cherrybeard Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 Hi there, set aside a whole day to give the car a decent goin over and thought id post up my experience for others. This is my first time using any of these products, and although i must have spent about two months reading and re-reading instruction manuals and how-tos, i still felt a bit unprepared. Sorry, no pics. I was in wales on holiday at the time so had no access to extra materials, internet, phone signal, house line. The middle of nowhere was an understatement. Nice place though. There was a constant dribble of rain throughout the day which helped with the lubrication of the clay bar and polish but wasnt a hinderance apart from when it came to the waxing stage. - First off, the car was washed (twice the filthy thing) with a cheapish shampoo. - I then used a clay bar over the entire car (Megs clay bar kit) following all previous research and advice to the best of my recollection. This stage was fairly easy going i thought although i spent a good few hours doing it and probably rubbed a bit harder and longer on each panel than i ought to have done although i couldnt discern any noticable problems through doing this. Underneath the skirts there were a few spots which were impossible to get off but you couldnt see them without getting underneath so was happy (just) to leave them be. The car felt lovely and smooth after this and seemed to shine a bit better. It also showed up almost every defect clearly for the next stage... - G3 baby. The slight pictorial instruction on the back of bottle wasnt too helpful so heres what i done.> Soaked the stockinette in water and wringed excess water out.> Shook the bottle and poured a 2 pound coin sized amount onto the cloth and dabbed it over the area of the panel i wanted to polish.> After a bit more careful spreading i proceeded to polish in all directions until the compound started to 'dust up'. I then remembered reading somewhere that you need to use a lot of water or you could burn/scratch the paint even more. so decided to dip the cloth in the bucket of clean water regularly and wring the excess out each time although this method seemed to wipe the polish off before it had had a chance to break down enough and do its job properly?- After the polish had turned clear enough to warrant buffing off (still not sure whether it was going clear because of the extra water or not) i used a microfibre towel to wipe it off. Pretty hard going to tell you the truth and it left the panel rather dull and with a layer of 'dust' on. A few more minutes of buffing (praying that i wasnt pressing too hard and scratching the paint) and the residue was gone and a nice shine appeared. On the next panel, i decided to leave the residue for about 10 minutes or so to dry which helped considerably with getting it off again. The result of the G3 was quite impressive i thought with most of the cobwebs gone, most of the scratches around the keyholes and handles gone and that nasty scratch down one whole side of the car where a had to dive into a bush to avoid a wide load on a not so wide road. Damn Welsh lanes. By this time though, it was getting late and the evenings dew and mist had started to fall and i had only managed to do the roof, and two side doors. I made a decision to get some protection on the car even though there was a chance that the damp in the air might ruin things. - I had planned to use a glaze before the wax stage but time constraints dictated that i apply the wax straightaway. As usual, i had left the tub of wax at home so decided to use the little sample bottle of cleaner wax contained in the Meg clay bar kit.The instructions said to apply evenly by hand and then let dry. Was a little hard to apply evenly since the dampish paint was streaking a bit and the poor light wasnt helping so i went over it twice afterwards with a microfibre towel trying to buff it off evenly. Not sure whether i should have done this or not but it seemed to help a lil. All in all, the car didnt say 'wow' to me (i know the procedure was only partially finished) but was still shinier than normal (think my girlfriend was trying to make me feel better after spending almost 12 hours outside) but i was impressed with the G3 in the way that it removed all the minor swirl marks and key scratches and the major ones were massively reduced to the point where a good masking filler would have hidden these altogether. Im still a beginner at this so wont be able to advise people much but even if this write up gives you just one tip on how 'not' to do something then ill be glad. If anyone has any tips for me, stages i have missed out (i now know that i should have washed the car in between the clay and polishing stages) then im all ears as Dolph Lungren said in Universal Soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tez162003 Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 woooo. that has to be th elongest post ever! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggy Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamb Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 yeah like to see pics to see this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherrybeard Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 yeah like to see pics to see this will try and get some pics up later. Was last thursday though so may have to give it a quick spray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 nice little read....bet Joe will enjoy reading this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherrybeard Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 woooo. that has to be th elongest post ever! lol sorry, never been able to be concise. Bit of a waffler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 wash>clay>g3>wax....12 hours?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherrybeard Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 wash>clay>g3>wax....12 hours?? In my defence, I did take all four wheels off in turn and clean them inside out including wheel arches and dressing. Was quite thourough during the wash and clay stages, and had never used G3 before so spent some time dillying with it not wanting to make things worse until i had figured out a safe technique. Including three cooked meals, i dont think this is a bad time for my first damn good clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4TT Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 wash>clay>g3>wax....12 hours??12 hour is nothing m8y sounds about right for the effort he has put in, by hand it could take longer to fully remove all the swirls, holgrams etc. you can spend 12hr or more on machine polishing, on some cars. and its not a really a race to get it done, cold have done it over a few days if needed, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 wash>clay>g3>wax....12 hours?? In my defence, I did take all four wheels off in turn and clean them inside out including wheel arches and dressing. Was quite thourough during the wash and clay stages, and had never used G3 before so spent some time dillying with it not wanting to make things worse until i had figured out a safe technique. Including three cooked meals, i dont think this is a bad time for my first damn good clean. Ah kool, sounds a good start then, get ye-old pics up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherrybeard Posted September 18, 2007 Author Share Posted September 18, 2007 sorry for delay, here are a few pics. Were all taken on phone so not that good but whatever. The first three were taken outside the cottage we were staying in wales, the day after my lil session with the paint work. The last two were taken this evening after a quick wash down as the car was filthy. Yes, i forgot about the mud on the skirts. I hate having photos of me taken and put on a right scowl. The smiley face is much more friendlier than mine. Might not look like much but trust me the paintwork is glass smooth and still shines even through 10 days of dirt build up. If i find an opportunity to get a pic in the sun or something then i will but my camera is slightly worse than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 FPMSL @Face The car looks great mate, obviosly the pics wont do it justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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