Monday was spent with my Brabus, my Dual Action polisher and various Meguiars cutting, polishing and wax products.
The car (before) was clearly showing many years of being washed and cleaned (perhaps with care but not always with proper methods!) and in the sunshine the swirls and micro-scratches were evident and driving me out of my (somewhat OCD!) mind!
A long (and HOT!) day (I had already washed and "clay bar-ed" the body to remove surface contaminants) with the DA gave me the results in the pictures below.
The paint/clear coat used by Smart is HARD (very different from the somewhat softer paint/clear on my R35) and it took several passes with the DA, using a hard cutting pad (a Lake County yellow pad) and Meguiars Ultimate Compound to get the swirls reduced to a "near non-existent" level.
In retrospect the Meguiars cutting compound while good is not quite as good as the products I've used in the past (Menzerna), but am reasonably happy with the finish.
Their Ultimate Polish and NXT Gen Wax are both excellent. The polish takes several low/medium speed passes of the DA (with a Lake County Green pad) to fully breakdown then using CarPro Eraser sprayed on the panel to help remove the excess remaining oils from the polish before applying the wax (paste version).
I prefer to apply and remove wax by hand using a foam applicator (wax ON) and (Chemical Guys) thick plush detailing towels (wax OFF), no need for the machine. As always when using wax the "less is more" approach works well!
Just a couple of "pre-DA" shots that show the sort of swirls and micro-scratches you can easily acquire over time when not using "proper" washing/drying techniques.
Now here are a few finished shots - smooth, super shiny and even if I say so myself - not bad for a rank amateur and a near showroom/off the production line finish!
My driveway reflected in the door panels!
If you have ever been tempted to use a polishing machine but worry about inflicting damage - DON'T BE! It is very VERY hard to inflict damage using a DA (take a little care on panel edges where paint is thinner and mask around plastic trim). The dual direction action (hence DA!) of the machine helps protect against "burn through" (where you go through the clear coat and into the paint … or beyond!). The weight of the machine is generally sufficient ie no need to push the machine onto the panel and the variable speed and forgiving nature of consumer available products makes the process straightforward and the end result can be pretty good! Detailing World & YouTube contain a plethora of advice and demonstrations of how to detail using a DA.
The contours of the 454 are both good and bad! Good in that you can work on quite small panels individually, bad in that you have lots of fiddly little curves!
Hope you like the end result and the little write up!
David
