New guy - new Shelby

[66gtk]

Let me start by saying that I have spent HOURS reading all the helpful information on this great site.

That being said, I am looking for some feedback/advice. I had a 2006 Shelby Hertz repainted by a custom paint shop that came out beautifully. It is black/gold, was wet sanded, buffed, etc from the shop, but there were still some swirls/etc when I took delivery of it. The shop didn't take much care in the final process and used less than quality microfiber towels, etc.



After a couple months of carefully washing it and using the CA duster with care to only expose the ends of the brushes, the car looked below my standards in NO time - and this is a fair weather driver that is garaged.

This weekend, I spent 7-8 hours detailing just the exterior paint! I washed it with ONR 2 bucket method (it's never been in rain or really ever dirty yet) and then clayed the entire surface just to be sure. I was surprised with the amount of above surface contamination revealed by the clay deposits - wow! This was also done to make sure I got all the compound splatter off the paint from the shop that I had found.

I then used my PC, and a Meguiars soft 2.0 pad and did a test spot with Meg UC. The swirls were gone, and everything looked about 98% perfect, so I decided to continue with that method. It took a long time as I did 5-6 passes on each section (probably overkill??) Residue came off easily with the Miracle towels (love them).

After claying - yuk! (test spot):


After 5-6 passes with UC and Meg 2.0 pad


For the next step I used my local favorite here in MN - Wizards Shine Master. I used a black finishing pad and speed 4-5 to simply get the product onto the car with good coverage as quickly as possible. It wiped off super easy with the Miracle towel.



I have a variety of the Lake County pads for my PC - I am at a loss of what they would do differently with the UC products. I have orange and white CSS pads. Are these more or less abrasive than the Meg pad?

I have always used a CA car duster to keep my cars dust free at shows and between washes whenever I take the car out for a drive. I've always had metallic paint and never had trouble. This black car is a different animal - Is it safe to use the CA duster?? My main question:

How do I keep my car looking dust free/shiny without imparting new swirls/issues that need to be corrected every few months? Leaving my car untouched to gather dust is not an option - I like it looking clean and dust free. Suggestions, please?

Any other tips/suggestions on how to keep my black car looking spectacular?


Troy

[Evan.J]

First off welcome to the Geek and sweet car!

Now on the the good stuff.

1. Don't use the duster. Your just going to instill swirls back into the paint. You seem to have a really soft paint from all that you have said. Thats going to make things even more challenging for you but it can be done.

I take it you have a good quality wash media and are using the two bucket washing method and have the grit guards in the buckets? Are you using quality MF drying towels? If not then thats going to be the first place to start.

If you want to keep you car dust free then look at either a waterless wash of a good quick detail spray. In both instances you are going to need good high quality soft plush Microfiber towels so that you don't inflict swirls into you paint when maintaining the flawless finish.


The section passes you did with your PC are spot on. In most cases you want to do 6-8 passes in a cross-hatch pattern.

With the LC pads do you know what kind you have as far as CCS or flat pads or hydro tech?

What of protection is on the car wax or sealant? I have personally never heard of Wizards so I can't say if its a polish wax or sealant any info on this?

[BobbyG]

To Autogeek Online!

Beautiful car!!

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Welcome to the GEEK.

[cardaddy]

Troy... welcome to AGO.
Beautiful car dude! (And I'm not a huge Ford fan, but that's sexy.)

What Evan said is a great start. You want to get away from the CA duster with that paint. Look up a microfiber duster. Even at Lowes and Home Depot they have these little fluffy dusters, mostly disposable types (at least to me) that you can spritz with a QD spray and VERY lightly twist your wrist and flick them across the surface.

As for the Lake Country pads. Generally yellow as the most aggressive and gold as the least. The Meguiar's pads are more like the yellow/orange (burgundy cutting pad), white/green (yellow polishing pad) then the black for both as a finishing pad.

