2005 Pontiac G6 GT

[BigLeegr]

PP2 is more aggressive than PP. 2 has some abrasives whereas PP is pad/cloth dependent. Peeling isn't fixable via polishing but you can fix the scratches. PP2 would be faster at it than PP. PP2 also finishes up nicely, so you may not have to follow it up with anything milder.

 

[Beercan31]

Nice job Dani

 

[danielle]

Alright, I got to see the car outside this weekend. It's been 1 week since its detail.

It got to stay inside the garage all week and was not driven, and then it sat outside in the rain all day Friday and is still sitting outside to my knowledge.
It was dark when I saw it Friday, but Saturday it looked so good still!
Was still shiny and actually looked pretty good. I think I missed the driver side front fender *scratches head*
(this is a huge improvement because before I detailed it, it would have started looking like poo a few hours after a wash)

Here are some sun pictures that a few of you wanted to see.
I took this on Sunday afternoon.
The sun wasn't cooperating and wanted to hide behind clouds, so I worked with what I had.

Driver side front panel: (i think i missed this one, still looked pretty swirly)

Driver front Door:

Driver rear door:

 

[sscully]

I'd let the G6 simmer for the remainder of the spring, and work on your car.

Once you get a few months of rain and sun on it, it will be ready for another round. You can use PP on a white pad to remove the EX & LSP that is on there and go back at it with BH and reapply EX over that.

That orange peel looks like a Ford factory paint job ( not GM ) so I would be careful about going at it hard again.

The Mrs' '07 G6 will mark by rubbing it too hard with SnW or SnG & a DMT, but the marks do not come out easy.
Got me how that is, I went into her car easy, and had to strong arm it to get the marks out.
I have 3 marks in the roof and 1 in the hood ( pre me ) that I am going to remove and go after it with EX and BH / Natty's layers at the spring cleaning.

If you go back after the marks, use only a test section ( like the trunk ) that would be cheap & easy to repaint if you find anything not factory about it.

Also might want use SnW and the Blue velvet towels ( 21 x 36 ) to dry it.

Blow dry the car with a leaf blower and for what is left, give the panel a light mist of SnW ( about the rate for window cleaning ) and use the blue velvet towel to dry the panel. I just got some of the blue towels for the G6 just for this reason.

The Wheels, if you go after those marks with PP, I'd be careful. Don't know how thick the Clear is on them, you might have out of control peeling if you get out of control. Might want to plan on powdercoating them or using Wrap or something on them. Wrap is cheap and can be changed out ( the 3M 1080 is 3 years I think ) if you do not like it.

 

[danielle]

Yeah, I'm going to let it sit for awhile.
I wanna get my car done, I think its becoming an addiction now!

I used the PP by hand on 1 wheel last night and it just made it shine like no tomorrow. It may have tamed down the swirls a tiny tiny bit, but nothing noticeable.
SnW and SnG? Spray and wipe and...? I have lots of Spray and wipe that I used on the G when I was working on it. Seemed to do pretty well.
I used it with the orange microfiber I got from PB with my clay bar kit. I think it was a DMT?

That's interesting about using PP to remove, I didn't know that it could do that!

 

[sscully]

Sorry about that SnG = Spray & Gloss.
It is SnW with a Gloss element to it ( little more to the composition, but for usage that is what I would call it ).

The clay bar kit I think comes with the Coral DMTs ( those were the ones on sale at the PB MF site ).

I found out about using PP and a white pad to remove what has been layered, from Wally ( and Steve / Others ) in a thread on layering Nattys and QW+ / QD+ in the product application forum.

 

[Poorboy]

Dani it is a learning process and you also have to remember a few things while evaluating ... First how was the car treated until now? Were you the first owner of the vehicle? How old is the paint? How much paint is on an older vehicle?
The PC is a nice tool for maintaining a vehicle, but for the most part the real deep stuff really needs a rotary or even a Flex to get closer to perfection. The PC just can not generate enough heat and speed for entire correction on neglected paint.
Over all I would agree with you that there is tremendous improvement and you should use this as a learning experience, as some day I am sure you will have a new car and will make that vehicle look new forever Great job

 

[danielle]

Sorry I haven't been very active lately, life is crazy!
We are going to Bristol, TN at the end of the month for the Nascar race and are taking the G6 down, so guess what's happening to it this coming weekend?
I'm going to steal it Friday and take my time and work on it all weekend and see how things go. They are calling for upper 60's to mid 70's, so perfect weather. What is wrong with August? I wore a fleece jacket and covered myself up in a blanket and still froze to death at some truck pulls last night.

