Major Detail suggestions please: Product and Methodology gurus please help!

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imported_Yogujuhere

New member
Hey guys, I'm new to detailing and would like to get serious about it. I want to get started, but i'm trying to get all my products and methods in order. I've compiled a list of products the order I want to do it in and I wanted to get approval and suggestions on this from you detailing gurus. I also had a few questions and need some advice.



The car: A 2001 Lexus IS300 Onyx Black in color. Apparently this is pretty soft paint. It has oxidation spots, swirls all over the place, all oem paint except for the front and rear bumper, some deep seated tree sap and bird poop stains, and the occasional deep scratch (some down to the primer). There are also numerous rock chips on the front hood which i'd like to address. To combat all this i've compiled a list, but I am unsure with a lot as i'm a complete newbie. Please include any suggestions with the order list and products that I'm using. Thanks so much,



Here goes:



Procedure:



-Prewash with DP extreme foam with Gilmour Foam Gun (have already)

-Wash wheels with P21S wheel cleaner gel and Boar's Head Brush

-Wash with P21S auto wash using white schmitt and 2 bucket method

-Dry with waffle weave microfiber and leaf blower

-Clay - (i would like a recommendation for this --> don't know which one to use. Which i've heard of chemical guys blue clay medium duty with their lubricant. Was thinking about getting that.)

-Wash the car again and dry

-Tackle Rockchips



Question: What's the best way to get rid of rock chips? Would a compound take care of it? Should I use touch up paint on all of the rock chips and then wet sand them? Please advise :)

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- Exhaust treat with #0000 wool pad and Mother's Mag and Aluminum Wheel Polish



Question: I want to move onto compounding. Should I compound the whole car? Or do I compound in sections of where I see deep scratches or tree sap or bird poop? Is this the right level of compound strength I should use?



- Using a Porter Cable 7424 and a Lake Country’s CCS Yellow Cutting Pad conditioned with a pad conditioner, I will compound using MENZERNA POWER GLOSS COMPOUND



- 3M Headlight Restoration Kit



- Polish Windows with ZAINO GLASS POLISH and Lake country GPS-55

- Polish paint with a Menzerna Intermediate Polish



Question: Which Menzerna Polish would fit me best? I see a lot of people use Menzerna Intensive Polish however, the product description says its for scratch resistant paint. The car i'm polishing doesn't have that. Then the intensive polish cannot be used on oem paint (says the menzerna product chart on autogeek.net). So i'm stuck trying to find out which one to use...



- Polish paint with a Menzerna Finishing Polish



Question: Again, which polish would fit me best? I hear that PO106FA is very good, but I want to make sure I'm making the best decision.



- Glaze Car with:



Question: I also don't know which glaze to you and would humbly request a suggestion. Maybe Menzerna Finishing Glaze



- 1Z Gummi Pflege on Rubber Trim.



- Wax - Dodo Supernatural Wax 2 coats. Should I apply this with an applicator pad by hand? Or with the 7424? Or completely just by hand?



- NXT 2.0 for the wheels. Apparently i've heard from a lot of people that poorboy's wheel sealent performed not as well as expected. I've heard that nxt 2.0 is good for wheels. Any opinions?





I need to buy basically everything on this list and also need suggestions on my tools. I want to get a Porter Cable 7424 for all of this, however I want to know what kind of size backing plate to get and what kind of pads to get. What are the best pads I should be using for this? (brands and size)





Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooo much for any advice you can all give me.







Hiral
 
Yogujuhere- Welcome to Autopia!



I suspect you're not getting any prompt responses because what you're asking is pretty involved...as in "I have some land, how do I build a house?". No, that's not an exaggeration ;)



People are being nice in not just responding "go search" ;) But that's a good starting point. Pretty much everything you've asked has already been discussed here many, many times and each part of your inquiry would take a looong time to answer.



I like giving newbie-advice, but even I am a bit overwhelmed here! Here's what I can offer:



First, you oughta do some research. How to DIY stonechips is a good example: there is *so* much info to impart that it could fill a small book. There are how-to guides (check the "Articles" tab at the top of the screen and search on the subject) with lots of good info. I wouldn't be too worried about wetsanding the touchups at this point, that'll only make the whole job even more overwhelming. To be honest, *I* probably wouldn't even bother with the chips for now.



