# In which steelghost gets a bit Glare-y, but things Brite(max) up in the end :)



## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

I've been meaning to give the bonnet of the family bus a bit of a seeing to for a while, and this Thursday just gone the stars aligned in that the kids were a way with their grandparents, I was off work, the wife didn't need the car, and the weather (cool, overcast) was pretty much perfect for detailing. So given that I spend more time on here than actually doing any detailing these days, it would have been rude not to grab the chance...



























The bonnet is not in _terrible _nick (bar stonechips) but has a few notable marks as well as a reasonable degree of wash damage, mostly inflicted by the local Toyota dealership when they didn't listen to my "do not wash" instructions. I've tried to capture the worst of these above but the light was not conducive to very clear images. The above are all "fingernail catchers" so this was partly about minimising those, partly about restoring a good gloss to the rest of it as the bonnet is one of the main "show panels" on any car.

So, prep was ONR wash of the bonnet, iron removal (although there was nack all there in the end) with Carchem Revolt, clay cloth with ONR as lube (although again not much contamination there to begin with according to my fingertips) and finally once dried, wipedown with panel wipe. So here we are, all set up to try to keep polish residue out of the scuttle:









First coat of Glare Knockout going on...looks like toothpaste but can be worked in really well....









Polish residue prior to buffing off:








A couple of the more serious defects - I wasn't really expecting the Glare to do much for these and after the second coat of Knockout I swapped over to a purple Scholl spider spot pad and gave it a couple of hits with S20 Black. It didn't get rid of them completely but they were substantially reduced, especially if you weren't trying to find them. 








This is actually the first defect pictured above, after hitting it twice with S20:








As seems to be the way with Glare, you get a bit worried after Knockout and even Spider that it's not really making any difference. But then you apply a coat or two of Micro and things start to come together, then you get the Pro+ on and it's just "wow" 








Looking for swirls with my LED torch:








No swirls here!









A few reflection shots because, why not 



























A few more goes trying to spot any swirls with a different light:

















Still looking swirl free to me!









So, a couple of hours later (recommended curing time for the Glare Pro+ polish) the car was drawn into the garage for part two. Whilst the look of the newly Glare'd panel was great, I knew I would be disappointed in the water behaviour, I do love me some Mad Beedz (TM) . I busted out the bottle of Britemax Blackmax that had been waiting patiently in the box and applied it to the bonnet with an MF applicator by hand. Here it is curing:









I have to say, I expected to like Blackmax from the various reports on here, but I wasn't prepared for it to be quite as nice as it is to work with, nor the extra little burst of richness it seemed to give the finish, even on freshly polished paint. So, what else to apply after Blackmax than a bit of Vantage (two coats ):









So a last attempt to find any swirls:



























Still looking pretty good I'd say! I apologise for not getting any "before" shots, but basically this was going from a moderately swirled up panel to not being able to spot any at all, all without taking any clearcoat off the panel (bar the spot reductions of the RDS).

It remains to be seen how long the filling effect lasts, and I'm aware that I could have done the whole panel with "normal" polishes in the time it took me to apply the 6 coats of Glare (Knockout x 2, Spider, Micro, Pro+ x 2). But I like the fact that I can repeat this as often as I like to get rid of any swirls and not worry about levels of clear :thumb:

Of course now most of the panel is lovely, it's shown up several small stonechips I hadn't previously noticed :lol:

Next stop, the roof! Sometime in late 2018 at this rate :doublesho:wave:

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!


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## JayMac (Sep 4, 2016)

Great job SG, those look like cracking results!


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## c87reed (Dec 9, 2015)

Great results there. Got to agree about using filling products as opposed to removing clear.


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## djberney (Oct 2, 2016)

I picked some Glare up a couple of weeks ago. Used the knockout by hand to get some of the oxidation off my headlights then had a bit of a play on the bonnet. Didn't spend as long or get the results you have but it was just playing around.
Yours looks great so I've got something to aspire to.


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## youngwangie (Oct 9, 2016)

NO Bilt Hamber in sight. HAHA. Nice job


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Fantastic results. I was originally going to buy Glare instead of Britemax, but ended up buying both and doing the same combo. The Britemax finishes it off with a little bit extra and gives the beads.


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

Nice result there
Gotta love a bit of Glare


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## savvyfox (Oct 3, 2015)

Good write up. Goes to show what's achievable with a little effort.


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## Chris Donaldson (Jun 26, 2016)

Good work


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## Fentum (May 1, 2017)

:doublesho! That is a very nice job. And at no cost to the clear. 

I think I know what to try next...

Peter


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## 66Rob (Sep 25, 2007)

Wow looks great.

Where is the best place to buy the Glare product SG?:thumb:


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/182808579900

:thumb:

Don't hang about, this is the last UK stock being sold...


