Busy day today.
To start off, I got to watch Honda powered cars travel at 220mph for almost 3 hours.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a clue:
^^^Click it, it's a video
That car at the beginning of the vid was the race winner
100 years ago. Think about that.....
I saw this guy with the arrow above his head commit an epic fail right in front of me:
His job is to
1) remove one bolt.
2) take off one wheel/tire.
3) put on one fresh wheel/tire.
4) replace and tighten one bolt.
That's it....that is all he supposed to do, nothing more. That is his profession. He had the first 3 steps down great, but #4 was just too much.
That car (Will Power, one of the big money teams) completed a full lap with 3 wheels, lost a lap, but went on to finish the race after running with the lead lap cars all day. If not for Captain Fail above, he could have been a competitor for the win.
Other than that fail, it was probably one of the best races I have been to, and I've gone to the 500 every year since I was in grade school. Tony Kanaan moved from the back of the field to the front 3 separate times driving for a low budget team. I saw my favorite driver, Tomas Scheckter, make an insane move in turn one where he went 3 wide in the turn on a restart, and went from 15th to 7th in one corner. Add those to the wreck at the end, an underdog low budget team getting the win, constant shuffling of the field and all that added up for an epic 500.
....But anyway, more on topic: The race was over in the late afternoon this year, so I still had most of a day to kill afterwards. That is very rare for me these days, as I usually work 7 days a week. What better way to kill an evening in the summer than detailing the 'lude?
This was my second attempt at correcting my 12 year old paint. Attempt number one a few months wasn't a total failure, but I still wasn't happy with it. As it turned out, I didn't have the right products to get the job done. This is was I started with today, after washing and claying, so my car is already squeaky clean in these "before" pics:
Roof:
Quarter Panel:
Trunk:
None of the panels are awful, but they all have swirl marks. Most people would never notice them, but I'm not most people. They bug me.
I did the rough compounding a few months ago during my first attempt, so I didn't have to do that again, but I still needed to spend some quality time with Mr. Buffer to finish correcting the paint.
Relevant steps in round two of paint correction.
1) Washed the car with Chemical Guys Citrus wash, in the correct dilution to strip old wax/sealant. (~1 hour)
2) Clayed the entire car with Mother's clay bar kit. (~1 hour)
3) Polished entire car (sans bumpers, which still aren't fully cured) with Chemical Guys FP (final polish) and my DA polisher. (~2 hours)
4) Applied Poorboy's world Black Hole Glaze with my DA polisher. (~ 30 minutes)
5) Rewashed the entire car with Ultima Waterless Wash Plus, to remove all the oils and LOTS of blue dust left behind by the polish and glaze ( ~30 minutes)
6) Applied Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection (A sealant) with my DA polisher. ( ~ 30 minutes)
7) Got bored waiting for the sealant to dry, took pictures
(~20 minutes)
8) Removed sealant. (~10 minutes)
I never made it to the interior, wheels, headlights, or glass tonight. Also, the sealant I used requires 24 hours to dry before I can wax over it, so all that fun stuff comes tomorrow.
Order of products used from left to right, plus a bunch more microfiber towels not pictured. Unfortunately, only 2 of these products are available at box stores, most of which only carry crap
. I also used every last microfiber I have tonight, and I have way more of those than any sane person would own.
Also note that these are not nearly all of the detailing products I have. Yes, I know I have a problem. Autogeek/Chemical Guys/Detailed Image will be the death of me.
The results:
If I said my paint was now perfect, it would be a lie. My car is 12 years old, and has absorbed quite a bit of punishment, I was not expecting perfection. There are 6 small dings in the sides, some waterspots and a few deep scratches that are still there. While I'm sure I could remove them, there might not be any paint left by the time I did. That said, it's not perfect, but I challenge anyone to find a daily driven car with similar age/mileage as mine with paint that is in better condition.
Sealant off:
Quarter panel:
No more swirls.
Roof:
Notice how you can see see everything up in the rafters like you're looking in a mirror, no distortion? The random spots are just dust, and possibly a few bugs a squished while removing the sealant.
Trunk:
Hood:
To be fair, my hood wasn't swirled before I started, and I didn't even polish it before this picture, just sealed it. However it's purdy...so I'm posting the picture dammit.
I'm not an expert detailer and I don't claim to be, but after lots and lots of time on autogeek and way too much money spent on detailing stuff, I am finally happy with my car's paint. If anyone has any questions about the products/procedures I used, just ask. I have already gone through plenty of trial an error with different products, I'd be happy to share that info with anyone that wants it.
.
Linear Mode
