Hi all,

I thought i'd share with you what i was up to part of this week, finishing off my mum's 1996 SXV10R Toyota Camry CSi.

This car was a perfect candidate for an extreme make over, and always has been, as it was sitting out in the sun for all these years, with no paint protection. Naturally, a single stage sold state red paint will go from Firestone Red to Pink.

This was the condition of the bonnet, and most of the panels around the Camry.


Now i had to options;
Option 1: Go with Meguiar's Paint Cleaner to revive the surface from oxidation.
Option 2: Go with a local cheapo product that offers a more abrasive cutting compound
Decision? Test both options!

This section, we shall compare the results of using Meguiar's Paint Cleaner in the reviving process.

Processes:
1. Wash with NXT Car Wash and Meguiar's Lambswool Mit
2. Dry with Meguiar's Super Glide Chamios
3. Meguiar's Paint Cleaner to remove oxidation
4. Clayed the surface with Meguiar's Clay Kit (Light Clay, low aggressiveness #1, fool proof)
5. Meguiar's Scratch X to remove swirls and bring back clarity of the surface
6. Meguiar's Deep Crystal WetLook Cleaner Wax for a 1 step polish and wax process. (I dont yet have Meg's DC Polish)

1. After washing, this was the surface. it was pretty much the same....


2. Paint Cleaner time! I applied the product evenly over the amount. This stage was by far the worst, and most daunting. I had to use ALOT of elbow grease, primarily because Meg's Paint Cleaner is a non abrasive, non aggressive product that can be used on any surface, including clear coats. It's a product that is very complex and unique to the detailing industry. I worked the product with lots of love and patience.
Time Killed: 1 Hour.





3. Clay Time! Pretty normal process that im sure everyone is familiar with.
Time Killed: 20mins



4. Scratch X Time! Now, this is more elbow grease than the paint cleaner stage. Scratch X is the only product that is light abrasive, its anti deep scratch technology ensures that the product will NEVER create new scratches, they will just even out existing scratches, or just not do much to deep cut scratches. This product will NEVER hinder the paint work to a condition that is worse than the existing state.
The product, when worked with passion, displayed the clarity of the surface. It brought back the life of this paint once more. A dull Pink Bonnet soon became Firestone Red like a Rising Sun of the Imperial Japanese Flag. This product, along with Paint Cleaner, is a work on work in product - thus you dont need to wait to remove the residue of the product. Once applied, keep working in2 the surface until there is nothing left, and rid the residue. It is not a wax on wax off process.
The area had 3 to 4 applications of Scratch X. I thought i had nothing left by the end, but theres still heaps in the bottle. Worth my $19.99 investment.
Time Killed: 45mins.





5. Cleaner Wax time! So its time to polish and wax the product. Meguiar's Cleaner Wax has been around for decades. It's one of Meguiar's only retail product that hasnt changed in terms of formula and name. This product dates back to....*yawns*. Its Meguiar's most popular and consistent wax compound to ever.
With Cleaner Wax, though it is a form of wax, you need to work the product more than pure waxes and synthetic waxes such as Meguiar's Tech Wax 2.0 or Gold Class Wax. They have very little cleaning ability, and are supposed to be used as a topper. Cleaner Wax needs to be worked in2 the product, primarily to polish the product, and then waiting for the product to dry for the wax element to kick in.



6. Results.





Next post i'll include the Kitten Cutting Compound in the review.

Conclusion.
Lots of elbow grease particularly in the paint cleaner section. But results are worth it.

Kitten Cutting Compound Time!

All the processes were the same except i substituted the Paint Cleaner for Kitten's CC.