Note that what you have planned would take many days if done in one (long drawn-out) project. I suggest that you break it down into small jobs or else the car might be off the road for a long time.



You'll need good lighting, at least a set of halogen worklights. You'll need a clean work environment. Most importantly, you'll need a clear understanding of what you're trying to accomplish, how you're gonna do that, and why...you have to understand this stuff *conceptually* first. It's not rocket science but it's often more involved than people expect.



VERY short version: I'd wash the car and clay it, probably with ClayMagic Blue. *I* would wash it using a decontamination system from AutoInt or FinishKare (there's a *LOT* of info on these systems here, well worth the dreaded search).



Then I'd use two polishes, probably Meguiar's M105 (first with a 4" orange pad until the marring is corrected to your satisfaction, then with a 4" white pad) and M205 (with a white pad). I dunno if that'll leave a nice-enough finish on Lexus paint but it won't be *bad* by any means. I'd use use them on the headlights/etc. too...keep this simple for now.



Then I'd wax it with something durable like Collinite. No glaze, no sealant, just the Collinite.



That will take at least a few days and oughta take the car from it's current condition to "much better". *THEN* you can try tackling things in a more involved manner, doing small jobs (perhaps one panel at a time) after each regular wash....that's *IF* you find you want to get a lot more involved with this stuff instead of saying "good enough".



Note that correcting a black car, in the condition you described, will be quite a challenge. Keeping it nice will be another challenge.
 
Yogujuhere said:
Can someone help me out??????
Click to expand...



I asked a similar question and got only one response. I was hoping for a flood of information like I have seen some other questions get. I figured it was too much asked and it would take a lot of time for a meaningful answer and not a lot of people are up for that.



For what it's worth, you sound like you have done some reading and your product list looks like what others here use to get good results. So I'd say go for it and once you get started I am sure you will find what works for you and what you like.



That is how we end up with so many products, we try it all out and use what works and the other stuff takes up room on a shelf. I think that is what you are looking for as well as what I was looking for, buying what you need and not taking up a lot of room with a bunch of stuff that you won't use. You'd save some money and keep your space :2thumbs:



Well, good luck...
 
FYI: Internet Detailing Resources for Newbs.



Accumulator is absolutely right. Simplify your process. Don't worry about the rock chips at this point. Just try to get your car looking good. You can always get more complicated and ambitious later on. Detailing is a lot more exhausting and time-consuming than you are anticipating, and your car is going to be a challenge.



I cannot comment on your choice of polishes. Menzerna is top-of-the-line, so it's hard to see how you can go wrong with it. I'm sure the pros will make some suggestions on which ones to get. But Meguiar's M105/M205 combo is definitely worth considering.



I wouldn't worry about a glaze. That's just one more additional step. Simplify! Pace yourself.



Supernatural is a great (and expensive!) wax, but on a car this beat up, I have to go with Accumulator. Get some durable protection on it. Collinite has three excellent, reasonably priced waxes: 845, 476s, and 915. Take your pick. After all the polishing you will be doing on your car, any of these will look very good. 845 is the easiest to work with and is the one I'd personally recommend. But there are so many good waxes out there. ScottWax really likes Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax. Of course, if you have already purchased the Supernatural, then you are set.



Good luck and have fun! :2thumbs:
 
Thanks you guys very much for your responses. I really do appreciate it. I'm sorry for making this post really long, but I just wanted to be sure. I do realize that this is a serious undertaking and will take a LONG time. I was planning on spending a good 4 days on the whole project with the help of a friend on 2 of those days. The reason I was asking these questions are for 2 reasons; I didn't want to buy something that others had experience with and deemed average-low in performance... and 2, I wanted to make sure with my procedures, that I am not making a mistake and that I was doing the best that I could, to keep it upstanding. The most important reason I am trying to be as thorough as I can is truly because I want the best results and I don't want to mess up my paint at ALL. I understand your reasonings to take things slow, but the way I feel is that if I am working on the car already while all the wax and sealants are off, why not fix it then. I really really do appreciate your responses and I hope you guys can help me out in anyway that you can.





