OK - my friggin' arms are killing me!!

Here is my totally unauthorized, unhelpful, and unprofessional review - this coming from a total newbie when it comes to any paint correction at all.

The extent of my experience is keeping my nice new F-150 clean & waxed.

So got the Jetta on wheels, and out of the barn for a quick wash the other day when it was fairly warm, then tucked it back in the back of the barn for some more work.

I did the clay bar first as suggested - first time for me. Went very well - I did feel a lot of resistance to the bar on the horizontal surfaces, but hardly any at all on the verticals. Then let it dry.

Now the Megs Ultimate Compound - it was a bit of trial and error at first - how long to rub it in - how long before I tried to wipe it off, etc.

At times I had a heck of a time wiping the compound off. Some of the things I found:

I needed to work the compound for about 1 minute. Any less, and as I was wiping it off, I was still working the compound it seemed, and couldn't get it all off. I finally found that working the compound until it started getting more resistant, almost starting to dry, was the perfect time to stop and wipe it off.

I did a little more research on it, and read that the compound actually breaks down as you work it - starting more as a compound, then breaking down to more of a polish as you work it. It took me a while to get the timing right, but when I did, it worked great.

My main objective was to clean off the years of oxidation - not so much to do any real correction at this point. I had to really rub with the micro-fiber towel to get all the haze off - I figured it was the oxidation coming off at that point.

Anyway, enough of my rambling - my arms hurt after the 3.5 hour experience, but I am super happy with how it turned out. I still have a slight haze, so I think I am going to use the cleaner/wax that came with the clay bar kit next, then a good coat of NXT 2.0.

OK - OK - on to the pics - sorry for the terrible pics - I am working in the barn with very limited lighting and heat:

Before Wash, Clay, & Compound -



After Compound -



Thanks everyone for your help - this whole Jetta project is a learning experience for me from getting the little diesel running, to getting it back to black.

 

Good looking alive black paint!...from that angle.
I hope you meant by a "good coat of NXT" you meant a good THIN coat.
You covered the basics very well.
The rabbit hole is deep...now get to work on those wheel wells.