power Finish with an orange pad. To finish off the polishing, I used the Menzerna Super Finish with a blue pad. I then used the Menzerna Power Lock Sealant (more on this later) with a grey pad and topped off with 2 coats of P21S concours-look carnauba wax, applied by hand.

Back to the Menzerna power lock. When I finished detailing my car, I proceeded to wash the pads. I used just regular dishwashing soap (Dawn) which worked great on all the pads EXCEPT the grey pad. The soap would NOT break down the Menzerna power lock. I let it soak for 10 minutes in the soap and hot water and it still wouldn’t break it down. After manually scrubbing/squeezing it out, there was still some sealant left in the pad. Felt very greasy. Keep in mind, I only used a 1-2 quarter sized drops per panel, depending on the size. I then used the Meguiars Super Degreaser and let the pad soak for 5 minutes. It seemed to work a lot better than the Dawn soap. It seems like the power lock sealant is TOUGH, although it is the EASIEST sealant I’ve ever used. One spray of water on the pad, quarter sized amount of the sealant, so easy to apply using the flex and a grey pad, and the EASIEST product I’ve ever used taking off. It leaves a nice soft/slick surface.

In addition, I noticed after I topped off using one coat of P21S, the color of the car looked darker, which I loved but the slickness was gone. Using 2 coats didn’t seem to make any difference in the color as 1 coat. Reminder, don’t let the P21S haze. It’s a PITA to take off when it hazes.

If I were to do it all over again, I would either do all of the polishing and use the Power Lock Sealant as my LSP. I loved how slick the surface was and it gave a really nice shine.

Even after spending 2 days on the car, there's still some scratches left, but they're deep scratches. I'd say I took off 90% of the swirls. Some panels I spent more time on, other panels I got lazy.

Here's the pics:

Before:




After:

bnizzle87

great after shots! whooo....it was a swirl magnet in the befores. looks terrific now!

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Sun shots now!

Good job. Reminds me of the brillo pad swirls I had on my ES in the past

Angelo

Your toyota looks great! try to do a wipedown after each step when using menzerna, so you can tell if you correction was done right and to remove any oils/fillers that gets in the way when you are using your LSP. Here's some information on the sealants and waxes for you. BTW you ride looks awesome!

Synthetic or man-made, "waxes" are called paint sealants. Made with state-of-the-art, engineered, polymers, the best sealants create a sizzling, bright shine that grabs your attention. Sealants are the exact opposite of carnauba waxes having a very high surface adhesion with a low surface tension. This means sealants can last up to 6 months or more and have a slippery finish which sheets water to minimize water spots. Sealants are highly resistant to detergent washings and are typically easy to apply either by hand or machine.

On the minus side, some sealants have been criticized for producing a sterile shine, lacking in emotion, depth and wetness although the newer, German, sealants come very close to mimicking carnauba's darkness and liquidity. Sealants are less forgiving on poor paint finishes, tending to high light or amplify swirls, spots and paint imperfections.

Carnauba car waxes have certainly withstood the test of time having been around over 100 years and are still favored by many car enthusiasts and show car owners. The best carnauba waxes create a deeper, darker, richer, "wet-looking" shine that compliments black, red and dark color finishes. Carnauba waxes tend to hide some minor swirls and paint imperfections and bead water on the surface.

On the minus side, carnauba waxes tend to last from 30 to 90 days ( Collinite Waxes last up to 180 days ) and may create chalky-white residues which stain trim moldings. Carnauba waxes have low surface adhesion which means even mild detergents will remove them and a high surface tension which makes the finish more prone to water spots.

Tabaka

iTrader: (8)

looks showroom! great job!

nasageek

iTrader: (1)

Angelo, I did wipe down after using each menzerna product. You have to do that in order to remove the product before applying the next step .

If I were to do anything differently, it'd be to only use Sealant and layer it twice. I think the P21S took away some of the shine from the sealant. It contradicts what you wrote, but that's what I noticed on my car.

Thanks everyone. Took me A LONG time to finish up this car. The swirls were a PITA to take off. Some were very deep scratches.

detailersdomain

iTrader: (3)

looks great!