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I just detailed either a late 2004 or early 2005 (black?) Honda Accord. Originally the job was scheduled to last from about 10 am Friday with delivery scheduled for about 6 pm.
I picked up the car as planned and started on the interior. The interior is a light tan, with leather seats, arm rests and door inserts. Initially, the car was an 'exterior only,' with a light vacuum of the interior + windows, but when I commented on how much I could improve the leather, she agreed.
I already knew I'd be using G11016 Rich Leather Aloe Cleaner for the leather, having had excellent results before. The cleaner worked as good as I remembered, but the seats required quite a bit of physical agitation (read: the grunge was really ground in). The interior was completed with the leather looking hundreds of times better than before, but the still-stained carpet, floor mats & headliner really had my OCD twitching.
The penny is there so the camera could focus:
The exterior was just as bad. The car had been infrequently washed and never waxed or detailed. Here I can give a review of SwirlX, Ultimate Compound and ScratchX 2.0 as well as UQW and M-21 2.0
Using the 'Less is Best' thinking, I started with Swirl-X and a polishing pad. At first I was getting some results, but I quickly realized that it wasn't going to be aggressive enough, even with the PC set at 6. I know Mike isn't a proponent of using a cutting pad, but this car was being really stubborn.
By this time, it was getting dark, so I brought the car into the garage under some 500w halogen lights (oops). Where I thought I had been making progress, I discovered that while the SwirlX was giving me an extremely clear, high-gloss shine, it wasn't doing much for the scratches & swirls. These before & afters are deceiving...they still looked pretty bad in reality:
This was a slight oops when a fixed object jumped out in front of the car. I taped half of it off and worked the area for several minutes using UC. The blue tape shows how far the scratches originally went prior to buffing. I was able to improve it a bit more than in the photo, but they are still there, although you DO have to know that they are there and even then you have to purposely LOOK for them to see them.
This clay bar show the results of cleaning JUST the trunk lid.
It was now midnight and I'd been working on the car since about 10am and I was frustrated at the lack of results. I knew it wasn't the fault of the SwirlX, the car was just too severe, so I decided to pick up some Ultimate Compound and ScratchX 2.0 in the morning.
Fast forward to 7am. I go to the local 24 hour Wally World and pick up some UC/SX 2.0. Seeing that they had the UQW on the shelf, I picked some up as well.
Returning to the battlefield, I started out with UC on a polishing pad. I found that at a 6 with moderate/heavy pressure the results were excellent, but I felt that the pad wouldn't hold up for long. Again I switched to a cutting pad and was able to ease up on both the speed and pressure and still obtain near perfect results, leaving a 'ready to wax' surface. Panel by panel, the car went from horrific to fantastic. Now for the door handle pockets. All four pockets were heavily scratched by fingernails and while the UC did an admirable job, it was time to try out the SX 2.0 Used with a foam application pad, it only took 2 or 3 minutes per area to remove 95% + of the damage.
Now onto the finishing touches, M21 2.0 and UQW.
The "Plum Crazy" colored M21 2.0 applied like a dream, with small amounts spreading for miles at a speed of 4 on a finishing pad. Giving appropriate time to set up, the residue removed like a dream, the slight 'smearing' disappearing in seconds, leaving a perfect finish. I used the UQW for the "off" areas, at least for this detail, using it to bring a shine and protection to the door jams etc. Yet again, another winner. Without having to go through the whole process of applying and removing a paste or liquid wax from these difficult areas, the UQW was a breeze and left a super-slick surface.
I know I've been gone a while, but it looks like I picked a great time to return to the hobby and to Meguiars...the 'New for 2009' line is a Grand Slam success.
Delivery time ended up being 2 pm Saturday.
I picked up the car as planned and started on the interior. The interior is a light tan, with leather seats, arm rests and door inserts. Initially, the car was an 'exterior only,' with a light vacuum of the interior + windows, but when I commented on how much I could improve the leather, she agreed.
I already knew I'd be using G11016 Rich Leather Aloe Cleaner for the leather, having had excellent results before. The cleaner worked as good as I remembered, but the seats required quite a bit of physical agitation (read: the grunge was really ground in). The interior was completed with the leather looking hundreds of times better than before, but the still-stained carpet, floor mats & headliner really had my OCD twitching.
The penny is there so the camera could focus:
The exterior was just as bad. The car had been infrequently washed and never waxed or detailed. Here I can give a review of SwirlX, Ultimate Compound and ScratchX 2.0 as well as UQW and M-21 2.0
Using the 'Less is Best' thinking, I started with Swirl-X and a polishing pad. At first I was getting some results, but I quickly realized that it wasn't going to be aggressive enough, even with the PC set at 6. I know Mike isn't a proponent of using a cutting pad, but this car was being really stubborn.
By this time, it was getting dark, so I brought the car into the garage under some 500w halogen lights (oops). Where I thought I had been making progress, I discovered that while the SwirlX was giving me an extremely clear, high-gloss shine, it wasn't doing much for the scratches & swirls. These before & afters are deceiving...they still looked pretty bad in reality:
This was a slight oops when a fixed object jumped out in front of the car. I taped half of it off and worked the area for several minutes using UC. The blue tape shows how far the scratches originally went prior to buffing. I was able to improve it a bit more than in the photo, but they are still there, although you DO have to know that they are there and even then you have to purposely LOOK for them to see them.
This clay bar show the results of cleaning JUST the trunk lid.
It was now midnight and I'd been working on the car since about 10am and I was frustrated at the lack of results. I knew it wasn't the fault of the SwirlX, the car was just too severe, so I decided to pick up some Ultimate Compound and ScratchX 2.0 in the morning.
Fast forward to 7am. I go to the local 24 hour Wally World and pick up some UC/SX 2.0. Seeing that they had the UQW on the shelf, I picked some up as well.
Returning to the battlefield, I started out with UC on a polishing pad. I found that at a 6 with moderate/heavy pressure the results were excellent, but I felt that the pad wouldn't hold up for long. Again I switched to a cutting pad and was able to ease up on both the speed and pressure and still obtain near perfect results, leaving a 'ready to wax' surface. Panel by panel, the car went from horrific to fantastic. Now for the door handle pockets. All four pockets were heavily scratched by fingernails and while the UC did an admirable job, it was time to try out the SX 2.0 Used with a foam application pad, it only took 2 or 3 minutes per area to remove 95% + of the damage.
Now onto the finishing touches, M21 2.0 and UQW.
The "Plum Crazy" colored M21 2.0 applied like a dream, with small amounts spreading for miles at a speed of 4 on a finishing pad. Giving appropriate time to set up, the residue removed like a dream, the slight 'smearing' disappearing in seconds, leaving a perfect finish. I used the UQW for the "off" areas, at least for this detail, using it to bring a shine and protection to the door jams etc. Yet again, another winner. Without having to go through the whole process of applying and removing a paste or liquid wax from these difficult areas, the UQW was a breeze and left a super-slick surface.
I know I've been gone a while, but it looks like I picked a great time to return to the hobby and to Meguiars...the 'New for 2009' line is a Grand Slam success.
Delivery time ended up being 2 pm Saturday.
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