paint correction and protection questions

[PearTree]

Hey guys,
New here on the forum and this is my first post. First off I would like to say I have been reading this forum for six months or so learning as much as I can but I just recently joined. I greatly appreciate all the posts from the knowledgeable people on this forum!
On to the questions! I have a 2013 Nissan frontier that I`m looking to do some paint correction on. Any advice on whether the paint is soft or hard? And what method should I take for correction.

I have watched all the Mike Phillips videos and read every thread on the forum I could find. Having said that, I need advice on which autopia kit to buy.

I have settled on the gg6, but their are a lot of different kits and what not and need some guidance. With labor day coming up I`m looking to buy and would like to know which kit I should buy or should I buy it all separate? Which kit has the best pads and polishes? Or should I be looking at different polishes and pads the combos don`t offer?

Next question. My truck sits outside in the Florida weather and I`m looking for the best protection. I`ve read the threads on coatings and the fk1000p threads, and am not sure which way to go. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I`m not necessarily on a budget but don`t need my truck to be show car ready, just well protected.

Sorry for the long post but I would appreciate all the help I can get!


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[512detail]

Welcome to Autopia!

I have a 2006 frontier in the metallic tan color and I always thought the paint to be on the harder side as opposed to being soft.

What color is yours?

for an intro polisher I think the gg6 is a good buy especially if you can find a kit with pads and everything you need for a good price

as far as sitting outside, you might want to look into some simple coating to apply like the new McKees coating. I`ve heard good things about it.

polish angel cosmic v2 kit is also a good looking option but the kit is a little pricey, yet very easy to apply, just time consuming

I`ve also heard gyeon can coat is an easy option and have a bottle but have to to find a vehicle to use it on.

[nickclark08]

Welcome aboard!

I`m a total noob when it comes to polishing, although I`ve gotten decent results when I gave it a shot. Try to find a package that provides a fair number of pads, you can always get the compound and polish of your choice to suit your needs. I think the Blackfire polishes have a good rep around here, and if I remember right Autopia has them in a kit... for number of pads, ballpark at 5 cut, 5 polish, 2 finish/wax as a starting point, and watch videos about cleaning on the fly.

I use FK1000p and love it - great durability and I like the self-cleaning aspect of it. Perfect (for me) on my daily driver.

If I was starting over with a coating, I`d probably go with the McKees Paint coating - You could apply that, wash with the SiO2 soap, and give it a booster every month or two with the Hydro Blue. Would give you a low maintenance way to keep your tuck protected for a long while.

[Mike lambert]

The Griot`s will work wonderfully for you. My opinion would be to get the 5 inch backing plate and the boss pads and the creams you need. As far as coatings, take a look at polish angel. Extremely easy and gives a great look.

[dcjredline]

I find it funny that AG and ACC recommend multiple pads of the different colors but the kits they sell have one of each color. What I would do is buy a GG6, Ultimate Compound & Ultimate polish, HD Speed, 5-6 orange and 4-5 white pads and maybe a couple yellows. I`ve not used the McKees coating but I bet it would be a great starter coating (and pro coating but I`m saying that cause it should be user friendly). Maybe some CarPro Eraser too. Either way you go with pads and products get some compound and some polish along with a good AIO then some cutting, light cutting, and some polishing pads

[BudgetPlan1]

Look for a kit that is pad-centric, preferably Lake Country Flats or Thin Pros, then pick your compounds/polishes. Good starting point is likely 6 orange and 6 white pads, Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover and Finishing Glaze (aka the Wolfgang Twins) are nice, easy to use. If paint has heavy defects, a couple of Meguiars microfiber cutting discs with Meguiars D300 compound works well with GG6.

5" backing plate with 5.5" pads is the way to go with GG6.

As for wax, sealant or coating to top corrected paint with, that s up to you. You`ll get a million opinions.

Wax, Collinite 915 is nice and durable, FinishKare 1000 is well regarded as a wax/sealant hybrid.

Sealant, Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant is nice.

