Dale Gribble

After much touch love, the silver bullit needs a complete washdown and detail. I have some paint scratches i can probably get out with a compound and some swirl marks and dirt collecting in weird places (and some nice rubber stuck to the bottom front fender area).

What do you guys use for wax/protection after washing and cleaning off all the contaminants?

I've heard good things about Zaino which is sort of a whole process to do right, Meguiars i've heard is good as well.

Basically i'm looking to get the swirl marks out, restore paint and make her nice and shiny again. This isn't something i want to reapply in a month but hopefully will last a good 7-10k kms.

Suggestions welcome, especially if you can figure out a way to get every last bit of brake dust of rims?!?!?@?#?$ I HATE DOING THIS?@?#@ espeically with multispoke rims, all the dirt collects on the inner rim part or behind the spokes and just gets shifter around...even with the bloody degreaser.

End Rant

tgibson1

I would recommend Menzerna products.
Poly Clay - any good brand
Intensive Polish - Necessary for deeper scratches and swirls
Final Finish II
Glaze - Only if you need to hide problems in your finish
(FMJ) Full Metal Jacket

Once the FMJ is applied you are good to go for about 6 Months. You can also apply a good wax over FMJ after a 2-3 Day Cure. This stuff is amazing for durability and shine. Product should be applied w/ a rotary polisher or an orbital.

An alternative to FMJ is Optimum wax, which Anthony swears by. Their wax is wipe on wipe off, but needs to be applied about every 8 weeks.

Hope this helps

CT03911

My routine:
wash with dawn, dry and clay bar the car wiping up as you go always with microfiber towel
Polish with 2-3 steps of Sonus (they make a step 1-3)
Seal with Klasse, use their glaze too if needed
Wax with P21s, three coats
Step back, admire

Anthony Orosco

First, lets tackle your wheels. If you want to ytruly get all that crud off then get some of this. http://www.topoftheline.com/32ozwheeltir.html

It's what I use on all of my BMW and Porsche wheels that have alot of baked on brake dust. Remember that water is natures solvent so the safer route is to thorughly rinse the wheels down and then spray this product onto and deep into the wheel. Let it dwell for a few moments then hit it with a heavy stream of water. It may need to be agitated slightly with a brush. I use this one http://www.topoftheline.com/ezmotdetbrus.html as it allows me to get way deep into the wheels. It also comes in handy when cleaning engine bays.

Do not use this wheel cleaner on uncoated aluminum wheels nor should you use it on wheels that are in the sun or hot from driving. Use on clear coated wheels, chrome wheels that are cool to the touch.

As for the scratches and such....do you have a polisher or will you be doing this by hand??

I use and highly recommend Optimum products but both Zaino and Meguairs are great products although they can get confusing with all the steps.

What gives you that "shine" is not so much your wax but rather your prep work on your paint. A properly prepped surface will make your paint look like a concours winner even if you use furniture polish as a wax.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your paints condition if 1 is being "Excellant" and 10 is being "horrible"??

Thanks,
Anthony

Rassel

Go check:

http://www.autopia.org/ - Detailing forum

Just don't get upset if you'll suddenly spend more time in detailing than driving the car..

Dale Gribble

anthony: appart from the front and rear bumpers which are getting a respray, 7-8 condition

Anthony Orosco

OK...now do you have a polisher, like the PC? You'll get much better results with one.

UDPride

another opinion...

Less is more. The fewer layers of crap between you and the bare paint, the better your paint will look, provided its 10/10 paint.

The car products industry would like you to believe that more is better. In fact, its just the opposite. There are only three steps to paintwork. Clean, polish, wax. I used to think doing more work meant my car would look that much better. I learned the hard way. Now I work 1/2 as hard with twice the results.

All those 3-4-5 step products are pure marketing and BS (in my opinion). They are there to sell more product and to make you believe more work and more crap on your car equates to a better looking car. Zaino is the undisputed king of this marketing theory. I wouldnt rub their stuff on my Radio Flyer. Zaino cars do rather poorly at the concours I attend along with other multi-step cars. My buddies and I show up and wipe the car down real quick and win and others think we're paying the judges. Work smarter not harder. Took me a while to convince myself this was the secret. Im never going back now.

cdodkin

I'm going to second the suggestion of going to the Autopia website.

Dave from Autopia did a detailing evening with the Porsche club here in San Diego - I learned a ton about technique, and that it's not so much products as application.

And he agrees with UDPride - Clean - Polish - Protect is all it takes

He brings his own Porsche as a demo car - lets people use the Porter Cable on it, sprays car paint on the hood and shows people how to polish it off after it's dried......!

Really good downloadable detailing guide on his website

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/freeguide.html

He gave out a load of freebies on the day - and I've used him since to get my supplies for detailing.

Unlike a manufacturer detailing day - he's product agnostic to a large extent - explains why some products look better on certain colors, some last longer than others on the car - some can be used together for a better look etc etc.

I'd say a Porter Cable is a must - if you don't have one already

Get some decent pads for polishing, waxing and buffing - I use Sonus and they do a nice starter kit

Just tried the new Swirlbuster pad today on a Black C2 - with Sonus SX2 polish - awesome results.

Wash uses two buckets, one soapy and one clean rinse water, with a wool wash mitt

You rinse the mitt each time you finish a panel and then repload with soapy water.

Wool really holds onto the crud and gets it off the car - rinse gets it off the mitt.

Always wash in straight lines, no circles - swirls are circular and washing/polishing in a circular motion gives you swirls.

I use a clay bar after the initial wash and dry - worth the extra effort - gets rid of all surface contaminants for you leaving a mirror smooth finish - you can feel the lumps and bumps on your paint as you remove them with the clay.

Then the swirl polish with a wipe down, then the wax, all with the PC and suitable pads - agian straight lines only

Find that Meguiars NXT goes on easy and leaves a hard candy shine which lasts - only use a tiny little bit of wax - it goes a long way - buff off with microfiber

Wipe town with a micro-fiber tack cloth - (MF cloth wetted with a little quick detailer spray)

303Protectant does a great job with black plastic parts, without being sticky - it's 100% UV filtering as well, so no fading in the sun.

And all this in the shade of course - no hot paintwork.

Wheels - I find simple green does a great job and cannot harm the finish - I have a second mitt just for wheels - makes it easy to get your hand in and around the spokes and insides - wax wheels for easier cleaning next time.

Works for me







Chris.

Jay H

Wholly hell, is this the truth... I never cared for these 48 step processes that promise the world but don't do any better than 3M Hand Glaze followed by P21S wax...

SilverSteel

There's no short cut on the wheels my friend. Spray whatever you desire on them, wait, then scrub away to get the crud off. Wax the rims if you want to reduce the crud on the wheels.

DJ23

I love using the Menzerna products as well, finishing up with the Blackfire polish and All finish paint production. I also clayed my car first before applying the Menzerna Final Polish II and Glaze.
These Pics are from my last concours event on May 21 2006.

Jay

Master Deep

DJ23, that is amazing. Have you had a chance to add Menzerna FMJ on top of the Menzerna Glaze yet?

DJ23

I have not tried the FMJ on top yet. I was running short of time and the look was superior from what I could see. The next time I do my detail I will try it and let you know if the results are any better.

Jay