Wet-sanded, Polished, Waxed - Perfection!

My buddy wanted to practice his detailing on my VX; with my blessing, I turned him loose! He wet-sanded and polished the entire truck, being VERY careful not to leave swirl marks (low-speed orbital buffer) including the roof, then I waxed it with old-fashioned 100% Carnuba wax. Here's the results - paint looks a mile deep! ZERO orange peel, ZERO scratches - looks better than a new Bentley! Not bad for 68K miles, eh?
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXB.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXF.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXJ.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXC.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXD.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXE.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXH.JPG
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10077/VXL.JPG

Very nice indeed. Did he do any work on the hood insert??

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Originally Posted by lasturbo

Very nice indeed. Did he do any work on the hood insert??

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Yes - no wet-sanding, but a LIGHT orbital polishing at very low speed, then I waxed it. This VX has been garage-kept since new, so the hood insert and cladding are like new. I use 303 on the cladding, for the record...

Thanks!!!!

WOW! Looks incredible!

But he rubbed so hard he rubbed the Isuzu logo off the back door.

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Originally Posted by circmand

But he rubbed so hard he rubbed the Isuzu logo off the back door.

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And good riddance TO it!:bwgy: Actually, I'm responsible for that one. I lowered the garage door one day when the VX wasn't ALL the way in; one of the sheet metal hinge edges came down and cut a nice gouge in the "I" of Isuzu, so off they all came!

And so hard that he rubbed all the blue out of the Dragon Green...:bwgy::smilewink:bgwo::bgwb:

It looks fantastic.

I use a low speed buffer on mine as well. Used some SwirlX on my hood insert over the weekend and then a good coat of NXT 2.0 wax and it looks so much better than before.

It looks fantastic. Tell your buddy that there is a Proton in Virginia in dire need of his talent.

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Originally Posted by tom4bren

It looks fantastic. Tell your buddy that there is a Proton in Virginia in dire need of his talent.

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Actually, he LIVES in Charlottesville...

I really NEED to learn how to do this. If I can buff out even 75% of my tree scratches, I will be that much better off. Then I just need to have a couple dings fixes, and have my hood and tailgate resprayed and my VX will be looking sweet.

Does anyone know of a good how-to online for wet sanding and buffing cars? I want my tree scratches GONE.

Bart

That's only 90 minutes away. May hafta look him up sometime I'm headed that way.

Joe,

The Proton is looking great.

All shined up and nowhere to go. It's time to bring it back to Cars and Coffee and let others appreciate it. Last week's was totally packed, it was full by 7 AM. We'll have to meet up there sometime.


rickshaw
Gene

Proton in Hagerstown MD that needs a buffing too - I think all of us are having a little cladding envy. I really just want to have my cladding painted a nice sexy black. Let's have a buffing party - I will bring the captain morgan.

Wow, that really does have a deep shine, you were even able to capture it in the pics, looks fantastic!

How long have you been using 303? Do you feel it gets washed off really easily by rain/water? Any other tips/observations about it? It looks so nice, rich and even on the cladding, perfecto!

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Originally Posted by VX KAT

Wow, that really does have a deep shine, you were even able to capture it in the pics, looks fantastic!

How long have you been using 303? Do you feel it gets washed off really easily by rain/water? Any other tips/observations about it? It looks so nice, rich and even on the cladding, perfecto!

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Rain - what's that? I vaguely remember something like that - it falls DOWN from the sky, doesn't it?:confused:

Cladding was in good shape when I bought the VX; there's nothing like being garage kept and from a dry climate to preserve a vehicle! I put the 303 on every coupla months or so - just saturate a microfiber rag, wipe on evenly, making your way around the entire vehicle, then wipe off with a couple dry washcloths (don't tell wife about washcloths!:smilewink)...

What rubbing compound did he have to use? I see you are in Cali so I imagine you probably only have maybe some scratches and sun spotting. Just curious since most people without any experience tend to just wet-sand and move right on to wax, thinking you can just buff that in and it's all ya need. Only ask cause I see people making that mistake all the time of car forums. I did professional paint and body work years ago, so just wanna make sure your buddy didn't short ya out cause if not done right, it will dull in NO time.

Matte yellow probably wouldn't look half bad though. ;)

One weekend a couple years back I wet-sanded mine down. The VX is actually a pain in the arse when it comes to machine buffing. Especially the door and roof ribs. I use a low grit compound to get out a lot of the scratches and winter salt blemishes. Machine buffed with wool. I use 3M Perfect 3000, or something to that sound and top that off with Meguiars deep wax and polish. 10 years of deep Ebony in sun and snow, and still damned near new looking. Still totally worth a weekend of brute work over an $8k paint job. (only the best! :yesgray: )

3M Perfect 3K is what he used to polish with after the wet sand, IIRC...I waxed it myself with Malm's 100% Carnuba - old school stuff...