First time detailing

[nooner]

Here is a screen capture (from a video) of my car. I can't belive how many swirls I have on a brand new car (6 months old). I guess that goes to show you how much damage you can do with an unproper car washes. Thanks to Junkman I know better now.

 

 

 

I couldn't get my camera to show any swirls at all, I wish my car was as nice as my camera made it look lol.

 

And I couldn't even get my bike swirls to show up even in a video form. I even tried using a 1 million candel power spotlight.

 

I got it all clayed today and tomorrow my PC arrives, so I will update with pics as I start to polish it.

 

EDIT

 

Keep the following in mind as you read my post and that I am trying to get my paint into 95% pristine condition.

 

 

This is a BLACK CAR so I know it will take way more time and effort than the avg car will to get it looking pristine. I know I could get a light colored car looking pristine with no problems, but as we know a black car shows minor swirls and scratches a bit better and therefor takes a slightly more skill to get it pristine. You could get it to look good or ever great pretty easily, but to get it looking pristine takes a slight bit of time and skill.

Edited September 29, 2009 by nooner

[Bill-V8V]

I think I scared everyone off with the post length lol.

 

I am starting to think that maybe I have a hard clear coat?

 

 

Is it a Hyundai ? I've never detailed one of those so I can't advise if it is hard or soft but I am sure someone on here has.

 

 

 

And yes, any post that long will tend to scare people away :lol:

[nooner]

Is it a Hyundai ? I've never detailed one of those so I can't advise if it is hard or soft but I am sure someone on here has.

 

 

 

And yes, any post that long will tend to scare people away :lol:

 

 

Yea, its a 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe if that helps anyone.

 

I think I need to just find a local guy and watch him. It is too hard to expain in words and even too hard to watch someone's video and do it.

 

I think I am just going to keep on truckin since I can't use this garage for more than a few days and do the best I can.

 

Then sometime down the road, I will try to find a detail workshop or someonw who would let me watch them do it in person and maybe try it with them critiqing me.

 

Thanks for all the help.

[Bill-V8V]

Why not go see Adam this weekend, he's in Carlisle :thumbsup:

[nooner]

Why not go see Adam this weekend, he's in Carlisle :thumbsup:

 

 

Adam...... as in Adam's products Adam? or some other guy? What is the user name?

Edited September 25, 2009 by nooner

[Bill-V8V]

Adam...... as in Adam's products Adam? or what user name for a guy named Adam?

 

 

Yes, THAT Adam :2thumbs:

[nooner]

Is it a Hyundai ? I've never detailed one of those so I can't advise if it is hard or soft but I am sure someone on here has.

 

And as far as a clear coat. I thought I heard Junkman say if the slow cut process works and you have a soft clear coat, then you can work your whole car on a 5 with SHR and orange pad with 9-14 lbs of pressure.

 

If you had a hard clear coat, what would you use, a orange SHR 6 and 25lbs of pressure? Or would you move up to yellow and use 5 and 9-14 lbs.

[GerryC]

Adam...... as in Adam's products Adam? or some other guy? What is the user name?

Adam Adam:

 

[MitsukiGT]

LOL, what is that dude in the headphone doing to Adam's butt? Guess that guy thought it needed polished as well. LOL

 

Do you guys ever demo any closer to MI?

Edited September 26, 2009 by MitsukiGT

[Bill-V8V]

And as far as a clear coat. I thought I heard Junkman say if the slow cut process works and you have a soft clear coat, then you can work your whole car on a 5 with SHR and orange pad with 9-14 lbs of pressure.

 

If you had a hard clear coat, what would you use, a orange SHR 6 and 25lbs of pressure? Or would you move up to yellow and use 5 and 9-14 lbs.

 

I stick with the orange pad and bump the speed up to 6 and do an extra pass or two or three or how many ever it takes :thumbsup:

 

 

But then again I don't have a yellow pad

[MitsukiGT]

Junkman didn't even use the yellow pad on that Taurus if that tells you anything.

