CLL
10-13-2007, 09:35 PM
After a long battle with polishing the hood and finishing the whole truck; I learned a few things.
1. There is no substitute for experience.
2. Be patient
3. Shake the polish very well.
I washed and clayed the whole truck then began taping it up. I started with XMT#3 with the orange pad then #2 with the white pad. I then used the grey pad with XMT glaze. I had some pretty nasty scratches on the top of the cab from low hanging trees that were removed with out a trace. It took approximately 8 hours to complete my truck (4 door F250). I'm very pleased with the results and all the I have learned. I used 3/4 of bottle of XMT #3 to correct all the swirls and minor scratches. This is where lesson #1 and #3 come into play. By the time I got to the last 3 feet of truck the XMT #3 was coming out like sand. I knew then I hadn't shaken it well enough from the start of things. I probably would have finished it sooner if I had a bit more cutting power at the start of things. Now that its all done I'm very pleased with the results and the neighbors commented how good it looks too.
I know we all like pictures right!
Here is a picture of what the scratches on the roof of the truck look like but just imagine all over.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0592.jpg
Here is whats it looks like in one pass. Lots of flake in this shot
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0593.jpg
All gone!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0595.jpg
Drivers side back half.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0597.jpg
Drivers side front half.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0596.jpg
Almost forgot this one. I don't know why the right side of this pic looks fuzzy.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0591.jpg
That's it for now but I'll post some from when its in the sun light.
-CLL
1. There is no substitute for experience.
2. Be patient
3. Shake the polish very well.
I washed and clayed the whole truck then began taping it up. I started with XMT#3 with the orange pad then #2 with the white pad. I then used the grey pad with XMT glaze. I had some pretty nasty scratches on the top of the cab from low hanging trees that were removed with out a trace. It took approximately 8 hours to complete my truck (4 door F250). I'm very pleased with the results and all the I have learned. I used 3/4 of bottle of XMT #3 to correct all the swirls and minor scratches. This is where lesson #1 and #3 come into play. By the time I got to the last 3 feet of truck the XMT #3 was coming out like sand. I knew then I hadn't shaken it well enough from the start of things. I probably would have finished it sooner if I had a bit more cutting power at the start of things. Now that its all done I'm very pleased with the results and the neighbors commented how good it looks too.
I know we all like pictures right!
Here is a picture of what the scratches on the roof of the truck look like but just imagine all over.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0592.jpg
Here is whats it looks like in one pass. Lots of flake in this shot
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0593.jpg
All gone!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0595.jpg
Drivers side back half.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0597.jpg
Drivers side front half.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0596.jpg
Almost forgot this one. I don't know why the right side of this pic looks fuzzy.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e338/CLL375/CIMG0591.jpg
That's it for now but I'll post some from when its in the sun light.
-CLL