Greetings all! and apologies up front for long post!
Been reading these forums for a couple weeks now, and while some questions have been answered, frankly i'm prolly just as or more confused than when i started!
So I'm gonna post my "plan" and ask for opinions/advice. somebody please tell me if I'm on the right track...
I've always cared for my cars, but never really "detailed" any of them. Guess that means I'm a noob. Worked one year in the detail dept at a local Lexus dealership, so I've seen the cheesy side of that business - no one actually trains the detail staff, some of the products they use are junk, and they do a lot of bad stuff to customer's cars. The guys would never let me near the orbital or teach me to use it (and I've never spent the $$ for a PC), so I still wax/polish by hand. It's very therapeutic! But i do want to learn the right way, so I'm here!
Anyway, I now seem to have committed myself to detailing 3 cars. All bought during the same 2-week period in June, so there's no major correction needed on any, but none are perfect. Basically it's a barter thing - my 2008 Scion tC, my partner's 2008 Scion xD, plus no garage, no shade, and a Cleveland summer like the tropics. High 80's or 90's everyday, followed by hard rains. (An hour ago it was pouring, now the sun is blazing away. ugh) so i made a deal with a friend to use her garage in exch for detailing her 09 Corolla.
Products on-hand:
Dawn
Megs Deep Crystal Car Wash
PB Pro Polish
PB Black Hole glaze
PB EX Sealant (with carnuba)
PB Natty's Blue and Red
MF applicators and towels
Terry applicators
I had an O'Henry choice here: spend about $100 for product and not afford a PC, or buy PC but no product! So I opted for all Poorboys products that I could use by hand now, machine later, in sun or shade.
the cars:
all are daily drivers.
- '08 Scion tC, Black Sand Pearl - LOADS of multi-color metal flakes
- '08 Scion xD, Magnetic Gray
- '09 Corolla, Magnetic Gray
(The Magnetic Gray is metal flake too, tho not as noticeable)
I've washed the tC at least once every week since I got it, sometimes more. Had a build-up of product on it and used Megs step 2 polish to clean it off, that worked fine. Put on a couple coats of NXT2.o paste wax- hated it. A royal pain to remove by hand, streaked like crazy - prolly put the first coat on too thick, and it just baked on in the sun.
To add to my pain, one of the skateboard hooligans at my office building used the hood as a pivot point the other night, leaving a nasty sticky handprint, some light scratches and a shallow dent. I washed the hood as soon as I got home, used my new PB ProPolish to clean up the spot and then a light coat of Natty's Blue. Wow - I'm hooked! Pro Polish is awesome, and the Natty's went on and wiped off like butter! I'll see that dent and little pop-up it caused forever (or until i pay to have it fixed), and I still want to kill that kid, but the finish looks great! Other than that, the car is super clean, so not sure if I want or need to clay - read numerous posts about how soft this clearcoat is and that clay can mar it real bad. I admit I've already done some micro-marring by using Megs UQD without properly dusting the car first. So I do believe that it truly is a soft clear. What clay bar would I buy for this car/clearcoat? Which is the softest I can get OTC?
My plan for the tC:
dawn wash to strip all old product
clean rims, seal with Megs Wheel Sealant
PB Pro Polish
PB Black Hole Glaze
PB EX Sealant
top with Natty's Blue
The Corolla hasn't been washed even once. It's garaged except during the day while parked at work, so even rain has been minimal. Def needs some love! I'm sure it needs claying.
the xD gets close to 100 mi per day, all highway. Washed less than once/week, only one light coat of NXT2.0 paste. This car definitely needs claying - I can feel some minor roughness on the roof and the edge just below the windows, so it's prolly rail dust. Just washing the roof is a challenge from a ladder, so clay and polish will be interesting. (at least the tC roof is all glass!) But I gotta do it.
Several little stone chips on the nose - a common problem I saw on Lexus cars 10 years ago, so apparently Toyota really has not improved their clearcoat. I need to touch up these chips, but not sure where in the process to do that. The Lexus guys used to use touchup paint, let it sit, then use liquid wax and the orbital. Apparently the heat and orbital action would soften the new paint and sorta rub it in so the chips were less noticeable.
Since I'm not using a machine or liquid wax, i guess I would polish then touch up, then use the EX Sealant? I sure want to avoid smearing that fresh paint on the hood, but it doesn't seem to make sense to seal up the finish and then add touch up paint after? Opinions?
plan for xD and Corolla:
Megs Deep Crystal wash
clay
PB Pro Polish
PB Black Hole Glaze - maybe, depends if I see any marring
EX Sealant
Natty's Blue or Red (not sure which would look best - maybe one of each to experiment)
now, one of my big questions is what's the cure time for Black Hole as well as EX? like I said, seems to be always raining, here, or about to - rain is forecasted for the next 3 or 4 days - and I took a vacation day to do the xD tomorrow. I understand the Black Hole has to be topped, not an LSP, and won't hold up to rain. How long before that can be topped? Since the garage isn't mine, I have to top that the same day, so if need be, i would drop that step and just use the EX then Natty's. Am I correct in understanding I need to wait at least 12 hours before topping the EX with Natty's? How long do I have to wait for EX to cure before it can be rained on?
Heck, if I really had to, right now I could live with just clay, polish and 2 or 3 super-thin coats of Natty's on all of them. But I really do want them all sealed then waxed before winter. The road salt and chemicals here are really awful. That would mean doing it all over again around October, and for sure using the EX at that time. So I do need to understand the cure time.
Any help/opinions/criticisms are welcome! Thanks in advance!
