Optimum products results...Dodge detail cont. and finished!!!

[MarlboroMan]

Optimum products results...Dodge detail cont. and finished with pics!!!

Heres the pics I promised. Im late but Im getting ready to deploy Tuesday so Ive been busy.

Some of you may have recognized my first post. It can be found here.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361120


As you can see the truck was a disaster for being only 4 yrs old. With a few opinions on product direction from some members of the board, I was convinced to try Optimum out. I used Optimum Compound followed by Optimum Polish. I wasnt too impressed with the compound. I will never use it again. However, OP is probably the best polish I have tried yet. It leaves no haze and finished smooth as glass. Very impressive polish. Works almost like a glaze. I will use that again.


Over 22 hours invested, a couple passes on the harsh parts and these are the results...


(Thought Id try the money reflection trick. I stole this idea from someone on this board who polished a red Vette;-) )

And the pair...Would look better if that was a black Lightning sitting there.

The Cobra was polished a few months ago using all XMT products. No Optimum polishes were used on it.

There it is. Far better than it looked. But you have to stop somewhere. And there was a point where I just had to face the fact that a PC in the hands of an amateur isnt going to bring show quality results.

(Edit: Let me resize. The things are huge!!! LOL)

 

[Tom's_03SVT]

looks amazing...

 

[zaxjax]

Looks good! What products did you use from Optimum? How was working with them? I'm looking to change over from Meguiar's. I'm bored with using Meg's #3,9,21,83 and 26.

 

[MarlboroMan]

Looks good! What products did you use from Optimum? How was working with them? I'm looking to change over from Meguiar's. I'm bored with using Meg's #3,9,21,83 and 26.

I used OC followed by OP. My personal opinion is that Optimum Compound isnt all hyped up to be. Maybe my truck was too bad and needed to be stepped up to their hyper compound. Who knows. But Ive tried a variety of off the shelf and company ordered products and after using Optimums compound, its obvious their just a little too proud of their product and it isnt anything they label it to be. Its mediocre at best. But I wont knock their Polish. That OP they make is some slick stuff. I really liked it. But once this bottle of OC is done, I wont buy another. OP I might. But if you dont have patience, dont buy Optimum products. The amount of time you have to work it in is just ridiculous. And the results arent any better. Youd think by working it in as long as it allows it will be a one pass deal and the paint gets better and better. In my case, not true. It seemed to just marr the paint. Youll come to a point where you just say screw it, and wipe it off even though its clearly not broken down. Whatever additive they put in their formula to make it able to be worked with longer, was overkill. Its insanely annoying when youre using a dime size amount of polish on an entire door for an hour and it still isnt broken down. You think im lieing, try it yourself. Try less polish than a dime size, same scenario!!!

I dont care for Meguiars stuff that much. It doesnt seem to work well with high speed polishes. But for off the shelf, Id might as well use it than OC cause its cheaper, and it doesnt take as long to break down, and you can purchase it locally.

Try everything once man. If you never used Optimum products, experience it and see what you think. Youre opinion may differ from mine. :beer:

 

[ju015dd]

looking damn good!!!

 

[MarlboroMan]

looking damn good!!!

I am a pretty sexy guy arent I?:lol: Yeah I was checkin myself out in the tailgate and door too when I reviewed these pics. My family always told me I turned out to be one fine specimen

Thanks;-)

 

[crizzut]

optimum products are far more effective with a rotary. They require much more heat to completely break down, especially the compounds. Although the products work very well with a PC they work even better with a rotary. Truck looks good though.

 

[zaxjax]

I'm always looking for new products. I was doing everything by hand and then finally got a PC. I know the hand application products, but a little skeptical about PC products. Thanks for the info on Optimum! I may try it, I might not!

 

[Scott P]

Optimum Products do have a lot of carrier oils and they do result in a longer working time. This is great for a rotary, but a slight detriment for the PC. Personally, I really like Optimum Compound. I use it with an Orange Light Cutting Pad and the top speed on my PC. I'll follow with either Optimum Polish or Poorboy's SSR1 (usually the latter) on a polishing pad.

