Hey RP and others--

Pretty soon, I'm supposed to detail an RX-8 for a detailer of RP's caliber. So, needless to say, I need to do a good job. He's really busy about now, and needs me to do it for him, and knows his stuff.

My questions are:
1. Since it is black, it'll be a PITA. I cannot order anything in time, and I have nothing that's not availible at Autozone right now (kind of a surprise job offer). What products work well at VERY light swirls (I'm used to tackling beaters for high schoolers-- taking neglected paint and restoring it, not often do I get pampered paint to work with).
2. How much would YOU pay to get it done (assuming I did a perfect job) if it was your car? (It's less than 1 year old, and has less than 30k miles on it...No scratches, no stains, just a general 'spring cleaning'

--HERE'S WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO:

OUTSIDE:
-Remove swirls, polish, wax (syn + carnauba)
-Clean engine bay
-Clean and wax underbody (Has lots of painted/polished metal parts)

INSIDE:
-Vaccuum
-Condition Leather
-Condition dash and all seals
-anything else applicable (maybe scoth-Guard the floors)



Thanks for the help.

 

first question for you....do you have a pc?

 

I'm running crazy late this morning and will try to get to this one later tonight. I'm in the field all day today...

-RP-

 

doing a job for another detailer it better be good. if he knows his stuff and wants the minor swirls out...i would guess that is the major part of the detail that he wants done. what kinda of machine are you going to use???? you are going to have to use some sort of machine....no products from autozone can be applied by hand to remove swirls...some can kinda hide them or slightly deminish them, they will not remove them.

you might turn down the job if you do not have the right stuff right now...he could be disappointed.

putting wax over swirls just makes shinny swirls...clay will not take out swirls/spiderwebs, only polishes/compounds with a machine will do that.
if you do have a machine, not sure if autozone sells a compound for a black that will not put more swirls in than you will take out...could be wrong i dont know what autozone sells...but you need a very fine final polish for a black.

tips for full detail...clean door jams very good, dont forget the rubber gaskets around doors, if trunk or hatch clean it with it open the drip seam around trunk/hatch gets pretty bad, if spare in trunk or on board clean it and tire shine it too. sunroof open it up and clean the area that is not touched when closed. wheel wells and dont forget the glovebox and center console are..cupholders and change trays..take them out clean them and sort the change when you put it back in-if the car has it...little things like this...once they sit in the car amplify thier happiness for having the deatil done and wanting to use you again.

 

--yeah-- I know about what clay does vs. polishes, etc.

I have a D/A, but no rotary. For compounding, I was thinking about using the step 1 of the DC system with a wool bonnet, then polishing with #7 or 9, as appropriate. Wax-wise, #21. Topper: #26

Thanks for the miscellaneous tips, I appreciate them. (But already knew them...but then again, having them typed out will prevent me from forgetting should I have one of 'those days')

RP-- sounds good. Have fun out there!

 

normal disclaimer of "hard call without seeing the car"

for very light swirls, I usually start with Tropi-care TC-8.. if that won't cut it, then I will jump to #80..

after that, if you have time, i would continue with #9 then #7, #21 .. then #26 if you have time to let the #21 cure ..

I would not use a wool pad on a car with "very light swirling". very little to gain there, and a chance that you will create a lot more work for yourself.

 

do you have access to meguiars #80 and #83? if no, i would go suggest going with either meguiars #9 or even the new scratch-x that can be used with the DA on a W8006 or even a W9006 pad depending on how mild the swirls are.

also, i wouldnt use a wool pad on a DA. Cutting pads are meant more for a rotary

 

In terms of compounding, I have the following at my disposal:
Color-X, Scratch-X, Step 1 (of the DC system), #9 (I guess it counts as a compound), TW polishing compound (NOT for this car), TW rubbing Compound (USELESS),

Polishes are #7, 9, and Step 2 of DC system

Waxes I'll use (Not up for debate): #21 then #26

I have the choice of MF bonnets and a wool bonnet.

Gip-- It's the kind of swirling that I think you, myself and RP could agree on being light. It's detectable, but not from more than 4' away. (In the right lighting, of course)

Here was my prefabbed plan of action:

-Wash w/ Dawn
-Compound (should I use Color-X by hand or machine w/ MF bonnet here? Or would you choose something else?)
-#9 or 7, as is necessary
-#21, wait 12 HRS, then #26
Finish with a final QD spray

If there's any modifications you would make to this, utilizing the materials stated, let me know. Also, if there's anything I can buy at an auto parts store that would fit in nicely here, let me know.

 

if you had a yellow foam pad, I'd go with the #9. it would get rid of some of the swirls, and hide the rest ..

I have never done a side by side between ColorX and #9, but I would guess the 9 has more cut to it and since it isn't an AIO, that is the way I would go .. but when using a bonnet ??


I have seen some success using ColorX and a MF bonnet .. never tried it with #9, so I would use it in a small area first .. just to make sure you aren't making matters worse with the bonnet.

Wash
clay
#9
#7
#21
#26 ..

