Standard day for me. The car is a 2004 CR-V with less than 25000 miles on it. It's driven year round in Northern Ohio snow/salt, and driven exclusively around town. Rarely any highway.
I washed the car and promptly got to work. The car is rarely if ever washed, has taken a beating from more than a few snow brushes and has been dinged more times than I could count. It was a real piece of work.
Started with a Meguaires Deep Crystal Wash, Claymagic Claybar and then Deep Crystal again to clean. Here are the base results.
Initial
After Wash
After Clay
Yeah, it's bad. I started with my tried and true Poorboy's Super Swirl Remover 2. After letting the car dry and cool in the garage I got out my awesomely bad Craftsman Orbital Buffer. The only reason I still have it is because I'm too broke to buy a PC and it's slightly better by hand. It doesn't hurt the wrist as much.
Results after a coat of SSR2 and 2x coats on the hood and fenders. They needed it.
Untouched on left, SSR2 on right.
Completed 2x SSR2.
To follow the SSR2 I hit it with, what else but SSR1. This is a great combo. It can get most anything out and leaves a nice deep brilliance that's ready for sealer. It also does a nice job of cleaning the paint in preparation of the next step.
Trying to get swirl marks to show, but I can't!
I finished the car off with a coat of NXT 2.0, Mother's Back to Black (I'd use trim restorer but I was running low and all the ABS plastic would have used it all up), RainX glass cleaner, and some Meguaires tire foam.
Final Result!
Orange Peel!
My mom has been begging me to do her car for over a year. I just hope she keeps the damn thing clean now.
Elapsed time start to finish including drying time - 4.5 hours.
I washed the car and promptly got to work. The car is rarely if ever washed, has taken a beating from more than a few snow brushes and has been dinged more times than I could count. It was a real piece of work.
Started with a Meguaires Deep Crystal Wash, Claymagic Claybar and then Deep Crystal again to clean. Here are the base results.
Initial
After Wash
After Clay
Yeah, it's bad. I started with my tried and true Poorboy's Super Swirl Remover 2. After letting the car dry and cool in the garage I got out my awesomely bad Craftsman Orbital Buffer. The only reason I still have it is because I'm too broke to buy a PC and it's slightly better by hand. It doesn't hurt the wrist as much.
Results after a coat of SSR2 and 2x coats on the hood and fenders. They needed it.
Untouched on left, SSR2 on right.
Completed 2x SSR2.
To follow the SSR2 I hit it with, what else but SSR1. This is a great combo. It can get most anything out and leaves a nice deep brilliance that's ready for sealer. It also does a nice job of cleaning the paint in preparation of the next step.
Trying to get swirl marks to show, but I can't!
I finished the car off with a coat of NXT 2.0, Mother's Back to Black (I'd use trim restorer but I was running low and all the ABS plastic would have used it all up), RainX glass cleaner, and some Meguaires tire foam.
Final Result!
Orange Peel!
My mom has been begging me to do her car for over a year. I just hope she keeps the damn thing clean now.
Elapsed time start to finish including drying time - 4.5 hours.
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