Checking in from Downunder Australia

**manitoublack** · 09-21-2017, 09:53 PM

Hello All,
As a car enthusiast that loves noting more than to see a trees dancing across the engine cowling as you go for a Sunday drive in the hills I thought it high time to register here. I've definitely spent enough time here reading the seeming endless professional quality articles.

My current car fleet consists of a 2002 Saab 95, used as a daily:

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Image taken in the morning after a heavy dew. Paint is in 85% condition. Process was Kitten liquid cut and polish, (rushed machine applied, with a medium foam pad) followed by 2 layers of Turtle Wax SHS liquid, (also machine applied with a soft foam pad.) My current machine is a (and don't laugh

) Ryobi 5" orbital sander with an awesome 3-4mm throw... I've been using Bowdens Own Leather products on the interior, which have definitely made a difference since I got the car last year. The inside is basically new, even though the car is now +15 years old.

One of my Special interest cars currently not in storage is a 1992 Nissan Pulsar GTi-R, in Sunburst Yellow that I got 4 months ago. This car was originally black, and has been painted (rather poorly) in a single stage sunburst yellow (love that colour.) When I received the car it had been sitting out in the weather for nearly 4 years and it was heavily oxidized. There are also some deep scratches and very stubbornly bonded surface contaminants. Using the following process I was able to achieve the following results.

All machine steps with my afore mentioned Ryobi 5" Orbital sander

-Washed the car throughly with dish soap
-Turtle wax rubbing compound, machined with a firm foam pad to take off the bulk as it's cheap. Used 70% of the tub and it's a small car. Due to the poor paint condition, cleaning the pad had to be done at least twice per panel.)
-Clayed the paint (I did this second due to the extremely poor condition of the paint.)
-Used a razor blade to remove the still bonded surface contaminants (surface today is ~95% flat, still finding a few hangouts)
-Autoglym Paint Renovator, machine applied with a firm foam pad in a methodical pattern. Used it sparingly as it's quite aggressive, but has a good working time. Quick dash of water makes it go hard again. Once again, keeping the pad clean was a challenge.
-Decided to use the last of my Liquid Kitten Cut and Polish to finish-out with a machine using a medium foam pad, working slowly. Since this has been emptied, I've switched to Autoglym SRP, which I've been really impressed with.

-Black trim was all polished with Kitten C & P, then finished with Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing, the polishing phase lifted so much black crap off, from all the sun damage.
-Glass was polished with Autoglym Glass Polish using a machine and a firm pad.

By now it's starting to look pretty special.
LSP used was Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection, in 2 layers. The first let to sit for 30 minutes, the second was let sit over night before removal

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the paint before I did the work, and even then, they wouldn't do justice to how poor it was. felt like sand paper. However now:

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I've also recently bought a tin of Mothers California Gold Carrnuba paste wax to add on-op of the EGP, but don't have any photos in good light as yet. It's subtle, but there is a little more 'pop.' After getting in on the Autoglym product stack I must say I've been very impressed. Basically replacing all my old random stuff that's been acquired over the years with there products. In Aus, they're not too badly priced, and the auto-parts shops have good (30%) sales, which make buying them an easy decision. I'm also looking to upgrade/replace my orbital sander with a proper polisher in the near future. However as can be seen, with patience and car, good to excellent results can be achieved.

Look forward to continuing to share my adventures, lean and laugh.

Regards
Jordan

P.S: One thing I've noted is that in photos, the colour of the Pulsar's pain seems to change significantly depending on light and angle, even though it's a flat yellow single stage. In person it always jsut looks sunburst yellow