Neglected 3 year old finish

[derrickm]

I'm going to suprise my wife this weekend and finally give her car the "treatment". I've only been paying attention to my last two cars since I started learning how to do things the "Autopia Way":xyxthumbs I know....i'm slack....



Anyway, the car is a 99 Pontiac Grand Prix GT, white and has never been taken care of. It gets washed about every week, but has never been waxed or polished or anything outside of washing it.



Suprisingly, it's not in that bad shape. It's white so that probably helps. You can see swirls if the light hits it just right and there isn't that much damage to the paint that I can see.



Here's my plan:



Wash (i guess it would be useless to Dawn wash?? opinions?)

Clay

3m SMR or FI-II with my PC

PPCL with my PC (should I skip this?)

AIO with my PC

SG by hand

Maybe Blitz...not sure yet



Any other advice or opinions?



I've never used the SMR or the FI-II before so I'm a little nervous about that. Any help with that will be great.

 

[Bobby G]

If the paint has not been treated in 3 years, I would recommend using PPCL as the first treatment. This will save your clay from picking up large particles. Otherwise, your clay bar will be shot after one use.



Other than that, you're on the right track.



db

 

[imported_BretFraz]

You'll find both the SMR and FI2 to be very easy to use with the PC. Using either with the cutting pad is a good first step. Both will take some time to work in fully so use a little bit and polish until its virtually gone; crank up the PC to 6 to get it finished.



Remember to use a separate pad for each polish and you'll be OK.



I'm sure you've found the threads discussing Klasse use; they're your best guide to those products.



Don't forget to AIO the wheels, clean the tires and wheelwells, rinse off the motor, clean and polish the door and trunk jambs, etc, etc.



Good luck. Be sure to post some before & after pics.

 

[derrickm]

I'm sure you've found the threads discussing Klasse use; they're your best guide to those products.



Don't forget to AIO the wheels, clean the tires and wheelwells, rinse off the motor, clean and polish the door and trunk jambs, etc, etc.



Good luck. Be sure to post some before & after pics.

I've got lots of experience with Klasse and detailing in general (the Autopia way). I've just never tried any of my "skills" on a car that wasn't new.



Thanks for the other tips though:xyxthumbs