alordofchaos

Hi, all,

I have an '86 na, India Red. Paint is overall decent, some oxidizing on the hood, minor chips. I don't know what kind of wax is on it currently, having just bought this about 8 months ago.

I've decided (after some serious paint envy over all all the pics of the gorgeous, shiny cars here ) to get off my lazy *** and do something about the paint.

Coming back fresh from a search on polishing compounds, it appears that my red car does not have a clear coat. So here's my plan of attack:

1) Get some kind of wax remover, remove existing wax

2) fine polishing compound, applied with random/orbital polisher, very light touch (no added pressure), stay away from edges and rain gutter.

OK, so it's not rocket science; I'm just paranoid about doing something stupid to the pain on a car I like a lot.
Assuming I don't screw something up, I should have a shiny car.

What should I use to protect the paint - carnuba wax, or a synthetic?

I've seen Rejex or similar synthetics mentioned as being very good. I've used a product called DiamondBrite that I liked (one of the early PTFE paint protectants) on another car.

TIA for any comments, suggestions.

Techno Duck

Been going through the same thing with my car, the nice thing about synethetic wax or sealants is that they last really long. Caranuba wax only seems to last about 2-months at max on my car, which is left outside 365-days a year.

My car is also faded badly, however i am having good success with Megiuars ColorX which is a strong cleaner / wax all in one. This past weekend i used ColorX, followed by 3M Handglaze and finally Megiuars Liquid Caranuba wax and it came out very well. Thinking of polishing with something slightly stronger and trying the same series.

I plan to try the Meguiars TechWax which is a synthetic type..supposedly its work wonders from what i read on other forums.

Edit - I also forgot to mention that ive read on a few detailing sites that synthetic waxes tend to not 'shine' as much as regular caranuba waxes.

AndyK

Since you mentioned you were lazy (me too, btw), I suggest trying Rejex. The shine is great, and it lasts forever! I used 1 Grand Carnuba for years, but I am now a Rejex convert!

zoltan944

make sure that you DO NOT use a cleaner wax this first time, it will eliminate what you are doing right before it. The best thing to do is
wash the car
clay it
now that you have a clean surface, compound only the spots that need it (otherwirse your in for a long night)
now polish, this will put all the gloss and oil back in your paint and will actually make the biggest differnence. take it slow and read the directions, most polishes require the polish not to dry so this part is gonna hurt your arm cause its gonna take 2 hours
seal this with carnuba wax.
Next month Zymol it once and its perfect!
first time is the hardest cleaning the surface and giving your paint something to drink!

yellowline

3M Imperial fine polish, applied lovingly by hand over the ENTIRE car, with P21S carnauba to top it off changed it nicely:

alordofchaos

Joel,
Oooh, shiney!

Those are the kinds of pics that motivate me!

Did the Imperial Fine take much paint off?

yellowline

It wore a few small creases down to primer, but that was just me being hard on the edges. It's a bottle that comes with red lettering on it, it barely takes anything off.

And I did cheat and use an orbital buffer for the hood when the results by hand looked somewhat uneven. The rest of the car was done by hand.

hacker-pschorr

Best way to remove wax is dish soap, the anti-grease kind. Each spring I wash every car with DOVE or some other dish soap. Then you have a nice clean pallet to polish & wax.

alordofchaos

Hacker-Pschorr, I've heard that about using a dish soap to strip wax. That's my kinda solution, cheap and easy

I think I put dish soaps out of my mind subconsciously, because I've also read that it was too harsh/abrasive for paint - but I'll bet that was in reference to modern clear coats. After all, dish soap can't be any worse than the polishing compound!

So far, it seems like:

Carnuba, if I want the shiniest
Synthetic, if I want the least amount of work

Sound right?

zoltan944

no, same work. avoid compound if able to, especially if your gonna use a machine, you can really jack your paint up. go buy meguiars polish and carnuba and call it a day.

phil74501

What do you guys use to wash your cars? I'm using some kinda Turtle wax stuff. Just wondering what's the best.

zoltan944

imho waxing your car at least once a month is more important than the wash you use, but my climate is why they put the word 'extreme' in books and manuals about washing and oil

hacker-pschorr

Zoltan, if you are really waxing your car that often, I would wash with dish soap every few months to avoid a wax buildup.

zoltan944

ya i strip it every 3-4 months, with clay or a strip wash or whatever... the sun and heat in the winter just destroy your cars finish. i also use Zymol so its all natural and you don't get too much build up, plus its a cleaner and cleans most of the old stuff off. I know waxing every wash seems excessive for most but with the second hardest water in the US its easier to do than buffin out the water spots LOL. in the shade in summer, water dries on one side before you can walk over with the hose LOL
HAPPY DETAILING

schwank

In spring, a good wash with Dawn dish soap, followed by clay bar, followed by swirl remover, followed by wax. Personally I use Adam's Polishes and a Porter cable random orbiter. Two people finished my BLACK A6 Avant in two hours using the above method. Should not be too bad for one on a 944.

If you're nervous about using a PC on your car, hit the link above and check out their instructional videos section. I used to be sketch about lighting into my black audi with the random orbital but it's actually pretty hard to mess it up. Just move with the contour of the body and keep moving, and you should be fine. I haven't done the 944 yet but a) it's a track car, b) it's in pieces, c) the paint ain't that hot to begin with.