fliplyricist1

Thought I'd share, as this was my first time ever with machine detailing, and with the help of this forum and autopia I was able to tackle it.

A little background on the car. Was ordered and purchased new in 97 by my parents and had a 'triple clear coat' dealer option sprayed on the car before delivery. Car was basically neglected and washed once a month via automatic brush carwashes and home washes with wash mits and regular towels. Needless to say, when I took over ownership of the car a little over a year ago I had my work cut out for me. I would always maintain the car regularly which 'temporarily masked' some of the damage with waxes and glazes, but even in direct sunlight the car looked horrific. So I FINALLY decided it was time to break out the porter cable and get to some serious paint correction to permanently restore the paint to better than brand new condition. Should be much easier to maintain now that the paint is 98 percent perfect and I have all the tools to keep the scratches/swirls away.


All inspection was done with a dual 500 watt halogen work light and plenty of angles.

Results are as follows:


I first started off by washing the car down with optimum no rinse carwash solution. For those of you who don't know about this stuff, it's epic. Basically a no pressure-wash solution where you just wipe down your car with a mit then dry it with microfiber towels. Keeping the car wet, I put some optimum no rinse in a spray bottle mixed with water (as quick detailer) and misted each panel and used a Bluemagic clay bar over each panel. What 'seemed' to be a clean surface actually turned out to be pretty damn contaminated with stuck-on road debris/industrial fallout:



After the car was thoroughly clayed and dried, I masked off all the rubber trim and emblems and got to work with the porter cable. You always want to start out with the least aggressive polish/pad combination, so I started off with the Sonus Sfx2 on a white lake country pad and got to work. Begin by spreading the polish on the area at speed 3 and then turning it up to speed 6 to thoroughly work in the polish.

sfx2 white pad:


Unfortunately I soon learned my car had such deep swirling and scratches that the sfx2 with a white pad wasn't really doing much at all. So I had to step my game up and go to sfx1, which is pretty much one of the most aggressive polishes you can get and is meant to remove 1200 or finer grit sctratches :eek3: . I wasn't too worried about it though since the car came with 3 additional coats of clear so I know I have some to work with. So I went over the entire car with sfx1 on an orange 5.5 inch pad to get out all the imperfections. I then had to follow up with sfx2 on a white pad to get rid of the hazing/micromarring/fishhook scratches the sfx1 was causing.

sfx1:


I worked a small panel at a time from beginning to end (sfx1 then sfx2) to make sure each section was defect-free before starting the next. Then topped off the entire car with the sfx3 polish to fully lock in the gloss/depth. I love the sonus line with the exception that sfx1 dusts LIKE HELL. In all of the pics you can see how much dusting it caused, and even after wiping it down you can still see a lot of the dust that remained before I quick detailed the entire car. Anywho, onto the before/afters: (just polish here, no glaze or wax yet...all results are permanent):

bumper before:



bumper after:




fender with HUGE/SEVERE scratches caused by my dad trying to take out scratches with scratchx by hand WITH A FREAKIN PAPER TOWEL without even cleaning the paint. lols.





fender after:




scrached fender before:




scrafched fender after:




drivers side final:




finished rear quarter:



The hood and trunklid on this car were absoultely HORRIFIC. Months and months of cats with long fingernails scratching the shit out of the clearcoat. Honestly I thought I had no chance in hell of correcting it since they were so severe/deep. But I was pleasantly surprised.

hood section before:




hood section after:




hood scratches on passenger side:




hood scratches on passenger side gone:




hood final:




passenger rear quarter panel done:



drivers side fender done:




rear lower bumper before:




rear trunklid before:




trunk after:





trunk lid complete:





rear completed:



Total time for everything: approximately 18 hours. lols...well worth it though since this is the one and only time i'll really ever need to do it.

fliplyricist1

And now the completed photos. Fenderwells were treated with optimum and all rubber trim was permanently dyed with Forever Black. Dunlop sp's are now up front, very very nice tire that stretches nice and is REAL stiff on them turns. Definitely see why they were so expensive when new...very worth it. Pics are with about 4 coats of danase wet glaze applied over a 2 day period and then finally topped off with NXT. Sorry no sunshots as it hasn't been sunny here where I live in well over a month now Thanks for looking!

slawek65

WOW !!! Perfect job . Try to wash car after polish. Dust can make more scraches if surface is not spotles when You apply wax or sealant.I like Optimum polish - no dust at all.

fliplyricist1

thanks so much man!! Actually that is PERFECT...as my next question was going to be what is the best polish on a black car that doesn't dust. As you can see in the pics, sfx1 (especially when applied with orange pad) dusted RIDICULOUSLY. I seriously spent a good 2 hours just getting all the dust off the car after the sfx1 phase. Sonus is a great product, just way too much dusting for my liking.

