[Peleg]

Make sure to claybar your paint. It will make all the difference when you polish an wax.

[BrewPubeaver]

i have more detail shots from the last 2 cars i did....

to lazy to edit, and host...

[jutes85]

Ok I've read through the entire thread and there is a lot of good info.

I don't know if you mentioned it yet, but when using the porter, what setting do you have it on (assuming it is varible speed) and how much force to do you apply? I don't want to do any permanent damage to my OBP. I think I'm gonna try to do the whole wash, claybar, power polish, wax technique on my parents 98 villager first , before I tackle the STi.

Just a couple quick questions.

1. After Claybar, some mentioned to wash the car again, is this necessary or can I just give it a quick rinse and dry it?

2. My car only has 9k on it, will I harm the paint in anyway if I clay it?

3. For porter polishing(I think the #7 is what I need), you just apply it to the paint first with a pad and use the porter to finish it? What do you use to remove the polish, just a microfibre towel?

4. For waxing, can you do a quick write-up on this? I've waxed before and had some good results with the NXT, I think I'll try the #26.

Thanks.

[Peleg]

Originally Posted by jutes85

Ok I've read through the entire thread and there is a lot of good info.

I don't know if you mentioned it yet, but when using the porter, what setting do you have it on (assuming it is varible speed) and how much force to do you apply? I don't want to do any permanent damage to my OBP. I think I'm gonna try to do the whole wash, claybar, power polish, wax technique on my parents 98 villager first , before I tackle the STi.

Just a couple quick questions.

1. After Claybar, some mentioned to wash the car again, is this necessary or can I just give it a quick rinse and dry it?

2. My car only has 9k on it, will I harm the paint in anyway if I clay it?

3. For porter polishing(I think the #7 is what I need), you just apply it to the paint first with a pad and use the porter to finish it? What do you use to remove the polish, just a microfibre towel?

4. For waxing, can you do a quick write-up on this? I've waxed before and had some good results with the NXT, I think I'll try the #26.

Thanks.

Porter Cable: it really depends on what you're trying to do. The porter cable comes with 6 different speed settings. I usually use the 5-6 settings if I'm tacking a paint job I just finished claying that has a sea of swirl and spider web like damage to the clearcoat.

For waxes, glazes, you can go 2-3.

If you use good quality pads and wash, claybar, dry you will not damage the paint with a polisher. A buffer, that's a different story.

As for your questions:

1. The reason I suggest to leave the car wet before you clay is because you're going to spray some lubricant anyhowz, so the water will help, however...the lubricant will dry and leave soap like marks, so just hose it all down with water and than dry the paint.

2. It will not harm the paint, as long as you do it correctly using the right materials.

3. Put some polish on the pad, don't use too much. Apply the poish with the pad, then while the pad is on the paint, make sure your porter is set to about 3-4 and turn it on. Try to work 1-2 ft areas at a time. Use a Microfiber towel (I like Sonus and Meguiars in that order...) to wipe it off. #7 is a final polish. If the paint is old, you'll probably want to start with a tougher pad and a fine cutting polish or if you have swirls, I believe #9 is the swirl remover.

4. Waxing is really easy. After you finished polishing you're ready for waxing. All you need is the wax, wax microfiber pad and microfiber towel. Work section by section, apply the wax and let it sit for a bit and haze. Then wipe it off. When your towel becomes soaked in wax and no longer does the job, put it aside and get a fresh towel.


It's a good idea to throw your pads, towels etc. in the laundry. I also do that with my washing mitts.

[jutes85]

Thanks for the answers.

So you can use the Porter for waxing as well and how much pressure do you apply?

Also, would a palm polisher also provide similar results to the porter?

[Peleg]

So far, polishing and waxing has been the way I get paint jobs to stand out.

Today I tried a new product. It's called Liquid Glass. Here is the company that makes it:

http://www.liquidglass.com/

Liquid Glass is sort of a glaze (it is NOT a wax or polish), very much like Klasse, which I used for a very short while. Klasse's main problem was its removal, it was very very tough to work with. Not to mention all the residue it leaves.

Liquid Glass is very easy to apply and control, very much like Meguiar's #26. It has a unique smell to it, I can't really describe it. Not that it smells bad....IMO. The liquid is light blue, and has the same viscosity like Klasse.

The manufacture suggests buying their wax cleaner to get the paint clean. Since I didn't want to wait, I simply gave the car a good wash and claybared the paint. Claybar as you know, will remove any wax, polish off the paint. I call this "virgin paint", paint with nothing on it....

After drying the car, I was ready to start. The manufacture recommands putting on a first coat, letting it "cure" and doing another coat after 4 hours. They also recommand letting the car sit in the sun, yes in the sun and let the finish "bake"........

Liquid Glass is not cheap. It comes in a variety of size. I bought the 16 oz metal can, which lasted for the first coat of the ENTIRE car and a second coat of the hood. You can get a 32 oz can as well.

