Need To Get My Shine Back!

[Bellato]

So finally got my cut and polish and hit the car with one coat of naviwax afterwards. Overall really happy with the results. Its not quite 100% but for what it cost me I'm stoked.

Only thing is Fark what a dog to clean the polish off everywhere once it was done, it was everywhere! Still didn't get all of it and will have to try again this weekend. Anyway here's some before and afters

[bossmang]

good job mate.

but yes cleaning all the polish off is a pita job.

jog my memory did you use hand or machine ?

[Bellato]

Ended up getting a friend whose a panel beater to do it. She did it for $150 and took her about 3ish hours. She used a machine polisher. Wool pad and cutting compound first, then foam pad with swirl remover and finished with polish by hand. Then I did the naviwax myself by hand. Took ages so only got one coat on and going to do another coat when I wash the car next

For $200 I'm very happy with the result, except now I see all the stone chips lol

[L plate]

Great job , came up looking a treat . Luv the sun roof , Wheels and no rear spoiler gives it a bit of a euro look but tuff.

[Shyfrd]

Looks tough now mate!!

Great job

[bossmang]

I got some pics to upload on the detail I did on my old ss.

not the best but give u an idea

[Rancidpunx]

Sorry I have to disagree, that is not a good job. A big improvement for $200 and its good that your happy, but the car is still covered in swirls and now also covered in buffer trails. The finish is also really flat with no depth of gloss. THe last picture looks good as that's a shady side, the car could be dirty but would still look good with the over exposure. $3 worth of tape also stops the polish, no excuse for a panel beater not to tape up the car considering trim can get damaged. There was no need for a wool pad either. A medium polish and soft cutting foam pads would have dealt with the swirls you had. Compound with a wool pad is very abrasive and will have removed 3 times as much paint that was needed to remove those swirls, would also end up with far less trails. Naviwax will have concealed some defects aswell.

Naviwax taking some time is also not right. Its so easy to use that it should not take you more than 1/2hr -45mins to get around the car.

Im sorry sh*t on your pictures but it should be a lesson for everyone that you cannot get the car polished in a few hours for a few hundred bucks. Realistically the wash process and decontamination process alone before even picking up the machine should be taking 2hrs or so. Rush jobs by hacks (most panel beaters are also crap at polishing correctly) can end up making the finish worse as well as thin the paint significantly as well as damage trim and mirrors. Then they turn around and say that the last few swirls cant be gotten rid of. See a pro guys, $500 or so on a $50k car, 1% is a small price to know that your car will be looked after and be delivered back better than when your bought it.

[Bellato]

Thanks guys

Hey rancid don't get me wrong it's certainly not perfect but given I have struggled to find even a half decent detailer in Griffith or Canberra I was very limited n wanted it cleaned up asap n this was my best option and it is heaps better so I am happy with the result for what I paid.

She did tape everything up to avoid burning any rubber etc but there was still crap all through the gaps in the bonnet, boot, doors etc n If I had of known how bad it would go everywhere I would have taped inside everywhere.

Also I personally spent 2-3 hours washing, then claying, then washing the car again before the cut n polish. Not sure if more should have been done but this was all I thought/read should be done

I was really cautious applying the wax n wanted to take my time because with the container not being in English I don't really know exactly how to apply it so was going off YouTube clips and forums. But I think I would struggle to do the car in under an hour, maybe I'm applying too thick or spending too much time going over the same panel?

Yea the last picture was more just one to show off my car, can't help but being proud of the car I own at 21 and being a Uni student lol

I agree with the wool pad firstly, when I saw it I was a bit hesitant but I wasn't really in a position to tell her she was doing it 'wrong'. And I noticed she didn't wipe down after each stage which I figured would be bad because surely you need to take the cutting compound off to then do swirl remover so your not gong back over with the cutting compound? If she did my car again I would make sure the cars wiped down after each stage because I think this would have made a difference

At the end of the day your perfectly right, it's not a perfect job, but given my options were $350, $200 ($200 this friend doing it on the weekend or $350 was her still doing it just through her bosses business) or not get it done at all, so im happy with the results I got for what I paid.

[Rancidpunx]

Yeah sorry bud if it seemed like I was having a go at you personally but its still a good example of the results other guys can expect from 3hrs. There is that many idiots out their swinging a machine polisher around calling a service a cut and polish and they ruin cars and give the process a bad name. I get calls every day from guys expecting a job to take a few hours because everyone else they have spoken to says it will. Others get scared and dont commit when a machine polisher is mentioned.

By doing all the wash stuff yourself was a good idea as I know of places that wont even wash a car before polishing it because it saves time. Not wiping down inbetween stages is another time saving trick. If the polishes are using the same carrier agent and are similar in strength and worked completely by the user then it is Ok, but compounds are gritty and heavy and certainly would be different to a swirl remover. The powdery, gritty compound would have contaminated the swirl remover and would have actually been introduing fine scratching. The last step by hand is bizaar as it would have acheived nothing at all.

I would also say that's the problem you have with Naviwax. By not having the polish fully removed from the paint with Alcohol (20% Isopropyl in water) it messes with everything you try and do afterwards. Most people think polish is applied to a car and left their to make it shine. that's not the case. Making it shiny is the result of polishing and deepening the gloss but it should be the paint that is glossy, Not the product on top. Old cars with older single stage paint finished used to have polishes applied and left however the term is still used today and the way products are labelled confuses things further. Polish is a pain to remove and takes time with the alcohol but will mean the finish is clean for the wax to be applied to. If its not the wax will streak and smear and generally be pain to use, as well as not last long becauses its not adhered properly to the dirty surface. Bare in mind that you may not be able to actually see the left over residue. If the polish is oil based which most are, once the white media is wiped away often the clear oils can be left behind soaked into the pours of the paint.

Theres a lot to take in most of which so called pros out there wont acknowledge as it takes time, but you got it to a place that your happy with that's the main thing. How far are you from Wagga? Theres a detailer there that would be able to do rest for you and he is one of the best in the country.

[bossmang]

ok a few pics from my ss detail from a couple of years ago. (keep your pants on MADF6 this time.)

only here to show how I went about it. I wont say too much as im obviously not too good at getting my point across on forums. :/ lol

\/ \/ \/ \/ BEFORE:

im not to sure, but this may have had one pass over it already. I remember the swirls being a lot worse than this.

\/ \/ \/ Random shot during masking it up:

you can see many microfibe clothes on the back window and front lol, also one of the pads on back window.

\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ AFTER:

yet to have any sealant etc etc applied.

Edited 14/12/12 06:13 AM by Ford Freak