Anyways, I've used the PC on my car finally (did half of it) and another dark green Grand Prix. And I can tell that I'm getting more comfortable with it.
And I have some SSR2.5 and Black Hole to try out on it.

On the dark green GP I worked on, I was using SSR2.5 with an orange pad and was getting pretty good results. I even used that combo on my car and followed up with white diamond (loveee that stuff) and it did great. Would this be a good starting point for the G6? It hasn't been touched with anything since I did it, just ran thru the touchless car wash. I realize the car will probably never return to showroom new. But she looks so awful right now, anything will have to be an improvement.
So, watch out for some updated pictures this weekend and hope that all goes well.

 

[sscully]

If you have PP still, I would try that with a white pad 1st and see what you get, just to be sure that you do not have a repaint.

I found that a polish and a MF polishing pad ( on the Flex ) did a great deal of defect removal on the Mrs' '07 G6 with a single pass ( 2 perpendicular rounds = 1 pass ). The PC will require a bit more time or more aggressive process or both.

SSR 2.5 with a white pad would also be a good starting point. If 2 passes does not do it ( or it is taking too long ) you can step up to a green ( light cutting if you have it ) or orange pad. I don't think Steve ( PB ) suggests SSR 2.5 with an orange pad, but I go out of bounds a lot myself.

good luck with it, it had been great deal weather as of late, none of that 100+ BS.

 

[danielle]

I will try the PP first since I have more of it. And to my knowledge, the only part that has been repainted is the roof from when I wrecked it. (if that's what you mean?)
I do also have some green pads that were in the goody box you sent, so those may see some action this weekend. I don't know if the PP will have enough cut for it. The car looks really swirly. Maybe I'll get lucky and they are easy to get out and PP will do the trick. *crosses fingers*

 

[sscully]

I forgot about the roof, my comment was on the truck deck. The paint does not look factory to me, the Mrs' G6 has hardly a hint of orange peel on it. Ford is the king of orange peel paint jobs for some reason ( always been that way ). The only part that looks like a GM paint job is the aluminum hood. Hard to tell if it got damaged on the car carrier, and repainted before it was sold.

That green pad is from the green odd placement in the series, it is between a white and black pad.
- Lake country (used ? ) to have 2 green pads, one was light cutting ( less aggressive than a orange pad ) and another one that would be a "light polishing" ( less aggressive than white ). I have not seen this outside the constant pressure series of pads. The "normal" flat pad series the green is only light cutting ( between orange and white ).
That green constant pressure pad is a good place to start, if need be step up to a white pad.

Pro Polish is a chemical polish, so the aggressiveness of it is with the pad selected. It does not have a break down like the SSR line, so you can really work it as long as you need to ( watching that you do not dry polish ). Most of the time, by time the polish is starting to dry out, I need to check the surface to see where I am at. Also as you go, the pads might start to clog up and need to be cleaned. I just got in the routine of cleaning them after half a car in the grit guard pad cleaner on the rotary. After cleaning at ~ 1500 RPM in the pad washer I stick it in an empty bucket and crank it up to 3K RPM to dry them. Truck/SUV I use "3 pads" ( still the same 2 pads, 1 is drying while I am using the 2nd one ).

If it is that bad, you might need to step up to white or on sections other than the roof, orange pad. I have not tried it with a yellow pad yet, never had to do that far with standard pads ( switch to optimum MF pads if I need to get after it ).
The roof, take it very easy, no telling how thin the clear coat is there.
The SIL just got a new to her used Mustang. It has a "hot iron" single stage paint job on it. I found the tape lines and a chip in the hood that was touched up with "autozone close enough red", that did not get done correctly started to peel. The paint is very thin on it.
I polished it with a black and blue pad, and put permanent paint coating on it ( to try to stave off the oxidation ). It has a nice shine, but it is good from far, but far from good. Up close I can see defects all over it. I was not risking a repaint on my dime.
If you know the painter, ask how thick the clear is on it, to get an idea of how much of the defects you can take out of it.

It will turn out fine, you have your head about you on what you are going after. Once you get done some EX on it, and off you go !!

 

[danielle]

Ok, the car is finally done after 20 hours. I'm exhausted and I'm sure the PC is too.

I don't have many before pictures or a whole lot of in depth swirl pictures, but there are some.
She was filthy when I picked it up yesterday, so off to the wash bay we went and scrubbed down. I was hoping I could get away with not having to clay bar since I just did back in March, but I wasn't so lucky. It was awful.

