Old jeep hasn't even been washed in years, need product advice

[Vapor]

It's a red 97, and it's not even had a bath in several years. Parked outside, top off 24/7/365. The paint needs work. Some oxidation, marring, etching from droppings and water. clear coat isn't failing though.

What I've done: I did get some shine/definition out of a test portion of the hood. wash/clayed then used progressively stronger meguiars products, including swirl remover and up to meguiars ultimate compound on a yellow lake country pad using a porter cable. The results were ok, good but not great. there's still some imperfections. Results were obtained using 3 rounds with the UC, moving slowly, good pressure each time. As there was still work to do, felt like I might want to step up the cutting.

Question now is where to go from here. Purple pad? Or a product with more cut? Open to recommendations on either.

Or should I just hit it with UC a couple times and be happy with the moderate amount of shine from a nearly 20 year old off road vehicle?

Thanks in advance.

[custmsprty]

[Setec Astronomy]

I'm not sure what you mean by purple pad--purple foamed wool? Make sure you get the thin ones for your PC. How about a microfiber pad with some M105 or D300?

Lake Country Thin Foamed Wool Pads
Meguiars DA Microfiber Correction System, paint polishing system, car polish, car detailing system, compounding system, remove scratches

[Vapor]

Dark and raining at this point, would if I could. But the jeep is low man on the totem pole and doesn't live in the garage.

I'm not sure what you mean by purple pad--purple foamed wool? Make sure you get the thin ones for your PC. How about a microfiber pad with some M105 or D300?

Yes, that's what I meant.

I've never used 105, still fairly new to this, but willing to give it a shot if that's the way to go.

[CarolinasFinestDetailing]

I would say even Ultimate Compound on a Microfiber cutting pad. The MF compound would obviously cut more.

[Kengo123]

pick up some m105 and the microfiber cutting discs, then try the cutting discs and your uc. if that doesn't work, try the m105 that you just bought!

[Quiksilver5882]

M101 or Menzerna FG400 on a Meguiars Microfiber Cutting Disc will do wonders. Follow it up with some M205, Menzerna SF4000, or even HD Polish on a white or green pad. There are so many product choices out there! You're better off sticking to one or two products that you enjoy working with and perfecting your technique.

[Mike Phillips]

It's a red 97, and it's not even had a bath in several years. Parked outside, top off 24/7/365. The paint needs work. Some oxidation, marring, etching from droppings and water. clear coat isn't failing though.

Can you share a picture of before and after?


Sounds like a job for a wool pad on a rotary buffer and just get in there and get chopping.

When this old car came in I tried working with just foam cutting pads and Uber Compound with the Flex 3401 and after just a few minutes I whipped out the Flex PE14 with a wool cutting pad and simply got the pain over with....

Somewhere I have the before pictures, (it was filled with swirls and scratches), but the after pictures kind of tell the story too....

Mark's Fast Ferrari with Wolfgang Fuzion




There's not a ton of paint or at least real estate on a Jeep. The key to buffing out Jeeps is taping off anything you don't want to creme over with compound or polish residue.

[Setec Astronomy]

You are the man Mike...wool pad on a Ferrari...

[Vapor]

As requested, some pictures. 3 passes of UC on a yellow pad, firm pressure, overlapping passes.

Before shots:

other side of hood, overhead fluorescent. Washed and clayed, nothing else done.



after wash/clay, direct overhead



Some after shots:

Test spot taken at an angle, overhead fluorescent



Test spot, directly overhead