GrpA Calais

I'd say it's fairly normal, happens to me a little using the PC, but I get a good dose of it when using a 1/3 Sheet Orbital Sander at work for long periods.

Wow, where did this thread come back from!

Thanks for the great comments

I can't spend the time on a family members vehicle, because I know it won't be washed properly lol.

 

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I'm pretty sure the car hasn't been washed at all in the 10 months since I corrected it - I guess that means no wash induced swirls though

It was worth doing just to educate my sisters boys about the paint, I had them take their own before and after photo's to try and get the point across.

I didn't tape it, but you get the idea This is just from 2 or 3 passes of Severe Swirl Remover with my PC

What is the best suggestion for proper pad cleaning if I do not have one of the suggested brushes?

I just use an old toothbrush (manual, not electric ). I've used one both with rotary and DA polishers and it does a decent job of getting the caked on polish off the pad "on the fly".

Just a thought, but there may be a simple solution to your problem, that is if your not dead set on doing it yourself.

Why not get a local paint/body shop to run over the damage with a rotary and a heavy compound. This should clean up the etching quick smart, but leave you with a swirly, hologrammed mess to go home and clean up with the PC.

From what I've read Corvette's have a really hard clear, so the PC is always going to struggle correcting any major damage.

Might not be what you want to do, but some food for thought at least

That is one hell of a collection!!! I've seen some garages to be a bit jealous of, but that one takes the cake!!!

Very cool, thanks for sharing

Wow!!!!

That's awesome!!! Very generous of the Adam's crew indeed.

Just a thought, is there a way to make this thread only visible to logged in members? As I type this, currently viewing is 17 (11 members and 6 guests).

Way to go guys, 10% off sure helps take the sting out of the shipping fees all the way over here!

My fiancée helped me wash, dry, Brilliant Glaze and lay down some Americana our VZ Commodore last weekend. I did wax on, she did wax off. She did a damn good job too!

Wow! That looks great Alan, nice work!

It's hard to believe such a mean car ended up with such a messy finish.... good thing there are people like you around to undo the mess others create

Thanks guys! I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, it's very nice to have it back to "almost perfect"

mc2hill - Those photo's were hard to get, believe it or not they were taken right around midday..... I was just lucky I got a fine day, our winter here is pretty wet and miserable at the moment.

I've had great success using Megs Unigrit paper, 1500 grade, then polishing it out using Swirl & Haze Remover with the 4" Focus Pad mounted on a drill - then onto PC with SHR followed by FMP etc etc.....

That's some nice work I can see why your buddy was keen to have your assistance on his truck.

It looks like you have made good use of your time "lurking" on the forum, it would seem you have learnt a lot

Well done!!!!

Damn! That's real nice!! I hope you can "feel" my jealousy from all the way down here at the bottom on the South Pacific

One day, one day!

After 2 previous paint corrections with my PC and Adam's products I have finally managed to get around to the car that really matters.... well, at least to me!

Let me introduce my 1989 Holden VN Calais.

It started life as a kind of silver/brown colour, but around 7 years ago I fitted the body kit (copied from an HSV VN "Group A" production race car) and had a local body shop refinish the Calais inside & out in PPG 2K "HSV Cherry Black".

Here it is wearing another brand of shine.......

Having been a car yard detailer in what now seems like a previous life, I knew how to make a car shine (I was a dab hand with a rotary polisher back then!). But that was 10 or so years ago, and the cars never stuck around long enough for us to worry to much about on going wash technique. So for the last 7 years the Calais was been washed with a good quality wash, a nice soft jumbo sponge and a single bucket technique...... then I found Adam's!

Truth be told, 99% of people would think I was mad for even seeing the swirls, and in truth I did have trouble capturing them on camera even with the assistance on some 500watt halogen lights. But, I could see them, even more since finding Adam's

The process......

