Mother

There just seems to be to much product out there. Since I just painted my side skirts I now have 5 coats of clear orange peeel and need to color sand, but have ordered a product by System One which is one 2 sided pad wool/foam and one water based substrate called cut X because my back just can't take it anymore. This guy tried it over at:

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/d...ita-9227c.html

and have to admit it looks great with less work and decision making, but will test it out unless someone here has already tried it also.

AudiOn19s

YOu make a very good point there. Once you get your car to a maintainable level it's pretty rare that you'd want to be very agressive with it THAT often. My personal cars see a buffer once a year unless there's a specific problem area...and even then it's generally with a mid grade polish and polishing pad.

Andy

htny

Honestly, as bad as this summer weather has been this year in NYC, I haven't even been washing the cars. Can't wait to head back west for a little bit next quarter!

you know whats funny, my standard rocker panels are finished in that bumpy 3M stoneguard paint or film, so any peel you see might actually look "factory" to most eyes!

Mother

Now that I ordered this stuff I suppose I have to do something with it, but just could have said it was custom stoneguard finish...

ryangambrill

I placed my order and everything should be here soon.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Qty Product Code - Product Name Price
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 PC-7424XP1 - Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher 119.99
2 LC-76-6165-152 - 6.5 Inch White Polishing Flat Pad 19.98
1 MEN-PO83Q - 32 oz. Menzerna Super Intensive Polish 44.99
2 LC-76-7165-152 - 6.5 Inch Gray Finishing Flat Pad 19.98
1 MEN-PO85RD - 32 oz. Menzerna Polish PO85RD 29.99
1 MP-100 - Cobra Microfiber Applicator Pad 3.99
1 DIA-730 - Diamondite Perfect Vision Glass Master Bundl 24.99
2 LC-76-2165-152 - 6.5 Inch Orange Light Cutting Flat Pa 19.98
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: 283.89
Tax: 0.00
Shipping & Handling: 23.95
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL: 307.84

ryangambrill

Once I get the cars taken care of with the process polish and Zaino, what should be my maintenance process?

Just clay and Zaino? Maybe just use PC with Menzerza PO85 on spots as needed?

htny

well remember that every time you polish, you will need to repeat all the zaino steps (polishing is abrasive, will remove all layers of protection).

I would probably just stick to:

a) washing it as frequently as necessary,
b) buying some distilled water and mixing it with optimum no rinse to create a quick detailer for light dust removal between washes if necessary, and
c) applying your last step of zaino after every 4th to 8th wash depending on how well it still beads (if it's starting to bead poorly, top it up and protect the finish)

honestly, i think the best finish care advice I was ever given was "Don't touch the car!" Every time you rub the car you risk marring the finish, it just takes one grain of sand or bit of grime caught in a mitt or sponge or drying cloth to screw up hours of polishing work. everyone has their own wash ritual, and there are many methods and steps to mitigate this washing/drying marring, but they can only mitigate, only by refusing to touch the car do you eliminate the risk.

Of course you can't get the car as clean in a touchless method as you can by scrubbing it, so there's a tradeoff. There are also things you need to remove by hand, carefully, but by hand, like bird bombs, bugs and tar, or you risk major damage to the paint by etching. For these spots, I use a quick detail solution and a towel to soak them, sometimes several times, and remove gently.

In the winter I follow a two bucket method using a grout sponge and frequent grit removal, touching is generally unavoidable during that time of year due to the heavier grime from the weather (at least when I'm back east)

My typical fast fast wash process in the summer (when I have a full garage, equipment and water sources) is as follows:
1) pre-soak car with a foam lance / pre-soak wheels with wurth wheel cleaner
2) power wash car with regular water and a pressure washer
3) spray car with quick detail solution (distilled water + ONR) and let sit in shade for a few minutes
4) rinse the car off w/ distilled water (I can get by with as little as a gallon)

5) dry by one of three methods depending on time and sunshine:
a) leafblower
b) hit highway and go 0 to 80 back down to 40 to 80 and repeat for a couple of miles
c) absorber towel

you'll invariably have a spot or two with 5b, but it takes no work and is fun. If you must rub the car, you can QD/microfiber out the last streaks when you come home from your drive. I do windows and lights with invisible glass and a clean towel, and will touch up the wheels with a rag.

Distilled water is cheap cheap cheap in gallons, although when I build a new house I will likely add a spotless type water softener to the spec sheet.

