PugDog
03-01-2016, 02:47 PM
Hi everyone, I finally finished my project and wanted to share some pics and thoughts
first of all, thanks so much to everyone who sent me to Tom Dekany for help, he has been remarkable: i couldnt have asked for a better mentor! He answered all 1.5 million of my questions and guided me from start to finish with my whole project, and I REALLY appreciate his time and patience
So to I moved across the country about 4 years ago and only got around to shipping my car out here last month. It is a white 2008 Chrysler 300 , and it sat outside in the deep south that entire time!When it arrived, i could barely recognize it :( it was filthy, even had 7 or 8 wasp nests under the hood and trunk! and omg the swirls and RIDs were really bad (to quote Thomas "your paint is seriously effed up man, uniformly")http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02365edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02365edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02369edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02369edit.jpg.html)
I started trying to get educated, since i had never even waxed a car, much less compounded, polished, and coated, so I started reading on AG trying to plan my project. I made a post asking if there was anyone in the Portland, OR area who might be able to teach me some stuff and several people recommended Thomas Dekany. Tom graciously helped me get on the right track, especially in explaining that based on my needs i should forget about wax, since a good aftermarket coating would be far more appropriate for my busy schedule on my daily driver.
Originally, after doing a TON of reading about all kinds of different options/techniques, I was planning to do a full DA paint correction based on a m105/m205 cut and polish , then following with m7, m26, and m21 (sealant, yellow wax, glaze)
I wanted to learn about the coatings too, but was intimidated by a 60$ coat of anything in my newbie hands. Tom explained some of the benefits of the different options and in my case recommended scrapping that whole plan, and built me a new shopping list: Optimum Gloss-Coat, IAT 1500 (Americana Compound), Optimum Hyper Polish, and spend the vast majority of my budget on quality microfiber towels for various purposes.
During his initial demo on my trunk, Thomas pointed out that the paint and clear coat on these Chryslers is VERY hard, and that I might want to get some m101 (megs foam cut compound) and a bunch of microfiber pads, since that extremely potent level of cut would save me lots of time .
When he asked me how long i planned to work on this project, I had no idea, so i said "I dunno, a couple of days maybe?" and Tom laughed his butt off and said i must be the michael jordan of detailing. It would be about 17 days and the beginnings of carpal tunnel before i realized why he thought "a couple of days" was so funny. And no, I am definitely not the michael jordan of detailing haha :buffing:
After waaaaay more work than i expected, I am pretty happy with the results :) I gotta say, Gloss Coat couldn't have been any easier. I LOVE this product, the way it beads water and grime is so cool looking, i hope it holds up :) Very happy with the level of gloss too.
I ended up needing WAY more compound than i expected, and i think its safe to say i probably took off the vast majority of the paint defects, except for a few spots that were all the way through the paint. I learned a few things the hard way and burned through the paint in a few very small places, just like Thomas told me i would :/ but i certainly learned from those mistakes and wont do that again. As hard as the paint was on the metal, I found out that the paint covering the plastic bumper is much softer, and much easier to overdo on the uneven spots. but all in all, i am extremely happy with the results :)
Here are some pics after the Gloss Coat:
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02437edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02437edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02451edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02451edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02442edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02442edit.jpg.html)
And the obligatory Optimum Gloss Coat water bead shots :dblthumb2:
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02465edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02465edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02454edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02454edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02456edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02456edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02458edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02458edit.jpg.html)
thanks AG! (ESPECIALLY tdekany ) I am looking forward to future projects :)
first of all, thanks so much to everyone who sent me to Tom Dekany for help, he has been remarkable: i couldnt have asked for a better mentor! He answered all 1.5 million of my questions and guided me from start to finish with my whole project, and I REALLY appreciate his time and patience
So to I moved across the country about 4 years ago and only got around to shipping my car out here last month. It is a white 2008 Chrysler 300 , and it sat outside in the deep south that entire time!When it arrived, i could barely recognize it :( it was filthy, even had 7 or 8 wasp nests under the hood and trunk! and omg the swirls and RIDs were really bad (to quote Thomas "your paint is seriously effed up man, uniformly")http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02365edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02365edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02369edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02369edit.jpg.html)
I started trying to get educated, since i had never even waxed a car, much less compounded, polished, and coated, so I started reading on AG trying to plan my project. I made a post asking if there was anyone in the Portland, OR area who might be able to teach me some stuff and several people recommended Thomas Dekany. Tom graciously helped me get on the right track, especially in explaining that based on my needs i should forget about wax, since a good aftermarket coating would be far more appropriate for my busy schedule on my daily driver.
Originally, after doing a TON of reading about all kinds of different options/techniques, I was planning to do a full DA paint correction based on a m105/m205 cut and polish , then following with m7, m26, and m21 (sealant, yellow wax, glaze)
I wanted to learn about the coatings too, but was intimidated by a 60$ coat of anything in my newbie hands. Tom explained some of the benefits of the different options and in my case recommended scrapping that whole plan, and built me a new shopping list: Optimum Gloss-Coat, IAT 1500 (Americana Compound), Optimum Hyper Polish, and spend the vast majority of my budget on quality microfiber towels for various purposes.
During his initial demo on my trunk, Thomas pointed out that the paint and clear coat on these Chryslers is VERY hard, and that I might want to get some m101 (megs foam cut compound) and a bunch of microfiber pads, since that extremely potent level of cut would save me lots of time .
When he asked me how long i planned to work on this project, I had no idea, so i said "I dunno, a couple of days maybe?" and Tom laughed his butt off and said i must be the michael jordan of detailing. It would be about 17 days and the beginnings of carpal tunnel before i realized why he thought "a couple of days" was so funny. And no, I am definitely not the michael jordan of detailing haha :buffing:
After waaaaay more work than i expected, I am pretty happy with the results :) I gotta say, Gloss Coat couldn't have been any easier. I LOVE this product, the way it beads water and grime is so cool looking, i hope it holds up :) Very happy with the level of gloss too.
I ended up needing WAY more compound than i expected, and i think its safe to say i probably took off the vast majority of the paint defects, except for a few spots that were all the way through the paint. I learned a few things the hard way and burned through the paint in a few very small places, just like Thomas told me i would :/ but i certainly learned from those mistakes and wont do that again. As hard as the paint was on the metal, I found out that the paint covering the plastic bumper is much softer, and much easier to overdo on the uneven spots. but all in all, i am extremely happy with the results :)
Here are some pics after the Gloss Coat:
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02437edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02437edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02451edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02451edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02442edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02442edit.jpg.html)
And the obligatory Optimum Gloss Coat water bead shots :dblthumb2:
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02465edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02465edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02454edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02454edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02456edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02456edit.jpg.html)
http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s437/CupcakePugDog/DSC02458edit.jpg (http://s1051.photobucket.com/user/CupcakePugDog/media/DSC02458edit.jpg.html)
thanks AG! (ESPECIALLY tdekany ) I am looking forward to future projects :)