haha, i knew you were going to say WHAAT?!

Im working in my garage...it's a 2.5 car garage width so not the smallest
but pretty darn loud. maybe i need to turn up the stereo a little.

I did the gate and bumper as soon as i got home and will do the
doors tonight. as you said, the paint is pretty thick on our MCS.

it's really starting to look like i actually have an orbital now. the
swirls are gone.

 

Opening the garage door might help. Turning your head away from the buffer might help. Yes the stereo might help! LOL

Earplugs aren't a bad idea actually. I just don't use them.

Well you know how thick vinyl graphics are right? If its possible to buff swirls out of that---you can imagine what you're working with on your paint.

Glad you're finally making some progress! It's all in the technique! Its why my buddy and I made that 2.5 hour video--cause there is lots to learn.

 

too many bugs flying into my garage at night if i have the door open.
i think i keep my head too close to the orbital; im going to work on
standing/kneeling/sitting upstraight. but for me, i think im going to look
for earplugs next time im at the drug store. my ears are ringing right
now. lol

i finished polishing! much much better than my first try. i actually
kinda found a little technique of my own...tilt and peek, i will call it.
after the polish is nicely spread and worked on, i would make a pass, then
slightly tilt the orbital while lifting it slightly and make a return pass and
i can see how far the swirl has been worked on. repeat until the swril is
gone.

im going to wax tomorrow and finish up. im really happy where this
is going.

 

got me some earplugs -33dB versions. the max i could find at Walgreens.
will give them a shot tonight.

im going to try them out now in my afternoon meeting.
what? price reduction? huh? can't hear you.

 

LOL!

Okay, no use worrying about that part then as I'm stuck with it. They are pretty small, so it comfortably falls into my 2-3 footer goal.

Keep in mind this is a very close up image of the paint, maybe 3 inches wide at most (used a manually focused 105mm micro lens a few inches from the hood). You wanted close up detail, so I gave it to you. The white pin dots are extremely small (< 0.1mm?) and are really not as noticeable as the scratches. I could try the 50-50 Alcohol mix, but would that cut through the wax that's covering these defects?

Car's build date 12/95. Used three foam pads, one for each type of polish, and each one was definitely black when I was done. Medium polish pad obviously was the worst. No idea about the clearcoat used, these cars however were notorious for very poor paint jobs from the factory.

I can understand that the PC isn't going to help at all with the "snowflake" etching in the paint or for most of the bad scratches.

I would however like to learn some more "pro" techniques if possible and since this car will need a repaint anyway in it's future, I'm not going to make it much worse that it is already. Seems like it's a perfect learning vehicle, no?

Keep in mind that I'm not expecting a "paint restoration" that you're able to do. I'd be very happy just to have a 2-3 footer.

So what are my options?
1. Continue with the PC and Griots medium polish and stick with it like kenchan has learning how to use the PC better while minimizing the swirl marks and light scratches? Use different type of polish compound; recommendations?
2. Find a wax compound that will help hide the paint defects? Recommendations for wax type?
3. Take car to a pro and learn nothing other than don't neglect my paint so badly?
4. Repaint?
5. Other suggestions?

Richard, I received the detailing DVD yesterday, thank you very much!!! What, only 2.5 hours of instructional material? To think Griots covered claying, polishing, and waxing in what, 10 minutes? Hmmm, I wonder why I didn't learn any good techniques???

 

i ordered my Polish1 last night...hope to have it tomorrow.
The Polish2 is good, but just take a lot of passes.

speednut- i think you should just keep at it with your Polish1 until you
burn through the paint..then that will make your decision easier... to get
it repainted. lol

im going to go get some popcorn.

 

Don't think Ms. Speednut will be too crazy about that idea though.

I think you'll also find that polish 1 is not very aggressive too; Griots really wants to make their products idiot proof which is why this idiot has been buying them. They are working much better on my newer cars.

Enjoy your popcorn.

 

Ok, if the pad was black and you were only buffing on the paint, it's VERY possible your paint doesn't have a clearcoat. Which would mean that you've got a single stage primer/basecoat system. The good news is that with a system like that, you can do wonders for restoring the paint. You can only do so much with modern clear coat systems.

re: Factory paint
In regards to poor factory paint jobs...my experience with this is that this refers to orange peel, fish eyes, or other paint defects in the paint--but the overall paint can't be worse than say Earl Sheib.

re: DVD
Yes sorry for the delay. Glad you got the DVD! The car we used in that video is also a single stage black paint. Knowing that your paint may be single stage, your PC has a better chance at being useful.

Options:
Find a pro that will let you watch and participate.
Naw, you got the DVD, so that's about as close as you can get to that, especially for the $$.

Feel free to post over at my site..www.ShowCarGarage.com any questions about this project--lots of knowledgable folks over there probably including some Mazda owners.

Richard

 

yah, my wife wouldn't be too happy either.
Im no where at the level to do quick detailing work so im sure
Polish1 will do for me too. I'd rather do it slowly... not like i got
customers waiting.

Octaneguy-
I finished waxing my car!!! 2 coats of Best of Show. i must say, I am
quite proud of my work. Im going to clean up the windows and
give it another round of luvin' (hand buffing with a MF towel).

can't wait to do my wife's car next over the weekend.

 

i *barely* finished my wife's black Legacy today just minutes before
rain and t-storm. had to call the wife to help wipe off the wax
as the nearby lightening warning siren started going off. she
looked amazed at the black finish.

car resides outside. i watched from my 2nd floor window as the
water beaded. pretty cool. i need to finish the interior tomorrow.

 

Excellent timing kenchan. Glad to hear you're making good progress.

I'm still struggling to get 2.5 hours of time to watch OctaneGuy's DVD before I get my honey-dos whittled down first. Think I'll start on the Mini first before tackling the black RX7 again. Lift my spirits knowing I can make a difference on one car at least.

 

Okay, what the heck is an "MF towel"? I'm sure you can imagine the things going through my head.

 

Short for MicroFiber or microfiber towel.

 

no, we're not talking about baking powder and flour.