[Bill-V8V]

Junkman didn't even use the yellow pad on that Taurus if that tells you anything.

 

 

I'm not sure if they were even available then, they are kind of new. But I could be wrong ?

[MitsukiGT]

Maybe, but he still did that car with just orange and white And that car was pretty rough.

[Superdutytd]

Maybe, but he still did that car with just orange and white And that car was pretty rough.

 

Some of us are in a hurry though

[MitsukiGT]

Some of us are in a hurry though

 

I guess I watched too many Junkman videos. My truck will easily take me too weeks start to finish.

[Junkman2008]

And as far as a clear coat. I thought I heard Junkman say if the slow cut process works and you have a soft clear coat, then you can work your whole car on a 5 with SHR and orange pad with 9-14 lbs of pressure.

 

If you had a hard clear coat, what would you use, a orange SHR 6 and 25lbs of pressure? Or would you move up to yellow and use 5 and 9-14 lbs.

 

I would do one of three things. I would keep working it the same way, or bump it up to a 6 with 9-14lbs of pressure, or I would grab one of my other polishers. It depends on if I'm making a Adam's video, fixing something on my own car or getting paid to remove a scratch or swirls from someone's car.

 

LOL, what is that dude in the headphone doing to Adam's butt? Guess that guy thought it needed polished as well. LOL

 

Do you guys ever demo any closer to MI?

 

That was a film crew from the upcoming series, "Vette Garage". Stay tuned.

 

I stick with the orange pad and bump the speed up to 6 and do an extra pass or two or three or how many ever it takes :thumbsup:

 

 

But then again I don't have a yellow pad

 

 

I don't advise using a yellow pad on any black or other very dark colored cars. It really beats the paint up big time.

 

Junkman didn't even use the yellow pad on that Taurus if that tells you anything.

 

No I didn't.

 

I'm not sure if they were even available then, they are kind of new. But I could be wrong ?

 

Yep, they were out. I've had them for months.

 

Maybe, but he still did that car with just orange and white And that car was pretty rough.

 

That's all I used, along with the PC. That's why it took so long. If you look at the videos, you'll see it was daylight when I started and 0' dark-thirty when I finished. That was just for the trunk so that gives you an idea what it would take for me to do the whole car. Then again, I'm anal. I was going to wet sand the remaining scratches out of the trunk but I was pretty tired by the end of those videos. Anyway, it was a daily driver that the lady who owns it doesn't really care about.

 

I don't even wash my daily driver. If you saw it right now, you'd pass out.

 

Some of us are in a hurry though

 

 

I guess I watched too many Junkman videos. My truck will easily take me too weeks start to finish.

 

I work for myself so time is not an issue. Most folks don't have the luxury of a super low overhead and no responsibilities like I do. Thus, spending the amount of time that I do is pretty unrealistic for most people. My lifestyle is very low maintenance, but it eats like a beast.

[nooner]

Maybe, but he still did that car with just orange and white And that car was pretty rough.

 

 

My damage may not be as bad as the Taurus, but the Taurus had a soft clear coat....

 

But I watched your videos, and they show the product breaking down a bit better than Junkmans. I think I understand it bit better, thanks.

 

Now I just wish I could find out why I am getting so much orange dust everywhere. I am worried I am doing something wrong that is causing the dust and it is scratching up my paint.

 

I have spent about 14 hours so far in 2 days, and I made the worst mistake earlier. I was doina side panel, which suck, becuase now you have to hold up the PC and there are way more curves. So I decided to try the handle, I thought it might make it easier to hold on the sided. That was the most painful 2 mins of my right hands life! And if that wasn't bad enough, near the end, I tried to gorila grip it to dampen the viberation in my hand and that viberated my whole arm and probly my brain a bit (which must not have been working correctly because I decided to do this in the first place) and that lasted a whole 10 secs before I had to release the gorilla grip to an even more amplified pain in my fingers to which point I turned off the PC and couldnt move my hand for a good 5 mins So at least I can say I learned something today.

