Newb First Two-Step w/Pinnacle Compound and Polish-is it really Bubba Proof?

[Jayfro]

Whole heartedly…YES, it is Bubba Proof with a small asterisk that I’ll get to later.

The victim: My best friends 2010-11 Black Audi S4 that is a Tunnel of Swirl Queen!

We recently went to Vegas, stayed a few nights, played a couple of rounds of golf, etc…he picked-up the tab on everything including airfare which was completely unexpected so this was the least I could do to thank him for that gift.

The paint was in poor shape, swirls all over the car, the doors were worse than the hood/trunk.

The Process: Two Bucket thorough washing that included Car Pro Iron-X and Blackfire’s Fine Clay Mitt. The Iron-X did a fantastic job on the car, cleaned up about 50-60% of the roughness on the paint and the Blackfire Fine Clay Mitt finished it off with just a little bit of effort…there was not a bead of water to found on the car afterwards!

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The inside of the Wheels looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, I wiped my finger on the inside of the wheel and I couldn’t get through the muck!! I decided to use Mequiars Ultimate Wheel Cleaner since they were so dirty, (I had beadmaker brake buster on standby). Typically, when I’ve applied the wheel cleaner it normally takes about 30-60+ seconds to show the purple run-off, this took about 15 seconds, I actually had to apply it to the wheel twice to be able to get everything cleaned up…this took about an hour on the wheels where they were acceptable, they still need a little work that we’ll get in the next week or so.

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The Test Spot – I used both Blackfire One Step and Pinnacle Advanced Compound (PAC) to see what would work the best. I used a LC Orange Pad with the BF One Step and LC White Pad with the PAC just to see what they would do…this is my first time working with any kind of Compound so I was little/lot cautious. The One Step actually did a better job than the PAC so I switched to a new LC Orange Pad and reapplied the PAC since I wanted to see what the PAC could really do…obviously the PAC cut better than the One Step…but not by much, probably 20-25% better…which says a lot about the BF One Step!

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The Decision – Given that I wanted to do a great job for him, wanting to gain experience using different products, purchased the product just for this project, I moved forward with the PAC and Polish. If this was not my best friend, it would’ve been BF One Step in New York Second and everyone would’ve been happy!!

Time to Work – Primed the pads and used three dime to nickel size drops, made approx. I did four section passes on speed 5-6, two passes left and right and two up and down. All of the horizontal surfaces went very smooth, very little if any dusting. The PAC was very easy to wipe off. The vertical surfaces were a lot more work since they were butchered up pretty good, so I slowed down the arm speed and made one or two additional passes. It took about five – six hours to complete the compound, if I was more comfortable with MF Pads, I'm sure this would’ve been much faster. My overall experience with PAC was very very good and would highly recommend to anyone especially for anyone new to detailing…my knowledge of other compounds is…zip at the time!

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After Compounding….So far so good!

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The PAC performed very very well!!

Time to Polish – Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish (PAP) is supposed to be Bubba Proof, after the test spot I was starting to second guess this. I used the LC White Pads, made four section passes, again up and down and side to side.

After the test spot I pulled the car back into the sun so I could have a better view with better light…I'm not sure this was good idea but thank goodness I did it, It appeared my section pass was marred…I freaked out! I immediately pulled the car back in the garage, got on AGO, and searched the forums on applying PAP…it seemed like most people used three to four passes at normal speed, then two more passes with lower speed.

I went back and followed this advice, made another test spot, pulled the car back in the sun and it seemed a little better but not what I was expecting, when I was wiping the PAF it looked like the marring was still there but the odd think was the marr was moving, WTH?

It turned out that the MF I was using was not adequate for wiping polish, so I switched to a different type of MF Towel, applied a little more pressure and….BAM the shine/gloss was there!! I found that PAF is somewhat oily which is fine, again this is my first time using a dedicated polish so I'm not sure if this is normal or not, the end result was worth it!!

I used the wonderful Sonax PNS as the LSP, amazingly enough it went on very easily considering the temperature and humidity.

