Took 10 years off - and finally back, where to start?


That is a great list. I have a new Diesel truck so basically looking to remove rail dust and put down a coating. Another note is like the OP I live near Griot`s Garage, but that doesn`t do a whole lot with WA state distancing for me for now. I visited there before and was a little underwhelmed by their "super special DA" (PC with a different plate), their $50+ Ettore bucket, and some of the other stuff.

What I have: a few buckets, kirkland MFs, a PC DA and some random pads in storage somewhere, some green ONR (I think it`s the + shine or +wax or something)

Goal: make it keep clean and look good -- long trips with lots of bugs, road grime, dirt, and brake dust in the future.

What I need:
  1. deal with probably a ton of iron contamination. So I am thinking treat with a chemical and then mechanically separate what`s left.
    1. Chemicals Between the below options not sure which direction I want to head, they all seem about the same
      1. Griot`s has 35 oz for $30
      2. OPT has ferrox for 17oz for $20
      3. Chemical Guys/Adams have 16 oz for ~$15
    2. Mechanical
      1. Kind of lost here between options of traditional bar, mitts, discs, erasers, etc.. Lube probably just use the ONR I have. Obviously way more surface area than most others so efficiency matters.
  2. Paint correction
    1. It`s white, it could look better, but the dealer managed to not mess it up too bad. Obviously not the best paint in the world to begin with since it`s 2020 and has tons of orange peel that I can live with. I might forgo this initially as my DA might take a month to surface (we are still getting our stuff from storage).
  3. Prep -- I`d traditionally use power clean or something like that. Don`t have any on hand.
  4. Coating: Familiar with opti-coat, thinking gloss-coat, but not married to it. Would also like to do a fiberglass trailer front with whatever I pick. Wheels are polished aluminum. Have some chrome and faux-chrome plastic to deal with too.
  5. Was just going to ONR for maintenance, I`ve been doing the "barrel o towels approach" where I put 10+ MFs in the 5 gal bucket with ONR, wipe, and then throw into "waste" bucket where they accumulate before going in the washer.
  6. Drying towels -- looks like the PFM terrys are recommended, but they sure are proud of them on price.

Or plan B: find someone that feels like a glutton for punishment in the area and let them get it up to the seal stage and just focus on washing it. I`ve had mixed results when I`ve paid folks to do detailing for me, from greatly loved the service and would happily visit them again to very "meh" in that it came in over cost and under quality expectations. Good news is I am working from home so someone can keep it for a while. Maybe even consider a PPF for the giant front bumper/grill.
 
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