I usually reccomend the SSR series to people with a PC, especially beginning detailers. I think the Optimum Products can handle a bit more, but they do require a bit more patience.

 

[zaxjax]

Scott-

Thanks for the info. I don't think I have the patience to use the Optimum then, I'll give the Poorboy's a shot.

 

[66temp]

How did it finish out, I'd like to see some full sun shots because I remember your last post and you were encountering some micromarring...Did you end up working in the OP long enough in order to fully remove the micromarring? Scott makes a great point because Optimum products do contain alot of lubricants which take a long time to break down via PC

 

[42RCODE]

Svt Discount

Scott,
can you get the SVT discount by ordring on line or is it still on phone orders only ?
Thanks,
Fred:thumbsup:

 

[Scott P]

Scott,
can you get the SVT discount by ordring on line or is it still on phone orders only ?
Thanks,
Fred:thumbsup:

Coupon code works via the website now. Hence my signature.

 

[42RCODE]

Coupon code works via the website now. Hence my signature.

Thanks Scott.:beer:

 

[Nicky Pass]

It took aout 5-6 minutes per panel with my PC on full blast to get Optimum Polish to break down....but it turned out great. I've put 1 coat of Natty's Wax as a topper....I'll probably put 2 or 3 more coats on with in the next month.

 

[MarlboroMan]

How did it finish out, I'd like to see some full sun shots because I remember your last post and you were encountering some micromarring...Did you end up working in the OP long enough in order to fully remove the micromarring? Scott makes a great point because Optimum products do contain alot of lubricants which take a long time to break down via PC

Those are full sun shots. Except for the money one, which was in a storage bay. Ill tell you right now that the micromarring you saw from the previous pics are still there. Some was lightened up, but under artificial light no matter how much effort I put into one particul panel, its just wasnt all going to be removed. Out in the sun, you cant hardly see it. Only on some edges. Im suprised I got the paint to look as good as it does now compared to before. Im happy with it. It doesnt quite meet my excpectations, but I dont think there is a person out there I know with the same tool and polishes I used that could make it look any better.

Im enroute to my deployed location using a temporary computer. I dont have any way to put it under artificial light to show how much of the micromarring I removed. And it wasnt even possible before I left, or I would have done it. I wanted to compare the before and after shots for myself and you guys cause I know thats what you wanted to see. I had to finish my polishing job in a buddies garage since the shop I started in was no longer available to me when I started. And he didnt even own a large halogen lamp bright enough to show fine details in the paint. My biggest concern at this point was to finish the job so I could store it before I go down range.

This post will be dead but maybe when I get back (Sept 07), and I pull the rides out of storage. Ill clean em up and show some good pics.

 

[66temp]

Those are full sun shots. Except for the money one, which was in a storage bay. Ill tell you right now that the micromarring you saw from the previous pics are still there. Some was lightened up, but under artificial light no matter how much effort I put into one particul panel, its just wasnt all going to be removed. Out in the sun, you cant hardly see it. Only on some edges. Im suprised I got the paint to look as good as it does now compared to before. Im happy with it. It doesnt quite meet my excpectations, but I dont think there is a person out there I know with the same tool and polishes I used that could make it look any better.

Im enroute to my deployed location using a temporary computer. I dont have any way to put it under artificial light to show how much of the micromarring I removed. And it wasnt even possible before I left, or I would have done it. I wanted to compare the before and after shots for myself and you guys cause I know thats what you wanted to see. I had to finish my polishing job in a buddies garage since the shop I started in was no longer available to me when I started. And he didnt even own a large halogen lamp bright enough to show fine details in the paint. My biggest concern at this point was to finish the job so I could store it before I go down range.

This post will be dead but maybe when I get back (Sept 07), and I pull the rides out of storage. Ill clean em up and show some good pics.

Ok sounds good, but what I mean by FULL SUN shots, is the sun actually reflecting off the paint in order to see the defects/micro marring...like this one I took of my mach...