fc-racer

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share a detailing success story. I'm a total detailing newbie. My regular routine for detailing was to use 3M Imperial Hand Glaze and 1Grand Blitz Wax once a year (at most!). While the car usually looked pretty good, the 3M IHG must use fillers because the marks would soon return.

I decided to take the next step and get a DA polisher; I wanted bang for the buck because I mostly track my car and am not really into detailing it. After doing tons of research, I chose the Porter Cable 7424XP along with Lake Country foam CCS pads and then turned my attention to polish, wax and which LC pads to get.

I didn't think my paint was in bad shape so I read up on this forum and found Phil's advice from Detailers Domain to be excellent and very useful in determining which combination to go with. I ultimately ended up with Menzerna Final Finish 106FA Nano, Menzerna APO60 Carnuba Wax, LC white CCS polish pad, LC black finish pad and LC blue finish pad.

After reading all the forum posts and watching two weeks worth of youTube videos, I was scared to death of doing damage to my paint. The day arrived to finally do it and this is the procedure I followed. I'm providing intricate detail in hopes this helps someone else that is gun-shy of doing their own detail using a DA random orbital:

1. Tape all the emblems and trim using 3M Scotch 233 green tape.
2. Polish using 106FA and white pad by:
a. Placing a small mount of 106FA on pad to work a 2'x2' area
b. Spreading 106FA onto the 2'x2' paint area before turning on the PC
c. Setting the PC to 3 and turning it on while in contact with the paint
d. Spreading the 106FA around the area before really getting into breaking it down
e. Turning the PC off while in contact with the paint
f. Turning the PC to 5 and moving at a pace of about 0.5" per 1 second
g. Continue slow paced coverage while overlapping sections
h. Stop the PC when the 106FA has turned translucent (about 5-6mins in my case per section)
i. Burnish with the PC at 3 for another few passes (not sure if this did anything)
j. Clean off the 106FA with a microfibre towel (this was really easy to take off)

I followed pretty much the same routine for the APO60, with the exception that I used the blue pad; the breakdown time was very quick and I used a slower speed overall (3 to 4 on the PC). When taking off the APO60, it was amazing how easily the excess came off, it was a dream to work with. Even if you don't want to polish your car with the PC, once you've waxed with it, you'll never go back to hand.

I also wanted to take a crack at making my headlights and turn signals a bit clearer. I used the 106FA with the white pad and went at it with the same approach as the paint. The headlights look a bit better, but there is still some very minor haze from the inside, but the turn signals came out crystal clear. They were the ones I was hoping would improve because they were pretty hazy.

In the end, I'm VERY pleased with the results and want to thank Phil from Detailers Domain and the others who contribute to this forum; I could not have tackled this without the guidance they provide in their posts. The results are so good that I'm almost afraid they are too good to be true!

See for yourself and let me know what you think:

Before



After



A few things I learned along the way:
1. The white pad is great and easy to use, but you could probably go for something with a bit more cut if you want to really correct your paint
3. Putting wax on with a PC is a dream; the way it comes off makes the purchase worth it on its own
4. There is no way I could make the car look like this by my own power
5. The Menzerna stuff is made by a higher power, it's that good
6. Even with a PC, it still takes a LONG time to detail the car (all told, including washing and taping, I spent 8hrs on it!)
7. The PC vibrates *A LOT* so be prepared for that

Unfortunately, the GT3 is now in hibernation for the winter and won't see the day of light until the spring. I hope it looks as good in the sun as it did under the halogens.

Hope this helps someone,
Cheers!

detailersdomain

that looks great thanks for sharing and thanks for the feedback!

This is what keeps us going!

nikku

great to see a Toronto member detail his car Thanks for sharing and good work. Do you have more pics of your 997 GT3?

MoeMistry

Great job and thanks for sharing. Welcome to the dark side

GlisteningTech

That looks awesome.

It is cool to see that all detailing fanatics have one thing in common, they are still really excited to see a good turn around and finished product.

I know that no matter how many paint corrections that we do, every single time we still sit back and look at the finished work and genuinely say "that looks awesome." It is a good bond to have with everyone.

Congrats on doing it yourself. Before long you will have the car on jackstands while you clean your undercarriage.

cab&coupe

Awesome...

David Floyd

Numb hands ?

Car looks great

Marine Blue

Increased fatigue when handling bigger jobs.



Nice work FC Racer, the paint looks wet! Looking forward to seeing shots of the whole car.

Oh and as others have eluded, its a slippery slope and once you start heading down it you may not ever come back.

Wes_R

Looks amazing! My favorite pic is the one with the garage opener light and light bulb.

cab&coupe

^^^Ditto, would also like to see complete car photos too.

fc-racer

Hey guys,

Thanks for the kind words. David, the vibration just makes the unit a bit tough to handle. The handle especially has no isolation from the vibrations and makes it a bit tough to manage at the higher speeds. To compensate, I held the top of the unit with my other hand instead of using the handle. Further research has indicated that there is a heavier counterweight that may reduce the vibration at really high speeds (5+).

Full disclaimer that these pics are not post detailing, these were taken a while back. I will take pics of the car as soon as the sun shines and the temps come up.

pushtiulk

great job

cab&coupe

Nice shots... thanks for sharing.

fc-racer

Pics taken outdoors after coming out of winter hibernation. It was a bit overcast so the sun isn't as bright as I would have liked, but it still shows the excellent results of the Menzerna + LC + PC combination.

Marine Blue

Seriously you did a nice job! The before pictures you posted do not have nearly the same shine as your new pictures.

Excellent work and beautiful car.