newb trying to figure out if this is overkill

[SarcasticDwarf]

My latest vehicle is a 98 Ram 1500 (red). Yes, that would be 1998. I am still in college (starting grad school) and have no desire to have a newer vehicle at this time. One previous owner who ran it through the local car washes.



That said, the vehicle is in fantastic condition. Paint wise there are three problems. The front bumper has a large number of chips from rocks. The rear bumper is rusting underneath the paint, and there is a small spot where the sun has burned through the paint on one side (less than 1in sq).



I made the mistake of reading autopia and am now wanting to fully detail the vehicle later this week. Here is what I had in mind.





1) Full wash including tires

2) Microfiber dry

3) Clay bar (Mothers clay bar kit)

4) Cleaner wax (Mothers clay bar kit)

5) Polish (Meguiars Deep Crystal)

6) Wax (Meguiars Gold Class) by hand (by hand is the only option for me)

7) Back to Black for the trim/wheel wells

8) Engine detail (various)





First of all, am I missing any steps or doing anything in the wrong order. Second, should I be using a harsher polish since there are years worth of fine scratches in the paint? Last, is any part of this overkill. The vehicle is almost ten years old now. I want it to look good, but it seems to me that it might not be worth the added cost for some items. Thoughts?







I was thinking of picking up a few packs of the cheaper microfiber towels at one of the auto parts stores. How many would I need? Also, how many applicator pads?

[Altec]

If you are a newb... that polish should be fine. I see that you are doing this by hand, that being said, you dont need to use the cleaner wax after the clay, your polish step will take care of that. Althought it might help remove some of the swirling.



You can never have too many MF towels... buy all that you can afford. Same goes with applicators.

[tom p.]

My latest vehicle is a 98 Ram 1500 (red). Yes, that would be 1998. I am still in college (starting grad school) and have no desire to have a newer vehicle at this time. One previous owner who ran it through the local car washes.



That said, the vehicle is in fantastic condition. Paint wise there are three problems. The front bumper has a large number of chips from rocks. The rear bumper is rusting underneath the paint, and there is a small spot where the sun has burned through the paint on one side (less than 1in sq).



I made the mistake of reading autopia and am now wanting to fully detail the vehicle later this week. Here is what I had in mind.





1) Full wash including tires

2) Microfiber dry

3) Clay bar (Mothers clay bar kit)

4) Cleaner wax (Mothers clay bar kit)

5) Polish (Meguiars Deep Crystal)

6) Wax (Meguiars Gold Class) by hand (by hand is the only option for me)

7) Back to Black for the trim/wheel wells

8) Engine detail (various)





First of all, am I missing any steps or doing anything in the wrong order. Second, should I be using a harsher polish since there are years worth of fine scratches in the paint? Last, is any part of this overkill. The vehicle is almost ten years old now. I want it to look good, but it seems to me that it might not be worth the added cost for some items. Thoughts?







I was thinking of picking up a few packs of the cheaper microfiber towels at one of the auto parts stores. How many would I need? Also, how many applicator pads?





Ugh, I feel like this is one of those threads that has me thinking, "where to start :(?"



Mr. dwarf, I`d do some research (reading here) prior to laying down a penny unless you`ve already accumulated these things. A wise shopper can do better even if shopping locally at a couple of the well-known retail outlets.



Are you planning on doing all of this by hand?



Welcome aboard!

[imported_hooked]

You could replace the Cleaner Wax in Step 4 with Meguiars ScratchX to remove some of the deeper scratches and then follow up with the Megs DC Polish in Step 5.



As for the MF towels, go ahead and get a big pack of the cheaper towels for the "dirty work" like cleaning the wheel wells, wheels, tires, and door sills. Since this is an older vehicle, they will probably get pretty gunked up. Since you didn`t pay too much for them, you won`t feel so bad just tossing them or ruining them.



Get some better quality towels for the drying and polish removal steps since these are areas of the truck that are more visible. You don`t want to chance putting more swirls/scratches in the paint because of the cheaper towels. The Viking brand towels at K-Mart are good quality and have gotten good reviews at this site.



Have fun! Can`t wait to see your chest and arms after your full detail by hand!!!

[SarcasticDwarf]

Ugh, I feel like this is one of those threads that has me thinking, "where to start :(?"



Mr. dwarf, I`d do some research (reading here) prior to laying down a penny unless you`ve already accumulated these things. A wise shopper can do better even if shopping locally at a couple of the well-known retail outlets.



Are you planning on doing all of this by hand?



Welcome aboard!





I understand that a lot of it comes down to product preference. I don`t think anyone really wants to get into one of those debates.



That said, it is near impossible to actually choose products to use without having tested them all before. What one person says is good another person will say is terrible. That is why I was not asking if I should be using different products.





And yeah, it will all be done by hand.

[SarcasticDwarf]

Have fun! Can`t wait to see your chest and arms after your full detail by hand!!!





The worst part is that I am doing this over at my parent`s place (much easier to do it there than at my apartment). I guarantee I will end up doing their vehicles as well.