Unfortunately, by the time I was wrapping everything up around 7:30PM, the sun was starting to go down.


This is the final result.

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Remember, you got have fun. The headband was a lifesaver, no sweat dripping into your eyes and burning the crud out of them or onto the car! I did try to find the old red white and blue headband..no luck!

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My overall experience using Pinnacle’s Compound and Polish was extremely positive and I would recommend both of them to anybody wanting to safely strive for perfection. From start to finish, that included washing, compounding, and polishing, it took around 12-13 hours over two days.

As a newb, I started this project very intimidated to say the least since I did not know what I was getting into and if I could get out safely…I think I did very good job, of course there’s room for improvement but I'm very happy as well as my best friend….he said it made his car faster!

The next question is, would I do another 2/3 step? They would have to be a very special person or they would have to pay me a lot of money!!

I want to thank everyone on AGO that gave me the confidence to do this project and of course to Mike Phillips with the product recommendation…it is Bubba Proof!

Jay


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[john b]

good work

[Kamakaz1961]

Beautiful work! KEEP ON ROCKING!

[Markymapo]

PAC and polish are my go to combination almost all the time for the correction mentioned. Nice work

[VISITOR]

nice job, i'm sure your best friend must have been very happy with your results! from this point on just make sure to let him know not to take it to any car wash and show him how to maintain it himself, otherwise you'll be doing this again and you don't want to sacrifice more clear than necessary...

[Dr Oldz]

Jay, amazing work and stellar documentation!! The car looks amazing!

[SWETM]

Wow that's an awesome work and write up and pictures Jay!

You did a professionall work at your first attempt to correcting a vehical. Trouble shooting on fly and made a good judgement call on which way to go from the test spots. And the write up is just very joyfull to read. The S4 looks amazing now cause of your hard work. Maybe the owner finds it to be fun to take care of it with hand washing it from now on.

Think you did very good time wise too. It takes time to do a polishing step and a 2 step. That's why many tries to get away with a 1 step to hold the time down.

Great job and thanks for shareing your work!

/ Tony

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Jay,

I read through this post over the weekend, not getting to reply until now...





The Decision – Given that I wanted to do a great job for him, wanting to gain experience using different products, purchased the product just for this project, I moved forward with the PAC and Polish.

If this was not my best friend, it would’ve been BF One Step in New York Second and everyone would’ve been happy!!



The second sentence that I made bold,

That would be me too. For a number of reasons besides the BLACKFIRE One Step working exceedingly well to remove swirls and scratches, be so easy to wipe off and dramatically reduce the number of hours needed to buff out an entire car.

The other reasons are that when I have the option to buff out a swirled-out car (for free), I always ask myself this question.



Question: How did the paint get this way?


Answer: The owner either bought it that way or their normal method of taking care of the car is the cause.



Then I ask myself,

What's changed?


If the owner/friend has had a CHANGE in their way of thinking and NOW they're going to start taking care of their car - then I'll do the work. If nothing's changed, then the car is simply going to revert back to how it looks and then it's a noble thing to do but also a huge waste of time, energy and resources - WHEN BLACKFIRE One Step will do almost as good a job with a lot less work.


I've been doing this a long time and sure, I like to help out my buddies but I've also learned that if they don't get it, that is they don't understand they can't take a car I just created a show car finish on and NOT run it through a car wash then it's kind of a waste of time.

I'm not saying your friend is like this, just speaking in general terms about people. Like I say in the introduction of my how-to book,


Some people look at their car as merely a means of transportation, a way to get from point A to point B. Other's look at their car as an extension of their personality.


It's this first type of person that runs their car through a swirl-o-matic car wash without even giving it a thought. Nothing wrong with this but what I practice and what I teach in my classes is you don't do a 3-step show car detail for this type of car or car owner, you use a one-step. :)








My overall experience using Pinnacle’s Compound and Polish was extremely positive and I would recommend both of them to anybody wanting to safely strive for perfection. From start to finish, that included washing, compounding, and polishing, it took around 12-13 hours over two days.