Thanksss



Hiral
 
For some reason, my previous post didn't show up. I thank you guys for your responses to my post, I really do appreciate it. I see that my post was very long and it overwhelmed people into responding. I totally understand that. I wanted to be very thorough with the whole process and that's why I guess it was so long. You guys have said that I should simplify my process down and slow it down to pace myself. I understand why you all have said that. I planned on spending about 4 days total on this entire process with the help of a friend for 2 days. The reason why I wanted to do this paint correction now was because I would have had all the wax and sealants completely stripped now and I had the "well while its all off why not work on it now" mentality. I still feel as though I should work on it now rather than later. Your resources that you have mentioned are very very informative and I will review them very thoroughly... I really really appreciate your responses and I will try to post up pictures of this car as soon as I can. I want to get this car to look incredibly good. I do realise its not a $100k car and its older, but I want to see how good this car can look. People say sky is the limit when it comes to detailing, however I've been looking over the prodetailer posts and before and after pages and I want to get to a level that they achieve. Thanks again guys and please keep the responses coming. I humbly appreciate all of your advise....







Hiral
 
Yogujuhere- Glad you're taking the responses the right way and not seeing them as a blow-off. Also glad to hear you have realistic expectations about how nice you'll get the car given its age and miles.



I understand completely about how the time can just seem *right* to do the job and yeah, it sounds like you oughta do it now.



With four days, two with helper, I stick by my original plan.



DO NOT extrapolate from what you see on the Pro Forum. Seriously. I do jobs like what you're considering when I buy used vehicles and I've been doing this for a long, long time. Working with a PC, I'd be hard-pressed to do a job I'd be satisfied with in four days, helper or not, and that's working pretty much round-the-clock.



Yeah, Menzerna polishes are good. No, they're not the easiest, most user-friendly products on the market and those are the characteristics I'd weigh most heavily. Hence my recommendation of the Meg's M105/M205. I want to minimize the chances of something going haywire.



There's simply no way to overstate how big and difficult an undertaking this will be. After you've done it a few dozen times it'll be a lot easier, but for now it'll be a challenge.



Consider that each 2' x 2' (and I work smaller areas than that) section will require the following, done more than once, perhaps numerous times:



-Polish a panel until the polish is almost dry, then buff it off.



-Change the lighting from work illumination to what's optimal *inspection* illumination.



-Inspect from various angles and distances, noting your progress or lack of same.



-Change lights back. Clean pad with QD/towel, apply more polish, work the same area some more to remove residual marring, buff it off.



-Repeat inspection process. No way to overstate the importance of good inspection performed at regular intervals. I'd also recommend pulling the car outside now and then to see how things look in natural sunlight, which *will* show things differently than artificial lighting.



-Repeat entire process as needed until marring is reduced to acceptable level on the whole car. Plan on every section requiring numerous "passes" even with the M105 (which is pretty aggressive stuff).



-THEN move on to the milder polish/pad combo(s) and redo the car (again in 2' x 2' sections) with those.



-Perform meticulous final inspection of polishing (this will take a while and you'll find things you need to go back and redo).



-THEN wax the car.



-Perform final inspection.



And...ack, harsh reality warning!....after, oh eight or ten hours of polishing (that'd probably be just the first step, with the M105/4" orange pad combo and M105 by hand in the tight spots) you might just decide that the car simply needs repainted! That "sky's the limit" bit only applied to cars with plenty of paint to work with and not-too-awful marring. There *is* a limit to what you can do on most normal vehciles (whatever "normal" means ;) ).
 
Maybe my opinion doesn't mean a lot but like you I'm just starting out. I'm reading about detailing for about 2 years now (but I bought G110 2 months ago). At first all I wanted to do was to compound my car to get is as perfect as possible. Then after reading this and other forums I realized that if I want to learn how to "proper" detail a car I new to learn in "proper" order. I started out from the (in my opinion most important) washing method. What would be the point of polishing the car to perfection and then after the next wash go back to the starting point. :think: Then I have moved to claying etc. Now I'm in the process of paint polishing. As per advice of one of forum members I'm taking it slow starting with really mild polishes to practice. So my advice to you would be to learn, learn and LEARN, from this forum as it has a lot of great and skilled people and most of them are willing to help. Good luck to you. :xyxthumbs
 
For polishing with a Porter Cable I would research the Kevin Brown Method using Meguiars M105 and a Lake Country Orange 6.5 inch pad. Then follow up with M205 on a Lake Country White CCS 6.5 inch pad.