AudiOn19s

Great post. I've got nothing to add other than my preference for Microfiber waffle weave over your use Absorber towel. Neither tool is wrong as we've all got our preferences on products.

ryangambrill

Thanks so much. This is exactly what I will do.

I have a couple questions about your proposed process:

1- What is a foam lance, and how do you pre-soak with it?
2- I really like your idea about using the pressure washer. I already have one, but never thought about using it to replace my wash mit. I really like the idea and will give it a try. I have noticed sometimes that there can be a light film or residue of grime on a vehicle after a touchless method. What is your recommended next step? Microfiber with quick detail?
3- What is two bucket method?
4- Grout sponge for tile?

AudiOn19s

If you don't mind...I'll help

1) Foam Lance and foam guns are attachments that literally throw soapy foam on the surface of the car and allow the mixture to dwell and loosen dirt on the surface before any washing takes place. Technially a Lance is used on a pressure washer and a foam gun is used on a garden hose. I use a foam gun made by Gilmore...it's the same one autogeek sells.
http://www.autogeek.net/foam-gun.html

2) Microfiber and quick detailer should clean up any residue left behind. As stated earlier mixing up distilled water and ONR is a GREAT quick detailer for next to no money involved.

3) Method of washing cars using two buckets. One bucket has a grit guard in the bottom with just clean water in it. this is your Rinse bucket. The other bucket has youre soap / water wash mixture. The long and short of it is: Dip wash mit in soapy solution and wash a small portion of the car. Go to your rinse bucket with the now dirty mit and use that bucket to aggitate and clean the mit before dipping it back into your soapy solution. This keeps all the dirt you're taking off of the car out of your primary soapy solution bucket to keep that water from being contaminated.

4) This is another personal preference item. The Theory behind the grout sponge is that it's very porus and great for pulling dirt away from the surface of the car and into the wash media. The sponges are then very good at releasing that dirt into your rinse bucket because they're porus. You have to be careful with the sponges as there's only a few on the market that are soft enough to be used as a wash media. Both Lowes and Home depot have such sponges but you need to know exactly what you're going after to get the softest ones. Search on Autopia and you'll find a few threads on this pointing you to the right ones. I've tried them and they're not bad but I've gone back to lambs wool mits as they're my preference.

htny

Andy hit this all right on the head, so I'll add the following

You can never get everything off (believe me, I have owned and still own way too many black cars), but my recommendation is to remember that this fast wash is just to keep the car looking reasonably clean as fast as possible, and can be done to as many as 4 cars almost simultaneously (if you dry with a leaf blower)

It won't be concours condition, it'll be car wash condition, but without the swirls and scratches. And if you've polished it earlier and sealed it w/ several coats of zaino, it'll look like new every time since you aren't marring the surface each time you wash it.

What I do personally is spray any remaining grime/film with QD, let sit, pressure wash again if necessary, then rinse car off with distilled water before drying (really helps minimize spots, and is cheap). There's something about the polymers in optimum no rinse that really seem to kick up the underlying shine in these synthetic sealants.

Then what I do, when resisting the urge to rub the car to remove the last bits of grime, is remember that the moment I drive it, heck even while it sits, dust will begin to accumulate, dirt will be magnetically attracted to it, and nobody will be able to tell but me staring at it from 3 inches away looking for dirt.

Using my hands just isn't worth the time or risk (to me) considering it'll be marginally dirty in 10 minutes, so I like to get it good enough with these weekly washes (which is pretty spectacular from five feet away). The only time I worry about a perfect surface is when I have to polish or add sealant, which is really long intervals with Zaino or Ultima, and the polsihing should also be once a year if you keep the car clean without swirling it up!

Now obviously if there is something that presents an etching risk, or something stubborn like gum or tar, you need to manually remove that, by soaking soaking soaking and then slide off wit as little pressure and motion as possible! Clay can help with this too, but again, you have to be very careful about clay and marring!

Good luck w/ everything Ryan

Best,
Hans

gmblack3

Good to see you here Andy!

After using a rotary for 3-4 years, I have not picked one up since early this year for correction.

All of my corrections have been done with a PC using M105 and M205 via the KBM.

When extreme correction or something like removing wetsanding marks is needed, I use a surbuf pad with the PC. Kevin is also who told me about this process.

This link should show you what the process is capable of.