OR

Wash
clay
ColorX
#21
#26

whichever you are more comfortable with, is the way I would go.

 

i have used #9 by hand....it did nothing cause it is very very mild by hand....by a random orbital, it got rid of some swirls. It is very mild in my opinion by machine....however, it sounds like that is all you need.

However, i would suggest using the Meguiar Ultimate Quik Detailer as your final step if you can get your hands on it. It is an amazing product. but if you cant, regular quik detailer would be fine

 

I'm not sure that I can say much more than what Gip has already suggested. I certainly echo his notion on *NOT* using a wool bonnet... probably your least effective way to go about removing swirls because you're going to induce a boatload before you have to remove them. Kind of moving 1 step forward and 4 steps backwards.

Also, you called #9 a compound... far from that abrasive. A compound is just a super abrasive polish... #9 is actually at the other end of the spectrum as it's not a long toss from pure polish (and actually is more of a concealing product, as you know).

#80 on the PC with a yellow pad on 4 may be your golden ticket... but, the fact that you don't have 80... I'd go with the 9.

Color X, as Gip mentioned, is also a viable option.

 

Awesome. Thanks, guys.

So I guess I'll follow the #9 via D/A and MF bonnet for the swirl removal step.

Thanks for the help on this one. So does anybody want to offer a price? A book I was looking through gives a bunch of prices, and by adding it up, it ranged from $275-$300. Does that sound reasonable or too much?

Now that I've brought it up on my last post, has ANYBODY ever needed the power of a rubbing compound like the TW one? (red stuff)? I used it on a Fire Department Brush truck that had severe scratching and oxidation (from trees, etc), and it was much too powerful for even that. That was by hand, mind you, and we're talking on a truck made in 1994 with scratches nearly through the clear, and in less than 20 seconds of working the stuff in, I had removed the problem (and made for myself some nasty swirls and straight line scratches to remove...)

 

Not sure what kind of paint is on the Brush Truck... I can't answer that one. TW Compound is *HARSH* stuff. Again, I wouldn't use that unless the paint was one step short of having to be resprayed.

Yes, that sounds like too much. Way too much, in fact. $150 to $200(absolute max) is the top end, in my opinion.

Do you not have any foam pads? I'm not too sure about this 'MF' bonnet. Or are you using the MF to REMOVE the product? You've got me a tad worried... especially on black paint.

 

--Yeah, again, the TW RC is useless... The brush is a 3 stage paint(primer, color, clear), much like ours, only OLD. It's fairly oxidized, very scratched, and swirls from hell. I'm thinking about detailing it right before we sell it, but I'm debating as to how I'm gonna make the powder coated back half look as new as the front end. The front has potential, but I've never worked on powdercoating before... Not a priority, though...

--Thanks for the input on price. I'll make it either the lesser end or in between. (I can't imagine paying anyone else to do it, so it's all a mystery to me...)

-- Yeah, it's an old Makita D/A my friend gave me once... It has a plastic plate with foam on it that is a backer for a bonnet. The bonnet I have is as good as I could find, but selection is pretty rough... It's not what I want; I'd rather use pads, b/c everyone knows about those, and it makes more sense, but I can't drop the $$$ to buy the G-100 and pads... Do you know about compatibility? (Maybe it's photo time??)

-I use the D/A for application ONLY. removal is always by hand with a nice MF towel.


I brought up the wool pads before b/c I had great success with the 1st step of the DC system and a wool pad on a BMW, but it was black METALLIC paint, which may have hid all swirls I may have induced... Perhaps for this one it'll be a by-hand detail...Your thoughts???

Again, thanks, man. If it's not aparrent, this is the one detail that I'm actually worried about... Most of the time I can just do my thing, but whenever I think about this car, I draw a blank...

-- I might be doing a similar mustang job as you did this summer. A neighbor in high school has a black one, looks about in the same condition as the one you did...so I guess I'll have something to compare to (only you have a rotary...NOT FAIR!!! )
Thanks again.

 

I just skimmed thru the posts and noticed one important thing missing. Make sure the paint is as cool as possible. If you can get him to leave the car overnight and start tackling it first thing in the morning (washed the night before) you'd have the best chance of fewer headaches. I've had 3 black Miatas and an electric blue Mazda6 in FL and AZ. The black is a bitch in heat and, being a former detailer, I'm probably as picky as you guys are.

All I've ever done is clay bar it using some quick detailer, clean it with paint cleaner (remove with clean microfiber), polish it (removed with cotton bonnet on orbital) then go over it again with some quick detailer and another clean microfiber. If he's any kind of a detailer, there shouldn't be swirl marks and if there are they shouldn't be too bad. Once I've spent the better part of a morning/day doing this the only thing I haven't liked is seeing what looks like grease streaks when I pulled the car outside. Those are usually taken care of with the quick deatailer tho.

As far as price goes...$200 for that much work (waxing UNDER the car?? I thought I was bad) is fair especially if you're supplying the materials. 15 years ago I only charged $100 all day long and didn't get nearly that in depth.

Good luck! Be careful...Mazdas are notorious for having VERY thin paint.