DaleH

What about between the polish and the coating prep? Is an IPA redundant in there?

Nice. What about... say... full hood size for a 2013 MKX? I bought a kit off of Amazon. I don't care how much they say the stuff stretches the shape is wonky. Can't find anyone that sells more than 18" wide in bulk. I can wrap the whole hood and cut the stuff myself much easier than trying to make the pre-cut fit....

system shutdown

All this for sure. I also use an ozone generator. Not sure if it's just hype or confirmation bias but it seems to knockout every other scent. I forgot to take my wife's favorite air freshener out before the last treatment and it almost neutralized that. X2 on the 'gain' smell. There is something in there that is vile. Our washing machine broke mid batch so we finished laundry at a friends house. We had to re-wash our clothes three times to get the gain out.

handled poorly

@Firebuff17 That was the plan. The thing is.... I bought the paint to do the calipers, cleaned them, and then chickened out/made a better choice. I was going to do them red to match the tail lights. It's a Ford Edge that I need to sell before the end of the year. It's taken me 50 to years to learn this but I've finally figured out that the flourishes I like tend to cost me when it comes time to sell.

brakes... and a little cleaning. before: After:

fair play

Pics... or it didn't happen

For me the issue has been that I've ordered a couple of things, get a shipping notification, clean out the garage in preparation... and then the package arrives with the main ingredient missing. A big part of it is that I'm living proof that Murphy's Law really is a law. The two big ones that caught me were the Mini Swirl Killer back order and the ceramic coating kit. What would be nice is knowing when the box leaves, what didn't leave in the box.

Absolutely. One of the best pieces of advice. It's also important to remember that different parts of the car are not finished the same way. What I've done on body panels has been different than the bumpers and the large trim pieces. The only reason I'm waiting for the compound is that I want all the tools in the shed before I start just in case. I've also got the 5.5" set of pads coming as well. Maybe I've watched too much Kevin Brown but I try and do as much as I can with as little as I can. I did a test run on the Edge with my HF DA to get used to using a polisher before jumping on the black paint, so I know that correcting polish on an orange pad isn't going to get me where I want to get. My plan was to try microfiber and CP before upping to the compound. I've made enough mistakes to have learned to test everything. I think of it as LASIK eye surgery. There are no do overs. Thank you so much for taking the time to help out a weekend warrior.

Yup. Got the kit

hole punch

I wish I'd taken an a/b of the difference the finishing polish made. I almost didn't do it because the correcting polish did such an awesome job. Next up is the Edge, which is Mineral Gray, so I'm not expecting the same... If it is there will be pics this time. It has a few more miles on it so I'm waiting on my heavy correcting compound.

Wow... looks like. Didn't get a 'sold out' warning...

Watched the livestream. The vid made the car look like a chrome wrap! Not bad for a bowtie!

session override

Yup... just finished. It's beautiful. Made the black nice and deep. This is after polish before coating.

Drivers side fender... Hard to take pics of black. Biggest problem I had was prematurely hitting the power switch on the Swirl Killer sending sling all over the car and the garage. Tire armor should be here this week to clean up the messy wheels.

correction fluid

Right on the $$$

Yes, yes it is... Pic 1 - first sticker on my new toolcart. Pic 2 - reflection of said sticker and toolcart... Passenger door paint corrected in anticipation of ceramic coating this weekend.

Blue oval lovin' Canadian living in Texas. I bought a Black Lincoln and the rest, as they say, is history.