Finally... proper detailing equipment. (Pic Intensive)

[Schnitzer318is]

So I finally broke down and bought $250 worth of detailing equipment and supplies from www.autogeek.net. Highly recommend them btw if you need supplies. Everything from polishers to car covers. Thanks to adept for his detailing walkthrough as it helped greatly.

Bought:
- 7424 Porter Cable DA
- Poor Boys SSR 2.5
- Poor Boys SSR 1
- Various microfiber towels (mequiars)
- Various polishing, buffing, waxing pads (8 total)
- Diapers

Now, I have pretty bad paint on my car so I was pretty excited to see exactly what this stuff could do. I was pretty impressed with the products and less impressed with my paint than I was before. LOL I knew it was a crappy job, but this confirmed it. Looks good now though at least. The process removed 100% of my swirl marks (seriously) and tons of actual scratches and blemishes.

Process:
- Tape trim off with painters tape
- Clay car with any brand clay kit
- Poor Boys SSR2.5 w/ Orange cutting pad @ speed 6
- Poor Boys SSR1 w/ Orange cutting pad @ speed 6
- Meguiars Mirror Glaze polish w/ White polishing pad @ speed 4
- Black Magic liquid wax w/ Black finishing pad @ speed 2.5
- Mothers Pure Carnauba wax w/ Red finishing pad @ speed 2.5

This whole process took FOREVER. I would guess I have 12 hours into it so far and I still have to hand do the bumpers and other machine inaccessible areas. But it made quite the difference to even my sh*tty paint.



Before:


Trunk


Trunk


Sunroof


Roof


Trunk half done with all steps but carnauba. This made me smile, and then frown after I realized how long it was going to take to do the whole car.


Comparison 2

During: All steps done but carnauba wax on these shots.


Trunk


Trunk


Sunroof


Roof


Roof w/ flash



After: time for the money shots. These are completely unedited with just a point and shoot camera.


















Hard to see, but I haven't done the bumper and I was trying to get a comparison shot between the finished car and the untouched bumper. VERY obvious in person.

Well, tell me what you think. Waste of time, or man that looks much better?

[george graves]

$250 seems cheep for all that you got. How do you like that DA? Is that a good one?

[e30trooper]

Looks great. I love stage one paints.
I had a Zinno 325e b4 and when i got it was pink , after waxing twice a week it looked GREAT!!!

My current car now looks good when waxed but show oxidation , it sucks!
Again never nice e30.

[Schnitzer318is]

$250 seems cheep for all that you got. How do you like that DA? Is that a good one?

I like it... compared to what I was using for sure. You don't have to worry about hurting the paint which is nice. You would have to really try to negatively affect it. It would be nice if it had a bit more power, just for those times you need it. That being said though, this thing did a great job for the price and the condition/quality of the paint job I used it on.

If you need more power... I have read the Makita that autogeek offers is really good.

[CabrioPunk]

Why didn't you clay?

Why do you have a carpeted garage? Or a car parked in your grandmothers living room?

Looking good though. Love to detail.

[Schnitzer318is]

Sorry... I should have specified. The car had already been clayed as part of my regular wash/wax routine. I tested a few spots with the clay to see if I could get anything off before buffing... result was negligible.

As for the garage... previous owners of the house had turned it into a big ass room. I took down the walled off old door, put a new garage door in, and a beer fridge. Now I have the ultimate garage... air conditioned and heated. ;)

Edit: Added claying to the process in the op.

[dakon]

i know how you feel man, i am currently working on my paint, when i started it was similar to 800 grit sand paper... the car had been outside under trees ect, for years....

i have been buffing with medium grit cutting compound for 3 days now.... i am finally ready to stop using cutting compound and cutting pads... probably have 2-3 more days of buffing ect before i can even think about wax.... :(