White F150: Super Finish Polish and What Next?

[2019F150]

I used to be into the detailing thing pretty deep about 5-6 years ago. Couple kids and rolling a beater car kinda got me out of it. I have a new F150, I threw a single stage polish on it last weekend and sealed it up but most of the products seemed to have changed since I left.

I want to do a super fine finish polish and then what? I used to be a Zaino fan (still am, don’t care, not gonna argue it lol).

Now there’s ceramics and polymers. What finish polish for that last stage and then...

Advice appreciated. I’d add a truck pic but hell if I know how.

[Accumulator]

2019F150- Welcome to Autopia, and Welcome Back to the Detailing thing.

Just FWIW, some of us are still doing perfectly OK with stuff that`s old-tech. If it worked then it oughta work now.

Zaino doesn`t have the durability/etching resistance I want, but if you liked it then IMO you could do worse than going with the familar.

BUT there sure are a lot of "Ceramic"/etc. products on the market these days so if you want to try something new you have plenty of things to choose from.

Q on the Finishing Polish: Does it need it? Like..in *your* opinion when you look at it critically. Yeah, some of us are all particular about such things, but that doesn`t mean everybody needs to be.

Note that I really like that you`re gonna take such good care of your new truck. Far too many people adapt the "farm truck" mentality about *any* such vehicle and with what they cost these days...

What color is it? Just curious, doubt it`d affect my product choices.

[2019F150]

This one is white. I had a black trailblazer SS back in 2012 or 13. And I got kind of obsessed with black so I went white this time LOL. I just want to get it nice and cleaned up and polished and perfect and then just maintain it. I do like the Zeno, but I’d like to put some sort of basecoat/sealant on it and then maybe try some of the new spray on polymers or ceramic coating. I don’t know the benefits or differences of them anymore. Plus with the lockdown, I got time. So another 10 hours on a polisher seems like a good idea.

This definitely won’t be a farm truck. I had it two weeks and dropped it on 24” Vossens. It’s gonna be a detailer baby.

[Accumulator]

2019F150- Heh heh, that sounds great to me! Ford`s white (which I gather no longer peels off) can be really striking when it`s done right, it oughta look great when you`re done!

I would think on the Finish Polishing though..they`re putting clear on mighty thin these days.

[2019F150]

I didn’t think jeweling would remove much?

[Accumulator]

I didn’t think jeweling would remove much?

Every little bit counts IMO..we *are* talking mere microns over the entire life of the vehicle.

I`ve basically quit doing the whole Burnishing thing..and I sure would *not* do it unless the vehicle stays marring-free for ages. If somebody needs to polish out visible flaws after a few years I`d think it`s a bad idea, but that`s just me.

On the Ford white, I absolutely would not do it. I got `01 Performance White better than is reasonably appreciable without doing what *I* consider Burnishing; I didn`t settle for the finish that M205 leaves, for instance, but I didn`t take it much past that either. Not like I have done on a few in the past..if you`ve gone beyond basic "remove any visible micromarring" I really do think it`ll be plenty good enough even by Autopian standards (and remember that I`m the guy who says "clearcoat is clearcoat" as in- treat while and silver the same as you would black).

[Stokdgs]

I didn’t think jeweling would remove much?

2019F150 -- Congrats on the new Truck !

You said you were Detailing years ago - great !

Were you doing paint correction back then? What machine/s were you using, with what brand, and size of pads ?

Have also been all the way around and back with Zaino products, starting around 20 years ago.. Had it down to a science.. I still use some of them..

Dan F

[Dr Oldz]

I am one for using a finishing polish just to maintain a finish. Even if it doesn’t really need it. It will deep clean the paint removing ground in and built up road grime and staining. The amount of clear removed using a finish polish is so minuscule that it is a non issue even with how thin modern cleats are. Now repeated compounding is very different and wouldn’t suggest doing that “often”

[Stokdgs]

I am one for using a finishing polish just to maintain a finish. Even if it doesn’t really need it. It will deep clean the paint removing ground in and built up road grime and staining. The amount of clear removed using a finish polish is so minuscule that it is a non issue even with how thin modern cleats are. Now repeated compounding is very different and wouldn’t suggest doing that “often”

+1 on using a Finishing Polish to maintain a corrected finish.. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a few years I used Optimum Finish and then they discontinued it.. It worked really great to give you that last bit of gloss, clarity, and really clean, ready for Coating paintwork..

I`m not sure why it went away, and do not frequent the Optimum Forum, so I`m guessing they got too much flack about how it eventually separates in the bottle and it really requires a shake-n-bake, to get it usable again..

I believe for those that are certified Optimum Buyers of their $$$ Coating, they supply another Finish type product to use before applying the $$$ Coating ...

Oh well, they still sell their Hyper-Polish which is pretty darn good as well..
Dan F

[Accumulator]

I suspect that other people`s vehicles (even many other Autopians` ) are far less pampered than ours are and/or that they aren`t already beyond withstanding any more abrasion. Note that some of those "no more" sections have *never* been aggressively compounded, just subjecting them to "the usual minor correction" for a few decades was enough to overthin them, and those started out with thicker clear than is used these days.

Situational factors become controlling; can`t generalize (in either direction); do what`s right for *you*; etc. etc.

In the case of the new F150, Ford isn`t using as much clear as they used to and I was thinking very long-term.