Getting started - What to buy? $250 Budget

brewthunda

New member
I'm taking possession of a '95 Toyota MR2 Turbo with 90k miles that has spent most of its life parked outside on the Northern California coast. It has LOTS of scratches, swirl marks, hard water spots etc. The tan colored leather is faded and extremely cracked.



Up until now I've gotten away with just using Mother's car wash soap, zymol and old towels and rags to keep my '01 BMW 325i looking great (Steel Blue Metallic - great at hiding swirl marks and dirt).



I need to do a pretty serious restoration/detailing of the paint and leather on the MR2 and need to know where to start.



I'm figuring that a Porter Cable 7424 and about $100-150 of other car care products will get me started in the right direction.



Can anyone help get me started? What specific products should I buy? If you were starting all over and had a thrashed '95 MR2, what would you buy? There are so many products out there that I'm lost. This forum is great, but I'm having a really hard time finding good starter info.



Note: I believe the MR2 does not have a clearcoat.



Thanks for the help!
 
I would buy:



PC 7424 and Propel pad kit

SSR3

SSR2.5

SSR2

AIO

WG

Nattys

Poorboy's Trim Restorer

VM

Mothers mag/aluminum polish

303



I don't know if $250 would cover the above list or not. Probably not.



Cool car for sure! Please post pictures after you finish your restoration!
 
White95Max said:
I would buy:



PC 7424 and Propel pad kit

SSR3

SSR2.5

SSR2

AIO

WG

Nattys

Poorboy's Trim Restorer

VM

Mothers mag/aluminum polish

303



I don't know if $250 would cover the above list or not. Probably not.



Cool car for sure! Please post pictures after you finish your restoration!



I`d do the same but skip the 2.5 and get 1.



I`d go wtih AIO and UPP and if you have the $ then VM and Nattys.
 
SSR2.5

SSR1

AIO

A good Carnauba wax

A cutting pad (yellow or orange)

Polishing pad (green)

Finishing pad (blue or black)

Microfiber bonnet

1 24x24 or larger WW MF drying towel

3 Pak Shak Ultra Plush Mf towels

3 Pak Shak Ultra Fine MF towels

Poorboy's Natural Look

NXT Insane Shine

Stoners IG



Thanks a good start..........not sure if its under $250.
 
TOL's PC + LC pad kit = 190

Optimum compound = 15

Optimum Polish = 15

nattys blue = 15

AIO = 15



thats around 250.00 but personally id get a claybar and some excel MF's to go with it......



If the clear is gone from the car like you say it might be then i dont think much is going to help you the way you want it to.



BTW love that color you got on the BMW!!!
 
I would go exactly with Max's suggestions. I don't know if you need the SR3 or not, but might not hurt to have it. AIO with Natty's is my current favorite.



-GT
 
Hines said:
If the clear is gone from the car like you say it might be then i dont think much is going to help you the way you want it to.



Ok, I just checked - my car will be a dark green mica color, which is technically a metallic paint and has a clearcoat. The nonmetallic MR2 colors were a single stage enamel.





And THANKS to everyone so far. I know dozens of people must ask these newbie questions everyday and I appreciate your patience. It's very helpful getting a personalized starter list. This info is great. :xyxthumbs
 
Hold on, the 2001 BMW gets Zymol and old rags, but the 10 year old MR2 gets a new $250 detailing supply? Hmmmm.... Just messing around.



Porter Cable $100

cutting pad $12

2x polish pad $20

finish pad m $10

clay $15

WW drying towel $20

WW polishing towels $20

303 protectant $10

OCC $14

OCP $14

AIO $15

EX-P or S100 $15

Leatherique products $????

Meg's APC+ $15

Woolite $5

Invisible Glass $6
 
Question:



I'm finding a lot of these products for decent prices on Amazon (supplied by Autogeek).



The closest thing to "Natty's" that I can find is "Poorboy's Natty's Paste Wax"



B0002UQABG.01-A2B3WACBWPDWRJ._PE19_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg




http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002UQABG/sr=1-3/qid=1129843780



I keep seeing "Natty's" and "Natty's Blue" in the forums here. Is the stuff on the Amazon link the right stuff?



