2StepsAhead
New member
Ok, first off I have a 2006 Mitsubishi Evo with craptastic black paint. I recently bought a meguiars clay bar, meguiars 3 stage and had some nxt from my WRX that I have laying around and decided I would try to detail the car...car came out "ok" but when I put a halogen light up to it I can still see some swirls in the paint...so my questions begin.
1) I have been reading reviews of products and have been leaning heavily into getting a pc kit with either poorboys or optimum as my chemicals. Is it REALLY worth it to pc my car to perfection since it my daily driver, has no garage and I park it in a dirt lot regularly? Like I don't want to polish it and remove clear coat and have to do it regularly to keep a mar-free finish. This is also a consideration I took when purchasing products...no sense in getting the creme de la creme if its going to just get beaten on regularly, just want something that's a great bang for the buck.
2) What wattage halogen lights should I get? Is it worth it to spend an extra $15-$20 on 1000 watts over the 500 watts? Or is lighting just lightning?
3) Are there any outlines in what I need to create a good starter kit? Like I see some products that over lap such as cleaner and conditioners for leather, cleaner and sealant waxes, polishes with carnuba etc..
Like is there a basic check list I should worry about purchasing and then add in some of those other pieces just to make my life easier?
I figured for paint I basically need a polish or cleaner wax, a sealant and a topped probably just carnuba or a synthetic wax that I can just apply to keep the sealant protected. I was then looking into a leather conditioner / cleaner either poorboys leather stuff of the lexol wipes. Maybe a rubber / vinyl dressing to keep my window trims black and I could maybe double that up for tire dressing.
4) Should I just use dressing to keep my trims black or one of those wax erasers?
I know its kinda a lot to ask, but I keep getting conflicting posts...everyone pushes pc's and I get why, but I don't want to think short term and eat away my clear coat just to try and remain swirl free. I also need to read up on rain x and scratch x because I keep getting hazing when it rains with the rain x and the scratch x barely made a dent in a few light scratches I have and left the paint kinda hazey.
1) I have been reading reviews of products and have been leaning heavily into getting a pc kit with either poorboys or optimum as my chemicals. Is it REALLY worth it to pc my car to perfection since it my daily driver, has no garage and I park it in a dirt lot regularly? Like I don't want to polish it and remove clear coat and have to do it regularly to keep a mar-free finish. This is also a consideration I took when purchasing products...no sense in getting the creme de la creme if its going to just get beaten on regularly, just want something that's a great bang for the buck.
2) What wattage halogen lights should I get? Is it worth it to spend an extra $15-$20 on 1000 watts over the 500 watts? Or is lighting just lightning?
3) Are there any outlines in what I need to create a good starter kit? Like I see some products that over lap such as cleaner and conditioners for leather, cleaner and sealant waxes, polishes with carnuba etc..
Like is there a basic check list I should worry about purchasing and then add in some of those other pieces just to make my life easier?
I figured for paint I basically need a polish or cleaner wax, a sealant and a topped probably just carnuba or a synthetic wax that I can just apply to keep the sealant protected. I was then looking into a leather conditioner / cleaner either poorboys leather stuff of the lexol wipes. Maybe a rubber / vinyl dressing to keep my window trims black and I could maybe double that up for tire dressing.
4) Should I just use dressing to keep my trims black or one of those wax erasers?
I know its kinda a lot to ask, but I keep getting conflicting posts...everyone pushes pc's and I get why, but I don't want to think short term and eat away my clear coat just to try and remain swirl free. I also need to read up on rain x and scratch x because I keep getting hazing when it rains with the rain x and the scratch x barely made a dent in a few light scratches I have and left the paint kinda hazey.
