sidehatch

my audi has holograms in the paint from the previous po how in the hell am i gona get that out,wtf.

cold_beer839

My GTS has the original single stage paint.

Chuck Z told me Guards Red was the only single stage paint for 1993.

redpathtribe

The Guards Red paint on my '90 GT is single stage.

SMTCapeCod

Any contemporary thoughts? Not on method, I can't be swayed from hand application. But now that we've got the likes of Dodo Juice, Chemical Brothers, Adams etc- anyone have expertise and opinions?

I recall an endorsement of Griots not too long ago for general purposes.

Mongo

Meguiars M07 and Gold Class wax. Awesome stuff combined

dr bob

I too was of this persuasion for many decades. I guess if you are talking solely about wax or sealant application by hand, that's probably OK. But all the steps leading up to wax or sealant are done at least as well if not better by using modern power equipment. When we talk about paint restoration, what previously took a couple days by hand is now done much better and in half a day.

Bring yourself into at least the twentieth century, grasshopper. Tools and technology advance constantly.

As far as chems and products, it almost comes down to personal tastes and loyalties. We know the Meguiar family through a few volunteer organizations, while Craig "the Chemist" Burnett at Mothers was a production QC chemist when I worked at Proctor & Gamble a few decades ago. Long-time Porsche supporter Andy Kay in the DFW area is a very active Griot's Garage supporter. Plus there are hundreds of bow-teak-ey products that claim to do everything except change the baby, better and kinder to your paint, if you have the $$ to risk trying them. Each has its own band of loyal (rabid?) zealots.

My active arsenal is leaning towards 3M/Meguiars right now. What gets used depends almost exclusively on what a particular paint needs in the way of recovery. Ditto on the wax/sealant; FWIW, wax or sealant is a step that slightly dulls the final finish of a properly-prepared car. By the time we get to final stages, choice of sealant depends on what the car will be exposed to in use. For cars in my driveway, environmental contaminants include pine sap dribbles at the west end of the driveway, and high-altitude sunlight. The dribbles come off a lot easier with a synthetic sealer than with a wax, so thats what the DD cars get.

Andy Kay

I am a Griot's Garage Guy. You can see my 8 day Face Book post on detailing Roger's 928 in preparation for the Carmel By The Sea Concours d' Elegance next week.

Asking what's the best wax leavesvth vans were wide open. How much time do you want to spend?

Www.griotsgarage.com has a short video on every product they sell.

JParanee

A friend of mine did my car with great results

He mentions products in video

Range Rover

I almost never use the same products twice... I like to try new things. Basically, technique and prep are the most important factors in preserving and enhancing the finish. IMO, the observable differences between two high quality waxes will be negligible if the prep work was done properly.

I've made the move to coatings (mostly). Single stage is a bit too porous for coatings, so I'd recommend sticking with wax for the older cars.

Dave928S

Andy ... I've signed up to FB so I could view that, but I've gone to your page/profile and I can't find anything on Rogers car. Am I missing something? Is there a particular sub section I have to go to?

Andy Kay

Dave- go,to my time line, my last two post are about my kids then Montery. If that doesn't work, send me a Friend request.

Eplebnista

Steve:

IIRC your shark is also your daily driver, which suggests to me that you want something durable as a topcoat. That leads me to suggest an acrylic polymer sealant (Adam's is a good one) or a really tough wax like Collinite 845. Griot's makes good stuff, but my view is that Griot never found a lily he couldn't gild. You always pay a premium and other products offer similar quality at less spectacular prices.

The wax question is much like the oil question. The amazing thing is how many products there are out there - which suggests that the margins on this stuff are huge. The detailing forums at Autopia are a good place to get opinions.

One thing that I like about acrylic sealants for a DD is that many of them allow you to put on a second coat almost immediately.

bureau13

I have been using Zaino products since my RX-7/8 days, and I've been happy with them. Good results and relatively easy to apply, but hand or machine. My paint right now needs some serious help though...like new paint lol. So I've been a lot less diligent about doing anything beyond a simple wash.

dr bob

Otto--

For my DD I use a Meguiars sealant with excellent results. I'm not sure that a second application really buys extra protection though.

It's been more than a few years since 3M bought the Meguiars operation. The deal includes funding Barry's travels and TV efforts, so he gets to play, promote the products and brand as if it were his own, with none of the business headaches. Products and support servives are still excellent, with plenty of new development products coming on line. As you point out re: Griot's, there's adequate margin to support all this stuff.

Griot's seems to have a pretty extensive field support enthusiasts network. Andy Kay does this in Texas, and there's been a Griot's enthusiast/rep at many of the local car gatherings here in central Oregon. They are actively getting the word out.

Adams for a long time maintained a very "protected" supply chain, with their products only available from the authorized reps at events. Don't know if this was MLM or similar. In the last ten years or so, Adams products are found on specialty store shelves and via websites. I happen to like their quick detailer spray and get it by the gallon. Their live product demos are always interesting, but seem like they are always do to a car or demo panel that's already been prep'd very well.

For many years I would grab 'new and amazing' products, only to find that they were too often just different-smelling versions of something you could buy elsewhere. More marketing hype than better performance. After attending a few academy days clinics at Meguiars in SoCal, I've continued to use the products they showed that got the job done for me. As they add newer versions of things, I use them only when I run low on the old stuff. Gone are the days of having cases of once-used product bottles on garage shelves. For my black car, I still have a bottle of dark 3M Imperial Hand Glaze that works a treat. I'm sure there's a Meguairs equivalent if/when I run out of the old stuff.

3M has a few favorites, including the Finesse-It line that many seem to love. There are Mother's adicts and of course the Zaino guys. Zymol was considered a premium line until the Turtle Wax guys bought them; in side-by-side testing on a rear ender of a long-gone beater pickup I owned, Turtle Wax and the original Zymol lasted about the same. Zymol was 10x the price but had that nice coconut fragrance. Great stuff...

Mongo

How does Mothers compare to Meguiars?

I have always wondered that.

With regard to the 3M acquisition, some products were affected. I can tell this because the 3M Imperial Hand Glaze and M07 Show Car Glaze are now the exact se product. M07 used to be thicker before the acquisition by 3M. Still no difference in quality, at least not lesser