tscan

I let my 4 year old use it and she doesn't scratch my car. Got to put em to work early!

1. New Car

2. Leather

3. Car Shampoo (new stuff)

Isn't dusting cars especially forbidden here? 

Awesome, thanks for info.

I've had piano trim on my last two cars. I only clean it with a single soft. Everything else scratched/swirled it up. Its seriously a pain to maintain.

Did you use different sections of the towel or is using a single quarter (if you fold into 4s) good enough?

McGuyver status

Some surfaces are just really soft and will scratch no matter what. My Hyundai and butter for clear coat, was black, and I could see scratches when using the great white.

I'm going to review the microfiber article and run through these procedures with my towels. They've definitely become less absorbent over time and I had never thought about boiling them. Thanks

Yeah. the long T3 or T4 CFL fluorescents are awesome, depending on length 2-4 should be good enough. If you want side lighting I did exactly what cweider did and hung lights on the side too. It's practically a tanning bed when you walk into my garage.

Just a thought on this. Did you do an IPA wipe down or any kind of a paint cleaner step to insure the residues from the prior polishes were removed before you laid down the sealant? I've seen these smudges or areas that look uneven due to the paint not being properly prepped for sealants.

Definitely, the car looked perfect before the paint sealant. I did a final wipe down with a microfiber and then another full wipedown with a waterless wash towel + alcohol.

I had issues doing it by hand because my car is black and the slightest smudge can be seen. On the next application, I used a black pad with my PC on 2 and it was a much better application. Some tight areas were tricky, so I used detail spray to level it out.

I too have a black car! So hard to get perfect, but when you do, man do they look good.

Travis, use a Porter Cable for a couple of days and then you'll understand how good you have it!  

 

Keep in mind that the machine is turned down to like #2 for LSP applications so it's super easy to handle. 

 

 

Chris

I bought a PC and tried it out, immediately returned it. NOPE

Cyclo was definitely a pleasure to use. Just not for 9 hours straight .

Yeah, what he said . I work in an office for a living and I'm new to this, so after holding onto the Cyclo for hours on end my forearms were spent haha. Lesson learned no worries.

I'd recommend putting down more over a bad area using the Cyclo and remove.  See if it comes out OK and if it does, move on.  

I had the car in the garage and did a full paint correction right after clay. The car has been driven since then so chances are theres minute amounts of dust/debris on the car. Guessing I should wash, dry, and then re-apply the sealant just to be safe? My car looked soooo good I'd hate to swirl it back up again.

Yeah some areas were a total pain in the *** to remove, almost like wax residue. I guess I just used way too much. I was using the microfiber applicator and I only applied more when I couldn't get it to spread along the panel. How long until it evened out for you Feets31?

I took some rinseless wash to it as my very first idea, didn't seem to help at all. I can try to get some pictures of it but it is really hard to pick up, but the whole car is like this. It's very "spotty" in some areas. I should've just used the damn cyclo but my arms were so tired. blah. I'm guessing it will just even out or fade with the natural deterioration of paint sealants over time?

Yeah this was the new stuff and I applied it by hand.

So I just did a full paint correction this weekend and when I got the the very last step after a 10 hour session, the sealant was not coming off "even". What I mean by "even" is that you can tell (only in the sunshine), where there were different amounts of pressure applied on the towel when removing the sealant. I've tried to take a picture but it's only visible in person really. Does anyone know what I mean? Did I use too much, not enough, bad batch? I honestly have no idea. Honestly super disappointing when you pour this much time into your car and it actually looked BETTER before I applied the paint sealant.

Thanks for the update Ryan and Dylan. Still haven't got around to doing this. But yes the clear coat does seem extremely soft . 3 months of owning the car and theres scratches under the door handles? Good god, I'd hate to see what would happen if a girl with long nails owned this car.

It would appear that we have the same paint (and probably the same clear coat). I have the sparkles just like you . Who knows if the formulation changed though.

I should add that I've actually been impressed by the quality besides the paint. For 30k I got a car with the same, if not more features/amenities as most 50k coupes, I couldn't be happier. This thing is a porn star on the road, people can't go past it without craning their necks a little .

I like to dilute my IPA 50/50.

What strength do you use though? You can buy all kinds of different % at the store.

I really appreciate the input from everyone though .

If you want to, you can. I just don't trust anything that could be attaching to the paint while driving but I am super OCD. So it would be a wash or WW before I started.

 

As for the IPA wipedown after polishing, you can make your own choice. Like Chewy said, Waterless Wash is awesome to use at that stage as he mentioned. Everyone may have a different opinion on that. I like to use a WW towel with IPA.

Unfortunately my small Adams collection does not contain waterless wash .

Should I do full strength 70% IPA or dilute it with water? I think I have 70% at home, is there a certain point where you should dilute it with water, like if its >70-75% alcohol?

If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't of brought it back to them to touch at all. I would of went straight to the process you mentioned so you know what is being done to your liking or "perfection" as we like to call it.

 

Since you don't know what was used on it be the dealership I would do the following:

 

-2 Bucket Strip Wash with APC

-Clay Bar with DS (which should remove those marks under the door handles)

-Before you start polishing away, find a 2x2 test area and try SHR 1 or 2 times to see your results. You may need to use SSR first then SHR. Once you get pass that part of the 2x2 test, top that area off with FMP so you know who the whole car will look with these steps.

-If you're happy with your test area then you can proceed with the rest of the car with the same steps you used.

-IPA Wipedown

-Apply MSS and let it bond to the surface for 25-30 minutes before removing. Then allow the sealant to cure for at least 12 hours.

 

Make sure to take your time, be patient, drink lots of water, and remember to enjoy the process and have fun instead of "fighting" with the paint to get your outcome. When you're done, grab a beer and admire your work!

 

Good luck, and let us know how it comes out with some pictues!

I'll definitely get some pics . But do you really think I need to wash it? Since the car is pretty clean couldn't I save some time and just hit it with some IPA?

My guess is they put something on it with a crap ton of fillers in it and called it good. You'll be able to tell after the IPA wipe down...

 

You're plan looks good! It's not necessary to do an IPA wipe after polish though... Remember, the more you touch it, the more chances you have of imparting scratches in it.

 

Try just FMP first to make sure it doesn't give you the desired results and then go to SHR if needed.

 

Chris

Thanks for the input . I'm really hoping they didn't just fill it with crap.

IPA is not needed to ensure that all the polish is off? I thought it was bad to apply sealant without doing an IPA wipe down to ensure that the sealant adheres nicely to the paint (I'm no expert though).

I posted on here a bit earlier but my circumstances have changed. I bought this car in April and I've always noticed the swirls since the day I got it. I told the dealership, they admitted that sometimes cars come out like this and offered to fix it. I received the car today, and it is much better, but when the service adviser told me they only spent 2 hours on it I knew that it wasn't thoroughly done. The guy who did it wasn't there when I picked up the car so unfortunately I couldn't ask him what was done.

Anyway, the car is pretty slick to the touch all around, it feels like they clayed it and then used whatever polish process - BUT I CAN'T BE SURE. It was washed and looks super clean, so here is what I was thinking to achieve perfection.

1. IPA wipe down

2. Clay

3. SNH remover

4. FMP

5. IPA wipe down

6. Machine Sealant

Would this be the proper procedure? Another problem area I noticed is underneath the door handles, there's definitely some scratches there but I'm not sure how to attack these, any advice? I have the focus pads but I don't think they can get in there.