Need recommendations

[01svtL]

I recently moved and haven`t yet located my box of polishes. I picked up a new ride that appears has been through a drive through car wash a few times - clear coat scratches fairly prevalent. I have an autozone up the street, so I`m looking for some recommendations on compounds/polishes that they would carry to use with my Griot`s Garage DAO to get these scratches polished out. The vehicle is a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. The paint seems to be pretty hard.

[Ronkh]

swirlx or scratch x, one of em is for machines.

But a simple call to 800 RAYILOSTMYSTUFF, should get ya the stuff ya need pretty quick.

If I got my guess right 2008, been thru tunnel washes a few times, is gonna have more problems when ya get it really clean to see what you`re dealing with.

[Stokdgs]

If you can find Meguiars Ultimate Detailer compound there or better still Meguiars 101 compound, these will help get the imperfections out..
You mentioned a Griot`s machine - which one ?
Do you have enough pads ?
DanF

[The Guz]

If you want to pick up something locally, the Meguiar`s ultimate line is a good place to start. Although I would pick up M295 over ultimate polish due to its versatility.

[01svtL]

If you want to pick up something locally, the Meguiar`s ultimate line is a good place to start. Although I would pick up M295 over ultimate polish due to its versatility.

Funny enough, Autozone now carries Griot`s Garage products. They even had my DAO (their original one) and a selection of pads for it. I already have a few of the black polishing pads, so I picked up an Orange pad. I got Griot`s compound and the Megquiar`s #9 Swirl Remover 2.0. I did find my Blackfire Finishing Polish.

[Stokdgs]

Funny enough, Autozone now carries Griot`s Garage products. They even had my DAO (their original one) and a selection of pads for it. I already have a few of the black polishing pads, so I picked up an Orange pad. I got Griot`s compound and the Megquiar`s #9 Swirl Remover 2.0. I did find my Blackfire Finishing Polish.

Glad you found some product at the store and found some of your own things..
Hope you purchased more than one orange pad..
I also have a Grand Cherokee in Black and it takes a lot of pads to completely go over it.. The paint is pretty hard...
You cannot possibly go over the entire vehicle with just 1 orange pad..
Be sure you know how to wash the pads and dry them ..
Good luck -
Dan F

[01svtL]

Glad you found some product at the store and found some of your own things..
Hope you purchased more than one orange pad..
I also have a Grand Cherokee in Black and it takes a lot of pads to completely go over it.. The paint is pretty hard...
You cannot possibly go over the entire vehicle with just 1 orange pad..
Be sure you know how to wash the pads and dry them ..
Good luck -
Dan F

Why can`t one bad be used on the entire car for just one step? I`ve never had an issue before. Although, I`ve never had to use compound on any of my past rides either. Is the compound the issue?

[jrock645]

Why can`t one bad be used on the entire car for just one step? I`ve never had an issue before. Although, I`ve never had to use compound on any of my past rides either. Is the compound the issue?

One pad can do an entire car for simple wax application. However, for any polish or compounding step you will need 3-4 to do an entire CAR. Once the pad starts to get saturated with the polish, it will not be effective anymore and could potentially damage the pad. Thus the recommendation for 3-4 pads per car per step, with the exception of the LSP step. With a large SUV, you might need 5 per step.

[Accumulator]

01svtL- Skip the Meguiar`s M09 Swirlmark Remover as it`s not gonna help with your situation (not hating on it, actually recommended it a week or so ago..but not for this applicaton). If they have Griot`s Fast Correcting Cream that might be worth trying though I`d prefer Meguiar`s M101 if only due to my familiarity with it.

You`ll need *far* more than one correcting pad. Even after you stop every few passes to clean the pad (removing all the cut-off clearcoat and dried polish residue, and I do mean *all* of it) there`s always the chance that something will go haywire (pads *do* fail, especially under the hard use of significant correction, and usually at an inconvenient moment) and correcting pads wear as the abrasives/friction/etc. do their thing to the foam as well as to the paint.

And even with...say, six pads, you`ll be spending *SO* much time cleaning them that you`ll wish you`d bought more so you could just swap them out rather then spending so long cleaning them every few minutes.

Note that MF pads do clean out faster, especially if you have an air compressor to blow them out with, but it still takes a lot of time and a fair bit of effort. MF Cutting Disks simply work well IME.

[01svtL]

01svtL- Skip the Meguiar`s M09 Swirlmark Remover as it`s not gonna help with your situation (not hating on it, actually recommended it a week or so ago..but not for this applicaton). If they have Griot`s Fast Correcting Cream that might be worth trying though I`d prefer Meguiar`s M101 if only due to my familiarity with it.

You`ll need *far* more than one correcting pad. Even after you stop every few passes to clean the pad (removing all the cut-off clearcoat and dried polish residue, and I do mean *all* of it) there`s always the chance that something will go haywire (pads *do* fail, especially under the hard use of significant correction, and usually at an inconvenient moment) and correcting pads wear as the abrasives/friction/etc. do their thing to the foam as well as to the paint.

And even with...say, six pads, you`ll be spending *SO* much time cleaning them that you`ll wish you`d bought more so you could just swap them out rather then spending so long cleaning them every few minutes.

Note that MF pads do clean out faster, especially if you have an air compressor to blow them out with, but it still takes a lot of time and a fair bit of effort. MF Cutting Disks simply work well IME.

I see. Thanks for the info.


So do you suggest I go straight to the finishing polish after the compound?

[Detail Impressions]

I like to compound with microfiber and to finish with foam. Clean pad after each panel..

[Docpeanut]

swirlx or scratch x, one of em is for machines.

But a simple call to 800 rayilostmystuff, should get ya the stuff ya need pretty quick.

If i got my guess right 2008, been thru tunnel washes a few times, is gonna have more problems when ya get it really clean to see what you`re dealing with.

1-800-rayilostmystuff is IMHO the only way to go

[Accumulator]

So do you suggest I go straight to the finishing polish after the compound?

That`s generally feasible, as long as you don`t use a harsh foam (let alone wool) pad with the compound. IF it`s too big a jump, I`d try either more work with the finishing polish (that would be most gentle on the clear) or an intermediate step with the compound on a milder pad (that works well for me with many compounds and IME is expedient).

I like to compound with microfiber and to finish with foam. Clean pad after each panel..

Same here except that I clean my pads a *LOT* more frequently than that, as in "so frequently you just can`t imagine"

[01svtL]

Thanks for the tips guys. I`ve got about half the Jeep compounded and polished now. I have a newborn at the house, so time only permits to tackle a panel or two at a time anyway. I cleaned the pads in between. It`s not a 100 point show car, but the paint looks much, much better than it did this morning. The blatantly obvious scratches from God knows how many trips through the drive-through carwash are now gone on the panels I`ve tackled so far.

I had applied OptiCoat 2.0 to my previous ride, as well as a few others (much easier to prep a brand new vehicle, haha). I`m not sure what I want to use on the Jeep though. It`s been almost 2 years since I read up on the sealants and coatings. Is there something newer than the OC2.0 on the market now that non-professionals are able to obtain?