Someone said overwhelmed - My Freaking Head Hurts! Several Questions From a NOOB

[cagouillard]

Hello all - I think this makes post number 3 for me. I thought - what the heck - get a polisher, a few pads, some car stuff, compound, wax - ya know! Car stuff. How hard can it be?.

GEEEZ there is way more to know than can be known. I didn't realize I signed up for a whole new freaking career path.......

In about 3 weeks I have washed my wife's car 3 times. Polished with (no flaming! I'm a noob!) Turtle Wax rubbing compound, only the horizontal surfaces of the hood, roof and trunk of a 11 year old Honda civic that has been - well neglected by me, and is a dent magnet. Each door has at least 3 dents - and scratches to the paint galore. Some to the metal, some self installed swirls and some inflicted with bicycles falling against the car and cardboard boxes dragged across a very dirty hood. Let's not mention the tree sap that has made it through the clear coat in about 4 spots. I think that if I buffed it out I would have no clear coat at all in those spots. (About 1/2 dollar size - for those of you who remember those)

My goal is to clean it up, fix what I can - and make it look the best I can. It's just a 2004 Civic, kinda boxy, kinda geeky. I know its not the show car of the world. But, if you had a mint 1985 Civic... it would be at least.. sorta cool.....If and only if - it was - well Mint.





Okay, maaaaaaaaybee not so much.

Any way - not knowing where to start other than with a clean car - I washed each surface, clayed it with the clay kit, polished it with the rubbing compound and then waxed it with NXT wax. It's cleaner, most of the swirls are removed. None of the really deep defects are gone. Sadly, some will only be fixed if the panel is sanded down and repainted from new.

So what to do? I can't afford a new whole car paint job. I don't think it makes sense to do a full restoration. But for some reason, if I had the tons of cash to play with. I think I would. (My inner geek just says... gee Wally! That'd be cool)

So I have come to this conclusion - I am sure I am not doing this right, but I am not sure what to ask or where to start. I have the PC 7472 DA Polisher Kit with the orange, blue and white pads. I have lots of Microfiber towels.

I think that I should start again, Using Ultimate Compound with the Orange pad, Ultimate Polish with the ....... Insert Help here.... White? pad, then Wax with the Blue? Pad? Is that the suggested use of these tools?

Please keep it simple and type slowly.....I am a noob after all...

(Did I mention I am new at this? )

I hope I made you laugh. If so, please point me in the right direction. In the meantime, may you have a never ending supply of product and clean pads.


All the best -

Cag

[Top Gear]

Re: Someone said overwhelmed - My Freaking Head Hurts! Several Questions From a NOOB

You're not alone. All of us started at some point, and this is a continual learning process. There are so many variables of paint hardness, products, and technique, it can be very overwhelming very easily. Sounds like you've got a car you can learn on without doing damage, and in the meantime, it will look very nice

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Someone said overwhelmed - My Freaking Head Hurts! Several Questions From a NOOB

Well, Cag, it sounds like you've been on a bit of an adventure with this Civic! And you're right, sometimes all you can do is shine things up a bit - you can't always remove every single little defect and make things look brand spanking new again just by pouring something out of a bottle and rubbing it on the paint.

You've gotten the basic prep out of the way - washing and claying to prep the surface for some deeper cleaning. You've got that DA polisher so put it to use. Dump the TW rubbing compound and go for something with truly modern abrasives technology based on some top of the line professional product. Go get some Ultimate Compound. Your order of liquid and pads is correct so stick with it. Your process should look something like this:

- Wash and dry the car again, but skip claying since you've done it recently.

- Start with your orange pad and Ultimate Compound, set the tool to speed 5, work an area roughly 2' x 2' (definitely no larger than that), put some moderate pressure down on the tool (the pad rotation will slow, and that's fine, but you don't want the pad to stop rotating so don't over do the pressure) and then move slowly across that 2' x 2' area in overlapping strokes. Go side to side, then up and down, then repeat both directions and wipe off the residue. Gauge your progress, repeating that step if need be. Continue around the car in sections like this, wiping off the residue as you go. Never let a compound or polish dry on the paint. Doing so won't damage anything, but it makes what should be a simple process not so simple. Potentially it makes it a pain in the ...... shoulder.

- When you've compounded the entire vehicle, section by section, swap to the white pad and grab a bottle of Ultimate Polish. Drop the tool speed to 4, maybe increase the size of the work area to 3' x 3', ease up on the pressure, but keep the arm speed slow and stay with the side/side - up/down twice routine. Stop and wipe off the residue. Continue this procedure around the whole car.

- Now switch to the blue pad and Ultimate Wax. Drop the tool speed to 3, squirt some product onto the pad, and start spreading it onto the paint. At this point keep in mind that all you're doing is spreading a thin film of product onto the paint, essentially just transferring it out of the bottle and into a thin film. That means you can move pretty quickly now and use just light pressure (a bit more than simply the weight of the tool, but not by much). You should still go side to side and up and down, but you only need to do each direction once. Just spreading a thin film of product, remember, not doing anything more than that so don't waste time covering an area over and over again. Heck, you can one hand the tool at this point, and literally sweep it all the way across the hood in a single motion. A little bit goes a long way here, and maybe 2/3 of the way around the car you'll discover that you've accumulated enough excess product in the pad that you can, with the tool switched off, simply press the pad firmly against the paint and force some of that excess product out of the pad. Now spread that around. No need to reach for the bottle by that time as you've got plenty of product in the pad. Just spreading out a thin film, right? Nothing is breaking down or getting used up. To continue adding product to the pad when the pad is loaded with product is just being wasteful. Don't do it. You will now cover all the painted surfaces of the car in a thin film of wax before you start wiping anything off. Let it dry for maybe 20 minutes. At this point I usually start putting away all my stuff - the liquids, pads, the tool, everything. The garage is now cleaned up and it's just me, a microfiber towel (folded in 1/4s, of course) and a car covered in dried wax. Now wipe it off. If you applied the wax properly, meaning a nice thin and even coat, it will wipe off with very little effort. If it doesn't wipe off easily, you did something wrong. Most people tend to grossly over use wax.

- Take pictures along the way and report back here when done. We are going to judge you, grade you, nitpick you......... No, no we won't. We'll applaud and congratulate you on a job well done. You'll feel good about it. Tired, but good. You may also lament those deeper marks that you know can't be fixed with a product you pour out of a bottle and simply rub on the paint. But hey, you came right out and told us that the car has been somewhat neglected so.... that's on you. But now you know, and since it's doubtful that this is the last car you'll ever own, you now know better for the next one. You'll pamper that new car in the future and when it's a decade old it will still look brand spanking new.

Because of you.

[cagouillard]

Re: Someone said overwhelmed - My Freaking Head Hurts! Several Questions From a NOOB

Thank you Michael! That is about the kindest and best reply I could have gotten! Thank you too Top Gear for the encouragement!

I will do exactly as you say - may be a bit too cold around here this weekend, after that Easter and work will keep me busy for while - but I do plan on posting pictures and journaling the process. So let the judging, grading and nit picking begin! Can't be any worse than the Army flight instructors I had .......

All the best!

Cag

[The Guz]

Re: Someone said overwhelmed - My Freaking Head Hurts! Several Questions From a NOOB

Mike gave you the best advice.

I do have to say I used to have an 84 civic when I was in high school and the beginning of my college career. Same color as what you posted. That thing was a blast to drive. Handed it down to my bro and it went up in flames, be unbeknownst to us it had a small gas leak in the engine bay. Sad to see it went out that way. Good times driving it.