And as mentioned - it's bubba-proof for 99.9% of the paint systems on the market in that it will not cause micro-marring. And to bring your other thread into this thread for everyone that will read this into the future, see what Jay wrote in the first post of the thread, and then my answers throughout the thread.


Is there a Bubba Proof Compound and Polish? (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions-/123792-there-bubba-proof-compound-polish.html)





I can tell you from experience when I was younger and that is NO ONE want's to do a job a SECOND TIME because the product didn't work. That's a lot of do-over time.

I teach and preach all the time that the MOST important FACTOR when it comes to polishing paint is the ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY. It's NOT technique. But, I know some guys actually do think it's them and their technique.


The picture in the below article tells the story...

Abrasive Technology - THE most important factor when it comes to polishing paint (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/2018-new-car-detailing-how-to-article-by-mike-phillips/120326-abrasive-technology-most-important-factor-when-comes-polishing-paint.html)


And here's what micro-marring looks like when you use an orbital polisher with any product that uses crap for abrasive technology.

Pictures of Micro-Marring - DA Haze - Tick Marks - Compounds - Polishes - AIOs - Clearcoat Paints (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/123669-pictures-micro-marring-da-haze-tick-marks-compounds-polishes-aios-clearcoat-paints.html)







As a newb, I started this project very intimidated to say the least since I did not know what I was getting into and if I could get out safely…I think I did very good job, of course there’s room for improvement but I'm very happy as well as my best friend….he said it made his car faster!




You are a VERY GOOD FRIEND. Heck my own car could use a 3-step process, next time you're in Stuart, Florida, give me a call. :cheers:






The next question is, would I do another 2/3 step? They would have to be a very special person or they would have to pay me a lot of money!!



Exactly.

Time is money. The compounding step alone for a car like this will take around 4-6 hours depending upon the person and how focused they are at keeping the buffer ON the car, not their cell phone in their hand.

The fastest way to get through a multiple step process is to work hard, work fast, work clean and stay on the car, don't get distracted as a few minutes here doing something else repeated over and over again dramatically slows the process down.






I want to thank everyone on AGO that gave me the confidence to do this project and of course to Mike Phillips with the product recommendation…it is Bubba Proof!

Jay





I appreciate you're joining the forum as a complete newbie after having a bad experience shared here,

Newb needing some assistance (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/123442-newb-needing-some-assistance.html)


And then forging forward and taking on the challenge to fix your own car and now you are more qualified than most to do this thing we call,

Car Detailing


Nice work Jay.


:dblthumb2:

[Jayfro]

good work

Thank you very much.


Beautiful work! KEEP ON ROCKING!

Thank you very much


PAC and polish are my go to combination almost all the time for the correction mentioned. Nice work
I believe this will be my go to as well. I may try it on my wifes X3 that has pretty hard paint but it's DD, probably hit the hood in the next month or two when it starts cooling down.


nice job, i'm sure your best friend must have been very happy with your results! from this point on just make sure to let him know not to take it to any car wash and show him how to maintain it himself, otherwise you'll be doing this again and you don't want to sacrifice more clear than necessary...
I'm sending him a list of what he's going to need to buy, he saw the hard work and wants to keep it clean again....or he'll just have to take me to Vegas again, there are couple of golf courses that we want to hit next time.


Jay, amazing work and stellar documentation!! The car looks amazing!
Thank you...I learned from a lot of people on AGO on how to document everything properly, still working on my picture taking skills...except i try to have a little fun with it too!


Wow that's an awesome work and write up and pictures Jay!

You did a professionall work at your first attempt to correcting a vehical. Trouble shooting on fly and made a good judgement call on which way to go from the test spots. And the write up is just very joyfull to read. The S4 looks amazing now cause of your hard work. Maybe the owner finds it to be fun to take care of it with hand washing it from now on.

Think you did very good time wise too. It takes time to do a polishing step and a 2 step. That's why many tries to get away with a 1 step to hold the time down.