 

 

As far as time goes... In a way I have all the time in the world. But the more time I take the more I am "overstaying my welcome" in a friends garage. That is why I am doing at least 6 hours a day but trying to get in 8-10 so I can get it done as quickly as possible calender wise, not work time wise. But on that note I don't want to waste my time, and if it takes me 3-4 passes on 5 with orange and SHR, would it be smarter to just go 2 passes on a 6?

 

I don't know if you could tell how deep those scratches are on my trunk pics, but they took me 4 passes on 5 and then I ramped it up and did 3 more on 6 and they still are present to where there look like a little dent or a bending light, more than they do a scratch, I think 2 more passes on 6 would do the trick. Do you think you could tell if that means I have a hard clear coat from that info?

Edited September 26, 2009 by nooner

[Junkman2008]

If the product is flaking all over the place, you are doing one of the following:

 

1. Working in direct sunlight and the surface of the car is very hot

2. Using way too much product.

3. Using dirty pads that are full of old product.

 

Oh, I forgot one... working the product at too high a speed will do that also.

 

If you are in a garage and not in direct sunlight, you must be using dirty pads, too much product or working at too high of a speed.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Junkman2008

[Superdutytd]

When you say orange dust do you mean like pad dust?

[Bill-V8V]

When you say orange dust do you mean like pad dust?

 

 

I think he has the new Orange SHR

[nooner]

I think he has the new Orange SHR

 

 

I do have it.... but I do mean the pad dust. I just cleane dmy pad, I have to take a pic of it, you can deffinatley see where the dust came from.

 

The small dust blows or wipes right off, but the larger dust particles have product on it... and that stick to the surface and is real annoying!

[Junkman2008]

I do have it.... but I do mean the pad dust. I just cleane dmy pad, I have to take a pic of it, you can deffinatley see where the dust came from.

 

The small dust blows or wipes right off, but the larger dust particles have product on it... and that stick to the surface and is real annoying!

 

Then you are using too much product and spinning the polisher too fast.

[nooner]

Then you are using too much product and spinning the polisher too fast.

 

 

Yea, that is kind of what I thought, the product was caked on their pretty bad, so I washed it off and I am going to try again this time using much less and working it longer.

 

And the "dusting" usually happens real bad on 6 and a little bit on 5 opm, but I kind of need it that high to get anywhere right? Or should I use more pressure to slow it down from going that fast then?

[Junkman2008]

Yea, that is kind of what I thought, the product was caked on their pretty bad, so I washed it off and I am going to try again this time using much less and working it longer.

 

And the "dusting" usually happens real bad on 6 and a little bit on 5 opm, but I kind of need it that high to get anywhere right? Or should I use more pressure to slow it down from going that fast then?

 

You should quit using so much product. You're doing nothing but wearing out your pads and wasting product and money. I haven't went through 1 complete bottle of SHR and I'm traveling all over the place doing demos, I've done my car and I demo the product to other folk's cars. More is NOT better, it just cost you more money.

[Chris@Adams]

Just take your time and work at it until you're happy with it. It may take some time, but you'll get it. And come back here often for advice and encouragement.

 

Rich

 

PS -- It's not uncommon for brand new cars to have a lot of swirls -- often times the new car prep/get-ready guys at the dealership put a lot of them on there when they're washing it and trying to make it look good for delivery.

 

 

[nooner]

here are some pics of my orange pad, I wahsed it in some water and got all of it off with my hand, then spun it dry on 6 in a bucket (works great) and then let it airdry over night.

 

I find it odd that though it was unbalanced, the center 5-6 hexagons took the most damage.

 

 

you can see the 1 mm that is missing along the edge there, I am sure you can imagin how many dust particles that would make up that much foam.

Edited September 27, 2009 by nooner