Headlamp Restoration

The headlamps of my gf's Atoz is getting hazier and hazier. Not to mention it reduces the efficiency (due to light scattering and absorption), it also makes the car damn ugly. Here is how the headlamp looks like before the restoration:



Upon closer inspection, the surface of the lens has thousands of micro-cracks. The above photo shows how hazy it was (*puke*). This is beyond compounding's job. So I had to resort to wet sanding. My buddy (Thanks Alvin!) gave me 3 sheets of sandpaper (1000, 1500 and 2000 grit) for me to try out.

Below are the tools I used for this exercise:
- Makita 9227
- Wolly wool pad
- Meguiar's W8006 Polishing Pad
- 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper
- M85 Diamond Cut Compound
- M83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish
- 300W halogen light

Since the micro-cracks are pretty dense and deep, it took me quite some time to level the lens' surface by wet sanding. I started out with 1000 grit, and finished off with 2000 grit. This is to ensure that at later stage I won't face sanding mark problem. Here's how it looks like after wet sanding:


Once I was done with wet sanding, I brought the gloss back with M85 (old school yeah). Though the lens looks way better now, but the combination of M85 and wool pad left some heavy buffer swirls. This was easily fixed by M83 with polishing pad.

Check out the result!

Major Detailing: Iswara

The Iswara had been back home from Seremban for two weeks as my sister is having a semester break now. That car was totally neglected and not washed for 5 months. Bits and pieces of cut grass are sticking on the paintwork, water doesn't bead at all and thick black dirt film coats all over the car. Before it goes back to Seremban again next week, I decided to give it a major detailing and hence I'm on leave today.

Job scope:

- Wash and Dry (Meguiar's Shampoo Plus)
- Wheel and Wheel Well Cleaning (Meguiar's Safe Degreaser)
- Clay (Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Mild clay)
- Tar Removing (Mercury M6000)
- Paint Cleaning/Polishing (Meguiar's M80 Speed Glaze)
- Waxing (2 layers of Meguiar's M16 , 6 hours apart)
- Trim Dressing (Meguiar's Gold Class Trim Detailer)
- Tyre Dressing (Meguiar's Endurance Gel)

Duration: 7 hours

If it's going to rain tomorrow, I will enjoy looking at the water beading on the paintwork!

Long Time No Buff

Last month, I promised myself to give my Vios a good buff after my exam. I'm done with another paper today, so I'm extremely happy and in good mood. Back from work earlier today and started to detail in the evening. I haven't been polishing the Vios for almost 2.5 years, since the first day of ownership. Here goes the job scope:

- Wash
- Clay (Bonnet/Roof/Boot)
- Dry
- M82/W8006/RB (Bonnet/Roof/Boot)
- M16/Hand

Duration: 5 hours

Though there wasn't much cutting being done, but the before-and-after effect is obvious enough, at least for me. Majority of the 'pimples' are removed, left behind those deeper etchings. Those "pimples" will come back again probably in next few months time, due to paintwork problem. This phenomena is not seen on both the Accord and Myvi paintwork. Alright, the rest of the panels will be done probably after next exam. There're some road tars on the lower door panels to be cleared...

MerzClub.org Detailing Clinic

5th July 2008, Meguiar's Show Car Detail Center @ Jln Templer

To view the gallery, click HERE.


This is not a Mercedes Benz, but certainly I can't resist to capture it. :)

Quick Paint Cleaning

The weather is still consistently being poor. If your car is parked outdoor, most probably you'll face the dirt film problem. The Myvi at home is parked outdoor most of the time, and being light colour, it shows the dirt film easily. Tight schedule disallows me to bring out my rotary buffer to give it a good paint cleaning and light polishing. It's good enough that I can wash it once a week.

On horizontal panels, the dirt film is the thickest, followed by the streaks of stain on vertical panels - the path where most water will flow down. Besides that, the paint is really rough when you touch it. These feelings make a car wash result less satisfying.

But there is a quick (or you call it lazy) way for me to overcome such problem by firstly giving the car a regular wash. Follow that by claying the paintwork. Then apply paint cleaner (such as M82/M80) by hand. Lastly, top it up with your favourite LSP.

When you apply M82/M80 by hand using the foam pad applicator, it's not going to cut at all. For areas with light scratches, you may exert abit more pressure to remove the defects. This method is very effective in removing the dirt film. The previous claying step will leave the paintwork a smooth touch, but it will not remove the dirt film much. So both steps complements each other.

That's how much of effort I can afford to put in these days...most probably will rotary buff my Vios after my exam in July. :)

M16 Professional Paste Wax

50mm, F/8, F/160s, ISO100
Canon EOS5D, EF50mm F/1.4 USM

Another Weekly Wash

I put on the 2nd layer of Meguiar's M16 Professional Paste Wax on my ride last week. After a week of rain, the water still beads nicely. In terms of water beading durability, it wins NXT Tech Wax hands down. Not quite sure about NXT Tech Wax 2.0 which I'm still waiting for the stock to arrive Meguiar's Malaysia. I stopped using Soft99 Fusso Coat because it sticks dirt easily especially on horizontal panels.

