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This is more of an all week thing but who's keeping track right!? Paint correction and sealant time. Had a rough couple past years with surgeries and just life kicking my butt in general. Finally have the ability to dig in to the car again. Menzerna compound, polish, then Adams Buttery wax, now on to Cquartz Sic coating. Couldn't be happier. Is it 100% swirl free? Nope.....but it's damn close and for a almost 10yo black car I'm stoked with the results. Gave me a new found respect for true detailers that do this for a living, no thanks. Mad respect. These pics are after wax, before coating.
Edit: Didn't 'look' at previous post before posting lol. Seems to be a 'fall' trend here with detailing. Nice..... Griots garage G9 and 3" mini used here among a multitude of other products besides the aforementioned Menzerna and coating. Good to see other folks on the same page
Edit #2: Entire car looked TERRIBLE beforehand, was way past due for this. Almost got to wet sanding a couple spots but thought it was 'good enough'.
This is more of an all week thing but who's keeping track right!? Paint correction and sealant time. Had a rough couple past years with surgeries and just life kicking my butt in general. Finally have the ability to dig in to the car again. Menzerna compound, polish, then Adams Buttery wax, now on to Cquartz Sic coating. Couldn't be happier. Is it 100% swirl free? Nope.....but it's damn close and for a almost 10yo black car I'm stoked with the results. Gave me a new found respect for true detailers that do this for a living, no thanks. Mad respect. These pics are after wax, before coating.
Edit: Didn't 'look' at previous post before posting lol. Seems to be a 'fall' trend here with detailing. Nice..... Griots garage G9 and 3" mini used here among a multitude of other products besides the aforementioned Menzerna and coating. Good to see other folks on the same page
Edit #2: Entire car looked TERRIBLE beforehand, was way past due for this. Almost got to wet sanding a couple spots but thought it was 'good enough'.
Wow beautiful looking car.
You put in some work there. My forearms and back are sore after spending all day a couple days ago detailing mine.
I think I may have enjoyed being a detailer as a younger person, but at 50 it kind of knocks me out LOL>
You put in some work there. My forearms and back are sore after spending all day a couple days ago detailing mine.
I think I may have enjoyed being a detailer as a younger person, but at 50 it kind of knocks me out LOL>
I feel ya. At 40 I'm super sore but it's one of those 'good' sores ya know? I put in some work lol. Yours looks beautiful as well. I took a day for each step. Clayed the whole car one day (with baggie test) to ensure it was contaminate free as much as possible. Compound the next day, then polish, etc....Started ceramic coating yesterday and grabbed a bad microbifer towel and marred the hell outta my hood before I noticed. *grumble* Fixed it this morning and back to coating we go.....
My detailing OCD is becoming a problem LOL. The paint is really good considering it's 10 years old, but there were noticeable
water spots etched in on the horizontal surfaces (trunk lid/roof/hood), which have been bothering me each time I wash it.
Took basically the whole day detailing her. Rinseless wash with Griot's rinseless, towel dry. Tested a clay bar to see if it would improve the spotting. It did not. Moved forward to compounding trunk lid/roof/hood (sonax cutmax with Meguiar's white microfiber cutting pads) and followed up with polish (koch chemie microcut with lake country green foam pad). After the two steps did a quick ipa wipedown and applied p21s carnauba.
I'm pretty surprised how much of a difference it made. The whole thing pops way brighter and the water spots are no more.. I wonder if the compound step was necessary. Didn't do a test section like you're supposed to LOL.
Anyway if anyone has pretty good paint and is wondering if doing a polish will really make a difference, my $0.02 says yes, which it probably wouldn't have yesterday.
Nice job! Kudos on the work you put in, A+ for effort!
The compound probably made removing the water spots easier since the abrasives would level the surface. The polish gave you that glass like mirror finish, and I've heard the P21s provides a wet look. Again, good job!
I was surprised to see the P21S since hardly anyone uses carnuba waxes anymore... might want to research the durability to see how long you can go before having to apply again.
Here's an intersting review vid I found comparing a few carnuba waxes...
I feel ya. At 40 I'm super sore but it's one of those 'good' sores ya know? I put in some work lol. Yours looks beautiful as well. I took a day for each step. Clayed the whole car one day (with baggie test) to ensure it was contaminate free as much as possible. Compound the next day, then polish, etc....Started ceramic coating yesterday and grabbed a bad microbifer towel and marred the hell outta my hood before I noticed. *grumble* Fixed it this morning and back to coating we go.....
Wow you're a patient guy. I did all mine in one day because I only compounded the parts of the car that had water spotting. I should have spread it out in retrospect because by the end of the day I could feel I wasn't being as precise because I was tired and wanted to be done!!!
Nice job! Kudos on the work you put in, A+ for effort!
The compound probably made removing the water spots easier since the abrasives would level the surface. The polish gave you that glass like mirror finish, and I've heard the P21s provides a wet look. Again, good job!
I was surprised to see the P21S since hardly anyone uses carnuba waxes anymore... might want to research the durability to see how long you can go before having to apply again.
At this point I'm enjoying spending time on the car so don't mind lack of durability that much. I think when the wax starts to die (should be a month or so), I'll strip off the wax and compare how it looks with a sealant (going to use TW seal and shine). I've put sealant on before but I like how warm wax looks compared to the mirror look of sealant if that makes sense. If I prefer the wax look - as I expect I will - I'll put wax back on top and leave the seal and shine as a base.
I've used a few different waxes (P21S, Meguiar's deep crystal, turtle wax ice spray wax) and the results are honestly very similar but a slight edge to the look with P21S They all have their strong points. Meguiar's is crazy cheap ($7 on Amazon right now), TW is easiest to apply, and the P21S is the most enjoyable experience (it goes on like butter and is weirdly pleasurable to buff out). I'm curious about the colinite I may try that someday.
Swapped out my AEM CAI to an AEM CAI Cond Filter… noticeable difference on the butt dyno! Past 4k rpms and closer to 5K+ the GS screams (no rasp or drone making it sound like a 97 Civic).
Holy cow I washed my car for the first time since I put the wheels on it, July 9 2021 was the last wash. I had no intention of washing it today but as I got home right before I pulled into the garage a bird came by and literally had a diarrhea explosion all over my and my moms car. It literally looked like someone threw a can of paint on it. I knew I had no choice but to get it clean asap.
Cleaned up really nice and easy for all the grime and road film on it, plus 3 seasons worth of love bug guts caked on washed by nothing but rain. opti-coat pro+ coating still rocking even with literally zero maintenance over the last 16 months.
I did nothing with it. It sat in the garage, collecting dust, while I drove the Tundra in the crap weather. But...seeing it sitting there in all its beauty, while gathering dust, I vowed that I shall NOT sell this car! I just love it!
10-28-22, 08:40 PM