Nancy
Been reading these forums for a couple weeks now, and while some questions have been answered, frankly i'm prolly just as or more confused than when i started!
So I'm gonna post my "plan" and ask for opinions/advice. somebody please tell me if I'm on the right track...
I've always cared for my cars, but never really "detailed" any of them. Guess that means I'm a noob. Worked one year in the detail dept at a local Lexus dealership, so I've seen the cheesy side of that business - no one actually trains the detail staff, some of the products they use are junk, and they do a lot of bad stuff to customer's cars. The guys would never let me near the orbital or teach me to use it (and I've never spent the $$ for a PC), so I still wax/polish by hand. It's very therapeutic! But i do want to learn the right way, so I'm here!
Anyway, I now seem to have committed myself to detailing 3 cars. All bought during the same 2-week period in June, so there's no major correction needed on any, but none are perfect. Basically it's a barter thing - my 2008 Scion tC, my partner's 2008 Scion xD, plus no garage, no shade, and a Cleveland summer like the tropics. High 80's or 90's everyday, followed by hard rains. (An hour ago it was pouring, now the sun is blazing away. ugh) so i made a deal with a friend to use her garage in exch for detailing her 09 Corolla.
Products on-hand:
Dawn
Megs Deep Crystal Car Wash
PB Pro Polish
PB Black Hole glaze
PB EX Sealant (with carnuba)
PB Natty's Blue and Red
MF applicators and towels
Terry applicators
I had an O'Henry choice here: spend about $100 for product and not afford a PC, or buy PC but no product! So I opted for all Poorboys products that I could use by hand now, machine later, in sun or shade.
the cars:
all are daily drivers.
- '08 Scion tC, Black Sand Pearl - LOADS of multi-color metal flakes
- '08 Scion xD, Magnetic Gray
- '09 Corolla, Magnetic Gray
(The Magnetic Gray is metal flake too, tho not as noticeable)
I've washed the tC at least once every week since I got it, sometimes more. Had a build-up of product on it and used Megs step 2 polish to clean it off, that worked fine. Put on a couple coats of NXT2.o paste wax- hated it. A royal pain to remove by hand, streaked like crazy - prolly put the first coat on too thick, and it just baked on in the sun.
To add to my pain, one of the skateboard hooligans at my office building used the hood as a pivot point the other night, leaving a nasty sticky handprint, some light scratches and a shallow dent. I washed the hood as soon as I got home, used my new PB ProPolish to clean up the spot and then a light coat of Natty's Blue. Wow - I'm hooked! Pro Polish is awesome, and the Natty's went on and wiped off like butter! I'll see that dent and little pop-up it caused forever (or until i pay to have it fixed), and I still want to kill that kid, but the finish looks great! Other than that, the car is super clean, so not sure if I want or need to clay - read numerous posts about how soft this clearcoat is and that clay can mar it real bad. I admit I've already done some micro-marring by using Megs UQD without properly dusting the car first. So I do believe that it truly is a soft clear. What clay bar would I buy for this car/clearcoat? Which is the softest I can get OTC?
My plan for the tC:
dawn wash to strip all old product
clean rims, seal with Megs Wheel Sealant
PB Pro Polish
PB Black Hole Glaze
PB EX Sealant
top with Natty's Blue
The Corolla hasn't been washed even once. It's garaged except during the day while parked at work, so even rain has been minimal. Def needs some love! I'm sure it needs claying.
the xD gets close to 100 mi per day, all highway. Washed less than once/week, only one light coat of NXT2.0 paste. This car definitely needs claying - I can feel some minor roughness on the roof and the edge just below the windows, so it's prolly rail dust. Just washing the roof is a challenge from a ladder, so clay and polish will be interesting. (at least the tC roof is all glass!) But I gotta do it.
Several little stone chips on the nose - a common problem I saw on Lexus cars 10 years ago, so apparently Toyota really has not improved their clearcoat. I need to touch up these chips, but not sure where in the process to do that. The Lexus guys used to use touchup paint, let it sit, then use liquid wax and the orbital. Apparently the heat and orbital action would soften the new paint and sorta rub it in so the chips were less noticeable.
Since I'm not using a machine or liquid wax, i guess I would polish then touch up, then use the EX Sealant? I sure want to avoid smearing that fresh paint on the hood, but it doesn't seem to make sense to seal up the finish and then add touch up paint after? Opinions?
plan for xD and Corolla:
Megs Deep Crystal wash
clay
PB Pro Polish
PB Black Hole Glaze - maybe, depends if I see any marring
EX Sealant
Natty's Blue or Red (not sure which would look best - maybe one of each to experiment)
now, one of my big questions is what's the cure time for Black Hole as well as EX? like I said, seems to be always raining, here, or about to - rain is forecasted for the next 3 or 4 days - and I took a vacation day to do the xD tomorrow. I understand the Black Hole has to be topped, not an LSP, and won't hold up to rain. How long before that can be topped? Since the garage isn't mine, I have to top that the same day, so if need be, i would drop that step and just use the EX then Natty's. Am I correct in understanding I need to wait at least 12 hours before topping the EX with Natty's? How long do I have to wait for EX to cure before it can be rained on?
Heck, if I really had to, right now I could live with just clay, polish and 2 or 3 super-thin coats of Natty's on all of them. But I really do want them all sealed then waxed before winter. The road salt and chemicals here are really awful. That would mean doing it all over again around October, and for sure using the EX at that time. So I do need to understand the cure time.
Any help/opinions/criticisms are welcome! Thanks in advance!
Nancy
Good luck :bigups
assout: