My car had tons of paint swirls and minor scratches. Being the cheap butt that I am, I figured what's the worst that could happen? Here is what I bought: Paint Correction kit for $200. https://www.chemicalguys.com/TORQ_TORQX_Complete_Detailing_Kit_p/buf_209x.htm VSS – 1 stage compound https://www.chemicalguys.com/Scratch_and_Swirl_Remover_16_oz_p/com_129_16.htm Jet Seal - https://www.chemicalguys.com/JetSeal_16_oz_p/wac_118_16.htm Butter Wet Wax - https://www.chemicalguys.com/Butter_Wet_Wax_16_oz_p/wac_201_16.htm Purchased later – V36 & V38 Cutting Compounds - https://www.chemicalguys.com/V36_Cutting_Polish_V38_Final_Polish_16_oz_p/gap_vkit_101.htm Menzerna Professional Micro Polish - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JPJK8O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I didn’t have any idea what I was doing, so I watched lots of videos on youtube. It seems like there was a good 1 stage product out there called VSS. Well, I tried it with the orange pad and ended up with a hazy/milky mess, so back to the drawing board. Did some more reading and decided to give a 2 step process a try, so I ordered some Chemical Guys V36 and V38 combo. I cut it again (Orange pad) with V36 with 3 slow passes (Wiped the compound off, then hit it with V38 (White pad) for another 3 passes and wiped it off. Now we’ve got shine, but wanted better (Of course). So did some more reading and decided to buy some Menzerno Finish Plus (Highly recommended for that final shine). So, I tried it on the white pad and it really did a nice job. It really brought out a flawless deep shine. I don’t have any good before and after pictures (Sorry), just trust that it’s 100% better now. It’s time consuming, that’s for sure, but I’m pretty happy with the results. I’ve only done the Hood, Roof and top half of all the panels. I just do one panel at a time, then rest. I’ll do more this weekend. Random pictures to follow. **Disclaimer** I have no idea what I'm doing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That looks really nice! Be careful about what you're doing though with a black car - if you get too aggressive with your products, you can create a mess for you or a professional to correct. Looks like you know what you're doing though from your end result! Nice work!
Wow you're ballsy!!! Glad the result came out good! But you should check under some intense light and sunlight to be sure you didn't create holograms aka buff marks. The risk with experimenting on a car like the Ferrari is that there is only so much paint to work with. Once you burn through the paint, there's only one way to get that paint back on... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Did you strip all wax and clay it before doing the compound? What is the plan of protecting the corrected paint? Sealant or Ceramic Coating?
Great job. like the others have said, that was def some risk if you've never done it before. I debated doing it myself as I have some swirls/water spots I want removed, but I'm terrified of going through the clear too much and effing it up. I'm dropping my car off to a detailer this weekend instead (paying $450).
Yes, I went over it with a clay bar first. I sealed it with Jet Seal, then Butter Wet Wax. I'll probably do the ceramic at some point, but I want the paint to be in great shape before I have that done.
Polishing is a lot safer than it used to be. With a Variable Speed, Random Orbit, Dual-Action Polisher with foam pads, it can be done without causing any damage. Since these buffers are made with a free floating spindle, if too much pressure is applied while polishing, the spinning of the polishing pad will cease to spin and only continue to vibrate Where you get into trouble is when you use a Rotary Buffer with old wool pads (Only for experts). Those can eat right through the clear/paint before you know what happened!
I spent around $350 for everything. That includes the machine, compounds, sealant, wax, clay bar and towels.
Looks awesome. I'll clay-bar and polish my non-exotics as I have zero faith in my abilities and really can't imagine running my polisher over my cars. You need to be careful about detailers... you get what you pay for. I paid $2000 for a complete detail on my 16M, but the detailer (well known and recently retired here in the Bay Area) spent over 18 hours as the paint from the factory was so jacked up. I've taken my daily drivers to a local place in Los Gatos who charge in the $450-500 range and the work, while decent, is not great. I wish I had more time and confidence...
Eric - nice work The cost to have this done varies dramatically based on the process, the detailer and location. Mostly the process. some do a very light buff. Others do multi-state corrections. I've done this on my cars and I spend about 40 hours doing it. It's very time consuming doing it properly.
Ammo NYC has excellent detailing how too videos on YouTube as well as great products. No affiliation...just a customer.
I am in the process of doing paint correction on my 550... Could you have just purchased the following and applied in following order? 1) Menzerna Professional Micro Polish - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 2) Butter Wet Wax - https://www.chemicalguys.com/Butter_...wac_201_16.htm 3) Jet Seal - https://www.chemicalguys.com/JetSeal...wac_118_16.htm Therefore skipping the V36 and V38 cutting compounds? Thanks Ron
Great job Eric! I plan on doing this to my F430 at some point. If I pluck up the courage I'll be doing this myself too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had to use my DA machine to polish out what looked like high heel scratches from the front of my F430. I'm guessing some lady (or guy!) in high heels climbed onto the bonnet whilst the car was parked out for a photo. There were small black rubber heel marks on the front bumper as well that needed polishing out.
If you have swirl marks and minor scratches to address, you'll want to use a mild cutting compound before using the polish. V36 is mild. If not, the polish will be fine to use. Step 1: Clay Bar (If needed) Step 2: Polish Step 3: Jet Seal Step 4: Butter Wax
I'd suggest only using clay if really needed. More damage than good can be done with clay - even when being very careful.
Yeah, You're probably right. I don't even know if mine needed the clay or not, but since all the videos said to use it, I went and ahead and used the least abrasive clay bar I could find. It's probably only needed for paint that has high contamination. And you're right, it takes a lot more time than I imagined. It's a back killer. That's why I've only done the top half so far! Ha. But, I feel pretty good that I did it myself.
