Hi all, just wondering if I am doing this right. I detailed my dads car a month ago as it hadn't had a polish for 8 years, and was always jet washed. Can anyone tell me if these results are any good?

I t-cut it first, then did SRP on it as it brought out a glossier shine, then waxed it (can't remember what I used now) Then I did all the plastic shine, glass care crap.

Results :








I'm gonna have a go at wet sanding and buffing it at some point, as he lets me use this car as a guinea pig

Any tips for a rookie? I did it all by hand by the way, as I don't have access to a machine polisher

 

Excuse the dirt on the mud flap too, the night before I took it out for a little drive so I could get the feel of it

 

Without using a machine polisher I would not be attempting wet sanding.
Also why do you think you need to wet sand?

I personally would save some cash and get a machine polisher if you want to get better results than you will be able to achieve by hand.

Nice work all the same bud and thats a big vehicle to start out on.

 

Looks realy good considering you did it by hand.

 

Cheers. I meant to say when i get a machine polisher i might try a wet sand and buff or a cutting compound of sorts. I thought i might need to wet sand as it has some very deep scratches and i'm not sure if they would cut out though. Any suggestions on what i could do?

 

How deep is deep? If its gone through clear coat then even wet sanding won't help.

Some of my mates swear by wet sanding with 2000 grit whilst others use a machine with a heavy cutting compound. I've got a variable speed polisher and use g3 (iirc - don't think it's g6 - need to get some g7 for celly paints) and g10 to finish it. Want to get my mits on some megs 205 and 105 and see what they're like compared to what I've got. You can get different heads for different cutting/finishing levels.

Looks quite good for your first attempt - bet your arms hurt from t cutting can get a deeper shine from a bit more work (I spent 9 hours on my escort and I'm still not happy)

Keep it up!

 

General rule I was told was that if you can feel the scratch with your fingernail then you will not be able to completely remove it without compromising the clearcoat.

Maybe a pro can but I have yet to be able to completely remove one that deep but can get to a point its not so noticable.

 

Wouldnt of thought you'd need to wet sand it to get the shine back, just use a heavy cutting pad and solution and soultion moving back to med and then light. Did this on a white van that had been sat outside for 2 years and it came up shiney and new. polish and layers of wax afterwards and it all look good.

 

Try clay barring it mate then wax it

 

Clay barring will only remove any surface contaminants on the paint i.e tar, tree sap, overspray etc. Not remove any scratches or swirls as many of my customers seem to think

 

Bloody hell Nath! Didn't think you would get into detailing! If you didn't use 2 buckets, I'd recomend you do, one is to rinse and clean your sponge/wash mitt, and the other for using on the car, then towel dry the car with a nice big fluffy towel, then claying definately helps, I got an autoglym kit from halfords, gotta say I was impressed. Good job for a novice deffo.

 

Haha, cheers greg, I reckon when the sierra is done it will be wrapped in a big blacket, being constantly polished I will try a clay bar at some point, and used two bucket iirc, I defo use it on my dads new motorbike, and he does now too, which is unusual for someone who prefers the jetwasher to clean the car