What else did you do it, besides the wax? It looks great!


Experience with a buffer? A DA with the right compound/pad combo can come damn close to the results of rotary, without the danger.
Rotaries are preferred in some applications, so it really depends what the uses are going to be.

 

How are you guys washing your cars? Foam guns? Mits? what kind of products?

 

lol everything from front to back.. I did this truck before.. and noticed something that I really hated from my previous time....



everyone likes flashy tires... I used endurance gel because it sticks and doesnt run off while driving.. but I noticed that I should of hit the insides tooo... Since it sits up so high.... did that and thats the first thing the guy notices..

my cars get interior whipped down then the vaccuming gets done "anything thats on the dash then can be sucked up....." then wheels and tires.. car gets a deep hand cleaning.. then I dry it off then do the door jams to get all that excess water.. then the plastics- polish the chrome.. then move onto the wax.. lastly the windows "I used to rags for this one to apply then the other to dry.. doesnt leave that haze and streaks ...and then anything I missed...

For this I was using something called mirror-glass or something to that nature.. I cant find it anymore.. but it was more of a polish..

 

What kind of soap/mitts are you using?


I always dress fender wells on bigger tucks such as that one. Really does make a big difference..

 

ZR1: never sees water, i just use onr and mf towel, then use fk425 and a mf towel, only use pakshak towels

race car: same as above

ford truck: duragloss car wash with sheepskin mitt

 

It only takes a teaspoon of dawn to remove the wax so that you can clay the car?! Damn! I've been going thru too much dawn!

 

Is that boo boo some of the 'old ****' your GF keeps bringin' up?

 

So, I'm stockin' up for next spring & found this paint clay & speed shine kit.
Anyone know who sells it for less?
http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...ortby=ourPicks

Or a better product somewhere else?

 

So, I guess you aren't a fan of the 'a teaspoon of dawn' method'?
There's a lot of teaspoons in a gallon
Or, is this what you use when you don't wanna' strip the wax off?

 

What do you mean by 'top coat of wax' ?
You put a coat of something on top of the carnuba paste wax?

Like maybe, Zymol's Titanium Glaze for $71.00 or $8.88 an ounce?

 

When I read this, I immediately recalled learning that those hand blowers in the bathrooms actually leave your hands with more crap on them than paper towels.

 

So, when you use an orange pad, do you work down to one of the least aggressive pads to finish up with?

 

How come I haven't seen anyone mention Adam's Polish?
When you wax your 'Vette, do you use Zymol's Destiny Wax for $647.50 for an 8 oz jar or do you go with something less expensive?

I can't see spending $71.00 for an 8 oz jar of Zymol Titanium for my 2002 Accord.

 

The real question should be, why are you going thru so much dawn? You shouldn't be using dawn, or any dish soap for regular washing.

You need to be using a quality car soap.

I use dawn only when I'm looking to strip wax.

Griots is good however it's expensive... I use a LOT of Griots products, including the speed shine and clay.

Are there better products, possibly, but clay is clay. Look at what you're paying, for how much clay. Get whatever is the best price.
for the speed shine, I use it, hell, I'm looking at a gallon of it as I type this. Any quality lube will do. You even use the water you used to wash the car with!


You can, I've used orange pads with M105 which is pretty aggressive.

Always start with your mildest product, and to a test panel. Get more aggressive as need to meet you expectations.

If you use Adam's polish, please your opinion, experiences with it!!!

The wax I use for my civic is $80 for 6oz.

 

That's what I said my brother!
"It only takes a teaspoon of dawn to remove the wax so that you can clay the car?!"

Yes. I've heard you can use a spray bottle of water with a drop or 2 of dawn. I use distilled water because our tap water sux around here.

Sounds like a good plan!

Well, that would mean having to learn how to upload pics to the internet.

 

Photobucket, and then just copy/paste the link. it's simple.


One of these days, I'll get off my *** and go over the new beater, and do some things with it. will also show what happens when you don't maintain your paint.

 

I literally have done nothing besides regular washes, other than and I waxed my dad's truck today.

For it I use Griots garage premium wax, they're 3'' buffer, and red pad.

 

nothing on the top of carnuba. carnuba is the out most layer. i like to put some kaio polish on before the carnuba though.

the zr1 is black, as for carnuba on this car, i have had great luck with Migliore Competizione carnuba.

 

I am having trouble wrappin' my head around as to why one wax works better with this paint or that one, since the wax sits on top of the clear coat and has no idea what color your car is.

It's like that so called 'detailing spray' I see that comes with the clay. It would seem to me, that since the purpose of claying is the final cleaning process, that a gallon of bottled/distilled water with a cap of Dawn, would suffice.?

 

hey guys i literally just drove my first car, a 1998 civic ex coupe down to its new home. anyway its midnight and i cant take pics now. dont have a garage. but i was wondering if i would need to repaint something like this or if i can fix it up myself? it has oxidization and some peeling ill try to get some pics up tommorow but my goal is totry and fis this tommorow.

 

I just started reading this thread because I want to take some swirls out of my tl.

Its not bad but I see some swirls that I need gone.

If you guys are still updating this thread ill post some pics.

I already bought some 3m high tech yellow wax and some meguirs soap. wash mits and a new chami. I Don't really like it. It may need to break in a little but I just did my first wash today and its really really soft. I had the roof, trunk and hood clay'd sat so I shouldn't need to clay for a while.

I need suggestions on a wax cleaner, sealer, polish, pads and leather cleaner and conditioner. I already have lexol in my cart on amazon.

I would want to get everything from amazon to make shipping easier. Ill keep reading through the thread it might have all the answers I need. the information is just really scattered in here.

 

if the clear is peeling, it's time for a repaint.

Do you have any pictures of the car? Are you looking to do this by hand, or machine?

 

I was hoping I would be able to do more updates, and really keep this thread going, unfortunately I just haven't been able to.
It would be awesome if more people would be able to contribute, so we can keep this thread going and get some good information in here.

I just did my uncles truck today, so I actually will be able to post some pictures. I wasn't really able to get that many pictures due to bad conditions, and time constraints though.

My dad also just bought a car today, so I will be able to play with that one a little bit. I'll try to get more into showing/explaining how to do things.


I am starting to get into waterless washes, so I will definitely be doing something that on that within the next few days.
I've been looking around and finding products I want to try out. One of those is Carpro Hydro2. as soon as I order that, and start using it there will be something on that aswell.

 

Heres some pics after the detail my buddy did. HE worked on the whole car for about an hour and a half so I know it could get better.

Ill need to get some of the swirl marks I can see and some of the parts that are kinda dull on the hood.

 

From what I can see, that car looks great. If you have a drop light or something, try using that.
Hour and half isn't very long at all. I spent 30 minutes on one fender today.


If I were you, I would polish it and get it as close to perfect as you can and Opti-coat it.