Now that I had taken care of all the mechanical things I wanted to address, and the brake calipers weren't being delivered back to me until tomorrow, it was time to continue on the progress I made with the clay bar treatment and move right into the paint correction itself; something I've never done before I should probably mention.
Tearing into into all the new detailing gear I'd had stashed away for the past few months felt great. After giving the car another wipe down with these fantastic Chemical Guys microfiber towels and quick detailer, it was time to set up the Griot's Garage 6 inch random orbital. I grabbed a Griot's black Microfiber cutting pad and thoroughly coated the new pad with some Meguiar's D300 Correction Compound.
I added 6 more dots of the compound, added a few sprays of pad conditioner and headed over the trunk area for my very first pass ever.
I started with the top portion of the trunk and split it up into two sections so I could have a side by side comparison. Using the methods I saw in many of the how-to videos, and utilizing some of the tips I'd taken note of, I embarked on my first real detail using something other than hand-applied wax. I was surprised at how simple, satisfyingly soothing, and time-consuming this ordeal would be as a whole, but it was hard to deny the results after just a few passes.
90% of the imperfections, including practically all of the swirl marks were eliminated completely. I was a little surprised to find that the hard rain spots were proving the hardest to get out, and many just wouldn't with any of the combination of pads/polishes I had on hand.
Along with the surface scratches that covered the entire car, there were a few other things that had always bothered me about the paint on this vehicle. The first were the outline marks that were left behind when I eliminated the 135i emblem and deck lid spoiler.
Note the difference in scratches between the top of the deck lid that has seen a few passes of D300 and everywhere else.
An awful fingerprint smudge above the door handle on the passenger side that just would not come out.
Again, the D300 made light work of all the outline marks as well as the smudge.
The hood, being large and relatively flat, was a welcomed sight as it meant that the first stage of my three stage paint correction was coming to an end. Again, here's a hood comparison when I was half way through.
At this point I was pretty tired, but not ready to throw in the towel yet. I grabbed an orange cutting pad and paired it with some Meguiar's 205 Ultra Finishing Polish and repeated what I'd just done with the D300.
It took nearly eight hours to leisurely do this, change pads (I used three of each pad in the first two stages), keep everything wiped down with quick detailer and free of dust, document with pictures, fire off a few emails/texts, change the podcast, grab a drink, etc. Even without applying any of the Blackfire Wet Diamond yet, the results are impressive for only completing 2 of the 3 planned stages.
Plans for this weekend include:
- Mounting up calipers and installing new pads
- Attaching new ECS SS lines to the calipers
- Bleed out old brake fluid and replace with Pentosin Super DOT 4
- Mount front lip
- Complete the third stage of the paint correction -- Blackfire Wet Diamond
- Start car for the first time in nearly a month and check for any leaks
- Go bed brakes and enjoy new (hopefully squeak free) stopping power
The brake calipers I sent off two weeks ago finally arrive back with me tomorrow and I can't wait to share what they've transformed into. I've only seen some quick pictures in poor lighting before they were boxed up for shipping, but I think I'll be happy with the final results.