2010 Nissan Altima 3.5SR V6 - this is my mother's car.
- Wash w/Meg Hyper Wash diluted 1:400
- Wheels w/Meg D140 Wheel Brightener diluted 1:3 and Wheel Woolies
- Decon w/Iron-X Paste
- Clay w/Nanoskin Med Wash Mitt + ONR diluted 1:5 (I am finding this combo to work better than car wash soap)
- Polish w/Sonax Perfect Finish. Rupes 21 and Rupes Yellow Pads were used for most panels, but the Flex 3401/LC Backing Plate System/LC Flat White Pads were used for the bumpers and pillars. I did one pass to spread, two passes at speed 5 to cut, two passes at speed 3.5 to finish. Sonax Perfect Finish breaks down and cuts VERY fast.
- IPA soak (mist IPA over entire surface and dwell for 1-2 min) + wipedown to remove polishing oils. I should note that the surface was already squeaky clean after polishing.
- Applied Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0, used 6cc.
- Tires dressed with Optimum Opti-Bond.
For some reason, this car had number of deeper scratches and a few RIDS. However, there were very few swirls and little marring.
Surprisingly, this paint was a bit on harder side. As a result, Sonax Perfect Finish had some difficulty with removing the deeper marks. However, the polishing cycle gave a significant boost in gloss and allowed the paint to really pop.
Overall, I was not happy with the defect removal, but I only had time for one polishing cycle. IMO, it is always better to aim for gloss over defect removal, as nothing's worse than a slightly hazy finish.
Here are some of the world's worst pictures....but don't worry, Critic just ordered a Nikon D3200 and will be learning to use it soon.
Clean Barrels? Yep:
Gloss:
There were the best pictures that I got under direct sunlight, but notice that the deeper defects remain:
Opti-Coat does seem to give off a slight glow:
Time spent:
1.5 hr - wash/wheels/decon/clay
5 hr - polishing
1.5 hr - final cleanup and Opti-Coat 2.0 application (it was quite difficult to see high spots on this shade of white, so I had to constantly move the car to find better lighting)
Total: 8 hours.
- Wash w/Meg Hyper Wash diluted 1:400
- Wheels w/Meg D140 Wheel Brightener diluted 1:3 and Wheel Woolies
- Decon w/Iron-X Paste
- Clay w/Nanoskin Med Wash Mitt + ONR diluted 1:5 (I am finding this combo to work better than car wash soap)
- Polish w/Sonax Perfect Finish. Rupes 21 and Rupes Yellow Pads were used for most panels, but the Flex 3401/LC Backing Plate System/LC Flat White Pads were used for the bumpers and pillars. I did one pass to spread, two passes at speed 5 to cut, two passes at speed 3.5 to finish. Sonax Perfect Finish breaks down and cuts VERY fast.
- IPA soak (mist IPA over entire surface and dwell for 1-2 min) + wipedown to remove polishing oils. I should note that the surface was already squeaky clean after polishing.
- Applied Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0, used 6cc.
- Tires dressed with Optimum Opti-Bond.
For some reason, this car had number of deeper scratches and a few RIDS. However, there were very few swirls and little marring.
Surprisingly, this paint was a bit on harder side. As a result, Sonax Perfect Finish had some difficulty with removing the deeper marks. However, the polishing cycle gave a significant boost in gloss and allowed the paint to really pop.
Overall, I was not happy with the defect removal, but I only had time for one polishing cycle. IMO, it is always better to aim for gloss over defect removal, as nothing's worse than a slightly hazy finish.
Here are some of the world's worst pictures....but don't worry, Critic just ordered a Nikon D3200 and will be learning to use it soon.
Clean Barrels? Yep:
Gloss:
There were the best pictures that I got under direct sunlight, but notice that the deeper defects remain:
Opti-Coat does seem to give off a slight glow:
Time spent:
1.5 hr - wash/wheels/decon/clay
5 hr - polishing
1.5 hr - final cleanup and Opti-Coat 2.0 application (it was quite difficult to see high spots on this shade of white, so I had to constantly move the car to find better lighting)
Total: 8 hours.
