Spring is almost here (although you wouldn't think it given the latest cold-weather splash we just got in the north east), and it was my birthday a few days ago, so I got myself a PC 7424, pads and lots of other goodies!
Here's a pic of almost everything I have as far as products:
What's there (sort of left-to-right):
So, would the autopian experts and readers be so kind as to give me a check-over my planned list for the first big job on my now 1yr old red altima?
First, the car pics: just check out http://trinity.cs-i.brandeis.edu/~eddie/gallery/carTime ; it's basically this:
For those who have 350Z's, it's my understanding this code red se-r exclusive color is the same paint code (A20) that is used in the 350Z red.
What my car has after one year other than normal stuff is a fair amount of swirls and webbing due to the fact that I had to use a car wash (a good one, but still...) over the winter. Fairly often, even. I just hate seeing my car salted and muddy.
Ok, here's what I think I'm doing:
The summer wheels, before going on the car will get washed and I'll use the wheel wax w/ an applicator.
So, I appreciate those who read this far -- tips? advice? corrections? I'm all ears. It'll probably be a week (or more?) before I get started, given the weather.
Thank you, you guys are the best :xyxthumbs
Here's a pic of almost everything I have as far as products:
What's there (sort of left-to-right):
- The PC 7424 and the foam pad kit, all from autogeek.net :waxing:
A new sheepskin/nylon wash mitt also from autogeek; I have another older sheepskin one as well.
- The absorber; I like it.
- Finish Kare products (I love those guys and their samples!): #2685 Pink Wax (a bit dried out but FK says its fine), #216 Sealant Glaze, and samples of their #425 detailer and their #1016 wash and wax.
- Poorboy's SS&S wash (replacing my meguair's gold class wash that I still have a bit of left), and their SSR1 polish
- Wheel Wax (from autogeek)
- The new Pinnacle clay bars (the small ones), as my Four Star clay is almost done for.
- Finally, some misc products I don't intend to use for now:
Michelin's brake-dust repellant. Bought it on a whim after reading some good reviews; for now, I'm focusing on my summer wheels (forged aluminum) w/ the wheel wax and may try this out later in summer.
Teflon wheel cleaner: ditto, bought before I found the wheel wax, so probably won't use at first.
Meguair's step 2 polish: was a gift, don't intend to use
Meguair's interior shine spray: I use here and there
Meguair's Scratch-X: before the PC, I used this one a few major scratches by hand. It did an ok job.
So, would the autopian experts and readers be so kind as to give me a check-over my planned list for the first big job on my now 1yr old red altima?
First, the car pics: just check out http://trinity.cs-i.brandeis.edu/~eddie/gallery/carTime ; it's basically this:
For those who have 350Z's, it's my understanding this code red se-r exclusive color is the same paint code (A20) that is used in the 350Z red.
What my car has after one year other than normal stuff is a fair amount of swirls and webbing due to the fact that I had to use a car wash (a good one, but still...) over the winter. Fairly often, even. I just hate seeing my car salted and muddy.
Ok, here's what I think I'm doing:
- Wash with poorboy's SS&S; rinse, dry.
- Use SSR1 with the orange light cutting pad w/ the PC where swirls/scratches exist. It's in a lot of places, probably even "everywhere" but I won't overdo it, I trust the rest of the products will mask most of the stuff you can barely notice.
- Use FK #216 w the white "polishing" pads w/ the PC all over the car.
- Apply a few coats of FK #2685 wax w the gray finishing pads w/ the PC all over the car.
- Finish with FK #425 detailer for that last bit of shine. :bigups
The summer wheels, before going on the car will get washed and I'll use the wheel wax w/ an applicator.
So, I appreciate those who read this far -- tips? advice? corrections? I'm all ears. It'll probably be a week (or more?) before I get started, given the weather.
Thank you, you guys are the best :xyxthumbs
It looks like you got some great products to start off, You might want to pick up some ssr 2.5 if the ssr1 isn't enough. I know if you visit the trading post, towards the last 2 pages their is someone with over half a gallon they want to part with so you could probably pick up 8-12 oz for cheap just to try it out. Good luck, be sure to take pictures. Once you get your baby looking good you might want to invest in a foam gun to minimize the swirling introduced via washing. Looks like you did some good research when choosing your products, good luck to you!