So I've had my 2004 Ford F150 for about 5 months no maybe 6 and I've done most everything I can think of to bring out the shine in the truck with no luck.

You can see these swirls for lack of a better word. I've used an orbital buffer (the one from Meguiars that uses a drill attachment but I was thinking of buying a 10" cable powered orbital) and meguiars ultimate compound to help bring out the shine but there still seems to be little scratches and imperfections all of the place.

After I wash the car it looks great, but after about a day of just sitting there you can really see the imperfections.

I wasn't the original owner and I even have a 2011 Camaro SS that I can shine so good you go blind

I was thinking of switching to Adams since I know a lot of guys in the Camaro club use it (for my Camaro and Truck).

Not sure if that will even help at this point, is my paint just kind of a lost cause and I need a new paint job? If so I think I'll get flat black... but any ideas are welcome here are some pics. Washed it yesterday.

I was thinking maybe Ultimate Compound wasn't enough and that I needed to use Swirl X?

 

looks like the old owner was buffing it with a grinder

good luck bro!

 

Ok,

So I spent all afternoon with an orbital buffer and Adam's Machine polish, then I used Adam's Brilliant Glaze, then finished it off with Adam's Butter Wax.

The one thing after doing some research is I should have sealed it with Adam's Machine Sealer. I will have to wait since we are expecting snow and this whole exercise was to get her preped for harsh weather.

Anyway check out the pics huge improvement.

 

looks way better!!!!

 

Yes looks much better.
The first pic at the top of the thread is pretty dang bad... but repairable and much cheaper than repainting.

You don't necessarily NEED the machine sealer... if you use the products correctly and seal afterwards with a polish and then wax (or just wax if you are pressed for time) you should have NO buffer swirls (which are all over your truck in the first pic).
A wax will work fine.
For a sealant, I would recommend Klasse

 

its hard to tell how much the paint was improved, if you take the same angle of sun shots like you did the first that would make a great thread.

I see more "shiny" paint but hard to see corrected paint in the after shots. great effort!

Cheers,
GREG

 

Are you using an orbital??? I have a great DA polisher (check the autogeek forums re porter cable or harbor freight) and a set of lake country pads.

Wash, clay, polish with meguairs m105, then finish with meguairs m205, before a top coat of machine applied collinite 845.

 

I would 2nd all of this and also add my favorite..... Meguiars Paint Reconditioning Cream. Great stuff! I use it on my cars and my boat. I usually top it off with a quality wax. I was using Banana Magic before that was recommended by a local detailing supply company. Makes for a real nice shine afterwards. I have used it up and now I now have some Collinite and will be looking to see how it works. But the Paint Reconditioning Cream by itself works just fine as well as it is an all in one product.




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