johnnyz

Hi Everyone.
I have a 2001 black c2 cab. I am the third owner. The previous 2 owners used the car as a DD, and I am now driving it daily as well. The paint on the car is terrible. It has numerous water etching marks that I haven't been able to remove, bird dropping etchings, and the hood has two areas that are spider webbed. The whole car is swirl city, and has some bigger scratches ect. Luckily, it is a cab, so there is less paint to deal with. The roof, surprisingly, is in great shape.
I live in Seattle, so on the weekend I drove down to Tacoma and bought a Griots professional orbiter, three polishing pads, and a waxing pad.
Here is all the product that I have acquired over the last couple of years:

Groits clay
Meguiar's Mirror Glaze fine cut cleaner #2
Meguiars Mirror Glaze Swirl remover 2.0 # 9
Meguiars Mirror glaze Show car glaze # 7
Meguiars scratch X 2.0
Meguiars Deep Crystal system #1 paint cleaner (very old!)
3 M Imperial hand Glaze
Blitz wax
Regex

I have plenty of time to work on the paint. I need to know what product I should use, and in what order. These bottles are all pretty full, so I don't want to throw them out.

My main questions are:
Should I use Fine-cut cleaner on Porsche soft paint?
Should I use Meguiars glaze or the imperial hand glaze. I know that Meguiars goes on with the RA really nice, and the hand glaze doesn't.
Blitz or Regex? and do you use the wax pad and RA, or hand apply.

I am trying to get a nice swirl free, reflective black car.
Any help, tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Johnny

Marine Blue

From what you have in your Arsenal I would use the following:

Griots Clay
Meguiars Swirl Remover #9
Rejex
Blitz Wax

I would add a different polish to remove the swirls and light scratches. I personally like Meguiars #83 Dual Action Paint Cleaner/Polish. I haven't tried the Menzerna polishes or Meguiars #105 but I've heard great things about both products and they may be something to consider.

Use the Orange Griots Pad with the polish and use their red pad for the #9 on speed setting 5 or 6.

The paint isn't that soft really, you will need to put some effort in to level the paint.

johnnyz

Thanks Afshin.
So I shouldn't use either of the glazes that I have and get a new polish? I don't mind, because I have 2 other cars that are silver that I can use this stuff on.
So do this:

Griots Clay
Meguirs #83 or #105 with orange griots pad
Meguires swirl remover #9 with red pad
Regex
Blitz Wax

I've never used the Regex. Should I use a MF towel to apply, or a hand foam applicator?
I'll do the Blitz by hand, it's so easy to use.

Johnny

Cosmin

to know few things before u start any buffing/polish on your car.
do a test spot, and see what combination (pad/compound) will get your results , start with less agressive. tape , masking tape all the rubber , trims , headlights and anything that u consider to be demage by machine.
for what u explain , a rotary will do the job better than orbital , but with extra effort and the right products and extra time u may get what u plan for.
always clay before u buff. i use 105 , 83 , 80 ,205 are great products. when using a compound has to brake tru if not will give u holograms.
is a lot more to say but this are a few things

Marine Blue

Johnny I'm not familiar with Rejex and I would prefer someone with experience chime in on the best way to apply it. I personally apply waxes and sealants by hand and remove by hand using a microfiber but I'm also weird and enjoy waxing my cars.

As far as the glazes go, they only hide swirls for a week or two at best. To get good results you really need to level the paint, not fill in the scratches which is what a glaze will do. #7 is also a huge PITA to work with and requires a very specific step by step technique for removal.

Good luck and please post results.

As noted above, I would also suggest taping off trip to avoid damaging it.

Post some before/after shots

Cosmin

rejex is good , is polymer base . no stain , they say to let it cure for 8 hours , u can put it on wheels , glass , paint . is good stuff. a second coatis even better. sometimes i think is loose the shine but when rain u know s there , beads good, same on windshield.
last time i put it on clear bra , half hood is clear bra

Anthony Orosco

Porsche 911 paint is on the soft side and can be corrected using an orbital given the paint is not too trashed.

The #2 will work OK but you may want to search out for some #80/#83 which can be bought on-line or at many paint and body stores.

I have never used those Meguiar products but many pros use them and get great results with them using an orbital. Now reading that your paint has water etching in it and most likely heavy scatches you may want to get some Meguairs 105 and some Lake Country orange and white pads. The 105 is a compound but when used correctly it should remove and/or greatly lessen the paint issues. Then go over the paint with milder pads and polishes. I recommend 3M's UltraFina for finish work.

I also agree that glazes are more hassle than they are worth, especially is you wish to use something like Rejex which I believe may have issues going over and bonding to paint when atop a glaze.

You should be able to use both your Blitz and the Rejex. After you clay and polish the paint to your satisfaction you can then apply the Rejex. Wait at least a day for the Rejex to cure then you should be able to lay down some Blitz paste wax over the Rejex.

Anthony

johnnyz

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the guidance. I have looked into the "Glaze with Rejex" issue. I have learned that you DO NOT USE GLAZE WITH REJEX. The glaze leaves behind a layer of oils and clays that the sealant won't bond to correctly. If you are using a wax, than glazes are great, as they fill any small imperfections, and add to the deep wet look.
I am going to get some # 83, and probably the Ultrafine as well. I just remembered that I have the removable hard top in my garage that I am going to experiment with. It is a total mess, scratcg and swirl city.
So this is what I am going to do:

Wash
Griots Clay
Meguiars # 83 with an orange pad
Meguiars swirl remover # 9 with an orange pad
3M Ultafina with a red pad
Regex
Blitz wax

(Is the swirl remover and the Ultrafina overkill?)

How does that look.
This means I need to order some new stuff. I know that there are a couple of sponsers that I will support. Any recommondations?

Johnny

Anthony Orosco

Johnny,

Check with Phil. He will most likely recommend some Menzerna products over what you have now.

The #9, IMHO, is useless for correction type work so I would leave that product out. Best bet is Meguiars 105 for the correction/polish steps. You then may want an intermediate polish, ask Phil for his recommendation, then use the 3M Ultrfina for your finish out.

Get some orange pads, white and/or green foam pads for the mid polish steps then black for the last steps.

Good luck,
Anthony

Let me know if you have any other questions.

detailersdomain

Johnny,

I guess the guys on this board know my steps already.

My go to is Menzerna even though we do carry other great products.

Ultrafina will be fine as a final step.

How bad is the car.....

tdekany

Did you work on your car yet or waiting for more products?