Taking on a new single stage project with PC - Need guidence

[Landerholm]

I`ve PCed about 5 family cars in the past...The clearcoat ones come out perfect! But the single stage 4Runner and single stage 89 BMW always had a few issues. Firstly I would get micromarring from my yellow pad and 3m Finesse It 2. Secondly, no product seemed to want to wipe off the finish of the car (including Klasse SG which I am usually skilled at using).



Quick detailing both cars was a nightmare becasue the detailer wouldn`t wipe off, it tended to smear instead.



My product collection includes:

Yellow Pad for cutting

White Pad for polishing

3m Perfect It II

3m Finesse It II

Klasse Twins

Meguires Quick Detailer



I`ve heard SS paints need waxes with oils in them rather than synthetic sealant. If this is true (is it?) what would you recommend? I`m going to be ordering a *few* more products. What can I do to help prevent oxidization and help products cleanly remove from the paint?



And please not too many abbreviations! I haven`t remembered them all yet :o



http://home.comcast.net/~carpedieme/8/1.JPG

[neonecko]

Cool! 8 Series BMW is awesome! I`m yet to run into a single stage paint so I won`t be able to help.

[Bigpoppa3346]

If I were you, I would order some Meg`s polishes, as they are supposed to be good for SS(they "feed" the paint with all their oils). I would stay away from sealants on SS, as others have said, it just doesn`t seem to work on them. Top with a durable nuba (Collinite 845 comes to mind) and enjoy.

[Preachers Sheets]

my best advice... don`t do it!



just kidding, never detailed single stage. if you get some good tips you should post em up for the rest of us.

[Accumulator]

Landerholm- All SS isn`t the same, but yeah, generally it seems to work out best with an oily approach like a glaze and carnabua. Meg`s polishes can work well, I really only use them (and I`m thinking about stuff like #80 and #9 for abrasive and #3/#5/#7/#81 for nonabrasive) on ss.



FI-II is too harsh (initial bite) for many ss paints. Try something milder for the final polish step.



I`d see if you can go from the PI-II to #80 (I generally can on ss). See if the 80 works OK (don`t let it dry completely, just work it until it clears out). After the #80 you might/might not benefit from a "pure polish" (#3/#5/#7/#81). Then I`d consider something like Blitz or Meg`s #26 or even Collinite for the LSP.



Despite what I said about waxes being best, plenty of people have had good results with Klasse on ss BMWs :nixweiss But I`d go the other route.



IMO the only way to keep red ss from oxidizing is to keep it out of the sun. Sorry, but there`s no way to stop it otherwise. That`s why you never sem to see any *really* old cars with the original red ss paint.

[imported_themightytimmah]

Pretty much what Accumulator said, but I`ll add that you might want to look into topping with OCW, as it claims to have UV protective properties, which might slow down oxidation.

[imported_hooked]

Whoa, timely thread. I am planning to do my father-in-law`s red Jeep Cherokee this weekend and I assume it`s single stage. Right now, I have Werkstatt Acrylic Jett Trigger and OCW for LSP`s.



I wanted something really durable, so I`m not sure OCW would be a good choice for LSP. And the comments here about sealants and ss not being a good combo seems to be ruling out AJT.



Should I go out and get a Meguiars` product or Collinite 845? These are the only things I can get locally on such short notice.

[Accumulator]

hooked- Noting that I know nothing about Jeeps, I would`nt assume it`s ss unless you have a good reason for thinking so.



If you don`t already have some 845 on the shelf this might be a good reason to buy some, but I can`t remember ever using it on ss. Don`t foresee any problems though.

[imported_hooked]

Thanks for the response Accumulator. I am guessing it`s SS because the car`s over 10 years old, red and it`s not a metallic paint. I suppose the way to test is to see if any pigment comes off on my applicator when I apply polish to the paint?

[Accumulator]

I suppose the way to test is to see if any pigment comes off on my applicator when I apply polish to the paint?



Yep, that`s the way I`d try to figure it out.

[Landerholm]

It seems like people really like the Optimum products, and they dont dust much.



Would Optimum polish with white and orange pads work well? The car doesn`t have any deep defects but it does have swirls from hand washing.



Also would Optimum polish be the last stage (with white pad) leaving a clear finish? Or would I need to go over the car with Klasse AIO to finish?





Now to the waxes... Can anybody confirm that Caranuba waxes actually help feed SS paint? I`d like to do a glaze and then a wax on top of that...I like spray on waxes. Any recommendations for the products? (Normally I use Klasse Sealant Glaze on my dual stage paint cars so this layering wax over glaze is new to me!)

[Accumulator]

While I *do* prefer waxes over sealants on ss paint, nothing really *FEEDS* it, assuming it`s *modern* ss paint. The whole "feeding" thing applies to old-tech ss. But anyhow...



If I were starting from scratch (i.e., no products on hand) I`d use Meg`s #5 or maybe their #3 for the glaze and Blitz for the wax. You could adjust the wax to Collinite for durability or towards P21S/Souveran for looks but the Blitz is good middle ground.



IMO OCP is a bit mild for the orange pad with the PC. I`d use something more aggressive like H-T HC or the old 3M PI-III RC 05933 and then follow up with the OCP on a white pad.



OCP will *probably* leave a ready-to-wax finish, but if it doesn`t I`d go with something like FP-II, Meg`s #80, or even Meg`s #9 (if it`s *really* soft paint). But the OCP with a mild pad oughta do it.

[Landerholm]

Thanks for the reply! If my 1994 SS paint doesn`t need to be "fed" then the next most important thing to me to is to keep it from oxidizing (like it is lightly now). What causes oxidization (heat, sun, contaminancts?) ...And what product will best protect it from the oxidization? Perhaps there is no reason not to use a Klasse Sealant Glaze base on it now?

[Accumulator]

If my 1994 SS paint doesn`t need to be "fed" then the next most important thing to me to is to keep it from oxidizing (like it is lightly now)...



Yeah, that`s the way I approach my ss cars.



To some extent you just can`t stop it on reds..the slightest oxidation results in fading. People have reported having it "fade to pink" *under* a healthy coating of KSG! Sorta like the way red can fade under clearcoat in b/c finishes (and that clearcoat is good UV protection too).



As best I can tell it`s primarily from UV exposure but I`m sure heat and contamination play a part too, can`t really tell you for sure.



Some SS just isn`t happy with sealants like KSG, other ss is :nixweiss This is probably a "won`t know until you try" situation, but IMO just applying a good LSP frequently, keeping it clean and out of the sun whenever possible, and generally taking good care of it is the most important thing (with stuff like "which LSP" being pretty far down the list).



Some LSPs claim great UV protection, but I dunno if it`s marketing BS or for real. Might be worth considering, with a grain of salt ;)

[Landerholm]

Does anyone know if I can use Optimum Spray Wax over Klasse SG? The reason I ask is becuase the product description for the Optimum Spray wax is quite compicated and they talk about micro this and poly that....?