Check out the water beads on the paintwork after hosing down the car. To minimize DOF, I switched on the macro mode on the Fujifilm F11, positioned the camera almost as near to its minimal focusing distance (6cm) and took this photo. The water beads as if the paint was just waxed.

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/160s, ISO80

I simply love the image quality of the F11. Bokeh is considered excellent in its own class. And most of the time, the sharpness wins some DSLR kit lens! Another two closeup shots after the car wash.

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/60s, ISO100

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO100

Meguiar's Show Car Detail Center: Grand Opening

28th March 2008, Hypercoat Enterprise.

> gallery

My Detailing Mojo

It's back! Ever since the Iswara had left the house (my sis took it outstation for long term), I got to make use of my Vios as a daily driver. It has not been driven frequently for the past one year and the mileage could be less than any of the garage queens: 7600km in 2 years! Though the car was parked under the porch, but the amount of dusts settled on it are harming the paint quite badly.

Since it's being driven out more often, washing it more frequently makes sense to me now. The paint is very rough, but still beads water quite well due to previous UQD application. The excellent weather encouraged me to give it a good wash even I'm back home late from work. After the wash, I clayed the horizontal panels (bonnet, roof and boot) which usually get contaminated quicker than the vertical panels. Slapped on the Meguiar's M16 Professional Paste Wax and the finish became silky smooth. The reflected image on the paintwork turned to be sharper abit, but more room for improvement can only be achieved when I polish it. And that's when I have the time to pull out my RB...:)

My Car Wash Statistic of 2007

After each detailing session, I have the habit of recording what and when I've done on Excel spreadsheet. It's just for keeping track so that it's easier for me to plan ahead. 2007 is over, and here is my car washing record:

Accord - 12 times
Vios - 14 times
Myvi - 19 times
Iswara - 10 times

Total number of washings - 55 times
Total number of cars - 4
Total number of weeks - 52

Number of washings per week (for 4 cars) - 1.057 times/week
Number of washings per week (for 1 car) - 0.264 times/week

Number of weeks per wash (for 4 cars) - 0.946 week/wash
Number of weeks per wash (for 1 car) - 3.78 week/wash

On average, each car is washed almost ONCE A MONTH! What a busy year...

The 8th Visit

You might be surprised that the Myvi visited the Perodua workshop for 8 times, just to solve the engine oil leaking problem. This time it involves people from the HQ (Rawang) since the service center at Sec.19 is incompetant to solve it for the past 7 visits (11 months). The car was left with Perodua for 2 weeks and they loaned us another Myvi. Within these 2 weeks I was hoping the car will be free from extra dents and scratches in the workshop. Besides solving the engine oil leaking problem, they replaced the left side headlamp too. The right side headlamp was replaced a few months back due to the well-known defects (crack lines appear on the internal side of the housing).

Got the car back 2 days ago. A couple of annoying things hit my nerve. Dirty finger prints every where on the paintwork, which is OK with me as long as they don't try to clean it. Front number plate holder was misaligned. They didn't mount it back properly after fitting back the front bumper. There were 3 missing wheel well fasteners, which I believe they forgot to put it back. However, the most important is I don't find anymore oil drops on the floor after 2 days of driving. I hope the problem is solved.

This car is almost 1 year old, the paintwork hasn't been receiving much attention due to the aforementioned problem which requires me to send the car in to workshop. Since I'm on leave today, I had the mood and time to detail. I washed and dried the car as usual. Next I clayed the bonnet and polished it with Menzerna 106FF and Meguiar's W8006 pad, at the speed of 900RPM with the Makita 9227C. Thanks to Kenneth for being generous enough to give me some sample of that wonderful product. The product stays wet eventhough the ambient temperature was quite high. The longer buffing time allows me to breakdown the diminishing abrasive more efficiently, leaving a swirl-free and high-gloss surface. Maybe it's a light color paint, so I don't see any holograms.

I did the same on the roof, which is the most challenging part as Myvi's roof is quite high plus the fact that I'm not tall. Standing on the IKEA stool with both hands operating the rotary buffer make balancing the body quite a challenge. A 3-step ladder would be beneficial in this case, not to mention I can use it during a fashion show shoot too. :D The paint is so smooth and clean now, except that there are some etched watermarks at the center portion of the roof. Can't expect much for a car which is parked outdoor and seldom being washed. I used Soft99 Fusso Coat as the LSP. I hope the NXT 2.0 or M21 2.0 are able to arrive on time before I finished it.

What I'm glad is I enjoyed the process more than the result. I hope all of you spend your Xmas holiday well not only with your family and friends, but also detailing.