Great job and thanks for shareing your work!

Thank you....

I really learned about the Test Spot from everyone here on AGO...in the past (few months) I really didnt have an alternative product to go to other than changing pads. I must say it was really cool examining the multiple test spots with different products, pads, DA and arm speed...actually made me fell that I had "a clue"!

/ Tony


Hi Jay,

I read through this post over the weekend, not getting to reply until now...




The second sentence that I made bold,

That would be me too. For a number of reasons besides the BLACKFIRE One Step working exceedingly well to remove swirls and scratches, be so easy to wipe off and dramatically reduce the number of hours needed to buff out an entire car.

It was a real struggle deciding which way to go since they were very comparable. Not in my write up, I actually did a test spot after washing the full car the night before on the trunk, one with BF One Step and Sonax PNS and the other with "the twins" and Sonax PNS...again real close. I had all night to think about it, so the next morning did the test spot again on the hood and decided I might as well use the twins.

If I could do it again, I think I would've used BF One Step on all of the horizontal panels and the twins on the vertical panels since they were in worse shape than the hood...would this be acceptable?

The other reasons are that when I have the option to buff out a swirled-out car (for free), I always ask myself this question.



Question: How did the paint get this way?


Answer: The owner either bought it that way or their normal method of taking care of the car is the cause.



Then I ask myself,

What's changed?


If the owner/friend has had a CHANGE in their way of thinking and NOW they're going to start taking care of their car - then I'll do the work. If nothing's changed, then the car is simply going to revert back to how it looks and then it's a noble thing to do but also a huge waste of time, energy and resources - WHEN BLACKFIRE One Step will do almost as good a job with a lot less work.


I've been doing this a long time and sure, I like to help out my buddies but I've also learned that if they don't get it, that is they don't understand they can't take a car I just created a show car finish on and NOT run it through a car wash then it's kind of a waste of time.

I'm not saying your friend is like this, just speaking in general terms about people. Like I say in the introduction of my how-to book,


Some people look at their car as merely a means of transportation, a way to get from point A to point B. Other's look at their car as an extension of their personality.


It's this first type of person that runs their car through a swirl-o-matic car wash without even giving it a thought. Nothing wrong with this but what I practice and what I teach in my classes is you don't do a 3-step show car detail for this type of car or car owner, you use a one-step. :)

We've had this conversation, I'm starting a shopping list for him to get him into the basics such as a grit guard, new MF Mitts and/or the infamous forrest green MF towels, wheel cleaner, MF drying and all purpose towels, Sonax BSD, shampoo, etc....of course with links to AGO!





And as mentioned - it's bubba-proof for 99.9% of the paint systems on the market in that it will not cause micro-marring. And to bring your other thread into this thread for everyone that will read this into the future, see what Jay wrote in the first post of the thread, and then my answers throughout the thread.


Is there a Bubba Proof Compound and Polish? (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions-/123792-there-bubba-proof-compound-polish.html)





I can tell you from experience when I was younger and that is NO ONE want's to do a job a SECOND TIME because the product didn't work. That's a lot of do-over time.

I teach and preach all the time that the MOST important FACTOR when it comes to polishing paint is the ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY. It's NOT technique. But, I know some guys actually do think it's them and their technique.


The picture in the below article tells the story...

Abrasive Technology - THE most important factor when it comes to polishing paint (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/2018-new-car-detailing-how-to-article-by-mike-phillips/120326-abrasive-technology-most-important-factor-when-comes-polishing-paint.html)


And here's what micro-marring looks like when you use an orbital polisher with any product that uses crap for abrasive technology.

Pictures of Micro-Marring - DA Haze - Tick Marks - Compounds - Polishes - AIOs - Clearcoat Paints (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/123669-pictures-micro-marring-da-haze-tick-marks-compounds-polishes-aios-clearcoat-paints.html)







You are a VERY GOOD FRIEND. Heck my own car could use a 3-step process, next time you're in Stuart, Florida, give me a call. :cheers:





Exactly.

