Alright I just got a PC 7424Xp and tried it out this weekend.
I don't have any before shots, but I had lots and lots of water spots, some light scratches, some heavier scratches and just general cloudiness.

I washed with dawn(helps to remove old wax and such)
Clayed front/rear bumpers, and behind all the wheels (had just clayed the car 2 weeks prior for a car show)
Used SSR2.5 w/ orange pad speed 5
Used SSR1 w/ white pad speed 5
followed by 2 coats of Natty Blue (OMG this stuff smells amazing and is just wonderful compared to meguires/mothers etc waxes I have used before)
Dressed the tires with Armor All gel.

also I used Raggtopp cleaner and protectant on the top for the first time and the stuff is amazing, I highly recommend it.

The windows just got wiped down and the interior vacuumed/wiped.


I must say I am amazed with the results, I have never polished a car before and the clarity in the paint, the shine is has now is just amazing, it's like a whole new car.


anyways here are a few pics:

this is why true blue is amazing, it goes from blue, to blue/green to purple
also those spots are clouds, nothing in the paint.




shot of the motor, a tad dirty but figured I would post it anyways.


Just a few quick pics, the rain was coming to get me!

 

Looks extremely nice... I have trouble with water spots on my car so I need to figure out something new with drying it...

 

so jealous

 

awesome, looks really really good!

 

IMO water spots dont go away if they are so old
my pops waashs cars and he cant get them out
over time i have won a 100 dollars betting people here and there they cant get my water spots out
water is a harsh element
but try drying w a shammy

that is a bad *** car
i love the color

 

Who parked that poor Audi against the wall?

 

The paint looks great! How long did it take you?

 

if its stole tomorrow. i didnt do it.

 

looks good man!!!

 

looks great. love the underhood shot.

 

I still can't get over how perfect those wheels are for your car. Your car is spotless dude. I wanna see a Termi hood and rear bumper on it.

 

thanks man. And yes water spots that have caused water etching are near impossible to get out by normal polishing/compounding methods. If it is severe enough a wet sanding to truly level the surface(provided the clear coat is think enough to allow) is truly the only way. Thankfully 99.9% of my water spots were superficial and are now gone.

thanks man, it took me about 10hrs from wash to wiping down the exhaust tips to get it to where it is in the photos. The polishing alone took 5-6hrs. But to make it perfect I could easily put in another 10hrs I would say.


hmm....loads the 12 guage...lets do this lol

I would be down with an 03 rear, but I am thinking 2.5'' cowl hood for the front and trying to decide if a saleen 281 1pc spoiler would be good or not. Also mach 1 chin? I think it would provide the nice level of aggressiveness for the front.

 

I vote 03/04 Cobra rear bumper and wing

and a 2000 Cobra R hood.

oh, and a KB. :-)

 

no kidding, that I am 100% down for. let the saving begin! lol

 

Thats about what I expected.It looks like it was well worth it.


I ike the way you think

 

Dude, your paint is flawless! Great photos too

 

VB > TB

Still pretty though.

and you know what works really well? The fuggin mr clean auto dry thing. I use it, then quick detailer in the spots around the spoiler/hoodscoop, and there's almost no spotting. I reccomend rewaxing afterwards though, it seems as if it removes it...

 

thanks man, not my best photos, it literally started raining less than 10mins after I took these, I was in a rush but wanted a few quick shots.


bah, TB is a much more complex and vibrant color, but maybe I am biased, lol.

that mr. clean thing may work well but honestly I don't trust it; and I say that from the view I have not seen a single write up by any pro-detailers/hobbyists who use it when doing any kind of detail or discussing any maintenance tips for inbetween details. The way to avoid water spots is to minimize the time the water is on the car by washing it early morning, or in the evening, and getting the water off the car quickest.

take one of these types of lights:

and actually examine your paint for flaws, you will be amazed what you see. Water spots, and scratches you have never seen will become very visible. I guarantee if you are just re-waxing you are doing nothing more than masking the problems, with fillers and oils and such that just wash out with time.

but you do have the advantage of having silver, it doesn't quite show things like my dark blue does, or black or anything like that does.

 

Amazing! And definitely go with the saleen spoiler. You won't regret it at all!

 

SB>VB!

 

AB>SB,VB,TB,GB

 

Looks amazing man, I'd like to get my own stuff to do that but I'm too afraid I'll burn through the clear coat or something. I think I'll just leave it to the pro's....

Again man, looks ******* amazing. Go get some rolling shots!!!

 

haha thanks man! I do want to get some rolling shots one of these days!

also man don't be afraid. A porter cable 7424xp is what I am using and it is truly idiot proof, thats why I bought it; lol. It's a random orbital polisher so even if it is turned up to max speed and held in the same spot for minutes on end it will not generate enough cut to go through your clear coat like a regular polisher would. The only downside to random orbitals is that they time to correct your paint takes i've been told about 2x as long, but that is fine with me as then I run no risk of messing my paint up. You should definitely get one, you won't believe the clarity it will add to your paint and how amazing your cobra will look. Plus it's a great way to discover every imperfection in your paint so you can lie awake at night cursing ford for there dam orange peel paint jobs, and cursing out every little pebble in the road that hits your car from that day on, lol.

 

damn i luv ur car dude prolly my fav on this site btw is ur gas door polished or brushed?..........light bar????????

 

Well shoot, on that note I might get one now. Did not know that... thank you sir

 

I have one as well. Definitely worth the money.

 

thanks man

it's inbetween i would say. It's closer to a mirror polish but not quite chrome/perfect polish status. I have had it on 2 mustangs so it's been sanded, painted, sanded painted, sanded, polished, etc. several times. I want to try and get it to match as closely to the lip of my rims as possible.

light bar is a neg, roll bar is a positive. I want to stiffen the chassis some and at least have something functional bracing the car rather than a light bar. Plus then i can have a harness bar so I can more securely attach racing harnesses/camera mounts and such things as that. It won't be a drag race legal harness bar as I do use my back seat from time to time, so it will be removable. Plus, if I become skilled enough, I can leave the top down, grab hold of the harness bar and just leap into the front seat, being extra extra careful as not to hit the car on my way in...yee haw! lol.