Detailer's Domain: 06 STI and Sticky Paint NOT FUN

Here we have an 06 STI...WOW is all I can say, STICKY Paint!
As Dave has said on a few occasions Subies have some major sticky paint! We have done a few of them in WRB/White/Silver but this is one of the first ones (Black) in which we encounter some really STiCKY paint, everything I put on this turn to paste, and each time we wiped off we would mar and put tiny scratches back in the STICKY and super soft paint.
After about 15-18 hours I really lost track of time we finally got it done.

The exterior is all we worked on with this one.

What was done -
Exterior

- Wheels were prepped with Sonax Wheel Cleaner and cleaned up with various brushes
- Tires were spritzed down with Adam's All Purpose Cleaner and washed down
- Wheel wells were cleaned up
- Wash down and rinsed
- Door jambs were cleaned up
- Clayed
- Dried
- Tires dressed
- Masking
- 3 Step Paint correction (Meg's M105, Menzerna Power Finish, Menzerna Super Finish)
- Inspection with Fenix, 3m Sun Gun, Infratech, and natural sunlight
- Last Step - Menzerna Power Lock and Lusso Oro
- Rubber and Plastics Treated
- Exterior windows and mirrors cleaned and sealed
- Exhaust tips cleaned
- Windows were clayed and sealed

Products used:
(feel free to click the link below for more info)
Exterior:
Lusso Auto Bathe
Adam's All Purpose Cleaner
Uber Yellow Wash Sponge
Uber Clay Bar kit with Optimum No Rinse
Einszett Spray Wax
Meg's M105
Menzerna Power Finish
Menzerna Super Finish
Menzerna Power Lock
Lusso Oro

Wheels/Tires
Uber Wheel and Tire Kit

Glass
Adam's Glass Cleaner
Adam's Glass Sealant

Tools:
Infratech 5300
Fenix TK11
Brinkmann
Fenix TK40
Flex 3403
Makita
Metabo
The Uber Foam Pads (5.5inch)
Tons of "Uber" Microfiber Towels
Uber Drying Towels
Brushes
Cam Spray Pressure Wash and Foam Canon Attachment

Before












Sonax Wheel Cleaner in action



Adam's All Purpose was used to strip all the waxes (not much off the paint)



Adam's All Purpose and the SV Brush was used to clean up the door jambs



Wash


Rinsed down ready for claying



Claying


Paint Measurement



It read about 90-140 microns all around



50/50 shots
This was one of the first panels it wasn't all too bad




The doors were a HUGE obstacle to tackle....this is where it got bad.



Exhaust before


After



After


























Enjoy!

(Permission for the write up granted by the customer)

 

Looks 100 times better great job.

 

Great job Phil. The 09 that I just did was horrible as well.

 

Now I will be buying everything you used on this car as I own a Subaru and will be doing a few in the future I'm sure as I have 25+ friends with Subarus, car club...LOL.

Thanks!!!

 

I just worked on the same color. It was also a nightmare, and mine was a wagon, hahaha.

Nice job on some terrible paint. I hope you told the owner he can't drive that fast because the wind will marr the paint too.

 

If you want to make things easy on yourself, use a PC and not a rotary. The Uber (B&S) pads with Menz SIP or Power Finish will yield fantastic results and you won't have any issues polishing.

 

Okay, is that Subaru specific? Or will the PC be just as good all round? I am not buying a product based on just my car, but if Porter is recommended over the Flex I might reconsider.

Thanks again...

 

the porter cable would be great to use. hit me up and I can set you up we are currently running a special till the end of today.

 

thanks guys!

 

If I had money I would hit you up, but not just yet. After looking at several videos with the Porter Cable it seems like a very good machine and I might reconsider. Besides the price difference from the Flex makes makes me happy well, which means more money to spend elsewhere.

 

the pc is a good machine to start

 

Yeah might as well make my life easy at first. I know I will get a Flex one day, by then it'll probably be cheaper too. As long as I can get rid of swirls and all my defects I'll be happy for now.

 

Excellent work!

 

Very nice work!

 

Great work, the car turned out great!

-Kody-

 

Nice work. came out very nice.

 

Hey Phil, awesome work. I can relate to your hardship that's why I hate polishing my WRX, lol.

I noticed this also, that PC is best to use for my Subaru paint. Even my Flex DA, the polish turns into chewing gum, especially teamed with LC Hydro Pads. That's why I've bought all the Uber pads, they seem to play much more nicely (in combination with PC XP).

That Black Subaru must have been a nightmare.

 

yeah it was, the pc was what I did use to finish it up. that was about the only thing that worked.

 

The Porter Cable is a machine that you can use for pretty much everything. If you look through my posts, ALL of my single stage polishes are done with a PC as it allows me to use a more aggressive pad/polish combo. Once you learn to use the PC, you'll find you can do pretty much anything the average enthusiast will have to deal with.

 

Good work!! Did you have trouble/s with a machine overheating while dealing with the sticky paint?