ryangambrill

A little long, but I need to blow off some steam......

Things have been very busy with work and home, and I am looking for ways to spend more time with the family. At the same time, my lack of time is not allowing me the opportunity to keep the cars as clean as I like.

Since moving to Cleveland, I have always been looking for a good auto detailer that could come to my home on a consistent schedule. Clay and polish the cars twice per year and the rest of the time wash inside and out with touch up etc.

I have a local Audi/VW group where we meet up and such. Over the past couple of years a guy at the group has been mentioning to me that he has a mobile detail business and he would like to do my cars. With everything going on, I setup a time for him to come out, take a look at the cars and give me a price. I let him know that if he does a good job, then I would like him on a 3 week schedule etc. Talk about nice easy consistent money.

This guy totally screwed up my car. Lucky for me, he was never allowed to touch the 911. I had several small spots of fallout on the hood of my 2001 Jetta. I am not sure if he used a brillo pad or what, but he put scratches into my hood. Not to mention that after he was done, I was finding sections of the car that still had wax on it, black moldings have wax on them, and there is wax in the cracks. The fine attention to detail was lacking. When I am paying for a service, I expect a better job than I can do. He obviously never pulled the car out of the garage to check it in the sunlight and give it a last wipe down.

We had to leave the house and he was taking a long time, therefore I was not able to inspect the car at the end. I called him the next day and told him about the problem. He told me that he would take out the scratches next time he was out. Well, he came out a few weeks later and did the car again. The scratches are much better but are visible in certain angles of light. He still did not get the wax off all of the car, and my windows were still not clean.

I am afraid to call this guy again and have him really screw something up. I am going to get the correct tools, fix the scratches, and just detail my own cars from now on.

What equipment and materials do I need to fix these scratches? The seem to be in the clear and not down to the paint.

I plan on using clay on my cars a couple times a year. Do you recommend a good single application product (wax, polish, etc.) that I can put on after the clay?

Just a spray wax detailer the rest of the time?

What do you guys use?

-Ryan

P.S. - I will see if I can get some pictures that show the scratches and post them here.

Marc Gelefsky

P21S Polish should get the scratches out of they are not to bad, than a good carnuba wax.

billh1963

After the clay bar go with Zaino or something similar. A little "elbow grease" intensive initially but very easy later on.

skiracer

Check Craigslist for a Cable-Porter dual action orbital polisher. You'll get professional results and save a bunch of time. I use mine spring & fall and only brief touchups in between. I wouldn't call that guy back!

Dennis C

I need to buy a dual action polisher. I think I am going to buy the Griot's Garage products. The sell them at Tirerack. I believe Porter Cable actually makes the polisher for Griot's.

If you don't have a polisher or would prefer to do it by hand, I have had good luck with Meguiar's Scratch-X also.

htny

pretty much all the single head dual action polishers (PC / UDM / Griots) are Porter Cable random orbital sanders

If you're serious about this, and paint correction is what you're looking for, you will need compound, polishes, potentially glaze and then sealant or wax. In order to apply correctly, you will want the polisher (any random orbital will do) and a set of pads from heavy cutting to soft buffing

I recommend, unequivocally, Menzerna compounds and polishes, particularly:
Compound: Powergloss
Heavy Polish: Super Intensive Polish
Finishing Polish: PO85RD or Nano Polish

For sealant, I truly believe the best value for money is Ultima Paint Guard Plus, phenomenal product and finish especially on dark colors, lasts forever, easy to apply, and you don't risk introducing marring by adding a dry buffing step at the end. A cheaper alternative which works similarly (but I can't say looks quite the same) is Optimum Opti Seal.

Remove old wax on the panels with dawn dishwashing detergent. If you're talking about white residue, thats much harder to advise you on. Some people swear by peanut butter, others simple green. I use a q tip and solvent. The only real solution is to stop using wax and move on to sealant (which leaves no visible residue). Also, make sure when you polish you use painters tape to mask off areas like rubber trim and panel gaps, keeps the polishing crud out.

For your weekly washes, buy Optimum No Rinse car wash soap. Phenomenal stuff, will cut hours off your maintenance each month. And just make sure you use two wash buckets, one for clean water/detergent and the other for dirty water/cleaning off your sponge or mitt.

salayc

Technically, I don't think the Porter Cable can be called a dual action polisher. A d/a switches between orbital and rotary and the Porter Cable is orbital only.

ryangambrill

I looked in my garage. I have a bunch of zaino stuff. It is at least 4 years old. Should I ditch it and buy new?

- Clay
- Z2 Polish
- Z5 Polish
- Z6 Spray
- ZFX - drops

If I can use this stuff? what should I used after the clay? Should I call Zaino for instructions?

Can I use these as polish after I use the porter cable and compound?

Can I use the porter cable with the Zaino polish? I want to cut down on my time needed to get this done.

_Nathan

From autogeek.net:
"Dual action polishers are characterized by the motion of the head. It spins on a central spindle, and this spindle rotates around an eccentric offset. A good metaphor for a dual action polisher is the earth’s orbit. The earth itself spins and it also orbits around the sun. Dual action polishers are also called random orbital polishers for this reason."

Michael-Dallas

Oh nooooooooo! Griot's Garage may have used to be a Porter-Cable, but now it is not. My buddy bought one last year and it looks and sounds nowhere near my PC 7424. It's waaay overpriced, but feels cheap. IMO, if you just want to wax your car, then Griot's Garage will be fine.

ScratchX is awesome; it's meant for spot treatment, but I've used it on my entire car before. Another good consumer off-the-shelf product that is ColorX; it's an all-in-one that I used on my M3 (the C4S only gets NXT Tech 2.0). Both products have diminishing polishers that may require multiple applications applied with some effort.

///Michael

salayc

Ahhhh the Internet...
That's the definition for a random orbital.
If you go into a body shop and ask for a d/a you will get a machine that can switch between orbital and rotary.

gota911

Ryan,

Check out this thread I started a couple of years back. The first post will give you a lot of info.

Removing scratches

cdodkin

So the sad reality Tim, is that you polished your 911 away to nothing?

cdodkin

Ryan,

there are great free how-to articles on the autopia website here: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/how-to.html

They'll tell you everything you need to know about process and technique.

Product choice is totally subjective - ask 10 people, get 10 different suggestions - prep & technique is the key and the basis of any good shine.

ryangambrill

Being that I have lots of Zaino product, I feel it would be best to use it.

This is the process I am thinking of using on the Jetta after it has been washed and there are no surface contaminants (might need a little clay):

1. Menzerna Power Gloss - Use Yellow Pad - http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-pow...mpound-16.html
2. Zaino Z5 Polish - http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...ory_Code=Zaino
3. Zaino Z2 w/ ZFX - http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...oduct_Count=11
4. Zaino Z6 Spray - http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...oduct_Count=13

The Zaino products seem to go on very easy by hand with no need for power. Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEX6-rulyH8

I figure that I will clay and apply the Zaino products 2 times per year (Fall & Spring). In between that time I will wash with the Optimum No Rinse and apply the Z6 spray.


----------------------
Questions:
1- I need a porter cable or circular polisher. The Menzerna product page recommends a circular polisher as it will take less time than a porter cable. What are the pro's and con's to this? What model and where should I buy it?

2- Towels for buffing - What to use?

Zaino recommends these: http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/...roduct_Count=1
I also just picked up a huge package of new microfiber cloths from costco and I was going to use them for the car. Specifically for buffing the polish and cleaning windows.