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## 66Rob (Sep 25, 2007)

Cheers will have a look now


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## Fentum (May 1, 2017)

steelghost said:


> https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/182808579900
> 
> :thumb:
> 
> Don't hang about, this is the last UK stock being sold...


I just bought one set. Three left according to the inventory.

Peter


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## Beemerjohn (May 26, 2017)

This looks very interesting, was this all done by hand? 

Would you say this is a valid alternative to machine polishing? 

For the hobbyists daily driver of course. 

John. 


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

Yeah 
Glare is the perfect alternative to traditional cutting correction


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## muchoado (Dec 5, 2016)

awesome


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Beemerjohn said:


> This looks very interesting, was this all done by hand?
> 
> Would you say this is a valid alternative to machine polishing?
> 
> ...


I did all the work with a DAS6 Pro and a polishing pad. Spreading the polish on speed 1, them working it in on speed 6.

You absolutely could do it by hand, although it would take longer to get the same results. But a firm polishing "puck" like the white Scholl one would take some of the strain out of it. They key with Glare is to use minimal amount of product and work it in as hard as you can.

I found this article on the web about using Glare:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/swirl-remover/

They're using Spider followed by Pro. The thing to remember about Glare is that you always need to finish with at least one layer of Pro, which seals in the work you've done with the preceding stages. But as you can see by the illustrations, it does fill in the light "spider webbing", and the correction you can see there is in line with what I would expect from my own experiences using the system.

All that said, even a fairly "tame" DA eg the one Argos sell will help you cover more ground more effectively than you could by hand (and with less arm ache).


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## Beemerjohn (May 26, 2017)

steelghost said:


> I did all the work with a DAS6 Pro and a polishing pad. Spreading the polish on speed 1, them working it in on speed 6.
> 
> You absolutely could do it by hand, although it would take longer to get the same results. But a firm polishing "puck" like the white Scholl one would take some of the strain out of it. They key with Glare is to use minimal amount of product and work it in as hard as you can.
> 
> ...


Thanks Steelghost

I've not come across this product before and was wondering if this was the miracle I was looking for, I was thinking I could get away with buying a DA.

I tried cleanser polish by hand on a couple of panels and it's too much hard work for me .

It looks like a DA is staying on the Christmas list then.

John

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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

I had a go with Glare on my previous car and whilst i admit i do like it is quite time consuming.

I did something similar in that i gave it a quick whizz round with a normal polish to take the edge of a lot of the swirls and marks which helped a lot.

The finish of the glare and topped off with ADS Kostos was really really nice


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

danwel said:


> I had a go with Glare on my previous car and whilst i admit i do like it is quite time consuming.
> 
> I did something similar in that i gave it a quick whizz round with a normal polish to take the edge of a lot of the swirls and marks which helped a lot.
> 
> The finish of the glare and topped off with ADS Kostos was really really nice


I think I went a bit OTT this time to be honest...I suspect I could have gotten very similar results with less coats, maybe skipped the Knockout altogether. I'll experiment when I do the roof to see how little you need to cover / fill what severity of defects. It helps there's nothing more severe than some old drying marks on that panel...

Edit: I also plan to do one corner the normal way ie with abrasive polishes, to see if there's any difference in appearance, and also as a control, so I can get an idea if any swirls appearing are new ones or existing ones where the filling effect is somehow wearing out.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Another bonus with Glare, especially if you have soft paint, is how easy it buffs off. You can apply Pro to the whole car by DA and then buff off the whole car.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Beemerjohn said:


> Thanks Steelghost
> 
> I've not come across this product before and was wondering if this was the miracle I was looking for, I was thinking I could get away with buying a DA.
> 
> ...


Heheh I'm afraid there's no shortcut to swirl free paint, other than paying someone else! I think though that for light wash marring, hand correcting with Glare would not be out of the question.


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

It is very time consuming no denying, but I find that the results after 2 coats of Pro to finish it is stunning. 
I have skipped the spider step before, but I find selective use of knockout on bad areas works well followed by the whole car given Micro then Pro. 

It is a product which the results have to be seen to see it's true potential.


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## Fentum (May 1, 2017)

Hmm

I'm down in Italy spending a few days between jobs working on my recently repainted black Alfa Spider, now that it should have gassed off fully.

Should I go down the Glare route, I wonder, after I have dealt with the paint shop's buffer trails etc:buffer:? 

Peter


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Fentum said:


> Hmm
> 
> I'm down in Italy spending a few days between jobs working on my recently repainted black Alfa Spider, now that it should have gassed off fully.
> 
> ...


From what I've seen, you wouldn't need separate polishing steps to deal with buffer trails, you could start with Spider, then Micro, two coats of Pro, boom. Might need Knockout for any sanding marks. It's RDS where I think Glare struggles.


