Told to stay away from waxes w/ cars having no clear coat?

The rubbing compound is a course abrasive and is for fast cutting for damaged finishes. Use this first. The Finesse It is a very fine abrasive. This would come next. The hand glaze, IMO, is unecessary. Meguiars #20 OR Z3. Not both. They are sealants.
 
Here is a sample plan, hopefully it will help you out:



1. Wash car using regular car wash sopa.

2. Polish with 3M Finesse It II

3. Polish with 3M Swirl Mark Remover

4. Re-Wash car with Dawn to remove any oils or residue.

5. Apply your sealant, either Zaino Z3 or Meg. #20 (or whatever you plan to use)



You could also add in a good claying between the first wash and polish with Finesse-it if you want to.



Also, to further elaborate what Brad said. 3M Imperial Hand Glaze should NOT be used before applying a sealant because it could prevent proper bonding.
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Kathy [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>I'm getting a little confused about what is what.
What is the right order for all of this? When I read the info on each manufacturers site, it seems that each one has their own vocabulary... So it looks like I follow an order like this:
gentle compound
polish
sealant
wax
Is it ok to mix the manufacturers?
The products that I'm researching now, but want to use only the ones I need to
(These first 3 products look very good to me but what category are they?):
3M Finesse It
3M Hand Glaze
3M fine cut rubbing compound
Meguiars #20 sealant - Is this to be used before the Z3?
Zainobros Z3 - I think this is the final coat to apply

....and then Autoglym (which has a very impressive website, but it's in the U.K.) [/b]</blockquote>
Absolutely! It's OK to mix the manufacturers. The key is to get the best results using the methods that will work for you. My personal collection of supplies is from a wide variety of manufacturers including:

3M
Meguiar's
Eagle One
Lexol
Eimann Fabrik
Klasse
Pinnacle
Mother's


Brad is one of the best guys here since his Jag has won many Concours events.
 
<strong class='bbc'>....and then Autoglym (which has a very impressive website, but it's in the U.K.)[/b] True, but also sold at CMA :)

Steven
 
Wow. Thank you all and I'll let you know what results I get - if they are anything like the results I've gotten from this site - they'll be fantastic. Thank you again! - I think I've got it now!
 
If yuo get the Zaino, remember to get the Z-3, Z-5 (optional but helps hide very MINOR swirls), ZFX (if you get this you can layer on three coats of the Z in one 24 hour period, a very good alternative to Z1), and Z-6/Z-7 (optional but enhances the system.) www.zainobros.com

Lots of very good recommendations, you can surely bring back the finish by hand, but it'll just take longer and a lot more work.

www.properautocare.com (CMA) sells the 3M Swirl Mark Remover and the Fine cut Rubbing compound along with Meguiars #20 and lots of other products.

Washing your car is the first and most important. Get a few 100% cotton wash mitts, use the two bucket method for washing, have quality MF and USA made 100% cotton terry towels (Cannon or Fieldcrest (Charisma's or Royal Velvets, Wamsutta, etc. etc) Get lots of applicators and go to a home center and get some cheapo terry towels for dirty work (door jambs, wheel wells, tires, engine work.)

Maybe if you are near an autopian with the a Porter Cable he/she can get together with you and have a detail session.

Jason
 
You also may want to check out Meguiars Mirror Glaze and Body Shop Professional product lines to restore your paint, especially the body shop line. You also have to be commited to keeping your car polished and waxed every 2-3 months or all the hard work you spend restoring the finish will be wasted. Once older red cars start fading, they will continue to fade unless you keep the paint maintained.

I restored the paint on this Ford Explorer using Meguiars Dual Action Cleaner/Polish (two passes each panel), Swirl Free Polish (again, two passes per panel), Hand Polish (and let it sit about 30 minutes until dry) and then waxed with High Tech Yellow #26. I did it all by hand, too, so even though Meguiars recommends using a buffer with their body shop line (except Hand Polish), you can also use them by hand, just make sure you work the product into the paint until it is nearly clear and dry.

explorer1fade.jpg


explorer1.jpg



You will need to use at least a light polish or glaze prior to waxing to maintain a good shine in the future, so you might want to stick with a carnuba based wax. Collinite's waxes seem to be exceptionally durable for a carnuba.
 
Scottwax, I am impressed with those Explorer pics.



Question for you. I just did a red Hyundai Accent yesterday that had been so dirty and neglected I thought the car was burgundy. But after washing and polishing, I found out it was candy red! Anyway, it took me 2 hours just to wash and dry properly and still dirt was coming off in the polish stage. I took 3M SMR to it, and then Meguiars #7, and then finished up with #20. My arm was so sore after that I could hardly lift it. The polishing and sealing took about 4.5 hours. You do all you stuff by hand. How long would a job like that take you? And do you have any tricks for the SMR to work more effectively with less elbow grease?



Thanks.
 
I think I spend about 3.5 hours on the paint on that Explorer. For the life of me, I cannot understand why people wait until the paint is like chalk before they decide to do something. I try to educate them-that they have to wax it every 2-3 months even if it isn't fading on them so it never gets bad again, but I am wasting my breath. It seems like they wait until it is faded again before they call me.



I don't know what to tell you specifically about 3Ms SMR, I use Meguiars Body Shop Professional line for paint prep and usually wax with #26 or #20, although for my high end customers I have been using Pinnacle Paste Glaz.
 
Do you use #9 from the bodyshop line? I tried that, but I found the SMR to be slightly more aggressive, and more effective by hand.
 
Oh dear... I owe you all an apology I guess... I just found the Autopia University and the "beginners" detailing section... and the fact that we are supposed to read it BEFORE posting here... So thank you all for being polite and helpful! (But I probably would've still had my questioins on the no clear coat issues...) anyway - thank you...
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by 2wheelsx2 [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>Do you use #9 from the bodyshop line? I tried that, but I found the SMR to be slightly more aggressive, and more effective by hand. [/b]</blockquote>
Actually, #9 is from the Mirror Glaze line, Swirl Free is the Body Shop Pro equivalent and it seems slightly more aggressive than #9. Dual Action is far superior to it's MG line counterpart, #2 Fine Cut. It has diminishing abrasives and leaves the paint smoother than #2. In most cases you can skip the swirl remover and go straight to a glaze.

With Meguiars Body Shop line, you have to make sure you work the product until it is nearly clear and dry before buffing off the excess for best results.
 
Thanks, Scottwax. I think I am going to try to the Dual Action polish from the body shop line for myself. After all, I can then go to the SMR to take out any haze, as the SMR does not seem to be doing anything for some of the bad swirls. Thanks again for clarifying for me.
 
It is ok to use different products from different companies. Just be sure that you use a different applicator pad for each one. Most of use on the forum use 100 different things on out cars. Just take your time and if you have any questions at any time just come back to us.
just remember to follow easy steps and you wont have a problem.
1. wash
2. polish
3. protect (wax,paint sealant)
If you need something to print out you can go to my web site for some info you can print
www.nyperfectdetailing.com
Hope this helps you
 
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