Thanks.
 
brewthunda said:
Question:



I'm finding a lot of these products for decent prices on Amazon (supplied by Autogeek).



The closest thing to "Natty's" that I can find is "Poorboy's Natty's Paste Wax"



B0002UQABG.01-A2B3WACBWPDWRJ._PE19_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg




http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002UQABG/sr=1-3/qid=1129843780



I keep seeing "Natty's" and "Natty's Blue" in the forums here. Is the stuff on the Amazon link the right stuff?



Thanks.

order directly from autogeek if you do, and you can use the discount code "autopia" which will help you out, especially if you spend $100+



can you post a picture of your car and close-ups of your paint? that will help people with providing product suggestions based on your color and paint defects :)
 
FujiFast said:
can you post a picture of your car and close-ups of your paint? that will help people with providing product suggestions based on your color and paint defects :)



Will do. Might be as soon as this weekend.



Thanks guys!
 
BlkTac05 said:
I recommend checking out the Chemical Guy's product lineup as well as some Klasse All In One.



Yeah, what he said regarding Chemical Guys.

Lot of bang for your money, great product/customer support/100% satisfaction gaurantee.

They have available 16oz bottles, so dont be shy just because gallon

sizes are shown on the website.



Best wishes to ya.
 
Happy day - At 3:30 today I became the proud father of a Green Mica '94 Turbo!



It's filthy and needs some TLC, but is pretty solid in general. It was raining today, so I spent the afternoon vacuuming, treating the leather and taking "before" photos.



Wound up blowing my budget by a bit (not too bad) and bought a ton of Chemical Guys stuff. Paul was great to work with and we worked out a pretty good deal. As we talked, he kept throwing in additional products that he wanted me to try for free.



Here's what I bought for the big cleanup (and a lifetime of automotive beauty):



Autopia Car Care:

Porter Cable 7424

Sonus DAS pad kit



Chemical Guys:


EXTREME BodyWash & Synthetic Wax/Gloss Enhancer -SHAMPOO

Bug Bugger Degreaser/Shampoo

LARGE POLY CLAY BAR & LUBRICANT DETAIL SPRAY (VALUE PACK)

LASER BUFF-SCRATCH & SWIRL REMOVER

PRO-POLISH + HIGH GLOSS FINAL STEP POLISH

EXTREME TOP-COAT PAINT SEALANT+ 3X CARNAUBA

XXX HARD-CORE Pure White Carnauba PASTE WAX+Advanced Polymers

Butter Wet Wax-WET LOOK SHINE

EXTREME CITRUS UPHOLSTERY CLEANER (not on web site)

16oz- COMBO LEATHER CLEANER & CONDITIONER

gel-EXTENDED LIFE NEW LOOK TRIM GEL

PREMIUM 100% MICROFIBER TOWELS PINK 16"x16" (1 Dozen)

32" x 44" X-tra Plush 70/30 Waffle Weave Microfiber Drying Towel with Pockets



WalMart:

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Simple Green all purpose cleaner

Miscellaneous tupperware style storage containers

Bucket

Firehose nozzle

Miscellaneous brushes



I've got my work cut out for me!





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Nothing a little soap won't fix:



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Here was my garage wall before Autopia:



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Here's my garage wall after Autopia:



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The two nasty, messy shelves were originally at kidney-stabbing and temple-bashing height. I took them down and moved them well above head height so I can move around in the garage without banging into stuff.



Yeah yeah, the nasty brown walls and torn up pegboard needs to go. Give me time. This is a 52 year old house that I'm dealing with.



Thanks for the help, guys!
 
congrats, i think i smell a t3/t4 hybrid turbo and a massive a2a ic for that thing :-D



it doesnt look that bad from the pics really. give it a few days and you'll have that thing so shiny that people are like, "is that a chrome paint job?"
 
Here it is after a full body wash with Bug Bugger Degreaser/Shampoo, then clay bar and then EXTREME BodyWash & Synthetic Wax/Gloss Enhancer SHAMPOO. Scrubbed the wheels with simple green, then shampoo.



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