Check THIS thread out on MOL.


Lake Country’s CCS Dual Action 6.5 inch Smart Pads™ Foam Pads are flat full contact buffing pads that work with your dual action orbital polisher to correct automotive paint more easily than ever before. The CCS Smart Pads™’ user-friendly features provide better control, less product waste, and a more successful detail.



CCS Yellow Cutting Foam Pad, 6.5 inches- Use this pad to apply compounds or polishes to remove severe oxidation, swirls, and scratches. It is the most aggressive and should only be used on oxidized and older finishes. Always follow this pad with an orange or white pad and a fine polish to refine the paint until it is smooth.

CCS Orange Light Cutting Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - Firm, high density foam for scratch and defect removal. Use this pad with polishes and swirl removers. It’s an all around pad that will work on most light to moderate imperfections.

CCS Pink Cutting/Polishing Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - This foam is of medium density with the ability to level very fine scratches and very light oxidation. Use light swirl removers with this pad. Coarse Green has been replaced with Pink

CCS White Polishing Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - Less dense foam formula for the application of waxes, micro-fine polishes and sealants. This pad has very light cutting power so its perfect for pre-wax cleaners.

CCS Green Polishing/Finishing Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - Use this foam to apply one-step cleaner waxes. It is a balance of polishing and finishing that is perfect for all-in-one product application.

CCS Gray Finishing Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - Composition is firm enough to withstand added pressure during final finishing to remove buffer swirls. It has no cut and will apply thin, even coats of waxes, sealants, and glazes.

CCS Blue Finessing Foam Pad, 6.5 inches – This blue foam pad has soft composition for applying glaze, finishing polish, sealants, and liquid waxes. The soft pad has no cut, making it perfect for applying nonabrasive products evenly.

CCS Red Ultrasoft Wax/Sealant Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - This soft, imported foam is ideal for applying the final coat of wax or sealant. The foam works especially well when applying liquid waxes or sealants because it is firm enough to keep the majority of the product on the paint, rather than soaking it up. The red foam has no cut or cleaning ability.

CCS Super Soft Gold Jewelling Foam Pad, 6.5 inches - Use the gold pad to apply a very fine polish or glaze as the final step of the polishing process. Jewelling is the term coined for this step because it intensifies gloss and reflectivity, like a jewel. The gold foam pad also works well for wax and sealant application


You should REALLY put a good sealant on that puppy once you get it to where you like. The WOWA sealants are good, but with paint that soft it's going to take a lot of very careful wiping (while it flashes) not to put any more swirls in it.

Sometimes a WOWO sealant that gives you a chance to do a final buff when removing it is an alternative. YMMV on that one though. I know they take well to 'layering' of some nice wax.

She'd be a good one for Opti-Coat-ing.

Do have to comment though on the fact that you used UC. Goes to show that it doesn't take the most aggressive product to get great results. Good move there Troy.

[the deta]

Welcome to Autogeek your sure going to learn a lot.....

[sproketser]

Welcome aboard ! Nice Shelby mate !

[slimnib]

If you try to get dust off a Black car without a real wash ( hose etc) you will cause damage period. You cannot repeatly OD a black car and expect there to be no damage.
I have had several dark cars and speak from experince, leave a little dust a lone and wash the car with real water when it builds up.

[KennyS]

welcome aboard, these guys have some serious knowledge about detailing on here.

[66gtk]

Thanks guys - would it be better to use a 2 bucket ONR wash in the garage as opposed to QD? I can't see hosing down the whole car as a good method to remove light contamination/dust. I hate the look of a dusty black car, so this is going to be interesting. When at a car show, I usually have to dust off my car 2-3 times during the day to make it look good and have always used the CA car duster for this on my other cars with no problem.

Maybe I should just cover the whole damn thing in that Xpel Self Healing vinyl and call it a day.

Since you guys seem to like pictures:

Delivery Day:


First Photo Shoot (this is what I do):