If a coating is desired, McKees Paint Coating is a great product for the money and quite easy to work with.

Welcome to the rabbit hole; its as deep or shallow as ya want. Beware...it can be addicting!

Should be some good Labor Day sales coming up this weekend...get ready.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[The Guz]

Lots of good recommendations.

The GG6 seems like a good starting point. I agree swapping out the backing plate to 5" to support 5-5.5" pads.

With polishes if you want to pick something up locally the Meguiar`s ultimate trio (ultimate compound, ultimate polish, ultimate wax) works well and is usually a good starting point.

Sonax makes a great line of polishes in Cut Max (compound), Cut & Finish (one step compounding polish) and Ex 04-06 (finishing polish). They are user friendly and correct very well with no dust.

Another option is to contact Nick at McKee`s 37 and he can set you up with a nice kit of their polishes and either their sealant or coating.

[Accumulator]

PearTree- Welcome to Autopia!

Guess it comes as no surprise that I`d suggest FK1000P for the LSP. Lets you sidestep most etching/etc. issues and lasts long enough that you`re not redoing it frequently. Note that, FWIW, I don`t consider coatings sufficiently Accumulator-proof to use them on anything but wheels, and I`m sure not lacking in confidence ;)

For the compound/polish- IMO your first decision should be whether you want to use diminishing abrasives or NONdiminishing ones (FWIW I vastly prefer the latter).

[INSERT Usual lecture about how IMO it all starts with figuring out how to wash without marring up the paint...]

[PearTree]

Welcome to Autopia!

I have a 2006 frontier in the metallic tan color and I always thought the paint to be on the harder side as opposed to being soft.

What color is yours?

for an intro polisher I think the gg6 is a good buy especially if you can find a kit with pads and everything you need for a good price

as far as sitting outside, you might want to look into some simple coating to apply like the new McKees coating. I`ve heard good things about it.

polish angel cosmic v2 kit is also a good looking option but the kit is a little pricey, yet very easy to apply, just time consuming

I`ve also heard gyeon can coat is an easy option and have a bottle but have to to find a vehicle to use it on.
Mine is the dark gray metallic color. I see a bunch of different kits on autopia, any opinion on which one would be the best starter kit? And what else would I need to purchase on top of the kit? Also, any ideas on what polish would be best for a beginner to start with? Like I said earlier, Im not looking for a show car just good clear shiny paint with a lot of protection.
In reference to the Mckee`s coating, any idea on how difficult it is to apply? And how well does the paint need to be corrected before applying the coating?

[PearTree]

The Griot`s will work wonderfully for you. My opinion would be to get the 5 inch backing plate and the boss pads and the creams you need. As far as coatings, take a look at polish angel. Extremely easy and gives a great look.
Thanks for the advice. Any tips on which boss pads and creams you would recommend that would be the best for beginner use? I will look into the polish angel, I know that and the Mckee`s have been mentioned a lot on the forums recently.

[PearTree]

Look for a kit that is pad-centric, preferably Lake Country Flats or Thin Pros, then pick your compounds/polishes. Good starting point is likely 6 orange and 6 white pads, Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover and Finishing Glaze (aka the Wolfgang Twins) are nice, easy to use. If paint has heavy defects, a couple of Meguiars microfiber cutting discs with Meguiars D300 compound works well with GG6.

5" backing plate with 5.5" pads is the way to go with GG6.

As for wax, sealant or coating to top corrected paint with, that s up to you. You`ll get a million opinions.

Wax, Collinite 915 is nice and durable, FinishKare 1000 is well regarded as a wax/sealant hybrid.

Sealant, Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant is nice.

If a coating is desired, McKees Paint Coating is a great product for the money and quite easy to work with.

Welcome to the rabbit hole; its as deep or shallow as ya want. Beware...it can be addicting!