- Hit the engine bay with my pressure washer and All Purpose Cleaner

- One last single bucket (after 7 years, one more = no difference) wash with an All Purpose Cleaner to strip the old wax

- One last dry with the old chamois (for old times sake! )

- Spot polish the worst bits with drill mounted Orange 4" Pad and Swirl & Haze Remover

- 2 to 4 passes PC mounted Orange Pad and Swirl & Haze Remover (this clear is FAR FAR harder than the previous two cars I've corrected!!)

- Spot polish with drill mounted White 4" Pad and Fine Machine Polish in tough to get at locations (around hood/bonnet bulge & where the spoiler hits the trunk - for some reason the PC made a mess here, but this cleaned it up nicely! )

- 2 passes PC mounted White Pad and Fine Machine Polish

- 1 Coat Brilliant Glaze (including glass)

- Revive hand polish door jambs and engine bay paint

- 1 Coat Buttery Wax to door jambs and engine bay paint

- Revive hand polish to underside of rear spoiler (no way to get PC in there!)

- Dressed engine bay, door/window rubbers and tyres with SVRT

- 2 Coats of Americana (around 12 hours apart) to finish

I skipped the usual Machine Super Sealant as this is very much a sunny weekend car, and spends most of it's life tucked safely away in the garage, this was far more about shine than protection

Ok, on with the pictures........

Underside of hood before

After

Engine Bay before

After

Hood before

After

Roof before

After

Trunk before

After

Rear Spoiler before

After

And some "Glamour Shots"

I liked this shot so much it became my new signature for the forum!

The wheels got a hand polish with Revive and a coat of Buttery inside and out as well

And no write up is complete without a little time to reflect

One last shot, just because I also put a fresh coat of Brilliant Glaze and Americana on the VZ Acclaim, my two Holdens with their Adam's Shine!!!

That was damn cool! Nice find, thanks for sharing!!!

No way would I ever have the patients required to make that sort of film, it's bad enough interrupting my flow to take a shot while I'm detailing

Nice job!! The shine is great, but the turn around on the interior.... wow!!! Very well done!!!

I often wash as the sun is going down during summer, then end up drying the car in the garage under lights.

That said, when winter rolls around (it's here now in NZ ) I usually get caught out washing in the afternoon when the sun goes down so quick!! So drying by moonlight seems to be a habit I can't shake

That came out GREAT!!! Nice work Patrick!

Black is so worth the work when it comes out looking like that. Always good to have the other half appreciate your hard work too

Ignoring the bit about it happening as you applied pressure, it almost sounds like it could be a power cord problem.

We get this from time to time at work, as tools are bundled up pretty quick and the cord just gets wrapped around the tool, eventually we end up with symptoms similar to yours. 9 times out of 10 it's a break in the copper wire where it enters the tool.

Might be way off, but it's easy to check (wiggle the cord with the PC running and see if it cuts out), and nearly as easy to fix, so I thought I'd throw it in there as a possibility.

From my experience with the PC, you can correct your Camaro with it. The process will take longer with the PC than the Flex though. If you just plan on doing the one bad car (your Camaro) then save yourself the coin and get just the PC - the PC can also run the 4" pads which is nice.

That said, if you "catch the bug" and end up doing corrections for mates, family etc..... then it would be worth getting the Flex.

No point going to too much trouble if it won't be looked after.

If you must chase perfection, or a certain level of shine, just tape off the good old 2'x2' and see what works to get that area where you'd like it.... then you know what you're in for straight away.

This is an interesting question. I have read somewhere that the hot water will soften your wax layer, thus making it wash away more easily.

But, how hot is too hot??? During the winter when I'm washing my cars, I like to use warm water so my hands don't freeze So what sort of temps can wax tolerate before getting too soft??

That looks great!!

I'm lovin' the reflections on the hood under the trees... nice photography skills as well as detailing ones

As everyone else has said, very nice work! That came out great!!

Good luck on the woman training, you'll need it! I'm working on my fiancée at the moment, she's getting there.... slowly