Beginner's detailing plan of attack - suggestions?

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DrummerJim50

New member
New to the detailing forum and looking to get into some serious detailing on my cars. I recently bought a PC 7336SP from Lowes. My car is about 2 years old, 35k miles, silver color. Here is what I was thinking as a plan of attack for my car so let me know what you think:



1. Wash

2. P21S gel wheel cleaner

3. Mothers Clay bar all the way around

4. Some type of mild polish

5. Four Star Ultimate Paint Cleanser

6. Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection.

7. Some type of wax

8. 303 Aerospace for all seals and exterior black plastic/rubber/tires



I'm planning on buying the Sonus SFX pad kit which has one of each of the three pads, backing plate, and buffing bonnets. Because I'm using the 4-Star paint cleaner and paint protection I'll have to buy another SFX-3 pad so I don't have to use the same one for both. Are the SFX pads better than the DAS pads?



My main question is about what kind of polish to use. At this point I'm planning on buying this stuff from the autopia store, but their selection of polishes seems very limited. Meguiars #83 seems a little harsher than I need. I saw the Sonus polishes, and it looks like I would need to buy both the SFX-2 and SFX-3 to get the best finish....are those any good? Is there another polish that you would recommend?.....I was hoping to get one polish (not two like the Sonus) that would do the job.



What are some other good websites to buy detailing stuff?



Thanks!
 
DrummerJim50- Welcome to Autopia!



On our silver Mazda, I use the recently discontinued (but still commonly available) 3M PI-III RC (05933) and MG (905937). Sometimes you can get by with just the MG, but it pays to have both on hand. A polish that's fine enough for the final finish might not be strong enough for your worst marring.



I get mine from HERE



I wouldn't bother topping the UPP with wax. Just add more UPP from time to time.
 
Thanks for the info...I ordered both those the other day. For future reference, what do you think about Auto Magic products? I wanted to buy stuff here locally (to save shipping and to see what I was buying first) and called a few detailing shops and they said that Auto Magic was all they used, and that many dealers use it as well. I guess there is a rep who sells the stuff off the truck around here.
 
Sorry, but I'm not familiar with the AutoMagic line. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the pros here have used it though, so you might want to either do a search or start a new thread asking about it.
 
I bought the Sonus DAS pad kit and both of those polishes the other day. Being a beginner, should I try to use the RC stuff the first time I use the machine, or should I wait until I've done it a few times? Use the orange cutting pad for that stuff? When you use it, do you normally use it on the whole car or just small sections?



I'm not sure if my car even needs the RC but I guess I'll see when I polish it, although the car has never been polished in two years.
 
DrummerJim50 said:
I bought the Sonus DAS pad kit and both of those polishes the other day. Being a beginner, should I try to use the RC stuff the first time I use the machine, or should I wait until I've done it a few times? Use the orange cutting pad for that stuff? When you use it, do you normally use it on the whole car or just small sections?



I'm not sure if my car even needs the RC but I guess I'll see when I polish it, although the car has never been polished in two years.
Click to expand...



Jim - Glad to see you made it over here from msprotege.com! :wavey



I would use the RC would an orange pad, yes. A yellow pad would also work.



Always start with the least aggressive method first, to see if that fixes whatever defects you're trying to correct. For an average car, the swirls/oxidation that is in one area is usually similar on the rest of the car. Horizontal surfaces are often worse. So for most applications, the same polish/pad would be appropriate for the entire car, or at least the horizontal areas.



I hope you'll post lots of pics when you're done! :)





Ultimate Paint Cleanser (UPC) and Ultimate Paint Protection (UPP) should be a great combo on silver. I love how UPP looks on light colors.



BTW, good choice on the P21S Wheel Cleaner. That stuff is great for even terrible brake dust.
 
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