So you guys just wanted to make sure after all the info i've gathered on reading these writeups.
Here is what my order will be:
1) Strip wax off the car with a paint cleaner (maybe dawn, maybe something a little bit more situation specific)
2) Fill in the scratches (i'm allocating 3-4 days for this to insure proper drying time between coats and such)
3) wash again with geunine wool wash mit and meguairs gold class car wash
4) Clay the whole car ( i purchased the Sonus Block and Glyde starter bundle)
5) wash yet again with the wool mit and the gold class car wash
6) use the top of the line swirl remover light cut with the OP and a polishing foam pad
7) menzerna final polish with the OP and another polishing foam pad
8) menzerna final polish II with the OP and yet another polishing foam pad
9) 3 coats of top of the line black carnuba wax over three days (done by hand)
and that should be it... i'll take my time on filling in the scratches and hopefully the detailing process should help to match it all up.
So basically 3-4 days for filling in and another long day for the detailing and 2-3 days for additional coats of wax. So basically i'm looking at 7 days of work.
It's not horrible. The batteries don't really last long enough to do a whole car. One battery let me do about 1/4 of the car. I guess it could be usefull for touch-up work in a mobile situation... I had one for a short while before it went on ebay. I have a 7336 now.
It's my goal to get my car to a reallllllllly nice perfect finish. SO i can look at it in the sun after a full day of detailing and finally never see those dreaded spider webs...
You're definitely going to want more than that Wen if this is your goal. It's going to be a lot of work and it will take a lot of time but it sounds like you're dedicated. The process you posted should work well. You might want to consider a sealant as step 9. Good luck and welcome.
As splattj mentioned, it doesn't have enough power to use with a polish for defect removal. It can come in handy to apply a quick coat of wax to your car, or to apply AIO or VM to windows, bumpers, trim, etc., but for the swirl removers/polishes you plan to use it won't do the job properly.
Your cheapest alternative is to buy a PC 7336 at Lowes for about $100, then about $30-$60 for good pads/backing plate. I know that sounds like a lot of $$$, but you'll really appreciate how much more you can do with a PC, not only for this job, but for years to come.
You don't really need to use dawn dish soap to remove the old wax. Any Paintwork Cleanser will do just fine.
I wouldn't go crazy polishing and waxing the repaired areas right away. The fresh paint may still be "wet". After you've filled them in and leveled everything down wet sand it again (2000 grit paper) and just glaze that area by hand.
The Wen is a nice little unit but it's limited in what it can do. It will give you good even application of waxes and glazes, even chemical cleaners. It just lacks the power and orbital throw to effectively work the surface with cutting and leveling products. Normally it wouldn't be up to removing wet-sanding scratches. Maybe you can get away with it on a small spot touch up if you're patient.
For spot buffing TOL has a 3" rotary pad and backing plate for use in electric drills that might work better.
Don't worry about Dawn washing the touch up spot. You'll need to use Prep-Sol, Pre or some other solvent on that area anyway.
For the rest of the car any kind of chemical cleaner, cutting or non-cutting, will take off the wax.
The whole adventure will be a bit of work but well worth it. (At least we know you'll be well fed for the exercise, mmmmm Afghan cuisine...)
Hey guys, well i luckilly got the wen corded polisher. Actually didn't even see the cordless one when i was ordering. I've always hated cordless power tools anyways. The cordless is rated at 2900 OPMS and the corded at 4000 OPMS. Is this still not enough power? :-(
Could it be residual wax pressed into existing scratches? Sounds like something like that. I have seen this happen to people when paste wax is applied to a finish and residue is left in deep scratches. This makes the scratch suddenly visible. Did they use a paste/cleaner wax ? If so, you are lucky, they are probably not all the way through the paint and can be minimized hopefully.:xyxthumbs
for now 4000 opms eh we'll see... $39 so yea whatever, at least it's not as hard for me to screw up.