Time is money. The compounding step alone for a car like this will take around 4-6 hours depending upon the person and how focused they are at keeping the buffer ON the car, not their cell phone in their hand.

The fastest way to get through a multiple step process is to work hard, work fast, work clean and stay on the car, don't get distracted as a few minutes here doing something else repeated over and over again dramatically slows the process down.

Started Day 2 at 9:00am...15 minutes for lunch...finished at 7:30pm.






I appreciate you're joining the forum as a complete newbie after having a bad experience shared here,

Newb needing some assistance (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101-a/123442-newb-needing-some-assistance.html)


And then forging forward and taking on the challenge to fix your own car and now you are more qualified than most to do this thing we call,

Car Detailing


Nice work Jay.


:dblthumb2:

I've really enjoyed detailing the handful of cars i've gotten a hold of, seeing the finished product brings me a ton of joy and accomplishment, kinda like doing yardwork, seeing the finished product!

[Mike Phillips]

I've really enjoyed detailing the handful of cars i've gotten a hold of, seeing the finished product brings me a ton of joy and accomplishment, kinda like doing yardwork, seeing the finished product!




I feel the same way about most of the cars I detail. No so much about the cars I'm volunteered to detail.


:dblthumb2:

[PaulMys]

Awesome work, Jay!!

It is truly a great moment when you STOP fretting about things, decide to just "jump in" and do it, and see how good you can do to start. I remember that feeling too!

That said, you DO know that you put some mars back into the paint by setting the Sonax can and Pin Twins on the hood, right?

Lol, just kidding man. Sweet job!!

[Jayfro]

Awesome work, Jay!!

It is truly a great moment when you STOP fretting about things, decide to just "jump in" and do it, and see how good you can do to start. I remember that feeling too!

That said, you DO know that you put some mars back into the paint by setting the Sonax can and Pin Twins on the hood, right?

Lol, just kidding man. Sweet job!!

Yes sir...it was inspected and wiped promptly!


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

[PaulMys]

Yes sir...it was inspected and wiped promptly!


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

Lol.

Another thing I will compliment you on is the amount of pads used.

It is SO much easier to switch out pads after a panel (or two if they are small) than trying to clean them on the fly using only a few pads.

I hear that velcro "Rip" sound about 18-20 times while polishing my truck. ;)

[Jayfro]

Lol.

Another thing I will compliment you on is the amount of pads used.

It is SO much easier to switch out pads after a panel (or two if they are small) than trying to clean them on the fly using only a few pads.

I hear that velcro "Rip" sound about 18-20 times while polishing my truck. ;)

That is one of the many things I've learned on AGO, one pad per panel unless it's a small panel. I was getting low on the white pads near the end so I was cleaning them after each section, good ole beach towel on speed six and let it rip! Also, given the heat that day, I was alternating pads so not to burn them up.

I've got to say to anyone new to detailing, this forum (I call it a community), is simply incredible and inviting in which you can learn from the best detailers, pro or weekend warrior in the country and the world! Sorry to be over dramatic...its just a blast!

Jay


Sent from my iPad using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

[Aaryn NZ]

Outstanding work Jayfro! :props:

Came out looking real nice, good job buddy.

I’m a big fan of the Pinnacle Advanced Compound/Swirl Remover/Finishing Polish too. Unfortunately for me I pay a smidge over $400NZ a gallon . . . . Hey, it works though. :xyxthumbs: Super nice work though Jayfro, great post & as a few people have already said - you’re a very good friend!



Lol.

Another thing I will compliment you on is the amount of pads used.

It is SO much easier to switch out pads after a panel (or two if they are small) than trying to clean them on the fly using only a few pads.

I hear that velcro "Rip" sound about 18-20 times while polishing my truck. ;)


:iagree:

I was thinking the same too PaulMys. And when it comes to the end of the day & it’s clean up time, it’s far easier to wash pads that aren’t soaked with product. :props:



Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2: