My F150 project

[flyinion]

Went over this morning to do the exterior of my Dad's F150. Didn't realize what I was in for lol. Full size truck, plus covered/painted bed cover, and 4 door full size cab was a lot more surface than I realized. Oh well, the joys of being an amateur and underestimating stuff. So in the end I figured out that the paint is just seriously bad. Etched water spots all over, and some etchings from who knows what. The Wolfgang TSR and orange pad did a pretty good job, but not as good as I'd hoped. I actually don't even know if a pro with a rotary could fix the horizontal surfaces, they were pretty bad, and I didn't get all the fine scratches out of the side panels either.

I skipped the Wolfgang FG after a test spot on the hood showed not much/any improvement (you'd really have to look and know what you were looking for to even see the difference in the tape line). Instead I went straight to the DGPS. All said and done was 12 hours including a few breaks (lunch/dinner, etc.). I didn't get better pics as I only had my cell phone, but I do have one pic of a 50/50 of the hood after TSR. I think at least 1/2 the time was using the TSR.

Steps:
Wash with Pinnacle bodywork shampoo
Dry
Clay with Mother's Gold clay kit
Wolfgang TSR and orange CCS pads
Wolfgang DGPS and blue CCS pads

50/50 at front of hood:
http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150oxidized.jpg

[Elite Pro]

Yea man trucks can be a beast, but at least you brought some color back it! What machine did you use?

I did a black F 150 much worse than that with etchings all over- esp on the horizontals- no bed cover though- I'll see if I got a pic

[flyinion]

Used a Porter Cable 7424, not the XP, I've had it for about 8 years (though until last year it was kinda dormant for a few years) :o:o.

Here's a few more pics off the phone. The first one I tossed some arrows on it to point out some of the etched water spots that were left after the TSR was used that are very visible. Actually I'm not sure what the big spot that crosses the tape line was. Nearly all the horizontals were like this. I know they didn't do it on purpose, the truck just sits outside and they get busy. It had been about 4+ years since it had anything but automatic car washes and automatic car wash "wax" or "sealant" (the truck is 8 years old)

http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150oxidized3.jpg

http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150oxidized2.jpg

[Elite Pro]

Black F 150- Check it:

Look at all the white specks
http://i941.photobucket.com/albums/ad258/flametight/andrews%20truck/IMG_0770.jpg
Serious neglect

[flyinion]

So, apparently the Pinnacle PCL page's comment about florescent lighting being horribly harsh to look at paint with is correct. Went over this afternoon and we pull the truck out of the garage into the sun. Yeah, you can still seem some of the water spot etching and such if you look for it, but wow it actually looked REALLY good all things considered when viewed in natural light. Here's a few pictures with the Wolfgang DGPS applied and cured overnight. (remember, ONLY the paint was detailed, no glass/tires/etc.) The "hologram" looking thing just above the sun in the last pic is just a fingerprint smudge on the hood, nothing permanent.

http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150dgps.jpg

http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150dgps2.jpg

http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150dgps3.jpg

http://www.metallic-raven.com/f150dgps4.jpg

[Elite Pro]

:xyxthumbs: Lookin good- I bet dads happy

[flyinion]

Yes very happy. It's kind of funny too because in the end this project has made me look at maybe upgrading my PC to the Flex 3401.....I think that's the right number, the direct drive "DA" one that sits in between a PC and a rotary. One of the reasons is if you look at the hood in the first pic, every time I would go up that angled section or back down or even across it with the PC, the pad would stop rotating as evidenced by the line I marked on the backing plate. (yeah I've learned quite a few tips since joining the forums this month lol)

I don't think I had that problem on my car but still I like the idea of DA style "not burning the paint" combined with a little extra power and not having to worry about body panel shapes interfering with pad rotation. Of course, I think I'd have to go buy a bunch of new pads to replace the ones I just bought since I don't think the Flex can use 5.5" pads. My PC is also about 8 years old, actually maybe closer to 9 because I bought it to use on my 98 Saturn that got traded in during August 03 and used it for a good year or more before that. So it's not the newer XP version that has more power.

[Elite Pro]

Yea man, it took me like 3 vehicles with my 7424xp to step up to the Flex 3401- very nice machine. I did keep my PC and still use it often with 4" pads for tight spots and with the brush attachment for interiors.
I've never used the older PC but the xp stops spinning also.

When you get the 3401 get the 6.5" pads but don't get rid of the 5.5, just get the 4 3/8 Flex backing plate for those 5.5 pads- works great!

I actually have 2 BP's- ordered an extra one by accident lol -PM me when you get the Flex I'll send you the BP for the low :xyxthumbs:

[flyinion]

Cool, well it may be a bit before I have the $$$ laying around for that. I was kind of debating about a rotary too, but I don't really think I'd have a need for a rotary's correction power for a long while since mostly I do my car.

[Elite Pro]

I have a Makita 9227c I'm tryin to get rid of- I wanna pick up that Flex PE14-2. I'm still working on 'mastering' the rotary:)