suggestions to my process

[Teamu]

I've got a bunch of questions here as its my first time doing a full detail of my car. any help is greatly appreciated. I put questions in bold so they stand out.

Here's my current inventory (i have no problem buying other products if i need to or if they're better) --
PC 7336SP
Excel Detail's Excel Pad/Plate kit (5")
Bunch of microfiber polish towels
waffleweave drying towel
sheepskin mitts
NXT Gen car wash
meg's quick detailer
meg's clay bar
turtle wax super hard shell car wax (probably crap?)
meg's nxt gen instant shine tire coating
meg's hot shine tire coating
meg's hot rims wheel cleaner
armorall car wash wipes (these were probably a waste of money?)
blue coral wash & wax
nxt gen tech wax paste
nxt gen liquid wax
meg's deep crystal system polish (step 2 in their 3 step process)

Heres details of my car --
9 month old black acura tl
It has (what i think are) swirl marks on pretty much every panel
there's atleast one scratch which can be easily seen but can't feel it with my finger.
There's another scratch which can be felt with my finger.
On the side of one of the doors, there's what i guess would be called a paint chip (its a circle where I guess the metal underneath is exposed, probably the size of a medium tipped pen).
I'll try to get pictures posted if i can.

So questions --
1. Should I take care of the paint chip before or after the whole detailing process?
2. How should the paint chip be taken care of?
3. For the scratch that can't be felt, should the normal polishing process take care of it?
4. For the one that can be felt, should I do something prior to polishing to try and fix it?


Okay, onto my process. If you can fill in the blanks,suggest alternatives,whatever I'd greatly appreaciate it.

1. Wash/Clean wheels.
2. Wash car with meg's nxt gen car wash
3. Rinse car
3a (I've got some old paste wax from my first attempt at waxing stuck in the corners, is this a good time to remove it with a detailing brush?)
4. Wash car (nxt gen)/clay (meg's clay) at same time
5. rinse car
6. dry car
7. do i need to use a quik detailer now???
8. PC with green pad & polish to remove scratches/swirl marks. Recommendations on a product for this?
9. Buff off polish with towel (or should I use the PC for this also?)
10. PC with blue pad & meg's deep crystal system polish
11. Buff off polish.
12. Polish/Buff again with a sealant Polish? Reco's for this?
13. Wax with nxt gen liquid wax
14. buff off wax
Am I missing any steps?

More questions:
do the nxt gen paste wax and liquid wax go together? Should I put one on then the other on top? and if so which goes first.
if not should i use any other wax after the nxt gen (or before it)?
do i need to quik detail after waxing?

anyways thanks for reading this whole spiel!
Teamu

[Picus]

1. Should I take care of the paint chip before or after the whole detailing process?

Yes. You want to repair chips when the car is totally free of sealants, waxes, etc. So wash it down really well with something that will strip any sealants or waxes you have in the area of the chip.

2. How should the paint chip be taken care of?

Get some Isoproylene Alcohol, clean the chip and attack it with some touch up paint. The process is easy, but time consuming. A REALLY good write up is right here:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/paintclinic.html (scroll down to the chip and scratch repair)

Just some helpful tips. 1, get a primer pen if the metal is exposed, this will prevent rust in the future. 2, use the toothpick method, it will make cleaning up the repair afterwards 100000x easier. 3, let the paint chip dry well before you do anything to it, I'm talking 48+ hours. 4. You don't have to wetsand to remove the 'repair blob', langka works well (type langka in google) if you're doing just one chip. You could even just leave it if you are very careful when filling it in. If you do wetsand follow the advice of the link I just mentioned, be very careful and work cautiously. It does work and the results can be great, but you need to be careful.

3. For the scratch that can't be felt, should the normal polishing process take care of it?

Yep, if you can't feel it with your fingernail odds are you will either polish it right out or round off the edges so much you won't see it anymore.

4. For the one that can be felt, should I do something prior to polishing to try and fix it?

If you can feel it odds are it's through the clear. You could try to polish it out but it might remain. Personally I would polish it just like the rest of the car then evaluate it after that. If it looks better, great, if not go from there.

RE: your process. I don't QD after claying, I just go right from clay to polish since polish will remove most anything on the surface of the paint anyway. As for which polish there are about a million - do you want to buy it locally or do you mind online. If local, Megs DACP is good but a little hard to work. If online Menzerna IP, Poorboys SSR2-2.5, Optimum Polish, Sonus 2, just to name a few. All are good products. I clean polish off with an mf towel and ISA:alcohol mix, it makes sure it's all gone so no hazing. Sealant is the same as wax, there are a million. I'm currently using poorboys ex w/carnaba on my black car and like it a lot. Before I use it I add a layer of Clearkote RMG, which adds depth.

Good luck and have fun.

[Tasty]

I'd eliminate washing it a second time on step 4. Just wash once and clay during wash if you so desire, or after you wash. No need to wash again after removing old wax residue. You seem to have some extra or unnecessary steps in there. Here is a rough guide of how MOST (not all) people do it. 1) Wash, 2) Clay, 3) Polish, 4)LSP (wax, SG, whatever). Quik detailer is used to maintain shine or clean off bird bombs or the like after you have laid down your LSP. As for polish people on here seem to be fond of Poorboy's products, Menzerna products, but there are tons out there. You shouldn't need to "buff off" polish with a towel as you will work polish until it pretty much disappears. I would touch up the scratch BEFORE you do the whole process to the car. You might want to do a little more research on here before you attack your car, it sounds like you aren't totally straight on procedures. Best of luck!