I am a rotary user and find myself choosing the porter cable/M105 method as my prefered way of removing defects. This product combination has the potential to fix just about any condition paint depending on the amount of time you are willing to invest learning and perfecting the process.
 
Heh heh, seems like the M105/M205 is pretty much becoming the standard answer these days :D



TH0001- Am I reading you right...are you really reaching for the PC/M105 instead of your rotary?



A 6.5" pad on the PC huh? OK, I get the way M105 cuts but it still seems just *so* easy to bog the PC with such a big pad :think: I really liked how the PC/M105 worked with 4" pads, but then I'm always touting the little pads on the PC anyhow.



Oh...and OK, I'll come right out and ask you to save me a search:



Is the Kevin Brown Method the reactivate-with-water/QD method, or is there more to it than that?
 
Doing a Google search, I found the following 105 method attributed to Kevin Brown:



1. Prime an orange pad with a good amount of M105. I draw lines accross the pad and fold it in half.



2. Press the pad onto a MF or clean cotton towel on a table and turn on your PC/Flex to 1 for about 20 seconds.



3. Apply a pea sized dot of M105 to the pad.



4. PC on 6 or flex on 5- Apply alot of pressure and go slow working a 18"x18" area. Do not wipe off.



5. Prime an grey LC pad the same way as above. PC on 4, go over the area with the grey pad using less pressure. Wipe and inspect. Sometimes I need some IPA to get the panel to wipe clean.



Now on a silver or white paint, you might be done here. I find that on darker colors I go over the entire car again with ZPC.



When you do the 2nd section, run the pad into the MF again. You will find that you will get less cut each time. So I use the pad on 2 sections and get out a fresh pad. Of course you have to prime that pad too.



I do not know if the above accurately represents Kevin's technique nor if this is the method Todd is using.
 
akimel- Ah, OK...thanks for posting that. We'll see if that's what everybody's using as the KB method.



One thing I *don't* get is that "PC on 6..apply a lot of pressure". If I apply a lot of pressure with the PC and a large pad it just does the "jiggling" thing.
 
Does "A lot" of pressure constitute leaning on the buffer, or just pushing down with your arms?



I correct with the Excel Erasure 5.5" Flat pads, and they are great, I think they are just small enough that they don't bog down the PC. I've applied some decent pressure and it's worked as normal.



I'll definitely try this method out though.
 
WhiteStripes said:
Does "A lot" of pressure constitute leaning on the buffer, or just pushing down with your arms?



I correct with the Excel Erasure 5.5" Flat pads, and they are great, I think they are just small enough that they don't bog down the PC. I've applied some decent pressure and it's worked as normal..
Click to expand...



Hmm..guess "a lot of pressure" is gonna mean very different things depending on who's exerting that pressure :think:



I haven't used 5" pads for a while, but I never had much trouble bogging the PC with them and it never *seemed* like I was applying all that much pressure. But that was back before there were good PC-friendly aggressive products, and I had to press a lot harder then than I have to now-a-days.



I sure wasn't leaning on it really hard or anything...at least I never thought so.



But again, I'm betting that there are a scad of variables in play here.



Mike Phillips always talks about applying roughly 20 lbs of pressure max. measured by putting the [PC type machine] on a bathroom scale and pressing down to see what 20 lbs. of pressure feels like.
 
The deeper the defects the more pressure you will want to apply. Yes Accum, the pad is just left with the jiggle method with the pressure I apply. I find that the pad is done after using it on 2 sections. I ordered a package of 5 orange pads from american buffing company the other week and they are working great so far. I have used them in the past and they hold up well.



So I spray a little APC on the pad when its "done" rinse it out in the sink, spin it with a rotary (about the only use that my 2 rotarys are getting as of late) Then I use my air movers to dry them before the next use.



We did 5 straight IPA wipedowns on a section of a car the other day after using the KB M105 method and nothing came back. 3 wipedowns will usually remove the fillers on every other (filling) product that I have used.
 
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