Long time lurker seeking guidance

[nadroj]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/40463-advice-needed.html

I originally posted this in the "Auto Detailing University" forum but there doesn't appear to be nearly as much activity there so I am reposting my questions here (please refer to other thread if you need background information to aide in advice).

Basically I am going to be working on my car out in the parking lot of my apartment complex (I live in GA.)

1) Should I get a product that specifically says it can be used in direct sunlight (ie SSR1, SSR2.5, etc) or would I be better off getting one of the more popular polishes (ie M105, M205)?

2) I have a 2007 Galaxy Grey Mazda3. I have read that the clear is very soft and thin on this model. Does anyone have any direct experience on this model? If so, what products would you recommend?

Thanks,
Jordan

[Buckskincolt]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/40463-advice-needed.html

I originally posted this in the "Auto Detailing University" forum but there doesn't appear to be nearly as much activity there so I am reposting my questions here (please refer to other thread if you need background information to aide in advice).

Basically I am going to be working on my car out in the parking lot of my apartment complex (I live in GA.)

1) Should I get a product that specifically says it can be used in direct sunlight (ie SSR1, SSR2.5, etc) or would I be better off getting one of the more popular polishes (ie M105, M205)?

2) I have a 2007 Galaxy Grey Mazda3. I have read that the clear is very soft and thin on this model. Does anyone have any direct experience on this model? If so, what products would you recommend?

Thanks,
Jordan

The 105/205 combo would be problematic using in Sun (at least they would for me:bash:) I'd stick with polishes that are meant to be used in the sun. I have never used the PB's polishes but they get very Good reviews for use in the sun. If you could buy a shelter tent (camping world has one on sale that's 12X12 for $99.00) that would help you a ton.

Sorry I have 0 experiencee with the car and paint you have.

[nadroj]

Well I have already placed a few orders to get my car looking good again and out of the blue some jackass hits my car in the parking lot of Kroger. They did not even have the decency to leave a note with contact information and I could not locate anyone that saw it happen so it looks like I am stuck footing the repair bill. Is there anything I can do that could cover up the damage (ie: will chip repair products work on scratches of this size)?I think I already know the answer to my question (repaint) but I figured I would ask here first just to make sure it is my only option.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/damage4.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/damage5.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/damage6.jpg

Sorry for the blurry photos, I snapped them really quick on my droid while I was still pissed off.

On a side note, kudos to Mike for creating the how-to's for uploading photos and inserting them into posts. It made it really easy and painless getting these on the forums.

[nadroj]

Does anyone think this can be fixed with one of the rock chip repair kits or will it require a repaint to make it look decent?

[Setec Astronomy]

Ok, the good thing is, I don't see any bare metal. A lot of that is paint transfer and scuffing that will come off with polishing. However, there is a lot of area where the paint is removed, some down to the black plastic (lower panel) and some down to the primer. The black plastic won't rust, the primer areas may after some time, depending on where you live, salt, rain, etc.

You can touch them up...they will likely be noticeable, if you do a good job less noticeable than they are now. Take some time to cool off, whenever something like this happens to my car I go bananas and think this will bug me forever, but after a week or two I get used to it and it doesn't seem so bad.

The nice thing about touch-up paint is when you screw it up, you can just wipe it off again with thinner and re-do it until you are satisified (as long as you don't do a lot of sanding/compounding around it and thin out the paint).

[nadroj]

Thanks for the information. I think I am going to order the dr colorchip kit and see how that works. Even if it doesn't help the heavily damaged spots it will still be worth it since I have a few rock chips I need to repair anyways.

[Mike Phillips]

Does anyone think this can be fixed with one of the rock chip repair kits or will it require a repaint to make it look decent?



You can make doing this kind of repair as simple or as complicated as you like... what I find is that in most cases... more and more work only makes the repair look marginally better than just doing some basic touch up.

I would first start by removing any paint transfer because usually the process will induce some scratching.

Then I would machine buff the area to remove anything that can be removed by machine buffing, swirls, scratches, any scratching you induced by removing the paint transfer.

Next clean the area really well and get the Dr. ColorChip repair system that matches your paint color.


Keep it simple, do a good job and move on to the next project...



:)

[nadroj]

Thanks for the tips Mike, I am sure they will help once all of my supplies get here.

I do have one additional question if anyone can help. A few of the rock chips on my car have already started to rust. Is there an easy way to get the rust off before applying touch up paint? Would claying take it off? Iron X? I know I could purchase a fiberglass tipped pen and sand it off but I figured I would check here and see if something else would work that I could potentially use again in the future for other tasks (hopefully I wont be getting any additional rust on my vehicle in the future).

Thanks again for the help.