1. Wash with NXT Car Wash and Meguiar's Lambswool Mit
2. Dry with Meguiar's Super Glide Chamios
3. Kitten Cutting Compound to remove oxidization.
4. Clayed the surface with Meguiar's Clay Kit (Light Clay, low aggressiveness #1, fool proof)
5. Meguiar's Scratch X to remove swirls and bring back clarity of the surface
6. Meguiar's Deep Crystal WetLook Cleaner Wax for a 1 step polish and wax process. (I dont yet have Meg's DC Polish)

Processes:

1. Kitten Cutting Compound. This was a high abrasive, cheap product. The texture was sandy and the lack of warning on most Kitten products amazes me. You could seriously ruin your paint job if you use their products without any knowledge.
I'm going to make a complaint to Kitten about the lack of consideration for people out there who randomly purchase products off the shelves, thinking it will "shine up" their car when it will ruin them.
This product is NOT SAFE for modern clear coats - if you dont know what your doing, always aviod all Kitten products in my view - even their "cut and polish cream"



Other than that, its efficient, and instead of 1hour spend on the Paint Cleaner stage, i only had to spend 15mins for proper removal of oxidation. Its that harsh on your paint. Note - Sandy Texture.





The application pad was filled with paint, which is great with little effort.





2. Clay time!. Same as prior.

3. Scratch X Time. Same as prior. However, this time the clarity improved to a 85% richness in paint. Using the paint cleaner will only achieve around 70% clarity and richness in the red. Thus, scratch x was worked lighter, with less applications to get the job done.

And the result of scratch x



4. Cleaner Wax Time!



5. Results.







Conclusion?
I'll be using Kitten Cutting Compound to do the oxidation removal, however, its a dangerous product that will strip clear coats. Other products within the kitten line up are less abrasive, however, constant application will hinder your paint, esp if its a new car...
Paint Cleaner is still an awesome product, however, it was never designed to remove heavy oxidation. Paint cleaner is a product fit for new and cars with clear coats, as well as a fool proof status detailing. Paint Cleaner is, well, a paint cleaner, so this review was pretty much an apples to oranges comparison.

Now...though i have finished the whole bonnet, i didnt get time to take photos, but this camry looks HOT for a mummy mobile.

Hope you found this useful

Wilco

that's a good write up, turned out amazing with your moms bonnet wonder what her face would have been like.
but that... it's just WOW good work!

i`m gonna help my uncle with this for his red camry..it`s a bloody old 1 n they dont use it often n just chuck it under the sun/rain/whatever 24/7
shall c how i go with it

Good effort on the paint rejuventation.However it might be much easier and less tiring on the hands if u use the cutting compound with a machine(preferably high speed buff) then carry on with ur paint cleaner etc.But nonetheless good job so far keep it up

adrian not everyone is as lucky as you but machine def help..

GREAT write up ...

hey adrian my gf's car is a sh.itbox 94lancer coupe and the paint has fainted quite badly withe some tree zaps that won't come off. how much u charge to make it look new again? mates rates? :P

Screw mates rates. Tell him to do it for free

Fantastic writeup matey!

yea it would be easier on the hands of i had meguiar's g220 da polisher.
however its out of stock, and well, i dont think i'll need it just yet. i can use one from my friend.

i guess i 4got 2 add the purpose of this review, it was targeted at those specifically detailing by hand. and not as a profession. something as an average hobby, and not a hardcore hobby! heeh

thus, i wanted to let people know that the kitten cutting compound was preferred for reviving oxidized paint, as it is a cheap high abrasive product.

cheers

10/10!!! should sticky this post!

excellent post!!!

Hey im thinking of using the scratch X to remove all the little fine scratches all around my 07 white camry and i was just wondering do i need to clay the car before hand following these steps?;
- wash
- dry
- clay
- apply scratch x
- wax?

Sorry if this sounds n0obish, ive never done this before and i dont want to stuff it up ahha

Dont worry, i read in another thread that you need to clay before hand
thanks anyway fellas

Yeah, clay before you start rubbing creams and polishes on your car. Otherwise you're just rubbing the grit into your paint, and you'll just end up with more swirls and scratches in your finish.

At work I have the guys set up with some products that aren't Meguiars simply because time is money and some of the Meguiars stuff is time consuming.

Since we do a lot of top end type cars (Lambo's, Maserati's, Porsche's etc) the finish must be top shelf. I will try and write up a list of the products we use in a step by step process when I get the chance.....

That would be great silvbullit

hey wixy, awesome write up man!

just wondering i saw that part on the front of the bonnet that looked like the paint chipped off altogether. How did you fix that part? did you just touched it up with red paint?

cheers