This car has been in need of a good detail and I finally got around to doing it. First I washed it, then went over the whole car with a claybar. I was surprised at the amount of crap the claybar took off. To see a list of products and the process I used, check out
the post on my website.
I took a picture before I started the cut/polish/wax process. Once I was finished, I took another picture to show the results. Keep in mind, the “before” picture is when the car was already washed and clean. The imperfections you see are all swirls or scratches, not dirt.
This is an animated GIF, it will switch between images.
In the two photos, you can see a lot of things in my garage reflecting off the paint. The two lines near the middle of the photos are power cords, not scratches. The lighter reflections above those are the power boxes on the light stands. All other bright imperfections are either lights on the ceiling, lights on the stands, or bright objects laying on the ground or on top of shelves. Obviously you can see the reflections of the yellow and red light stands themselves.
This was my first time doing any sort of paint-correction and I am very happy with the results. I briefly researched what products were best and read good things about the Meguiar’s line up and the Harbor Freight foam pads. Said and done, the whole process took about 10 hours. I even wetsanded a spot on the rear bumper to get rid of some weird hazing. I finished up by using trim restorer on the plastic grilles/diffuser, and tire shine on the tires. Well worth it to me.
I was able to remove about 95% of the imperfections from the paint with this process. The 5% of imperfections that remain are very hard to see unless you’re inspecting the car under harsh lighting. It just goes to show how awesome the car looks and feels now. Also, the photos capture the metallic flake. It is easy to see in person but hard to notice in photos. Black Sapphire Metallic > Jet Black!