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So for the car back and mechanically perfect so thought I would detail and take my time. Took of the 5 year old PPF. As of July Ohio does not require front plate. So I have been taking my time and doing a little here and a little there.
Filled the bumper plugs with plugs from Lowe's. And I'm slowly learning how to detail. Front bumper is a mess and maybe I hit something on the back. But damn. When the black paint is shined and (mostly) scratch free it is the best color ever.
Whenever I take this type of task on it starts to rain or I go out for a drive and I end up stuck somewhere in traffic right next to some construction road maintenance crew using a road / concrete cutter blowing debris all over the place or a bunch of landscapers going honkers with leaf blowers. I still like to do it but 8 oout of 10 times I can't win .... Good job though ...
I understand what you're going through. I have invested literally hundreds of hours on my 911. The good part about it is that in doing it, you're working for yourself and get 100% of the benefit.
Your car looks great and will no-doubt get better and better with your time and efforts.
I spent 3 hrs sunday claying/waxing. Picked up buddy at merc dealer today to have lunch while they did routine service on his SL. Realized on the way hadn’t removed wax on passenger window. When came out of restaurant realized still had wax on front bumper. Looked back on sunday and said, oh. 1 hour claying/waxing car and 2 hrs drinking while admiring the beauty of her lines may have been misguided. Maybe I should be more quality control oriented. Then thought no. Rather gaze on pure beauty with a 16 yo scotch than worry about missing wax.
But total commendation to your commitment!!
I’ve spent a lot of time detailing my car, but a little intimidated by doing a paint correction myself. Seems like the wrong car to learn on…
with something like a porter cable 7424 or any random orbital its very hard to mess it up. Watch a bunch of you tube videos and go for it. Ive done full paint corrections on about 4-5 cars now and the result is worth the effort. something therapeutic about polishing a 911 that cant be put into words in my opinion.
That's why it has taken a couple weeks so far. Watched a video of White Details do a boxster with what he called "flat black". Also strayed with hand compound, then a meguairs DA that ran on my drill, then onto a full craftsman DA. Still using meguairs "ultimate" compound and polish and learning how to prevent and remove swirls. Now working on scratch removal which is actually harder than you think. Also front and rear bumper really need a re spray so practicing a lot on those.
That's why it has taken a couple weeks so far. Watched a video of White Details do a boxster with what he called "flat black". Also strayed with hand compound, then a meguairs DA that ran on my drill, then onto a full craftsman DA. Still using meguairs "ultimate" compound and polish and learning how to prevent and remove swirls. Now working on scratch removal which is actually harder than you think. Also front and rear bumper really need a re spray so practicing a lot on those.
What kind of pads are you using? I have found those make the biggest difference in terms of cut and finish more so that the compound/polish.
I personally use sonax cutmax/perfect finish for a solid two step. Little pricier than others - but no dust and dependable results. Usually pair this with lake country orange/white pad. If I need more cut I step it up to microfiber pad but still finish with white pad and perfect finish.
As I am sure you know this detailing stuff can lead you down a never ending wormhole.
Yeah. The pads make all the difference. Lake country orange and white so far. Still new to this. Can get swirl free results and have figured out how to avoid swirls. 40 pack of microfiber towels from Walmart. New one every time. Still have some deeper scratches I could remove with a more aggressive pad or compound. But have not got that brave yet.
with something like a porter cable 7424 or any random orbital its very hard to mess it up. Watch a bunch of you tube videos and go for it. Ive done full paint corrections on about 4-5 cars now and the result is worth the effort. something therapeutic about polishing a 911 that cant be put into words in my opinion.
Definitely this. YT has a years of content on how to do this correctly and with a dual action polisher and some patience it's easy to learn. I also find it incredibly therapeutic. I just corrected, detailed and applied ceramic to my daily Mazda CX-5 which came to me CPO. The result is stunning, though the Mazda seems to have relatively soft paint and removing swirls was a breeze.
last fall I did about a 30-40 hour detail on my car including polishing and ceramic coating... only to take it out into the sun for the first time and realize there were ceramic coating high spots all over it
Thought the lighting in my garage was good enough, but nope! What a disappointment! I still haven't fixed it because it was just so much labor and I felt so deflated afterwards. Definitely going to just pay a pro next time!
10-05-2021, 06:53 PM
136 hour detail...so far