According to the manufacture, this product replaces polish and wax! Creating some sort of a protective coat.........I don't know if such claims are true, but the product got extremly good reviews at:

http://www.epinions.com/auto-Car_Car...splay_~reviews


Ok, enough with the chatter, lets see what this "liquid glass" can really do, so I started with just the hood.........

First coat...


Second coat...


Well guys........I think Meguiar's #26 may have met its match!

This product did very well. It's very easy to remove and the gloss is unreal....

And remember all this annoying residue you get with polishes? Well, goodbye to that. Liquid Glass has from what I can see about 95% less residue than Meguiar's #7. That's virtually, no residue.

I'm suspecting this will work really well for the folks with the black STi, as well as other colors.

So think about it, if your paint is new or in great condition and has no swirls, you can really save steps and time and achieve these results. You are skipping polish and wax. All you do is wash, clay, dry and Liquid Glass.

Liquid Glass is available at Autozone. If you don't have an Autozone near you, you can buy this stuff online. It comes in metal cans with a picture of a red 64 corvette stingray on it.

Let me know what you guys think of this product......I suggest buying the 16oz small can just in case you won't like this product.



I highly recommand the yellow Sonus all purpose towels to go along with this Liquid Glass deal, although Meguiar's did fine as well.

I was very pleased with the results.

[Peleg]

Originally Posted by jutes85

Thanks for the answers.

So you can use the Porter for waxing as well and how much pressure do you apply?

Also, would a palm polisher also provide similar results to the porter?

Yes you can use it for waxing and even use with the Liquid Glass. (See my review below)

You don't really need to apply alot of pressure with the porter. Let the machine do the work. Slight pressure is all you need.

[jutes85]

Ok, I didn't know you could use it to wax. Thanks.

[Peleg]

If you got a big dent in your car, before you take it to the body shop, you may want to try the Ding King kit. This kit is sold at Kragen's and it was featured on TV at some point.

The kit comes with:

A. A glue gun.

B. 3 glue sticks.

C. Glue scrapper.

D. 2 dent pulling tabs.

E. 1 bridge.

F. Cleaning solution.


I found this effective on large dents. Smaller dents are harder and will require more expertise and more sophisticated dent kits.

In this case, my Integra was the subject of this operation. It has a grapefruit size dent in the right fender. A result of my careless driving one Friday that caused this. I really got tired of looking at this dent.

The dent...


The dent, stright shot............




So working with this kit is fairly easy.

First you need to clean the area of the dent. You don't need to wash the whole car for this, just the affected area. Then use the cleaning solution with a papertowel to prep the area.

Next, take one of the glue sticks and load it into the glue gun. Connect the glue gun to the electrical outlet. Make sure to use the small metal stand that comes with the glue gun. You don't want to start any fires...

The glue gun will heat the glue in about 5 minutes. The tip will heat up to 300 degrees F, so I would be careful not touching the tip. When you squeeze the trigger, a black HOT glue will come out.........if you have children or pets, please keep them away from this glue gun, the hot glue doesn't feel good on the human skin. (I'm speaking from experience)

Next, take the large dent tab that came with the kit and apply some glue to the center.

Then stick the dent tab to the center of the dent as quickly as possible.

The glue will dry and attach the dent tab to the paint. Don't worry, it will come off.

Let the dent tab sit for about 5 min. The glue will cool and harden.




Ok, now comes the fun part, watching the dent "un-dent" itself.

Take the bridge and place it on top of the dent tab. The bridge has a hole in the middle, the dent tab goes through the hole.

Take the supplied nut and twist it onto the dent tab. (the dent tab has threadding)

Now start twisting the nut and the dent tab will start pulling the dent out. At a certain point you'll hear a large POP (no, that's not POP radar....), the dent poped out!

For large dents, such as the one I was dealing with, you may have to repeat the process. I repeated this about 3 times.

So here is the result:

After the first attempt:




After the third attempt:




The dent is about 90% gone, all that is left is a scratch and some rust that somehow did NOT spread, that's for another project.

[jutes85]

Originally Posted by johnny--2k

Process:

Just want to add that looks fantastic. I hope when I'm done with mine, it will look like this.

[BrewPubeaver]

oh how i hate pine needle`s

let me count the ways... i hate how you cover my car causeing it to have pitch on it, how you get in every single little crack, crevise, nook, cranny, dip, and in the hood, truck, door handles, windshield wipers.....

how no matter how many times i spray you with a hose there is always another hiding.

noit being able to wash the car untill all of the needles are off, cause i dont want any swirl marks, eventually giving in. and getting damn pine needles in my micro fiber mits, towles, rags, and in my eye ( no idea how that happend)

pine needle i hate you, your brother, and your sister. the pine cone, and the semi large branch that fell....

To my car, i am sorry i have to park you in a battle zone of the elements, and that you had some sort of weird mold growing on you. i will make it up to you.





kind of thought that picture was cool. not bad for no waxing in over 5 months

[Peleg]

Brew, get the Evolution 4 car cover.

[BrewPubeaver]

i know... i had one and it got all messed up....

been to cheap to buy a new one.

[BrewPubeaver]

[Peleg]

The work truck gets some love as well, very nice work Brew.Are you using the same combo still or something new?