Post by Ashley on May 1, 2013 10:02:15 GMT
Hi all,
This was the first time I tested the machine out, I have done my corsa aswell since, but not to a standard high enough for pictures a few more swirls to go but nearly there.
Anyway, back to the Fiesta, this is the first time I have got my hands on any kind of power tool and after hours and hours of watching videos and reading articles by professional detailers (Most are state based!) I set about it.
A little background about the car, it has never been 'looked' after, used and abused I think the term was, the reason why I only did half the bonnet is it would be a waste of time to do the rest due to the amount of deep gauges in the paint - at least one on every panel- (I.e. down to the metal) and the huge dent in the passenger side (Size of the door).
It had been hand washed with sponges with no care at all about what it came out like, as long as it 'looked' clean then it was good enough, but those of you that know me will know that for me, this is not good enough. Something cannot simply 'look' clean, it must BE clean, and not just clean to a normal persons standard, clean to my standards (This is where my paint brushes come in and skilled use of a clay bar!).
Anyway, back again to the Fiesta, I had to first try and remove as much inbedded dirt as possible, the good thing though, as this had been standing for quite some time, and washed three times without it moving, there was very little tar on the bonnet. This saved me a lot of time as I tend to find most of my detailing time is used up getting rid of Tar spots.
The first step was to mark out where I was going to focus my attention, but i cam across a problem, it was too dirty to get any tape to stick, so the whole bonnet needed washing, out came the Citrus Pre Wash - smells great! Just so you can see the care this car has had, look at the top right corner of the bonnet, notice the bird poo, it had only been there 3 weeks!
So i left this for a few minutes while i sorted out some water and a microfibre, I didn't bother with the two bucket method as I was only doing the bonnet and this car was in such bad shape anyway that a few wipes wasn't going to do any harm.
After the car was washed, I could finally get a good look at the swirls, the sun was going in and our of clouds so it was quite hard to photograph them but I got a few which show them off a bit.
Swirly
Here you can see some interesting marks in the paint, not sure what they are caused by but it looks to be some kind of marring effect. My only guess is either years ago someone tried to machine polish it, or something funky has gone on inside a car wash, either way they need to go.
Heres a few more swirls
And just so I could get a base line here is a couple of close up pictures in two random areas of the bonnet, I wanted two random areas to get an idea of what the condition was like across the whole bonnet. It doesn't look too bad, unfortunately I do not have a sun gun so an LED torch was the best i had, it was good enough to show a few blemishes though.
While I was washing I noticed another strange mark, again, not sure what it was caused by but I didn't think it would come out. It was quite a mark!
I didn't really focus on this too much, the only reason I photo'd it was on the pure chance I managed to sort it!
I didn't get any pictures of the polishing process but here is what happened:
Pre wash
Wash
Clay (I didn't rinse after this as if you clay properly there is no need - simply qipe off the excess lubricant i.e. QD unless you use water...then rinse)
Started with a Green Hexlogic and V36, this was clearly not strong enough having almost no impact on the paint. I upped thie straight to an Orange Hexlogic and some V34 to get a harder cut, this worked its magic.
After all the polishing was done, I have a secret prodcut up my sleeve, I bought this by mistake really, but I wanted a good sealent and thought why not! I now love this stuff, it really finishes off the paintwork!
It's called Black Light by Chemical Guys, it really enhances the gloss and leaves a 'wet look' on thefinished article. Not only that, but it also cleanses the paint one final time. Then buffed off and a quick once over with some Chemical Guys V7 and we were finished!
All in all I think the paintwork had 1 go with the Green Hexlogic combo and four passes with the orange hexlogic. This half of the bonnet took around an hour start to finish and here are the results.
Here is the V7 and a reflection - notice the bottom right of the bonnet where i picked up a dark reflection, how is that for a wet look! Black Light and V7 at it's best.
Another reflection!
Here is another reflection, no swirls and a nice wet finish.
And some close ups of the finished paint, again this was two random areas in the half of the bonnet that I did, I believe the right side is the middle of the bonnet and the left is the right side of the bonnet towards the top.
Hope you like the results, any questions please ask or if anyone has any tips etc let me know! I'm still new so looking for any help I can get really.