Should be some good Labor Day sales coming up this weekend...get ready.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
Thanks for the help. I will look into which kit offers the pads you are referring to. I know some of the kits comes with a 5 inch backing plate and pads and some do not. Of the compounds and polishes you recommended, how easy are they to use for a beginner? From reading the replies so far it seems the Mckee`s coating is highly regarded as well as the fk1000p. Any insight into which is easier to apply and maintain?

[PearTree]

Lots of good recommendations.

The GG6 seems like a good starting point. I agree swapping out the backing plate to 5" to support 5-5.5" pads.

With polishes if you want to pick something up locally the Meguiar`s ultimate trio (ultimate compound, ultimate polish, ultimate wax) works well and is usually a good starting point.

Sonax makes a great line of polishes in Cut Max (compound), Cut & Finish (one step compounding polish) and Ex 04-06 (finishing polish). They are user friendly and correct very well with no dust.

Another option is to contact Nick at McKee`s 37 and he can set you up with a nice kit of their polishes and either their sealant or coating.
Thanks for the tip about contacting Mckee`s. That seems like it would be a cost effecient way to get the necessary polishes and coating.

[PearTree]

PearTree- Welcome to Autopia!

Guess it comes as no surprise that I`d suggest FK1000P for the LSP. Lets you sidestep most etching/etc. issues and lasts long enough that you`re not redoing it frequently. Note that, FWIW, I don`t consider coatings sufficiently Accumulator-proof to use them on anything but wheels, and I`m sure not lacking in confidence ;)

For the compound/polish- IMO your first decision should be whether you want to use diminishing abrasives or NONdiminishing ones (FWIW I vastly prefer the latter).

[INSERT Usual lecture about how IMO it all starts with figuring out how to wash without marring up the paint...]
Thanks for the reply. How difficult is fk1000p to apply and maintain? I feel I have a pretty good handle on how to wash and dry the paint with minimal amounts of marring. In reference to the polishes, Im looking for something that would be friendly for a beginner to use but also get good results. Im not looking for a show car, but I`d like to have a shiny finish without all the dullness and water spots from the sprinklers.

[Accumulator]

Thanks for the reply. How difficult is fk1000p to apply and maintain? I feel I have a pretty good handle on how to wash and dry the paint with minimal amounts of marring. In reference to the polishes, Im looking for something that would be friendly for a beginner to use but also get good results. Im not looking for a show car, but I`d like to have a shiny finish without all the dullness and water spots from the sprinklers.

Ah, as soon as I read "sprinklers" I think how the FK1000P is *DEFINITELY* my recommendation. Sometimes nothing is adequate protection from such stuff, but that`s what`s worked best for me.

Its maintenance is stupid-simple! Just do two coats, with the second one after the next regularly scheduled wash. Then reapply whenever you notice the beading start to change. That`ll keep you ahead of the curve for a long, long time.

The trick with applying it, and this holds for most any LSP, is to do thin, *thin*, *THIN* applications. Can`t overemphasize or exaggerate that! If a tin doesn`t last somebody at least a decade then something`s totally haywire. Keep it off trim, and if it does get on there wipe it off before it flashes...not a HUGE deal the way some LSPs are, but don`t let it dry on the trim (use something like Ultima Tire & Trim Guard + on the trim and maintain with something like Meguiar`s Ultimate Quik Wax).

For the polishes...I`m perhaps not the best source of info as I don`t keep up with the latest developments. But FWIW, I find Meguiar`s M101 to be the perfect Aggressive Compound and I`m 100% satisfied with 3D Polish, which I find VERY user-friendly.

If you use Meguiar`s M205 or Ultimate Polish, be sure you have something truly effective to strip the Polishing Oils. I gave up on M205 because this seemingly minor job was such an incredible PIA, simply drove me nuts.

OR...if the marring isn`t really bad enough to bug you (and don`t let these forums convince you that your car oughta be perfect), just do it with a FK1000P-friendly All-In-One (I use Zaino`s, which seems excellent for this, and FWIW I`m no Zaino fan in general).

[Mike lambert]

I would recommend microfiber along with the white, yellow and black pads.