Here was my first go-round:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ca...work-pics.html



Long story short school and work kept me from keeping the truck washed like I should have. I accumulated many swirl marks and water spots. So this time I gave M105/205 a go and it turned out pretty good.



Here was the plan I drew up Sunday:

Monday - Wash, Clay, Dress

Wheels and Tires
1. Spray APC+ on wheel well/tire and let soak
2. Spray wheel cleaner on wheel
3. Rub wheel with soft brush and old wash mitt
4. Scrub tire and wheel well with stiff brush
5. Rinse and go to next wheel and tire

Wash
1. Rinse truck from top down
2. Wash top half first, one panel at a time
3. Wash bottom half last, one side at a time
4. Wash step rails, exhaust tips, fender flares
5. Rinse truck from top down

Clay
1. Spray one panel at a time and clay
2. Top half first
3. Bottom half
4. Clay glass
5. Leave residue on vehicle (won't matter since I'm polishing anyway)

Dressing
1. Dress all trim pieces (B-pillars, wiper cowl, glass trim, step rails, bed rails, bumper, exhaust tips, etc
2. Don't worry about residue on paint or glass (still have to polish and clean glass)
3. Apply HD to tires, wheels, and wheel wells



Tuesday - Paint Correction, Waxing, Glass Cleaning

Paint Correction
1. Tape off trim and panels
2. TEST SECTION (to find a working method for my level of swirls)
3. Follow test results for each panel separately
4. Wipe off each panel after working in each polish

Wax
1. Apply coat of wax over entire vehicle by hand
2. Let dry while cleaning glass
3. Swipe test and wipe clean

Glass Cleaning
1. Do while wax dries
2. Generously spray Stoner's on microfiber
3. Thoroughly scrub glass, one panel and a time
4. Wipe off each panel with dry microfiber

Final Rinse
1. To remove leftover polishing dust give a final rinse
2. Rinse from top down
3. Dry with waffle weaves (to help prevent water spots)







I stuck to the plan almost exactly. Changed a few small things, added in Deep Crystal Polish between M205 and waxing, and did my test section on Monday instead of today. Other than that it worked out great having two days to split it up.



Here's after washing:





Close-up of water spots and swirls :




As I was claying I remembered that I had clayed it only two months ago---so the hardest step became the easiest for me. I just went over the truck lightly to pick up what had settled on the paint over the last two months.

Found my paint correction method with a test panel:
Method:
-A few drops of M105 on orange pad
-Spread around by hand then on speed 2 to prevent sling
-Crank up PC to 5 and work horizontally and vertically for ~30 seconds
-Wipe off
-A few drops of M205 on green pad
-Spread around by hand then on speed 2 to prevent sling
-Crank up PC to 4.5 and work horizontally and vertically for ~30 seconds
-Wipe off
-Look at myself in the mirror


50/50 shots of test panel (some small micro-marring but it came out with DCP:






A few shots from this morning before starting. Shows how cold it was, HD on tire and wheel, test panel reflection, and my coach.








During polishing, another 50/50 on driver's side door:

 

Finally finished her up. Wiped the wax off and took a few shots during the process. Then took a few after all the wax was off. Gave her a final rinse to get rid of all the polish dust and snapped the good ol' bead shots.



Wax applied to top part



Swipe test (put on a little too much--no biggie)



No more swirls!!!!





Mirror test








Final rinse, so sexy







Can't believe my baby is shiny and protected again!

What I learned today:
-Time to buy some ONR for those busy school weeks.
-Buy more pads (these trucks are huge--they got saturated very fast)
-Buy more microfibers!!!

 

Great job!

Truck looks awesome.

 

Looks brand new!!!

 

That looks great wish it was warm enough here to do that the high temp here today was 20 deg

 

When can i drop mine off? lol Looks amazing man.

 

Like I said Before, GREAT JOB MATT !!!

My buddy and I were looking at your pics and couldn't believe how well you can see yourself in that paint

 

Looks awesome Matt!

 

Looks good! Only thing... you used about 5x as much LSP as you needed. It was really caked on there! You should almost not be able to tell your applying product to the paint. Using so much certainly is not going to hurt but you are really just wasting a lot of product.

 

Man it looks amazing it's by far the best looking F150 out there...no questions asked...could you please post what exact products did you use for, waxing..clay bar..wheels..tires etc..Such as mother's or something else.

Because I am buying it right away...

Thanks a lot!!!

 

looks good, my only concern is no painters tape was used

 

Well done man! Makes me want to get out and get mine done. The wife will be out of town next weekend, maybe I can get it done then.

Please tell me you didn't do everything by hand!

- NCSU

 

Thanks for the compliments, guys!


I knew I put too much on but didn't realize I overdid it by that much. I'll keep it in mind for next time. It's just my nature...when I put it on very thin I feel that it's not getting even coverage. Thank you for the tip!

I had it all taped off for the polishing but removed it for the waxing. I was just very careful applying the wax to avoid getting any on the trim. The reason I pull it off is because there's always a thin line of product build-up from where the edge of the tape was. It's sometimes difficult to get off and requires more rubbing than I care to do, especially after paint correction.


Thanks! It was such nice weather I couldn't pass it up. No way would I do that by hand. The only thing by hand besides claying was the wax.


Thank you for the compliment.

Long story short I used what products I had available. By the time I knew it would be such nice weather for it anything I ordered wouldn't have gotten here, especially being so close to the holiday season.

I put this up on another site and listed the materials but didn't bother throwing them in here. Mostly Meguiar's stuff. Here ya go:

Wax: Meguiar's NXT 2.0
Clay: Meguiar's Clay (Had two or three bars laying around from old kits I've bought) and Quik Detail Spray
Wheels: Meguiar's All-Wheel Cleaner (Had some left to use up--just changed brake pads so no more dust. Will be picking up some P21S Wheel Cleaner to try soon)
Tires, Wheel Wells, Tips, etc: Meguiar's All-Purpose Cleaner Plus when washing and Meguiar's Hyperdressing (2:1) on wheels and tires for dressing
Paint Correction: Meguiar's M105/M205 combo

 

Looks Great! How did you apply the HD to the tires?
I've never used HD before. How did it hold up on the trim pieces after you rinsed it off? Does it streak or run like Armor All does?

 

The HD I applied by just spraying the wheels and tires liberally. I just coat them in it and let it sit.

For the trim pieces I used Meguiar's Trim Detailer. Being in an aerosol can makes it a lot easier since I don't have to worry about overspray on paint or glass. It's raining today and it is holding up very well. The HD is water based so it tends to come off in the rain, but the plus side of being water-based is that it doesn't leave nasty brown residue from gel type tire shines.