*sigh*

[imported_hooked]

Also, you didn`t mention what you plan to do with your wheels & tires. Eagle1 Tire and Wheel cleaner is a good all-in-one product for those areas. As for a tire-shine product, everyone has their own preference (shiny, super-shiny, matte).

[SarcasticDwarf]

Also, you didn`t mention what you plan to do with your wheels & tires. Eagle1 Tire and Wheel cleaner is a good all-in-one product for those areas. As for a tire-shine product, everyone has their own preference (shiny, super-shiny, matte).





I did not mention it because I already have some stuff (Meguiars I believe) for the tires. I`m still trying to figure out what (if anything) I am going to do with the rims at this point.

[superstring]

1) Full wash including tires

2) Microfiber dry

3) Clay bar (Mothers clay bar kit)

4) Cleaner wax (Mothers clay bar kit)

5) Polish (Meguiars Deep Crystal)

6) Wax (Meguiars Gold Class) by hand (by hand is the only option for me)

7) Back to Black for the trim/wheel wells

8) Engine detail (various)





First of all, am I missing any steps or doing anything in the wrong order. Second, should I be using a harsher polish since there are years worth of fine scratches in the paint? Last, is any part of this overkill. The vehicle is almost ten years old now. I want it to look good, but it seems to me that it might not be worth the added cost for some items. Thoughts?







I was thinking of picking up a few packs of the cheaper microfiber towels at one of the auto parts stores. How many would I need? Also, how many applicator pads?



A few thoughts:



No need to dry before using clay. A little water will add extra lubrication.



No need for the cleaner wax. I`m not familiar with the Meg`s DC Polish, but, if it is in fact a "proper" polish and not a glaze, it`ll remove any protection laid down by the cleaner wax. You might consider a "dedicated" paint cleaner though.



I wouldn`t go with "cheap" MF, if cheap means sub-standard quality. Remember you *usually* get what you pay for. (My favourite source for MF is Pakshak)



Oh, and welcome to Autopia! :wavey

[velobard]

The Megs DC polish isn`t abrasive. It will clean the paint well, but it won`t get rid of marring.



I don`t see any point in using a cleaner wax, then going back and polishing.



For the marring, practically speaking you have a choice between hiding it temporarily with a glaze or buying a PC or rotary (which really isn`t for beginners) and correcting it yourself. Or hiring someone else to do it, of course. ;)

[Accumulator]

SarcasticDwarf- Welcome to Autopia!



Hope the following doesn`t sound too critical.



IMO steps 4) and 5) aren`t optimal; they overkill certain aspects while not addressing other, perhaps more important ones.



Using the cleaner-wax will only remove a little oxidation (if present) and any residue from the claying (not a significant thing). I`d skip that step.



The Deep Crystal "polish" is utterly nonabrasive and will only effect a *little* concealing of the paint`s marring. Not enough to bother with IMO and not what`s called for. In your proposed regimen it`d basically sit on top of the cleaner-wax. I`d use a different product, one with abrasives in it.



IMO you`d be *much* better off to use a mildly abrasive polish instead of the cleaner-wax and the Deep Crystal polish. I`d choose something that`s known to work well by hand (and there aren`t many products that qualify) and that does a little concealing along with its mechanical/abrasive correction.



I wouldn`t buy any cheap MFs, I`d only get the best you can find.



Noting that you`re not soliciting specific product advice, here goes anyhow: there`s no way I`d try to do that job with anything other than 1Z Paint Polish. Simple as that IMO.

[fjc]

Is there much of a difference between 1Z Paint Polish `Lack Politur` and 1Z Extra Paint Cleaner (formerly `Ultra Paint Polish`) for hand application? I would like to use one of these products on a 1991 Civic for oxidation removal, cleaning of the paint before applying Collinite 476S wax. Thanks.

[fjc]

Also are both of the 1Z polishes above clear-coat safe?

[OGauge4Me]

I also like the 1Z product line. I use a PC but it can be used by hand if you need to.



I also like the Mothers line up of products as a decent moderately priced solution to taking care of your car`s finish.



You finish should look better when you are finished. Good luck and post finished pics.

[Accumulator]

fjc- Yeah, there`s a *big* difference in abrasiveness between the Ultra/Extra and the Paint Polish. The Ultra/Extra will almost always require a follow up with something milder (e.g., the PP) because it`ll leave micromarring, whereas the PP seldom does unless you`re as fanatical as some of us :o To be honest, I usually like to use a finer polish (Metallic, WaxPolishSoft) after the PP, but I didn`t do it on the Blazer and it still turned out nice.



Both Ultra/Extra and PP are OK for use on healthy clearcoats, I`ve used them many times. But note that "clearcoat safe" is *IMO* really a BS term as most *anything* is clearcoat safe to some extent, even super-aggressive products (note that people *wetsand* clearcoats ;) ) and by the same token anything reasonably abrasive is "clearcoat unsafe" if you overdo it.