Lot-rot Fix: Paint Correction On A "new" 2008

[john_the_bruce]

I took delivery of a new 2008 Yukon XL Denali about a month ago. Being a left-over that spent the better part of the past year on a dealer lot in Oregon, the truck had suffered the ravages of many a dealer-lot car-wash. I believe the wash guy must have substituted sandpaper for the wash mit, but I digress.

 

Having two other vehicles that needed paint correction, I decided to save a few hundred bucks (versus the local professional detailer) and go it alone. So, I purchased a Flex 3401 DA polisher, assorted polishing/buffing/glazing pads, Menzerna PO106FA and added to the Zaino products that I had already on-hand. I figured I was into the job for about $500, $300 of which was for the Flex; plus my time. A lot of time.

 

This is what I was dealing with. This is a new truck, straight of the dealer lot. Lots of spider web effects.

 

 

More of the same...

 

 

Under lights

 

 

Washed, dried, clayed (in the areas that needed it) prepped and ready to polish!

 

 

 

After one pass with the Flex, LC orange power pad, Menzerna PO106FA and a IAC wipedown. Holy cow!

 

 

 

And one coat of Zaino "All-in-one;" the base coat...

 

 

 

 

After one coat of Z-5, one coat of Z-2 and Z-6 wipedowns in between

 

.

 

The finished product. Please keep the flames to a minimum due to the Mopar-porn in the background. The doors are reflecting my son's chalk "race-track" in the driveway...

 

 

I spent the better part of 2 days working on the truck. The majority of the work was the paint correction. Although the Menzerna PO106FA is the trick for swirls, it's a pain to remove after you're done with your work area. I ended up using Wally-World 70% IAC straight from the bottle towards the end. The Flex made the "waxing" part of the job go quick. I was able to put on three coats (Z-AIO, Z-5, Z-2, plus 3 Z-6 wipedowns) in less time than the correction took me.

 

This was my first time using any power tool on a car finish. Luckily, I had my wife's old Jeep Wrangler to learn the process on before taking a spin on the Yukon. Overall, I'd rate this as an easy but laborious job.

 

I haven't done anything with the wheel wells, the chrome wheels or any of the black trim as of yet.

 

Enjoy,

-John

[Jnk]

Amazing job. Even though you invested a lot of time and some money you reversed the damage from what looked like 5yrs or more worth of micro marring. I am willing to bet that paint didn't look that good even when it was new. It's kinda crazy how not even the dealers take care of the vehicles paint. It seems no one does. Good Job, it looks....new....again.

[cerbomark]

Nice job. How many passes with the Menzerma(?) did you have to make? Who makes it, and where did you buy it? Looks like good stuff. I currnetly use a 3M swirl remover but always look at what else is available. Thanks for the good pics too.

[RyanbabZ71]

Looks very nice!

[Draenor]

Awesome job.

[Bowtie2Sierra]

WOW. You did a hell of a job...nice work!

[LawmanSS]

Very nice! I use the Porter Cable DA with the Menzerna polishes and LC pads. The results, as noted in your pics, are stunning. I'm not a huge Zaino fan. I just recently tried the Blackfire Midnight Sun Ivory carnauba as a top coat on my Camaro...in a word: wow!

 

For those asking about where to buy these products...I buy them from properautocare.com

[blackout07]

That looks amazing! Nice work.

[99silveradoz71]

Impressive

[Stevens03]

Yeah,.. Great job. Wanna come do mine

[john_the_bruce]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I would really recommend getting a machine polisher if you're looking for some real swirl mark removal. I was scared at first, but it's very hard to do it wrong. Go slow and keep your pad flat and you really can't mess it up.

 

I got the Flex polisher from Top of the Line Auto Detailing and the Menz polish from ProperAutoCare.com as they also had good pricing on the Lake County pads...

 

Hope this helps.

[jon_we4]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I would really recommend getting a machine polisher if you're looking for some real swirl mark removal. I was scared at first, but it's very hard to do it wrong. Go slow and keep your pad flat and you really can't mess it up.

 

I got the Flex polisher from Top of the Line Auto Detailing and the Menz polish from ProperAutoCare.com as they also had good pricing on the Lake County pads...

 

Hope this helps.

 

Just wanted to pop my head in this thread. I've been a long time lurker here and I have a 2007 2500HD with a Duramax. Love that truck

 

Carcaredepot.com sells the FLEX 3401 dual action buffers - FLEX15 is a coupon code for 15% off.

 

Thanks!

[cerbomark]

how many passes before the wax to get the marks out?

[john_the_bruce]

how many passes before the wax to get the marks out?

 

I guess you'd call it one "pass." I generally focused on a 2X1 or 2X2 work area each time. On the hood, I did a little bigger. But, it takes a few minutes to break down the Menz polish - the abrasive elements of the polish start coarse and as you work it it breaks down into finer and finer abrasives. From what I read, this is so you don't have to switch to another polish that's finer than the next...it's just a one-shot deal.

 

But, to try and answer your question, I spent about 2 minutes on each "work area" before wiping it down and evaluating what impact I made on the swirls. I did each section only once.

 

If you do a search on youtube for the Flex 3401, you'll be able to see some demonstration videos...that's all the training I had before trying my hand at this...

[cev103]

Cheap money com[ared to the end result.....Looks great