JR001
14-02-2008, 12:29 AM
Background
Having done some protection details over the last two months, I was missing some good proper machine polishing stuff. Two paint correction jobs called off hundreds of times due to weather and lack of a garage. Along came a local car enthusiast and offered his 2005 Arctic Grey Porsche Cayman and his double garage for me to play with. He loved his car but complained that no matter how well he washed the car it always looked flat. Applying Super Resin Polish did not seem to do the trick.
The biggest gripe was that his wife’s Boxster was always glossier than his car. So, as you can imagine I was under a lot of pressure to tip the balance in his favour and to stir up a wee bit of household ribbing!
When I carried out the paint inspection the previous week, I could not pick out many swirls at all under the Brinkmann light gun. A combination of dirt and SRP was probably masking them, but we both felt that the SRP may well be contributing to the flatness in the fine metallic nature of the paint. Paint thickness levels were 115 – 165 microns throughout. Owner had it from new, so factory levels were confirmed.
The owner provided all the Before pictures in this thread, for which I’m grateful. Here is how the car looked to begin with.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/Picture003.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/Picture006.jpg
Wash and Clay
SSF through Autobrite HD Lance, 6/7 mins dwell, pressure rinsed off.
2 bucket hand wash with lambs mitt and mixture of Megs Shampoo Plus and Safe Degreaser. Pressure rinsed and pat dried.
Lowers de-tarred with Autobrite tar and glue remover
Wheels washed as above. Then the tar and glue remover was applied to various sizes of tar spots and left to dwell. Then washed again with Menzerna 7.5 wheel and tyre cleaner. Job done.
Car clayed with the usual Sonus Green and Last Touch. Car rinsed and pat-dried again.
Machine Polishing
I was trying out for the first time the combination of the 3M backing plate for rotary and their black and blue 6 inch polishing pads. I had used the backing plate before and felt good about its increased flexibility over the Megs one. I was also looking forward to finding out how the slightly smaller pad size and thickness would affect the smoothness of the machining process. Turned out to be superb.
I had two full days to work on the car and my first plan was to use Menzerna 106FA Final Finish polish (cut 4/10, gloss 9/10) to attempt to remove any swirls. Spreading on the rotary at 600 rpm for a couple of passes (weight of machine only), up to 1200 rpm for 2 passes (weight of machine only), up to 1500/1600 for 3 or 4 passes (light pressure) and down to 900 to refine (weight of machine only). This was found to be extremely effective in removing the swirls and oxidation and any other chemical contamination left behind from the wash and clay stage.
The car and its appearance were already transformed after the 106 polish.
Once the whole car had been 106’d, I repeated the machining with Menzerna 85RD Final Finish polish (cut 1/10, gloss 10/10). This allowed me to tease out more gloss in the paint and hopefully get it looking very liquid. With 85RD I spread for two passes on 600 rpm, up to 1200 for two, 1500 for two or three, 900 on two to refine.
The polish residues were still quite viscous at times due to the temperature and most of it came off well. I gave the whole car a Last Touch wipe down to catch some more of the residue that may have been still there.
Bonnet Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2831.jpg
Bonnet After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2888.jpg
NS Front Door Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2849.jpg
After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2858.jpg
Boot Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2859.jpg
After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2863.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2850.jpg
Final protection was Glasur. Love it!
The finale was a Field Glaze buff. Haven’t used it for a long time and I’m keeping it for special occasions only. This car deserved it.
Wheels cleansed and sealed with my usual Jeffs Prime Strong Acrylic all-in-one. Another great product. Then given a coat of Collinite 476s high-durability wax as extra protection. You may notice some little black spots in the After pics, but they are small levels of pitting and not dodgy cleaning! It was very important to have these well protected for the owner.
External Plastic Trim and Rubbers
Dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant, applied with red side of German applicator.
Windows
Deep-cleansed and sealed with the Jeffs, as above.
Afters Inside
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2919GAUSS.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2870.jpg
These similar pics with different light angles:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2871gauss.jpg
Outside Pics
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2893.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2896GAUSS.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2907.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2910ADgauss.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2942AD.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2943.jpg
Side-On Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/Picture007.jpg
And After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2937.jpg
Thanks for looking
Cheers,
JOHN.
