Had my car PC'd this weekend!!!(a good thing...look!)
Had my car PC'd this weekend!!!(a good thing...look!)
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TonyHetherington

Original Poster:

32,091 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Hi everyone!

Well, to start off with, "PC?" you're all asking? It stands for Porta-Cable which is the name of the polishing machine used in the process.
It's the acronym for the process which, essentially, gets rid of all those swirl marks and little scratches that (especially in sunlight) look awful - even on a lovely hand polished and waxed car.

For a long time the finish on my car has been frustrating. Even spending a weekend prep'ing it the finish would be nowhere near that deep scratch-free shine I was after.

To give you an idea of the scratches I'm talking of...






An exceptionally kind, wonderful, generous (have I grovelled enough yet) guy via another forum I use offered to help me with my car and try and remove many of these scratches. He is a professional but is only just starting out so offered on an informal basis.

Anyway - that's enough of that. Thought I'd detail for you all the process that we went through, with some before and after pictures too.

First things first; wash the car. Sounds obvious but you need to be absolutely sure there is no particulate on the bodywork that would introduce mroe scratches. This also served as a good lesson for me in my car washing process - REALLY useful. So, once car is dried we put up a gazebo to keep it in the shade; metallic black car in direct sunlight in middle of June is awful to work on!!

Once washed and dried out comes the clay bar. Using a meguiars mild clay bar and quick detailer, the whole car is done fairly quickly - I've clayed it myself a few times and so this process was just to make sure, so to speak. For those that dont know, claying a car removes all the contaminants and residues that build up on a car over time - tree sap, bird muck, you name it.

The claying process


Next it's time to mask up the car; he'll be using a polisher with a rather large pad and so he masks up the trim parts, badges, stickers and also for when the more aggressive pads are used, the ridges on the car.

I rather like the blue...






And here we have the impliments we're just about to 'attack' my car with


The process is much like any other polishing process; you start with a fairly 'mild' abrasive to see it's effect (not knowing how hard or soft Lotus' paint is for example). With 10 being the most aggresive and 1 the least, we went for a 2 and it did nothing. So went for a 4...still nothing. A 6 sorted it a bit. Before we knew it we were at 10 and still it wasn't AS GOOD as it could be. Oh. That's kind of a brick wall! And that's a problem we never overcame. We even rang Lotus to try and understand why but put simply - Lotus' paint is REALLY hard and difficult to cut through and we didn't have the products available to get at that last 10% of scratches. Also frustratingly, it took us 6 hours to get to the point of deciding the best way forwards (through trial and error and process of elimination).

So, once the 'best but not perfect' way was found out we were rapidly losing hours in the day and so only managed to get the front clam done (no front bumper) and the rear clam (no rear bumper).



and hey presto - the polishing process was in full swing. Once you've used the aggressive one, you then use a less aggressive one to take out the finer swirl marks etc. etc. The final part in the process is a coating of wax - the bodywork, post polishing, would have none on it and so it needs a form of protection agaainst the elements...



Once coated with wax, the process is finished and a huge smile on the owner's face

Our attacking of the scratches is far from over though - we only managed to get just under half the car car (no rear, no doors, nothing beneath bumper line) so the pictures you see below of the whole car, look at the finish only of the rear quarter panel (i.e. where the filler cap is) and of the front wings (above bumper line).

Now imagine that over the whole car...wow!!







He's kindly offered to get some more products, and knowledge, in so that we may completely eradicate the car of scratches -and also to finish off the other panels also. I really cannot wait for it and I am so very grateful to Ben for his help, guidance, and dedication to cleaning MY car. I really do value and appreciate it!

Watch this space in the coming weeks for the car being completed...

Tony

(PS: I've done all small images except for the final one as people sometimes cannot see the images. I'll replace all for big ones if you think it's better - sometimes you cannot see the detail very well)

(loads of edits because tinypic is rubbish!)

Edited by TonyHetherington on Monday 26th June 12:03

admoss

172 posts

263 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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ouch... my eyes... my eyes...

gooby

9,269 posts

250 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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woooooow.... that is just awesome.

TonyHetherington

Original Poster:

32,091 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
Thanks guys

Rather frustratingly, it's raining today and so I got to work via 'other means' in the vein hope that it's stopped raining by the Lotus BBQ tonight at brands

Don't get me wrong, it's not a quick process, but when you see the car sans-scratches, god it's a great look

Zod

35,295 posts

274 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Another good job by Ben. I'll have to get him to do mine soon.

Janitor

2,372 posts

235 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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/spent

Looks fantastic Tony

I have to say that Lotus paint being very hard is completely the opposite to what I've heard all along... although quite reassuring to hear of course. I thought it was deliberately soft to cope with 'flexing' in the glass clams or something similar..?

I personally love seeing the before and after half-masked panel so you can see the effects side by side - you can REALLY tell what effect it's had then!

