First Paint Correction

[RayCJ]

Hi... First post here but have been an on/off lurker for years.

My son has a 2007 Toyota Matrix with 160,000 miles. He bought it used last year in great overall shape but the finish had a lot of swirl scratches. I have never tried paint correction before and decided to learn a little about it and give it a shot. After going over it with clay, I used Meguire's 105 with a medium foam pad followed by Meguire's 205 and lighter pad. The buffer was a Harbor Freight 6" DA. The final finish was Collinite 845 which I've been using on the family cars for a few years now.

I was leery going into this but, it was worth the effort. Because it was my first attempt, I did not use much pressure and took just 2 (slow) passes over each section. In the end, the scratches were about 90% eliminated. Even at night with street-light reflections, the swirls are basically gone. It was fun learning how to do this and investment was minimal. I can see how people get hooked on detailing.

Later...

Ray

 

[walterjay]

This past summer I picked up a Griots DA and polishing/sealant kit. I have used it on my two vans and suv. Love the results. Wish I had one years ago. It is starting to get in my blood too.

 

[StevieC]

to BITOG!

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by walterjay
This past summer I picked up a Griots DA and polishing/sealant kit. I have used it on my two vans and suv. Love the results. Wish I had one years ago. It is starting to get in my blood too.



I'm half tempted to get the Griot's 3" DA machine. The places on my sons car that still have slightly visible swirl marks, are contoured areas where I struggled to fit the 6" pad. My wife has a 2006 vehicle that would benefit from a good buffing. .... Hmmmm, I might have to buy more cars just so I can do more external detailing. Yeah... I should have gotten into this about 20 years ago.


Ray

 

[irv]

Originally Posted by RayCJ
Hi... First post here but have been an on/off lurker for years.

My son has a 2007 Toyota Matrix with 160,000 miles. He bought it used last year in great overall shape but the finish had a lot of swirl scratches. I have never tried paint correction before and decided to learn a little about it and give it a shot. After going over it with clay, I used Meguire's 105 with a medium foam pad followed by Meguire's 205 and lighter pad. The buffer was a Harbor Freight 6" DA. The final finish was Collinite 845 which I've been using on the family cars for a few years now.

I was leery going into this but, it was worth the effort. Because it was my first attempt, I did not use much pressure and took just 2 (slow) passes over each section. In the end, the scratches were about 90% eliminated. Even at night with street-light reflections, the swirls are basically gone. It was fun learning how to do this and investment was minimal. I can see how people get hooked on detailing.

Later...

Ray





Glad to hear with only 2 passes you noticed a significant difference.
I purchased a Porter cable DA earlier this summer but with continually being busy with either this or that, I haven't gotten around to using it yet.

All 3 of my family's vehicles need a good coat of wax on them before winter gets here so hopefully soon, after we close up our trailer, fix my son's headlights, get our new front door installed, get my son's winter/tires swapped out, change out plugs in my Ram, do the diffs and transfer case, install new plugs in my son's car, plus all the other household type things to do in between, hopefully I have time to do that?

Welcome to site.

As you likely already know, there are some great people and info in here.

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Hi... First post here but have been an on/off lurker for years.




Glad to hear with only 2 passes you noticed a significant difference.
I purchased a Porter cable DA earlier this summer but with continually being busy with either this or that, I haven't gotten around to using it yet.

All 3 of my family's vehicles need a good coat of wax on them before winter gets here so hopefully soon, after we close up our trailer, fix my son's headlights, get our new front door installed, get my son's winter/tires swapped out, change out plugs in my Ram, do the diffs and transfer case, install new plugs in my son's car, plus all the other household type things to do in between, hopefully I have time to do that?

Welcome to site.

As you likely already know, there are some great people and info in here.

Thanks to all for the nice welcome...


LOL: All three of my sons are "grown", the oldest being 32 y/o. Seems all I do is work on other people's cars. It's all good.


The problem with buffing machines is that you don't need them very often. I just bought a brand new Mazda 3 (Soul Red) hatchback and with any luck, it won't need paint corrections for 3 years or more. I've always been good about keeping the cars waxed 2x a year. For several years now, maybe 3-4, I've been using the Collinite and it does a pretty good job of protecting the finish. One of my previous cars was jet black and even after 3 years, it had no swirl marks to speak of. Then again, I'm pretty careful about washing it...

 

[daves87rs]

Need to do one of these on the wife's car......

 

[irv]

Originally Posted by RayCJ
Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Hi... First post here but have been an on/off lurker for years.




Glad to hear with only 2 passes you noticed a significant difference.
I purchased a Porter cable DA earlier this summer but with continually being busy with either this or that, I haven't gotten around to using it yet.

All 3 of my family's vehicles need a good coat of wax on them before winter gets here so hopefully soon, after we close up our trailer, fix my son's headlights, get our new front door installed, get my son's winter/tires swapped out, change out plugs in my Ram, do the diffs and transfer case, install new plugs in my son's car, plus all the other household type things to do in between, hopefully I have time to do that?