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## savvyfox (Oct 3, 2015)

A little clarification, you don't always have to use every product but they're there if you need them. Most light issues are sorted with just micro finish and professional. I personally love the stuff as you can't really go wrong and the more you play with it the more you can do with it. Steelghost has done an extremely good trial of what is able to be achieved with Glare, it's an outstanding product and frankly deserve more credit but hayho! It's going to be gone soon then those with thin or old paint will wonder what they need to make the paint good again!


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

steelghost said:


> From what I've seen, you wouldn't need separate polishing steps to deal with buffer trails, you could start with Spider, then Micro, two coats of Pro, boom. Might need Knockout for any sanding marks. It's RDS where I think Glare struggles.


Knockout on the right pad does do wonders
I did 2 passes with knockout on a MF pad and it sorted this scratch. 
I do agree the deeper the scratch the more difficult it is, but stepping up the pad choice does help a fair amount to.

I always thought spider was a dreadful product until I changed my pad choices.


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## savvyfox (Oct 3, 2015)

Fentum said:


> Hmm
> 
> I'm down in Italy spending a few days between jobs working on my recently repainted black Alfa Spider, now that it should have gassed off fully.
> 
> ...


I'm told by Glare that you don't need to wait for paint to gas off with glare as it breaths with the paint! Micro and professional should sort out ant buffer trails and leave an extremely smooth glossy finish.


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

dchapman88 said:


> Knockout on the right pad does do wonders
> I did 2 passes with knockout on a MF pad and it sorted this scratch.
> I do agree the deeper the scratch the more difficult it is, but stepping up the pad choice does help a fair amount to.
> 
> I always thought spider was a dreadful product until I changed my pad choices.


What pad was that Darren? I do have an orange hex in the box I could give it a try with.


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

steelghost said:


> What pad was that Darren? I do have an orange hex in the box I could give it a try with.


SG that was with one of the Uro-Fibre pads from Imran
I did it on my Vertool force drive, not sure if that made any difference with heat transfer or not but it did the trick perfectly and it's still filled as perfectly as that


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Great job....could you confirm the curing time for the Pro+ Polish please


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

camerashy said:


> Great job....could you confirm the curing time for the Pro+ Polish please


I've been told two hours by savvyfox :thumb:


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

Are we talking between coats there?


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

dchapman88 said:


> Are we talking between coats there?


No, as I understand it from savvyfox it's two hours after you apply the last coat of Pro, before you do anything else to it eg get it wet, or apply a "normal" LSP over it. There's no need to wait at all between layers of any of the Glare system.


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

steelghost said:


> No, as I understand it from savvyfox it's two hours after you apply the last coat of Pro, before you do anything else to it eg get it wet, or apply a "normal" LSP over it. There's no need to wait at all between layers of any of the Glare system.


That's why I was getting confused cos I never wait between layers 

I was lucky I managed to wait 18 hours before releasing it to the elements 
But yeah 2 hours + is best


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

So what do you give the cure time after applying the first coat before buffing off and then what’s your waiting time before applying the second coat and again waiting time before buffing off this second coat please.
Thanks
Dave


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

camerashy said:


> So what do you give the cure time after applying the first coat before buffing off and then what's your waiting time before applying the second coat and again waiting time before buffing off this second coat please.
> Thanks
> Dave


There's no waiting to buff off after applying, or between applying layers :thumb:


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

steelghost said:


> There's no waiting to buff off after applying, or between applying layers :thumb:


Sorry, I'm getting confused.....my age no doubt!!
Firstly, how many coats of Pro+ do your recommend and secondly, don't you have to leave the last coat 2 hours+ before buffing off as mentions above??


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

camerashy said:


> Sorry, I'm getting confused.....my age no doubt!!
> Firstly, how many coats of Pro+ do yourecomment and secondly, don't you have to leave the last coat 2 hours+ before buffing off as savvyfox mentions above??


So - I would always do two coats of Pro to finish, that may not be absolutely necessary but it seems to give the best finish. After applying that final coat, you buff it off immediately, but you need to leave it to cure for two hours (minimum) after that. It's a little like applying a ceramic coating in that you apply, buff off and then it cures.


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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

Thanks mate appreciate your detailed reply
I have got 4 bottles of Pro+ so wanted to get the application right.


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## dchapman88 (Mar 17, 2016)

Tbh i apply my first coat by machine and second by hand. 
I go straight from first to second but I leave my second coat on for 20 mins before buffing the residue as if i was applying a wax or sealant. 

Might not be the correct or recommended way, but I've never had any issues with removal or anything


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Very nice results SG!


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## BradleyW (May 4, 2015)

It seems the micro finish product does actually remove clear coat as it states the product contains abrasives.


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