Detailed the Sonata with the DA Polisher

[Nick1994]

Well, I bought a DA polisher early this year from Harbor Freight and decided to try it out today on the Sonata. I bought it in February 2017 and have only hand waxed it once since then. Maybe spray wax once too, can't remember. Luckily it was only 107 out, and my evaporative cooler in the garage worked great.

It was a rental car for the beginning of it's life and had a 2nd owner before me as well. The front bumper was repainted at one point, and has lots of rock chips. The rest of the paint had lots of water spots and swirls from who knows how it was treated.

I'm not a perfectionist, I was just looking to improve it. There's still some water spots if you look really close, but it doesn't bother me.

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, Polish, and Liquid Wax and clayed it beforehand. The polish drove me nuts as it left spots all over that I had to rub crazy hard with a microfiber towel to try to get it off which didn't work out too well. Fortunately the wax and wax pad took all that off.

 

[double vanos]

Nice job! Washing a car in super high heat and low humidity is truly a job. I had to get a deionizer to keep from whisking around the car in an attempt to dry the car before it drys itself. I stand in awe of your ability to work in such heat! I live in Bisbee and the temps here are too much as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Propflux01]

I want that VW......

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by double vanos
Nice job! Washing a car in super high heat and low humidity is truly a job. I had to get a deionizer to keep from whisking around the car in an attempt to dry the car before it drys itself. I stand in awe of your ability to work in such heat! I live in Bisbee and the temps here are too much as far as I'm concerned.


I can't stand the heat. But the garage with lots of ice water and my big swamp cooler made it decent.

Originally Posted by Propflux01
I want that VW......

It's lots of fun, currently the steering column bracket is broken so it's been sitting since October. Really wouldn't be hard to replace but haven't had the time to track one down and swap it out. Now it's too hot to drive.

 

[gregk24]

Looks great Nick! I am not sure how bad the finish was to begin with, but you may be able to start with polish only next time and avoid compound. Less clear coat removal. Having said that the results look great. It's always nice to look back at the finished product after putting in all the hard work, and 107 degrees? Wow! I was dying down here in FL today at 95.

 

[wemay]

Looks great, Nick!

 

[RooflessVW]

I commend you for making it work in the desert heat. I helped a friend with his A8 in El Paso last summer and it was just so hot everything kept flashing off the car. Work time was essentially reduced to two passes.

Looks great!

 

[Drosselmier]

Tell me about the Evaporative Cooler. Is it a homemade thing? How does it work?
Car looks great. good job.
Always like your posts.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by Drosselmier
Tell me about the Evaporative Cooler. Is it a homemade thing? How does it work?
Car looks great. good job.
Always like your posts.


+1, I was wondering about the cooler also. Another option is next it's detailed is to polish it with an All In One product that will polish and protect it. Many good ones out there from Zaino, Duragloss and prob the best for polishing is HD Speed. Then top with a spray wax.

 

[TMoto]

Originally Posted by SatinSilver
Originally Posted by Drosselmier
Tell me about the Evaporative Cooler. Is it a homemade thing? How does it work?


+1, I was wondering about the cooler also.

Evaporative coolers (aka swamp coolers) only work well in dry climates. They pump water over a pad or pads and then air is blown across or sucked through the pads depending on the design, so you get the cooing effect of evaporation. I had one in a house once and it worked pretty well unless it was humid that day.

Nice job on the car OP.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Looks good. My cars have benefited from the clay bar treatment.

 

[parshisa]

I can see some swirls on the bonnet lol

Good job though, megs ult stuff is ok but there are much better products for sure

 

[Nick1994]

Here's the cooler. It's a Bonaire Durango 5900 CFM evaporative cooler. Supposed to go in the window of a house, they go for over $600 at Home Depot. Got mine for $100, has a crack in the body which doesn't even remotely effect it at all, but can't be sold as new.

I built the frame out of 2x4 and some casters and made it a roll around garage cooler. It works fantastic.

Sorry if the pics are sideways.