Chuck Schreiber

granprixweiss928

andy-gts

I use griot garage products for cleaning up the paint and smoothing it out then zaino for top stuff,,,,(easy to apply and lasts many months) stay away from old wax products , too much better out there now...

checkmate1996

This is a great chart....thanks for sharing!

Bertrand Daoust

+1

z driver 88t

Building on that chart above, there are some really good detailing forums out there which would probably have the best input. You haven't said it the paint you are working with is single stage or base coat+clear coat, but in general, if the oxidation is bad enough for you to see it (and assuming the clear coat is not cracked and peeling) you are looking at compound/polish/wax in that order.

You really don't want to attempt that by hand. You can pay a detail guy to do paint correction but you can do a decent job yourself with a harbor freight dual-action (DA) polisher. I did that process on my 996 last year using a DA polisher with a medium to light cutting pad and Meguiars ultimate compound, followed by a polishing pad using Meguiars ultimate polish. I ended up applying a ceramic coating afterwards, but not sure I'd do that again. You could either go that route or finish with a waxing pad using something like Meguiars ultimate liquid wax. The whole process took the better part of a day, but the results came out pretty nice.

I'm not wed to Meguiars, they just made it easy for a first timer to have one product for each step and took away the guess work - but Chemical Guys, Adam's, Ammo, etc. all have similar products. Most of the consumer grade stuff is pretty mild, safe on clear coats, and with a DA polisher you aren't going to burn the paint.

If the paint is totally screwed and in really bad shape requiring some significant cutting you need to go to a professional detailer. Someone who is trained can use a highspeed orbital polisher to really take out deeper paint defects, but at that stage, you really need to know what you're doing.

Mongo

In my opinion, wax choice depends on your car's color.

Typically, the main waxes I see on the market are polymers, carnauba and carnauba/poly hybrids. Shine and depth vary.

Carnaubas are known to give a 'pop' to paints such as reds and blacks.

Polymers are known to give sharp reflections, but not as much depth as a carnauba wax.

I have been using commercial Meguiars Gold Class Wax for decades on my 928. The shine simply can't be beat after using M105 and M205 polishing compounds. I compound only once a year since the car is barely driven, and wax every 6 months. Between that, I use Meguiars Gold Class Quick Wax spray.

Jason89s4

I like Griot's orbital polisher setup and their Perfecting Cream polish. Follow instructions, take your time and even an newbie can get a really good polish.
I'm not a big fan of Griot's "Best in Show" wax....doesn't seem to last very long if you have ANY exposure to elements.
Griot's also sells this thing that is like a clay bar, but its not. I've used it and its definitely easy to use, but I like using the real clay so you can actually "feel" and see the dirt coming off. (If you've done clay bar you know what I mean.)
I really like Meguiar's Ultimate Paste (synthetic) wax. It is easy-on, easy-off and seems to last quite a while. Wipes off clean, even on dark paint.
Also, if you just want to go straight to a wash and wax and have some oxidation and haze, Meguiar's Cleaner wax is great. Very easy to apply and does actually do a good job of "cleaning" old paint, but I find it is hard to get completely off of black paint--you can still see residue until you really buff it away.

NoVector

Huh? Am I the only one who does the wheels/tires last?

andy-gts

ABSOLULTELY wash car top down , tires and wheels last ........only way unless you want to risk bad gritty stuff getting on your cars paint and washing causing swirls...........unless you use seperate bucket and rag for wheels and tires......

z driver 88t

Some people like to wash the wheels and tires first and after washing and rinsing the wheels and tires then they start at the top of the car and work their way down USING A DIFFERENT SPONGE/RAG AND CLEAN BUCKET OF WATER.

I used to do top down, but now do wheels and tires first for efficiency after seeing some input from detailers. The reason for this is because if you wash the car starting at the top and working down, you have a wet car with water on the paint in the process of drying. While this water is sitting on the paint drying and potentially leaving a water spot, you're washing 4 wheels and tires, this takes time and while you're doing this some water may dry on it's own leaving water spots before you can finish the wheels and tires. I never noticed this to be an issue on lighter cars, but it became immediately apparent the first time I washed my 996 which is midnight blue. It will show water spots very quickly.

If after washing the car you then dry it, and now start washing the wheels and tires, you usually get water spray on the paint and this could include dirt from off the wheels as you were spraying them, so now you'll have to wash and rinse the affected area again.

So for the above reasons, some people will wash the wheels and tires first, then wash the car. By doing it like this you don't have to dry the paint twice, nor rinse any of the paint a second time around the wheel wells. Then immediately after you give the car a final rinse you can being drying the water off the car. Since you're finished with the water hose and you won't be spraying water any more, then you won't be getting the car wet again and you should have enough time now to dry the water of the car without any risk of water spotting.

Long-winded explanation, but this is often discussed in detailing forums and detailing YouTube videos.

prescott

My guards red paint was "ok", for 30 years old. Recently had stage 2 paint correction and Ceramic Pro done on it. That got rid of the oxidation, swirls and 30 years of abuse. The car glows. Looks almost brand new! If you have the cash, find the best people you can and have this done. It's totally worth it! Otherwise I'd do what the guys say above!

Calvin002

I am personally using meguiars paste wax for year and it is offering good shine and protection to my Honda Civic. So highly recommended if you are in search for a paste wax. However, if you want to try liquid or spray wax then you must read "yourautomaster car wax guide".

Calvin002

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Don Carter

Randy, welcome back to TX. I've heard good things about Turtle Wax Ceramic coating but haven't tried it yet. It's $13 on Amazon, and of course it's best to at least clay the paint first, maybe polish as well if there's oxidation.