Ashley
This was the first time I tested the machine out, I have done my corsa aswell since, but not to a standard high enough for pictures a few more swirls to go but nearly there.
Anyway, back to the Fiesta, this is the first time I have got my hands on any kind of power tool and after hours and hours of watching videos and reading articles by professional detailers (Most are state based!) I set about it.
A little background about the car, it has never been 'looked' after, used and abused I think the term was, the reason why I only did half the bonnet is it would be a waste of time to do the rest due to the amount of deep gauges in the paint - at least one on every panel- (I.e. down to the metal) and the huge dent in the passenger side (Size of the door).
It had been hand washed with sponges with no care at all about what it came out like, as long as it 'looked' clean then it was good enough, but those of you that know me will know that for me, this is not good enough. Something cannot simply 'look' clean, it must BE clean, and not just clean to a normal persons standard, clean to my standards (This is where my paint brushes come in and skilled use of a clay bar!).
Anyway, back again to the Fiesta, I had to first try and remove as much inbedded dirt as possible, the good thing though, as this had been standing for quite some time, and washed three times without it moving, there was very little tar on the bonnet. This saved me a lot of time as I tend to find most of my detailing time is used up getting rid of Tar spots.
The first step was to mark out where I was going to focus my attention, but i cam across a problem, it was too dirty to get any tape to stick, so the whole bonnet needed washing, out came the Citrus Pre Wash - smells great! Just so you can see the care this car has had, look at the top right corner of the bonnet, notice the bird poo, it had only been there 3 weeks!
So i left this for a few minutes while i sorted out some water and a microfibre, I didn't bother with the two bucket method as I was only doing the bonnet and this car was in such bad shape anyway that a few wipes wasn't going to do any harm.
After the car was washed, I could finally get a good look at the swirls, the sun was going in and our of clouds so it was quite hard to photograph them but I got a few which show them off a bit.
Swirly
Here you can see some interesting marks in the paint, not sure what they are caused by but it looks to be some kind of marring effect. My only guess is either years ago someone tried to machine polish it, or something funky has gone on inside a car wash, either way they need to go.
Heres a few more swirls
And just so I could get a base line here is a couple of close up pictures in two random areas of the bonnet, I wanted two random areas to get an idea of what the condition was like across the whole bonnet. It doesn't look too bad, unfortunately I do not have a sun gun so an LED torch was the best i had, it was good enough to show a few blemishes though.
While I was washing I noticed another strange mark, again, not sure what it was caused by but I didn't think it would come out. It was quite a mark!
I didn't really focus on this too much, the only reason I photo'd it was on the pure chance I managed to sort it!
I didn't get any pictures of the polishing process but here is what happened:
Pre wash
Wash
Clay (I didn't rinse after this as if you clay properly there is no need - simply qipe off the excess lubricant i.e. QD unless you use water...then rinse)
Started with a Green Hexlogic and V36, this was clearly not strong enough having almost no impact on the paint. I upped thie straight to an Orange Hexlogic and some V34 to get a harder cut, this worked its magic.
After all the polishing was done, I have a secret prodcut up my sleeve, I bought this by mistake really, but I wanted a good sealent and thought why not! I now love this stuff, it really finishes off the paintwork!
It's called Black Light by Chemical Guys, it really enhances the gloss and leaves a 'wet look' on thefinished article. Not only that, but it also cleanses the paint one final time. Then buffed off and a quick once over with some Chemical Guys V7 and we were finished!
All in all I think the paintwork had 1 go with the Green Hexlogic combo and four passes with the orange hexlogic. This half of the bonnet took around an hour start to finish and here are the results.
Here is the V7 and a reflection - notice the bottom right of the bonnet where i picked up a dark reflection, how is that for a wet look! Black Light and V7 at it's best.
Another reflection!
Here is another reflection, no swirls and a nice wet finish.
And some close ups of the finished paint, again this was two random areas in the half of the bonnet that I did, I believe the right side is the middle of the bonnet and the left is the right side of the bonnet towards the top.
Hope you like the results, any questions please ask or if anyone has any tips etc let me know! I'm still new so looking for any help I can get really.
Ashley