For the last week, I've been slowly working on my truck. Hopefully, I can give an honest review of the products I used and there will be quite a few pictures involved of the end product.
I started with washing the truck on Friday night, using Meg's Gold Class wash. Once thoroughly washed and clean, I claybarred it while it was still wet using the suds as lubricant. After it was dry, I parked it in the garage.
Saturday, I started with a test spot. I first used a white pad and Ultimate compound, testing 2 different areas - 1 on the hood and the other on a rear quarter panel. I used several lights, 1 being a large halogen to see my progress. I noted GM clear coats are very hard and ended up switching to an orange pad on my test spots.
Unfortunately, the 4" orange pads create an enormous amount of heat on the pad and surface. I decided to only use the orange pads for problem spots and use the 6.5" white pad for the entire vehicle otherwise.
I spent about 1 hour per panel with my PC 7424 set on speed 5 and white pads. I used Pinnacle's cleaner on them when they got caked up, which they did even when cleaning the pad on the fly with a terry cloth. Needless to say, I went to bed with alot of ibuprofen in my system and didn't finish compounding.
Sunday, I finished most of the panels, except for the bumpers and smaller areas I couldn't get my machine into. I also compounded the glass with a white pad and it removed a good majority of water spots I've hassled with since I purchased the truck in 2006 (it was a year old). I had previously tried a number of other products, including the old fashioned ones like vinegar and newspaper but nothing worked as good as the compound did. I finished the glass off with rainx.
I followed up compounding with ultimate polish. I learned a few things about this product. For one, waiting around 24 hours after compound to apply the polish makes the polish easier to remove. If I compounded, then polished without waiting it was extremely difficult to get off. I recruited my wife to assist me getting the polish off. The stuff it really oily and hard to remove regardless. It does make the paint deeper, wetter looking, but I don't think it was worth the time. I'll never use this product again. I applied it using white pads with different speeds. I first tried 5, then later slowing it down to 3, but nothing seemed to help removal. I stuck with it though and did the entire truck. We used some meg's quick detailer for problem spots and hard to remove areas.
After polishing, Tuesday-Friday of this week (I worked on it after getting off of work), I spent time waxing. I am familiar with Collinite 476 and used it the last 2 times I've waxed our vehicles. Putting it on with a machine is a pleasure compared to by hand. It's still a bit difficult to remove, compared to the 845, but I believe well worth the effort. Paint was a smooth as glass. I waited a few days before applying the 845, which is as easy as pie to put on. I was impressed with the 845, as this is the first time I've used it. It's a keeper, IMO. Speed setting of 3 with red pads from autogeek. The pads seem a bit cheaper than Lake Country pads, but they worked great and they're just finishing pads with no cut.
Also, I used orange pads on my wheels. In the pictures you'll notice I had some pretty bad stains on them. Some of those stains have been on the wheels for years because I couldn't find anything to actually remove them. Ultimate compound took them off in a matter of seconds. I used the PC on speed 6 for this. Be careful to test a spot at a lower speed first. Apparently, the coating on the wheels isn't too thick from what I noticed and could easily make the clear fail.
I had to compound the front bumper by hand. By hand, I could remove problem spots much better than a machine. But, it's tiring work and I'd rather use a machine when I can. This was the first time I used a PC (or any other dual action polisher). I thought it was pretty much idiot proof, which I was glad about!
Here are some pictures:
Before:
After ultimate compound, 4" orange pad, speed 6:
Cleaned up the inside too!
My workspace:
I started with washing the truck on Friday night, using Meg's Gold Class wash. Once thoroughly washed and clean, I claybarred it while it was still wet using the suds as lubricant. After it was dry, I parked it in the garage.
Saturday, I started with a test spot. I first used a white pad and Ultimate compound, testing 2 different areas - 1 on the hood and the other on a rear quarter panel. I used several lights, 1 being a large halogen to see my progress. I noted GM clear coats are very hard and ended up switching to an orange pad on my test spots.
Unfortunately, the 4" orange pads create an enormous amount of heat on the pad and surface. I decided to only use the orange pads for problem spots and use the 6.5" white pad for the entire vehicle otherwise.
I spent about 1 hour per panel with my PC 7424 set on speed 5 and white pads. I used Pinnacle's cleaner on them when they got caked up, which they did even when cleaning the pad on the fly with a terry cloth. Needless to say, I went to bed with alot of ibuprofen in my system and didn't finish compounding.
Sunday, I finished most of the panels, except for the bumpers and smaller areas I couldn't get my machine into. I also compounded the glass with a white pad and it removed a good majority of water spots I've hassled with since I purchased the truck in 2006 (it was a year old). I had previously tried a number of other products, including the old fashioned ones like vinegar and newspaper but nothing worked as good as the compound did. I finished the glass off with rainx.
I followed up compounding with ultimate polish. I learned a few things about this product. For one, waiting around 24 hours after compound to apply the polish makes the polish easier to remove. If I compounded, then polished without waiting it was extremely difficult to get off. I recruited my wife to assist me getting the polish off. The stuff it really oily and hard to remove regardless. It does make the paint deeper, wetter looking, but I don't think it was worth the time. I'll never use this product again. I applied it using white pads with different speeds. I first tried 5, then later slowing it down to 3, but nothing seemed to help removal. I stuck with it though and did the entire truck. We used some meg's quick detailer for problem spots and hard to remove areas.
After polishing, Tuesday-Friday of this week (I worked on it after getting off of work), I spent time waxing. I am familiar with Collinite 476 and used it the last 2 times I've waxed our vehicles. Putting it on with a machine is a pleasure compared to by hand. It's still a bit difficult to remove, compared to the 845, but I believe well worth the effort. Paint was a smooth as glass. I waited a few days before applying the 845, which is as easy as pie to put on. I was impressed with the 845, as this is the first time I've used it. It's a keeper, IMO. Speed setting of 3 with red pads from autogeek. The pads seem a bit cheaper than Lake Country pads, but they worked great and they're just finishing pads with no cut.
Also, I used orange pads on my wheels. In the pictures you'll notice I had some pretty bad stains on them. Some of those stains have been on the wheels for years because I couldn't find anything to actually remove them. Ultimate compound took them off in a matter of seconds. I used the PC on speed 6 for this. Be careful to test a spot at a lower speed first. Apparently, the coating on the wheels isn't too thick from what I noticed and could easily make the clear fail.
I had to compound the front bumper by hand. By hand, I could remove problem spots much better than a machine. But, it's tiring work and I'd rather use a machine when I can. This was the first time I used a PC (or any other dual action polisher). I thought it was pretty much idiot proof, which I was glad about!
Here are some pictures:
Before:
After ultimate compound, 4" orange pad, speed 6:
Cleaned up the inside too!
My workspace:
