7/16/2017 Detail Day 6 - paint prepI decided yesterday that I needed to include my hardtop in this detail instead of doing it later. After installing it on the car I performed another strip wash with car soap and dawn, and used a clay bar to remove any contaminates from the hard top. I was surprised by how much came off the front of the hardtop, although it makes sense since the top is arched. Today, I started preparing the car to be polished. I removed headlights, side marker lights, tail lights, front trunk latch trim, rear bumperettes and hardtop ears. I also removed the front trunk cowling so I could replace my front strut bar bolts with stainless steel ones. I also removed the chrome exhaust tip. Removing all of these parts is very straightforward and has been covered online several times. The one part I will mention is the exhaust tip.
The exhaust tips for the 986 are different between the Base and S model and between years. My 1999 has a Eissmann Chrome tip which is different than later years that are secured with two screws on the top. This tip is secured with two hex head bolts, one on each side, that clamp it in place. I had a lot of trouble removing it, until I decided to hammer it off, hitting it from the back toward the rear of the car. It came of easily once I decided to stop being gentle. I had never removed the exhaust tip before, or cleaned it with anything other than soap and water. I used some brake cleaner and steel wool (while wearing gloves) and was surprised by how quickly more than a decade of grime came off. I need to use a brush to clean up the dirt embedded in some of the scratches on the bottom, but the stainless steel exhaust tip is already shining again. With everything removed I started to tape off any areas that I do not want to polish, or want to keep protected. I was going to leave the hardtop on the car, but it covers 1-2" of the clamshell so I removed it, and plan to reinstall it, then polish it once I finish the rest of the car. Because I had already started taping off parts around the convertible top, I decided to cover the interior in plastic instead of putting the soft top up. I used a microfiber beach towel to cover the windshield and cowl, and paid special attention to cover any sharp edges exposed by the parts I removed. I probably went a little overboard, but I want to be as thorough as possible, and hopefully not have to do anything this detailed for several years. With everything taped off, tomorrow I will do a few tests to determine what the best combination will be to correct the paint. Most Porsche's have medium hardness paint, so I think the Meguiars D300 will be okay to use, on either the orange foam pad or microfiber cutting pad, but I want to test everything first. I will start with the least aggressive method, Menzerna SF3500 on a white foam pad, then try the SF3500 on an orange foam pad, then the D300 on the orange foam pad, then the D300 on the microfiber cutting pad. I can also vary the speed of the polisher, and the number of passes. Most people recommend using the passenger rear quarter panel for test spots, but on the 986 that panel is welded to the frame, so I am going to be using the hood for two reasons. First, my hood has more scratches than any other part of the car, and second it can be removed and repainted, and I won't feel as bad, because it already has so many scratches and rock chips (which will hopefully be repaired during this detail). I have never used a machine polisher before, so this will be a learning experience, but I have done a ton of research and watched a lot of videos to get an idea of how to do this without damaging the paint. Hopefully it all works out. I am planning to take my time and be overly cautious. I am not looking for 100% paint correction, if I can get it to 70-80% I will be ecstatic, so I may not use the D300 compound if I am happy with the results from the SF3500. I do not want to take off too much clear coat, since this is still my daily driver. Comments are closed.
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