Post wash bay

The work station

Swirls and marring prior to clay bar

All of this was getting removed

Tada!

These are after PP on a white pad on the top of the trunk lid
(You may be able to see the tape line?)

I'm not sure what this is, probably a rear side panel before anything

Here is after 4-5 passes of PP on orange, EX-P, Black Hole and 3 coats of wax.

And that's all I really had, I kept forgetting to take pictures and eventually just said forget it.

And now for the pretty pictures:

The car looks gorgeous sitting outside. To the normal eye, it looks fine. But, I know what perfection should look like and I'm starting to have doubts that the car will ever get back to that point. This session was a VAST improvement from the first time. I could tell after the PP that the paint was starting pop again on it's own without waxes, so hopefully it will stay that way. I had wax all over the plastic pieces and it looked like crap, so I picked up some Mothers back to black since I was in urgent need of something, and wow. It's amazing how much better that made the car look. Very happy with the end results. What Poorboys product would be good for exterior plastic trim pieces to get wax off and return the shine?

I think I'm just going to settle and be happy with the way it looks, because for some reason, those swirls are happy where they are. I tried SSR2.5 on a white pad on one section and got nowhere that I could see. So I switched back to the PP.
Did 4-5 passed of PP on orange pad, EX-P on red pad, Black Hole with a blue pad and then got 3 coats of wax using a black pad. I may try for another coat of wax tomorrow after work. I don't think it's getting picked up until Tuesday, so it will sit in the driveway and simmer for a few days before being drove and people touching it. Until Friday, when we turn around and put 1,000 miles on it this weekend. Be neat to see how all that hard work holds up to the long trip.

And, car look so much better with the stock chromies back on vs the temporary aftermarkets from this spring.
And I used the PP on the headlights to get them cleared up, wow! I was impressed.

Also, what do you guys suggest to clean the pads? I ran out of the bottle of cleaner I got when I ordered the pads and I need something for future uses.
I finally figured out to use the PC to get extra product out of the pads prior to cleaning.....duh. :smt105

 

[BigLeegr]

Poorboy's Trim Restorer would be the choice for exterior trim. APC can also be used for cleaning up old wax residue. (You may need a toothbrush to get into the texture.) APC can also be used to clean pads.
With the Mother's BtB make sure you buffed it thoroughly after application, otherwise it will likely run after a rain or wash.

 

[sscully]

Great job on it !!!

The trim, I go with PB APC 15:1 and a grout brush to clean it up, but it usually makes a mess and requires a wash and re apply on the sealant.

For cleaning pads by hand ( the MF pads ) I use a plastic wash board ( got it from Amazon ) and fels naptha soap ( walmart, etc carry this ). Wet the pad, rub on some fels naptha and scrub them in a bucket. Good rinse and give them a run in an empty bucket at speed 6 ( just in case they fling off ) and hang them to dry ( I have some mating tape Velcro under the cabinets in the garage to hang them upside down ).

This really cleans them up. If you cannot find a plastic wash board, you can use a 1 gal paint can roller screen.

 

[danielle]

I didn't even think about fels naptha. Mom even has some in the laundry room! Some of my pads are down right dirty after this weekend.
Looks like I will be getting some APC as well sometime down the road.

I think I buffed the BtB enough, but we will see. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, guess I'll find out!

I'm starting to enjoy this more, and getting used to it as well.
My dad asked me what I would charge him to do his 08 Colorado. Me:...uhhh, let me live here for another year? lol

 

[sscully]

I'll take the 08 Colorado any day. I have not lived there for a few decades, and I am doing Mom & Dad's 38' RV :smt119

 

[danielle]

38'? Are you feeling ok? lol
That is a lot of real estate to cover!

My mom has a old 94 GMC Safari that is far from pretty, but could use a nice bath and some wax. I may do that before fall. Altho, I'll probably turn a pad maroon real quick on it.

But yeah, the Colorado should be a dream. I haven't been real critical of it yet, but it doesn't look to bad (compared the the G6 anyways) lol

 

[danielle]

It rained today while I was at work, so when I got home I looked at the G6 and found this beautiful site

 

[Poorboy]

nice work Dani, yes the PC has its limitations and some deep swirls on older paint is better off left alone, so there is still some clear to buff down the road

 

[sscully]

Nice job, bet t has not done that in some time

Leaf blower to get the majority of the water off, a spritz with SnW or SnG and the velvet drying towels, and it will look as good as new !!