Having done some protection details over the last two months, I was missing some good proper machine polishing stuff. Two paint correction jobs called off hundreds of times due to weather and lack of a garage. Along came a local car enthusiast and offered his 2005 Arctic Grey Porsche Cayman and his double garage for me to play with. He loved his car but complained that no matter how well he washed the car it always looked flat. Applying Super Resin Polish did not seem to do the trick.
The biggest gripe was that his wife’s Boxster was always glossier than his car. So, as you can imagine I was under a lot of pressure to tip the balance in his favour and to stir up a wee bit of household ribbing!
When I carried out the paint inspection the previous week, I could not pick out many swirls at all under the Brinkmann light gun. A combination of dirt and SRP was probably masking them, but we both felt that the SRP may well be contributing to the flatness in the fine metallic nature of the paint. Paint thickness levels were 115 – 165 microns throughout. Owner had it from new, so factory levels were confirmed.
The owner provided all the Before pictures in this thread, for which I’m grateful. Here is how the car looked to begin with.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/Picture003.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/Picture006.jpg
Wash and Clay
SSF through Autobrite HD Lance, 6/7 mins dwell, pressure rinsed off.
2 bucket hand wash with lambs mitt and mixture of Megs Shampoo Plus and Safe Degreaser. Pressure rinsed and pat dried.
Lowers de-tarred with Autobrite tar and glue remover
Wheels washed as above. Then the tar and glue remover was applied to various sizes of tar spots and left to dwell. Then washed again with Menzerna 7.5 wheel and tyre cleaner. Job done.
Car clayed with the usual Sonus Green and Last Touch. Car rinsed and pat-dried again.
Machine Polishing
I was trying out for the first time the combination of the 3M backing plate for rotary and their black and blue 6 inch polishing pads. I had used the backing plate before and felt good about its increased flexibility over the Megs one. I was also looking forward to finding out how the slightly smaller pad size and thickness would affect the smoothness of the machining process. Turned out to be superb.
I had two full days to work on the car and my first plan was to use Menzerna 106FA Final Finish polish (cut 4/10, gloss 9/10) to attempt to remove any swirls. Spreading on the rotary at 600 rpm for a couple of passes (weight of machine only), up to 1200 rpm for 2 passes (weight of machine only), up to 1500/1600 for 3 or 4 passes (light pressure) and down to 900 to refine (weight of machine only). This was found to be extremely effective in removing the swirls and oxidation and any other chemical contamination left behind from the wash and clay stage.
The car and its appearance were already transformed after the 106 polish.
Once the whole car had been 106’d, I repeated the machining with Menzerna 85RD Final Finish polish (cut 1/10, gloss 10/10). This allowed me to tease out more gloss in the paint and hopefully get it looking very liquid. With 85RD I spread for two passes on 600 rpm, up to 1200 for two, 1500 for two or three, 900 on two to refine.
The polish residues were still quite viscous at times due to the temperature and most of it came off well. I gave the whole car a Last Touch wipe down to catch some more of the residue that may have been still there.
Bonnet Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2831.jpg
Bonnet After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2888.jpg
NS Front Door Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2849.jpg
After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2858.jpg
Boot Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2859.jpg
After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2863.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2850.jpg
Final protection was Glasur. Love it!
The finale was a Field Glaze buff. Haven’t used it for a long time and I’m keeping it for special occasions only. This car deserved it.
Wheels cleansed and sealed with my usual Jeffs Prime Strong Acrylic all-in-one. Another great product. Then given a coat of Collinite 476s high-durability wax as extra protection. You may notice some little black spots in the After pics, but they are small levels of pitting and not dodgy cleaning! It was very important to have these well protected for the owner.
External Plastic Trim and Rubbers
Dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant, applied with red side of German applicator.
Windows
Deep-cleansed and sealed with the Jeffs, as above.
Afters Inside
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2919GAUSS.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2870.jpg
These similar pics with different light angles:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2871gauss.jpg
Outside Pics
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2893.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2896GAUSS.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2907.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2910ADgauss.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2942AD.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2943.jpg
Side-On Before
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/Picture007.jpg
And After
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/jr001_2007/Cayman/100_2937.jpg
Thanks for looking
Cheers,
JOHN.