New convert and advice. on finish..

[frito]

I have always liked a clean car but I never really to the step to true detail etc.



I started with Meg. cleaner wax. Then when Gold class came out I switched. Then Consumers said Black Magic was better I jumped again. On the last one the result of Black Magic was very good but the it took work to realize it.



Anyway, I spent time with my car Friday with good results but I have questions from the pros.



Two cars, mine is a 5 year old Subaru Forester. Silver in color with paint in good to very good condition minus nicks etc. I used meg. scratch x with a rotary and a big 3m grey pad. I had NO idea what I was doing but it was Christmas and I had some wine I did very little harm and it really turned out nice. I added wax and all was good. This car has been a bit neglected but never through a car wash except touchless. Swirls are very few at all. None really. I have washed it with simple green, dish soap etc during winters and it is still alive. I am always very anal about washing and this seems to help.



Friday I picked up some meg clay, Adams revive polish, and butter wax along with NXT.

I used them in that order. I tried the NXT to see if it made much difference. I think it added a bit of the wet look. Anyway, the outcome is nice even if the butter wax is a little average. The revive polish seemed very good. Can my car get even better? Will Collinite or Collinite with say p21s be even better? If I make a change do I need to strip what is one it?





Second, my wifes 1 year old mazda5 with white pearl paint looks horrible. Not swirled but rarely washed, with the"built in" dirt option. I want to wash it with strong detergent, clay, collinite and call it good. Will the Collinite bring out the beautiful pearl paint? I know this car will not get the attention I give mine so ease of use and durability are tre important...



Any suggestions? Here is a phone pic of my Forester today!

 

[Accumulator]

frito- Welcome to Autopia!



Your experiences with your Forester prove that you don't need to be utterly off-the-deep-end to get good results :xyxthumbs



Can it get better? Sure, almost *any* vehicle can get better, just a matter of how far you want to take this stuff Heh heh, after mine look "great" by any standard, I'm only about 2/3 of the way to the look *I* want!



Please polish that Mazda Seriously, it's just gotta be marred up and a good polishing will do wonders for it. Same for the Subie...I don't mean to be :nono but I'd absolutely bet my life that if you get them in the right lighting you'll see all sorts of swirls/etc. My last Subaru and Mazda were both imperfect from the dealer having just removed the transit film.



I'm not familiar with the Adams Revive, so maybe it's all you need. If you only went over each panel once I bet they just need more/better polishing.



But my standard recommendation for people starting to get serious about this stuff is to use 1Z brand Paint Polish topped with Collinite brand wax (soureces: Welcome to Exceldetail.com! or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing, Auto Detailing Supplies, Auto Detailing Equipment, Auto Detailing Products, & Auto Detailing Accessories for all your Automobile Detailing ).



Note that 99% of the looks come from the prep, the LSP (Last Step Product, i.e., "wax") doesn't add much of anything except protection. The paint should look as good as you want it *before* you apply the wax.



It's not that Collinite will look better, it'll provide better protection and durability (and will shed dirt better). The appearance differences between LSPs are usually pretty subtle and pale in comparison with the differences between how various preps (polishes, pads and most importantly how they're used) will leave the paint.

 

[frito]

Thanks a lot for this advice. I will check out the 1Z brand paint polish. I think the Adams revive is CC revive glaze. I was suprised how much it brought the life into the paint. Better than a cleaner wax.



I have Collinite 845 and 476 on the way. I will take your advice and polish the cars. I like her white since you see very little swirls etc but it just looks bad right now and dirt sticks like glue.



If I want to use a very mild pad is that good with the 1Z? By the way what is a good pad for light work?

 

[Accumulator]

If I want to use a very mild pad is that good with the 1Z? By the way what is a good pad for light work?

For 6-6.5" pads I like LC white or the Meguiar's 8006 or the Griot's orange polishing pad (note that this is a very different pad compared to everybody *else's* orange ones). If you want something milder than that I'd use the LC gray/black or the Meguiar's 9006. For larger pads you oughta get somebody else's opinion (I rarely use the larger sizes). For smaller pads I like the Cyclo and Sonus ones.