The combo and process with questions

[BluGas]

This is my first post. I’m a noobie and just ordered pc with sonus kit from autopia. My plan is to......



exterior

1. wash

2. clay

3. wash

4. smr or meg#9 with green pad on 3 increasing to 5,

5. aio -should I apply with blue or gray sonus pad, speed 3.5 to 4.5

6. sg -billnorth wowo method, can I just use cal duster or must I wash

7. s100 with gray pad or by hand (undecided) does it make a difference ::nixweiss



interior

1. carpet cleaning guide suggest by gsrstilez.

2. vinyl with 303 aerospace protectant



I will be doing a white sunfire then a blue maxima. I need another product to put under aio for the sunfire, any suggestions? How does 3m smr compare to meg#9, is there a big difference in ease of use or product performance? Do I need to wash again after sg cures or can I just use California car duster to remove any dust and proceed to wax? Has anybody had any difficulty applying wax with pc? I will post pics o show my results. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

[BluGas]

any takers?

[White95Max]

I tried #9 on my mom`s blue concorde, and it didn`t work very well for the swirls on her car. The 3M PI III MG took swirls and scratches out right away though.

I don`t know if the cars you mentioned have swirls or not, but if they do, you may want to look past #9. It has fillers anyway, so the swirls wont even be truely gone.



Difficulty applying wax with PC? -- I`ve never done it myself, since I use Paste Glaz on my car and #16 (paste) on most other cars. I do apply EX-P by PC though, and have had no problems. If it`s a liquid, you should be able to apply it by PC w/o any problems.

[johnson]

Looks like a good process. After you wash the cars the first time, fill up the buck with shampoo again and use that as the lube.



Not sure which pad is which for Sonus but use the polishing pad first with whatever SMR product you choose and if it doesnt seem like its doing anything, move to a cutting pad. Always use the least aggressive pad/polish first.



Never used 3M SMR but ive used Meguiars #82 Swirl Free Polish and it works well. It has fillers, but thats not always a bad thing.



For AIO, use the polishing pad at speed ~5. Mist the pad with some water or QD so it spreads out evenly. One thing about using AIO with the PC is that if you got too much product on the paint and it drys, its a b*tch removing with an MF cloth. Work in a 2x2 area at a time to prevent that from happening...or spray some QD. Havent used SG yet so I cant comment.



On this car, I did two passes of SFP on each panel and 1 coat of AIO last weekend. Will put some SG on it this weekend.



passenger side

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390img_8921__medium_.jpg



driver side

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390img_8932__medium_.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390img_8939__medium_.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390img_8949__medium_.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390img_8993__medium_.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390prelude_rear.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390prelude_hood_reflection.jpg



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/3390prelude_trunk_reflection.jpg

[Accumulator]

Sandman4- I`d use something different before the AIO. Using a product with fillers can cause issues as the AIO will often clean fillers out of the paint.



I`d get some 3M PI-III MG (pn 05934 or 39012 depending on the size). It works well and is my favorite product before AIO.



I`d do the SG/wax this way- apply the SG right after the AIO. Drive the car. After the next regular wash, apply a second coat of SG. Drive the car. Repeat until you have a few layers of SG on there and *then* top it with the wax. Having the protection of several layers of SG is much more important than the subtle cosmetic improvement that comes from a wax topper IMO.



If you have to do it all at once, skip the wax topper or use a different wax (see below) instead of the SG.



If you have to do it over two days, then I`d give the vehicle a quick wash before topping the SG with wax. But again, I`d consider the wax topper optional. I just wouldn`t risk the CCD instead of a wash, but others will go the other way.



P21s/S100 is about the only wax besides Souveran that I wouldn`t do by machine. The on-off, one-panel-at-a-time method that this wax calls for is just better suited to hand application.



You could always get Meg`s #16 instead- *very* similar look, much better durability, easy to do by PC. FWIW I pick #16 over S100 every time, but again, others will go the other way. It can even be used without a sealant underneath, it`s that durable.

[BluGas]

Thanks for the advice and recommendations. I will go with the 3m mg 39012 and apply with a green sonus pad with pc. I can get it locally. My shipment arrived today so I will get started early tommorow morning. One question, with the 3m mg is there anything special about application and removal that I need to be aware of such as wiping off when wet vs waiting until it starts to dust?

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by sandman4

.. with the 3m mg is there anything special about application and removal that I need to be aware of such as wiping off when wet vs waiting until it starts to dust?



I work it until it`s almost dry but I don`t keep going until it dusts. Some people work it until it`s gone, so I don`t think it`s a very tricky thing to get right. Just remember that it does have diminishing abrasives that need to be broken down. Don`t use too much product and just work it, uhm, "sufficiently". That`s kinda a Yoda/BS answer :o but I`m pretty confident that you`ll get the hang of it in no time. It`s a very user-friendly product.



The only real hazards with working it too long are a) caked/dry product might induce micromarring- more likely if you use too much, and b) it might be hard to buff off the reside. Whenever I get the hard-to-remove residue I just use AIO as my next step. This cleans it off just fine without any marring so it oughta work fine with your plan. Don`t get paranoid about the residue, it only happens occasionally and the AIO really will solve the problem.

[Flying C]

If Meguiar #9 does not remove the swirls, try Meguiar DACP #83. When I detailed my black car three weeks ago, I first tried #9 and it did not remove the swirls, then I tried #83 and the swirls are gone!!



Good Luck

[Jademonkey]

I would suggest having something stronger than smr ready in case you need it. Megs or 3m SMR is not very strong, and will only remove the lightest of swirls. I would suggest picking up Megs DACP, or Poorboys SSR2.5(My favourite).

[cheapshot]

FNG, the car looks great! I love preludes. my first car was a 88 prelude it`s was blue and it`s was a nice ride(RIP 289,000 MLS) after this they came out with a weird style didn`t really look like a prelude, and then the prelude came back with your model. a very sweet looking and riding car!



listen to how sick i am, i saw a black prelude much like yours last year some time. i was driving in my 94 integra, and saw a for sale sign, i pulled the guy over (like i was a state trooper) :D and said how much are ya asking, he said 9500. i was like wow the interior and exterior were in great condition, it was manual transmissions, i was ready to buy it. i took a look at the milage and it said 114,000. he said he does a lot of highway driving. i was ready to buy it, until the milage popped up. :( oh yeah! and later i found out i only had about 5600 in the bank. :D



please egnore this post, i`m addicted to preludes! :o

[stevet]

Originally posted by Accumulator

I`d get some 3M PI-III MG (pn 05934 or 39012 depending on the size). It works well and is my favorite product before AIO.





Hey Accumulator,



I know you really mean you would get some pn 05937 not 05934;) It`s very easy to get all these pn`s mixed up.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by stevet

Hey Accumulator,



I know you really mean you would get some pn 05937 not 05934;) It`s very easy to get all these pn`s mixed up.



Heh heh, yeah, good catch...typos can be a sorta serious matter when it comes to polish numbers! :o [Accumulator vows to type/proof read more carefully...]

[BluGas]

Accumulator,

Thanks for the tip on 3M Machine glaze 39012. It was easy to use and I am pleased with the results. I will post pics but first I need figure out how to post them. Any other sites besides photobucket.com that can be used to upload them because they are currently not letting new people sign up?

[Accumulator]

Glad to hear the MG worked out, IMO it`s a pretty safe product to recommend. Can`t help with the pics though, I`m still in the dark ages on that one.