The big question however that can't be answered by looking at pics is: Are you happy with it? I remember you said a while ago that you were a little at odds with your car and frustrated by the ever present swirls & scratches no matter how you clean / polish. Has the PC sorted that and left you feeling as happy as bloke who landed a tidy bird through some dodgy number plate email scam..?

S Works

10,166 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Wow Tony, that looks fantastic. You'll soon be out-blinging bogie!!

DanH

12,287 posts

276 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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What is the blue stuff you were using for masking? Does it come off easily without leaving residue etc?

TonyHetherington

Original Poster:

32,091 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
Thanks!

Janitor said:
I have to say that Lotus paint being very hard is completely the opposite to what I've heard all along... although quite reassuring to hear of course. I thought it was deliberately soft to cope with 'flexing' in the glass clams or something similar..?

I had exactly the same thougts as you. My understanding was that Lotus paint was soft for that reason and it would make sense because the scratches were there in the first place (i.e. soft enough that it was easy to scratch)...but no, with lambs wool pad, rotary, and Meguiar's most aggressive compound that Ben had it didn't get them all. On phoning my dealer to ask - they said yup, it's a pain in the bum!

Janitor said:
The big question however that can't be answered by looking at pics is: Are you happy with it?

WELL chuffed, thanks! Really really really pleased and, as you say, it was that exact deep finish which I've been striving for for a very long time but (now I realise) I was just never going to get without professional expertise or, indeed, products. Ben also taught me alot about my car washing process so it's out with the old and never washing again in the same way

As I said above, it's not finished and so the full-car pic you see above shouldn't be viewed as the final article; many panels haven't even been touched yet (bar a claying and a wax) and we'll be getting together to finish it off in the coming weeks. It's simply now a case of matching our diaries (and other people's who we hope can offer more advice on the process) up.

Thanks for the comments everyone, putting an even bigger smile on my face (oh, and it's currently dry for the BBQ at Brands tonight )

Edited by TonyHetherington on Monday 26th June 14:43

TonyHetherington

Original Poster:

32,091 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
DanH said:

What is the blue stuff you were using for masking? Does it come off easily without leaving residue etc?


Ben did tell me the name of it but I forget - it was good stuff, and he had different types for different parts of the car with different 'stickyness'.

Certainly no residue at all left on the car. I'll find out the name for you and let you know (here).

S Works

10,166 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
Tony, just a thought, might be worth calling up someone like Miles or the guys at Sinc's to find out what sort of techniques they use to get their finishes.

Given that they are true fibreglass specialists I'd warrant they'd probably have a few better suggestions than your average bodyshop at a dealership.

TonyHetherington

Original Poster:

32,091 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Good thinking batman; I'll get on the case!

bogie

16,788 posts

288 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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LOL - I have the full selection of Meguires pro stuff and electric orbital polisher at my disposal....owning 2 black cars you need them

its amazing how easy it is to pick up swirl marks - my Elise had a full respray at xmas...and nice brand new shiny paint, swirl free....6 months and lots of cleaning later there are a few swirls starting to show. I use the 2 bucket method when washing and take care to use clean towels etc...but no matter what you do you always get swirls over time ....luckily if they are only light ones then a quick going over with the swirl remover polish and its back to new again...

TonyHetherington

Original Poster:

32,091 posts

266 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
Hopefully that's the situation I'd like to be in Bogie - to the point where it's only a few scratches that get introduced and they can be taken out with maybe a half-yearly PC or similar.

PJLarge

480 posts

263 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
I bought a Porter-Cable about a year ago, they really are fantastic but you do need to factor in the cost of additional pads etc. I haven't attacked the current Elise with it yet but it is on my to do list. Getting time is the problem!

For anyone interested, you can by the PC from www.autopia-carcare.com (and doubtless countless other places)

Phil.

DanH

12,287 posts

276 months

Monday 26th June 2006
quotequote all
TonyHetherington said:
DanH said:

What is the blue stuff you were using for masking? Does it come off easily without leaving residue etc?


Ben did tell me the name of it but I forget - it was good stuff, and he had different types for different parts of the car with different 'stickyness'.

Certainly no residue at all left on the car. I'll find out the name for you and let you know (here).


Is it thick enough to protect against stone chips? I'm looking for something temporary that can do this, and still come off no hassle.

cheers,

Dan

Neil_H

15,403 posts

267 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Very nice job, looking great Tony. Nice colour combo on the Elise too

twinpipe

1,396 posts

245 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Wow! Better not tell Just1.

TheYeti

656 posts

232 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Stunning........utterly stunning..................

andy_s

19,729 posts

275 months

Monday 26th June 2006
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Why don't you just paint it matt 'stealth' black...

That's what I was tempted to do.......An absolutely cracking job this, me being all thumbs and thumbs I'd leave it to someone like Ben - the finish is just exactly how you imagine and try to get it on those Sunday afternoons but, as you obviously know full well, it never quite seems to have that 'laquered' deep flawless solid shine - but obviously this is how you do it.
Fair play Tony - good thread for all Black Lotus owners!

What's the going rate for a 'makeover' to that sort of standard in general?