Welcome to site.

As you likely already know, there are some great people and info in here.

Thanks to all for the nice welcome...


LOL: All three of my sons are "grown", the oldest being 32 y/o. Seems all I do is work on other people's cars. It's all good.


The problem with buffing machines is that you don't need them very often. I just bought a brand new Mazda 3 (Soul Red) hatchback and with any luck, it won't need paint corrections for 3 years or more. I've always been good about keeping the cars waxed 2x a year. For several years now, maybe 3-4, I've been using the Collinite and it does a pretty good job of protecting the finish. One of my previous cars was jet black and even after 3 years, it had no swirl marks to speak of. Then again, I'm pretty careful about washing it...




I have always wanted a DA type polisher but I was always afraid of using one based on some of the horror stories I heard.
My new Porter cable has a clutch system so if you apply too much pressure it will stop rotating and won't allow you to burn the paint.
I purchased it as a kit that came with pads and a few other things to get one started.

I am also a big fan of Collinite 845. I have used it for years myself with great results and will continue to use it for years to come as well.

We purchased my wife's Impala used so there are a few spots/areas where I see swirls and some light scratching so that is the main reason for my DA purchase.
My son's car, as its an 08, could also use a good going over as well. Its granite metallic so I know I should be able to improve on it big time. Honestly, and I know it is hard to tell, but if I had to guess, I'd say this car likely has never been waxed before?

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Originally Posted by irv
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Hi... First post here but have been an on/off lurker for years.




Glad to hear with only 2 passes you noticed a significant difference.
I purchased a Porter cable DA earlier this summer but with continually being busy with either this or that, I haven't gotten around to using it yet.

All 3 of my family's vehicles need a good coat of wax on them before winter gets here so hopefully soon, after we close up our trailer, fix my son's headlights, get our new front door installed, get my son's winter/tires swapped out, change out plugs in my Ram, do the diffs and transfer case, install new plugs in my son's car, plus all the other household type things to do in between, hopefully I have time to do that?

Welcome to site.

As you likely already know, there are some great people and info in here.

Thanks to all for the nice welcome...


LOL: All three of my sons are "grown", the oldest being 32 y/o. Seems all I do is work on other people's cars. It's all good.


The problem with buffing machines is that you don't need them very often. I just bought a brand new Mazda 3 (Soul Red) hatchback and with any luck, it won't need paint corrections for 3 years or more. I've always been good about keeping the cars waxed 2x a year. For several years now, maybe 3-4, I've been using the Collinite and it does a pretty good job of protecting the finish. One of my previous cars was jet black and even after 3 years, it had no swirl marks to speak of. Then again, I'm pretty careful about washing it...




I have always wanted a DA type polisher but I was always afraid of using one based on some of the horror stories I heard.
My new Porter cable has a clutch system so if you apply too much pressure it will stop rotating and won't allow you to burn the paint.
I purchased it as a kit that came with pads and a few other things to get one started.

I am also a big fan of Collinite 845. I have used it for years myself with great results and will continue to use it for years to come as well.

We purchased my wife's Impala used so there are a few spots/areas where I see swirls and some light scratching so that is the main reason for my DA purchase.
My son's car, as its an 08, could also use a good going over as well. Its granite metallic so I know I should be able to improve on it big time. Honestly, and I know it is hard to tell, but if I had to guess, I'd say this car likely has never been waxed before?



I've never heard any horror stories about DA polishers, only rotary polishers. DA's are made specifically not to burn the paint...

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by grampi


I've never heard any horror stories about DA polishers, only rotary polishers. DA's are made specifically not to burn the paint...




There are many YouTube channels devoted to detailing and a couple of them were most helpful to me. One was a guy from "Dallas Paint Correction" and another guy who represents "NYC Ammo". According to them (and their videos which seem to back-up their statements) it's pretty unlikely that someone will damage modern clear-coat finishes. Yes, if you have grit in the wheel, it will get messed up. Barring that, I've seen demonstrations of people pressing a rotary buffer onto a single spot using their body weight to hold it down. The hood was buckling under the pressure. The clear-coat was not ruined. As long as the pad is clean, pressure is light to moderate and buffer is in motion, the clear-coat will be OK.

Had I not seen such demonstrations with my own eyes, I would have never tried doing a paint correction on my son's car. I did a test in a small spot and could immediately sense there was nothing to really worry about.

In my first car (67 plymouth fury) the rag was blue from paint transfer when I waxed it. That was long before the days of clear-coat.

Go ahead and give it a try. I wish I had figured this out 30 years ago...

Ray

 

[JFAllen]

Originally Posted by grampi
I've never heard any horror stories about DA polishers, only rotary polishers. DA's are made specifically not to burn the paint...


Standard DA's are pretty safe. It's the forced rotation DA's that can get you into trouble.