Microfiber Pads and a Quick Update

I had to go back and knock out a couple rough areas and decided just to go with a tried and true favorite.  Menzerna FG400 on a Meguiar's Microfiber Pad.

You can see this is after a quick section was completed, the fibers are laid down and are not cutting to their true potential.  By using a simple pad brush or an air compressor to "refluff" the fibers you cna rejuvenate the pads quite easily.  It is also important to keep the heat down to reduce the risk of de-lamination and the pad breaking down.  Keep your polisher in the 4 speed range when cutting and let the pad do the cutting not pressure. 

I decided to go after this RID again.  Now since its directly near the door jamb and near the side window a full 5" pad wouldn't work.  This is why the Porter Cable 7424XP is now dedicated to 3" pads for these tighter areas.  I went with a Cyan Hydrotech pad and Menzerna FG400.  You can see how easy it was to see even without having to force the camera to focus and in pure daylight.  

Here it is after.  I could keep chasing it but unless the light catches it perfectly it has diminished by quite a bit.

Microfiber pads have to be dealt with slightly differently than foam pads.  If you have any questions on taking care of microfiber pads or recommendations or help with them, feel free to post below.  Thanks for reading!

New Car Prep: Subaru BR-Z

It finally came in!

And boy was the paint thrashed from some rain storms and being on a hauler for a couple of days.  Unfortunately I had to pick up this beauty on the way to work so no room to clean it or really do anything but get the license plate on and hit the road.

So with this car being transported by ship, rail, truck it was bound to see some less than perfect environmental conditions so I gave it a thorough decon that I'll outline below.

Here's a few pictures of the situation at hand.

First off, started with the wheels and wheel wells, these were actually in pretty great shape and I used some diluted Adam's APC with assorted brushes.

Then I moved on to the usual foam gun wash to get rid of loose dirt and grime, as well as start to break down remaining surface dirt.  For added effect I threw in car shampoo and some all-purpose cleaner to give it some extra kick. 

Followed by that since the foam wash got it quite a bit cleaner than I had expected, I moved on to a rinseless wash.  Standard ONRWW (Optimum No Rinse Wash and Wax) and 700gsm towels per the standard.  This went over pretty easily and didn't find anything out of the ordinary.  Overall the paint was in pretty great shape.

And finally the glass.  My Fast Glass towel before and after.

Then I moved on to a step I usually skip, IronX treatment.  And does this stuff smell...it is not pleasant to say the least.  It gets stuck in the air and clings to clothing, but with white paint (Satin White Pearl to be exact) IronX really showed it's form.  The iron bled right out.

My car is bleeding!!!

Following the iron decon step I moved on to claying the vehicle.  Using the Nanoskin Fine Grade towel.  The lube of choice was regular Optimum No Rinse and for the towel a Cobra Guzzler HD.

Well now we are all set to polish.  First to do a thorough check of RIDS (random isolated deep scratches) and areas to hit heavier.  Now whether you consider this fortunate or unfortunate white paint hides scratches extremely well.  Overall pretty impressed, there were a few areas where the paint needed special attention.  But for the most part a finishing polish and light-medium cutting pad did the job.

Here's a few shots of the RIDS we were dealing with.

Nothing too crazy minor scratches.  Bu then again I picked this car up with 6 miles on it.


The heavier scratches I used HD Adapt paired with an Uber Green (medium cut) 5.5" pad.  I tried out HD Polish and Menzerna SF4000 on a Blue Uber pad, and decided on Menzerna SF4000.

Here's a quick before and after

Next I moved on to touching up the hidden areas.  So door sills, trunk area, and nooks and crannies.  Quite a bit of grim that required some special brushes and ingenuity to get into.

And now the engine bay.  Just a simple wipedown then moving on with a Sonus Trim and Motor Kote spraydown.

Now to seal everything up.  For the glass Sonax Polymer Net Shield.

And the wax of choice.  Bouncer's Sherbet Fizz.

When waxing especially around trim and areas that are hard to reach.  Wipe away from trim and rubber weatherstripping where you dont want wax to go.  And for areas that you can't reach with a machine, push the wax that way so you ensure proper coverage.  For wiping off I use two towels, one initial one that I'll use for 2-3 panels, then a second towel to ensure it's wiped clean and buffed to a nice shine.

And the sun shots and final product!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to post up any questions or comments!