So optimum polish is virtually dust free? How's the cutting power like with an orange pad?

Any recommendations on the best 'deepest' look wax for black?

Thanks again!

Wes_R

Detailing your car is like making love to it huh?

Man right now in Toronto it's a snow storm going on, I got another 4 months until I can polish my car.

Jesstzn

Great job.

subbuzz

great work!!! I'm blind!!!!!! I love your 1g,very clean even when it's dirty.lol.

rotaryboy

Looks great for a '97....good work.

nf3d0149ab

iTrader: (5)

Nice 1st Gen man!

Good job with the detail.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

Excellent work.

slawek65

All Optimum line is dust free.For more cutting power You can step up to Optimum compound or to yellow pad.Try Menzerna Power Finish PO 203, this is one step polish with very little dust. As for the wax, I like to use sealants.They give You much longer protection then wax.Wolfgang, Four Star UPP,Collinite to name just few I like to use.But if You like more info check www.autogeek.com or www.autopia.com

SweetJazz

Nice recovery. I have yet to find a better polish than Menzerna PO106FA.

triggerman

Looks great!! Nice work.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Flip...awesome job! I didn't know a 1G could look so good.

TSC17

Nice work!

easymoney

looks new...nice job

Ken1997TL

I think i'll do this to my '97 TL. It too is Flamenco Black

GREAT JOB!

Bearcat94

Gorgeous!! Lot of work, but it looks great.

Question: Why NXT after the Wet Glaze? For work of this calber, I didn't know NXT would be considerd a "finishing coat"; I'd think UPP or something similar.

PortlandRL

Screw the cookie. You get a freaking cake! Beautiful work!!!

exceldetail

Stellar work! Pat your self on the back.
Agreed on the move to Optimum for dust free results.........between all 3 polishes, theres hardly a situation you couldnt get yourself out of.
The Polish is actually due for an upgrade. Should be out shortly. Optimum is really after the "Sweetjazz" 's .....of detailers. They actually have a product out now, approved at the OEM level, by GM. It was a little harsh for the casual enthusiast or DIY'er, so theyre turning it down a tad......

1StGenCL

Wow, that looks amazing. That rear bumper looked just like mine did (same year and color), all scratched up but I never realized I could have brought it back like you did.

Oh, is it just me or does the lip not look real shiney?

bdeitemeyer

Excellent work, looks almost new.

fliplyricist1

thanks a lot guys!!! Really appreciate all the feedback!!

As per the NXT...definitely NOT the optimal choice, but at the time it was the only LSP I had and the local autozone had pretty much a 'lackluster' selection. So I'm about to order an lsp on exceldetail, along with the optimum polish.

Anyone have any suggestions for the best LSP in terms of both looks and durability on black paint like this? I want something super deep.

1stGen: you're right, the front lip is unpainted. I still have to modify and install the rear wings west lip as well...and once everything is fitted it'll be off to the paint booth!

slawek65

Four Star UPP for looks and durability.You can get better looks with good wax but not durability.Good sealant give You best durability. I have 4* UPP on my car right now and I love the looks. Ask Patrick for any more suggestions.Tx.

Bearcat94

I'm am *not* an expert detailer, but I was SHOCKED at the difference the UPP makes.

Easy to apply and remove. Super shine and slicker than anything I've ever used; 3 or 4 weeks after the fact, still super slick and deep gloss.

fliplyricist1

thanks so much guys, you have me sold

going to get upp and optimum

conan777

First off, great job on the detail. Very professional quality work there! The car looks great! As far as believing that you'll never have to do that again on a black car you are ill informed! ha..ha..! You will certainly be able to keep the car looking great with proper washing and drying but there is no way you can keep a Black daily driver from getting scratches/swirls. Granted you probably will not need the harsher compound but you'll prob want to give it a light buff approx 1x a year. As far as what is the best LSP for black or any color...that is an easy trap to fall into. Once you polish the car to the extent that you just did your LSP will not have much to do with the look of your car. I will say that your LSP plays maybe 5% into the over all look of your car. Think of your LSP more as a protective barrier, not a Gloss enhancer etc etc. The Polishing is what brings out the Gloss. Believe me I have spent a small fortune looking for that magic ingredient that will make my cars "Glow". Looks wise you can barely tell the difference from one LSP to another. THe biggest difference is protective ability. How long does the LSP last? How easy is it to apply/Remove? Does it Bead the water or Sheet it? You should be very happy with UPP. Just remember every year there is a "New" miracle wax or Sealant that comes out and claims to be hands down better than everything that came before it.