I've been busy as hell with work lately. Florida opened up and I've been absolutely slammed. I've been pretty active on the reddit subforum for New Edges helping a lot of guys there as well and getting ideas. I much enjoy reddit over facebook because there is absolutely no drama.
This paint correction has been taking entirely too long but my noob skills at this was the cause. At first I had a hell of a time finding something noob friendly. Once I nailed down all my products and a proper technique I've been knocking out panels as time, and my back, allow. Work and being a father come first.
Before - Car was washed with Adam's Strip Wash soap, Mother's Yellow clay bar then CG Heavy Clay bar and Adam's iron remover used. This got absolutely all the waxes and such on the car stripped to the actual finish. I didn't realize just how bad the paint was. I guess waxes and such over time being used hid a lot. Again, I was a noob and didn't really research proper paint care. Always was more interested in the mechanical side. This is the hood close up to show just how bad it is. Swirls, scratches, and heavy oxidation.
After - This is purely just paint correcting. No glaze, sealant, or wax applied. There's some dusting from the compound still there which is why there is white specs but it's like a mirror now. There is still paint chips but that's either something I'll have to fill in or just live with. The bumper is obviously covered but I'll clean that all off. The fender is taped off on the driver side because it's new and doesn't need a correction but just a buff. Same with the bumper. I didn't touch it.
Side of car. It wasn't as bad as the hood (and trunk which I haven't done) but it was still pretty bad with oxidation. I was exhausted and snapped this pic looking into the car. It's seriously like a mirror just like the hood.
Forgive my legs. It's Florida and it's hot. Again, that's with no glaze, sealant or wax. I've got the hood, window pillars, and passenger side paint corrected. Still need to finish the rest of the car. More to come. Products I finally settled on and used:
Meguiar's G110V2 DA (already had it as it was gifted to me years ago for Christmas)
Adam's strip soap
Mother's clay bar kit
Chemical Guys Heavy clay bar kit
Meguiar's MF paint correcting kit - 5.5" off Amazon. Comes with compound, polish, x2 cutting pads and x2 finishing pads. For large areas
Meguiar's 3.5" backing plate - smaller areas
Meguiar's 3.5" MF cutting pads x2
Meguiar's 3.5" MF finishing pads x2
Mother's microfiber towels
I was having a HELL of a time getting foam pads to work with Meguiar's Ultimate compound and the Ultimate Compound dusted like CRAZY (see front bumper in pics above). The microfiber kit with Meguiar's microfiber cutting pads and D30016 correcting compound and D30016 finishing wax was an absolute DREAM to work with. No dusting. The compound will haze the paint, which is good, and once you go over it with the finishing wax it clears up and looks great. I spoke with Meguiar's to see if the finishing wax is the final step because I thought polish was needed, but they stated it's a polish with wax included. They indicated it's not a final layer even though it's labeled as wax. The kit cuts great (you saw how bad my hood was) and just absolutely loved using it.
I have waiting to go on:
Poorboy's World Black Hole Glaze - hoping to fill in some of the super deep deep scratches and make the black paint pop.
Blackfire Sealant - after all this hard work I wanted something more durable then just wax. Also to help with pop.
Blackfire BlackICE Montan hybrid wax - while the sealant and glaze in itself will create an amazing shine, this will hopefully add more depth. We will see.