VC74

Hi, I’ve been very old school on my cars polishing methods. It’s been one way only for me... I have glazed and waxed my cars a couple times a year the same way for 20 yrs. I used to do it by hand, no buffer and only with McGuire’s glaze and then a carnauba wax, I loved the results!!...I no longer have the time and energy to do it and not sure if a quick polish, like some have suggested is good? (Blackfire polish or McGuire’s polish). Any opinions? Thanks

LexVan

Pay a professional detailer to do a full correction. Then OptiCoat. About a grand. If you have good car washing technique it should last about 2-3 years. Rinse and repeat.

RichardC

+1 on Opti-Coat if you don't have the time to detail. I've had my car almost a month now and 450km in, I still haven't had to wash the car. My usual routine is to spray the car down with a hose every few days and leaf blower it dry.

chuck911

If you love carnauba you will probably be turned off by opti-coat. Compared to the deep, deep gleam of carnauba opti-coat gives a hard shine that looks like clear armor laid over the car.

Why not just get a random orbital and some orange polishing pads and keep doing what you're doing? Of course you'll get much better results moving up to Griot's Machine Polish 4 and Best of Show Wax. But if you're happy with what you've got and just want to save time and effort then all you need is the random orbital and two pads.

VC74

Thanks, Orbital machines are safe? I've never used one...

rnl

Use a dual action buffer. I have a Flex

rpilot

Hell is freezing over. I seem to be in agreement with chuck911 on detailing. This is true in my opionion. Opticoat just has that synthetic look to it that if you like the carnuba shine you will not appreciate. Try Zaino for something simple or whatever gobbledygook orbital stuff chuck speaks of..

chuck911

Yes, random orbitals are extremely safe. Simple test to verify you got the right setup, spin the pad by hand. On a random orbital the pad will spin freely. This way, if you apply too much pressure the pad pretty much stops spinning and just wiggles around a little, absolutely avoiding the generation of heat like you would get with a direct drive or buffer type machine.

Also if you use a pad that is soft enough (Griot's orange) it will be pretty much impossible for you to apply too much pressure even on curved areas like fender edges or the "precision line" curves around headlights and along the roofline outer edges.

You didn't mention using paint cleaning clay. If not then you really should start. Of all the products developed over the past 30 or more years paint cleaning clay is easily the best!

The "glaze" you are using is really a combination of a polish and some other gook intended to help fill in scratches. You will see much better results using a very fine polish such as Griot's Machine 4. This is the least aggressive of the polishes they make. Almost certainly less aggressive than what you're using now.

If you're hand washing you should be able to get by just fine with a routine of clay/polish/wax once a year, with one or maybe two clay/waxes in between. Its been so long since I polished or waxed by hand I can hardly even imagine how much easier this will be for you than what you're doing now!

LexVan

FYI. You can top the OptiCoat with a couple coats of carnauba if you like that look.

addysdaddy

The Flex is the 911 TTS of DA polishers. I have a Porter Cable as well and never use it. And yes, it's completely safe - u won't burn the paint. autogeek.net has great tutorial videos so spend some time educating yourself and embrace the madness. haha.

MJBird993

+1 on all those suggestions. I have the porter cable, and there's no chance of damaging the paint unless you do something really stupid, like drop the pad on the ground and polish dirt into the paint.

And really, the 911 is a small car, so it doesn't take long. Go to Griot's and buy the polisher, pads, polish, and some buffing bonnets so that you can use the polisher to remove the wax as well.

And clay. Do the clay thing too, it's really not difficult and it does make a big difference.

I will also chime in to say that I tried the opti-seal, and although it's nice and super-easy to use, I was not impressed with the shine. I like their car wash and their no-rinse car wash products.

addysdaddy

You could put down a Opti Coat for protection and then add a carnauba wax for looks.

LexVan

Yup! Protection and paint correction.

Andrew Keery

Just to echo what others have already said. I had never detailed a car before I got my 911. I went out and bought the Griot's random orbital, clay bar and best in show wax. I've been very pleased with the results and at no time have I felt that I would, nor have I, damaged the car.

Twodan

griot's one step sealant with orange pad and RO does a great job, once a year. In between i use Poor Boy's EX with Carnuba. It's non-abrasive, more of a chemical cleaner. Applies very easily with orange pad too, and wipes off almost with a tissue. Works great on white and "smells good too".