So I decided it was time to buy my first buffer and get my black 2002 Z28 with ~50k miles looking great again. My car still looked pretty good, until I stripped all products from the surface and clayed it which allowed the true condition to show. Here are the before pictures:

Plenty of ugliness in the fluorescent light reflections:


2-3 inch long mark on the hood from an unknown source:




Bird droppings etched on the spoiler and back bumper:


Clouding as seen on the side view mirror:

 

For some reason I can't log out and log in as a new user, so I'm posting these under my wife's account.

The process and products that I used are listed below. I would estimate about 20 hours total into this project:

Wash: Meguiar's Gold Class shampoo and chenile wash mitt, 2 bucket method with grit guards
Clay: Mother's clay bar from the local Advance Auto with 1:1 Meguiars D155 Last Touch as a lubricant.
Correction: Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut, G110 DA machine, and W8207 polishing pad.
Polish: Meguiar's M205 Ultra Finishing Polish, G110 DA machine, and W8207 polishing pad.
LSP: Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax 2.0, G110 DA machine, and W9207 fishing pad. It is hard to capture in photos, but I am not happy with the NXT 2.0 due to cloudiness and streaking problems. I have some replacement products coming...
Loads of microfiber towels: Meguiar's Water Magnet for drying, Supreme Shine and Auto Detailing Solutions Premium 16x16 for product removal and wipe downs.

Meguiar's M105 is a pretty aggressive product, and these shots includes some visible micromarring. Direct sunlight shows it better than the flourescent, but it is still hard to capture in the photos. It was expected and will be corrected with the M205. All pictures were taken with a Canon Eos Digital SLR camera, and are not altered in any way other than the automatic resizing from my picture hosting company. I have the paint and decals, and will be detailing my brakes soon: black everywhere except the pad brackets which will be silver, and the calipers are getting silver CAMARO decals.

The wheels are Billet Specialties Street Lites, 17x11 in the rear and 17x7 up front. Rear tires are 315/35R17 Toyo Proxes drag radials and the fronts are cheap 215/50ZR17s from DTD. A while back I cut one coil off of all four stock springs and did the hose mod on the rear, with 4 stock shocks.

After one pass with the M105, reflection of my garage ceiling:


Same reflection after 3-4 passes with M105.


Pulled the car out into the sunlight for inspection before moving on to the M205.

 

Some reflection shots after the M205, it's nearly impossible to remove all of the dust and take a picture before dust starts to settle on the surface again!












Direct sunlight:


Having the sun reflected off 6 different curves at the same time like this makes it PAINFUL to look in the direction of my car now.

 

And now some shots of the entire car. Yes, I know I need to cut my grass! :lol:








The products used:




It's hard to tell where the glass ends and the paint begins!

 

I went for a drive to meet C Ory, and we took some more pictures at the City Center and in their parking garage:






It's like a black hole unless it's reflecting something.




This one is my personal favorite, and has become my new desktop wallpaper:

 

Some pictures I took at work, including reflections of a coworker's Screaming Yellow 2006 Mustang GT. It will be getting the buffer treatment soon too!














There used to be a big, etched, bird dropping on the spoiler about 2-3 inches in diameter. Not any more!

 

lower it.

 

Looks great! Just let me know when you want to come do my Camaro's!!

 

Looks really good

 

It is lowered.