tmdm

Hey all,

very quick question. The grabber blue mustang I have seems to have little shine, could be the swirl marks in it's finish. But wanted to check, would Meguiars Ultimate Polish suffice for this car? Or is it worth getting a different product, or even there mirror glaze? I'm guessing this car is a clear coat paint?

Not really sure what to use and wanted to check the Ultimate Polish would suffice?

berzerk_1980

I don't think you'll get a quick answer because the prevailing wisdom is to try the least aggressive method, see if it works, then try a more aggressive method if it didn't.

I use Meguiar's Ultimate Polish for almost everything. Sometimes I need to work harder, use more passes, more product or a different pad, but I've generally had good luck. Could just be the cars I have and the kinds of correction I have to do.

So I guess my answer would be, "no guarantees, but it will probably work."

KMG

There is a lot that can go into correcting the finish on your vehicle. Are you doing this by hand or using a DA polisher such as the Porter Cable. A lot of the choices really depend on just how bad the condition of the paint is. You can start with a pad such as the Lake Country White Polishing pad first and if that is not achieving your desired results you can try an Orange Light Cutting pad. One of my personal favorite combinations is Optimum Hyper Polish on an orange light cutting pad. This is a killer combo on pretty much any car.

The paint on my saleen was in very poor condition when I purchased it. I used Menzerna FG400 on microfiber cutting pads when I did my car.








Let me know if you have any other questions.

tmdm

Thanks so much for your informative response. I very much appreciate it. I actually would be doing it by hand but am definitely interested in purchasing a DA polisher. Probably the Meguiar's one as the condition of my paint is terrible: lots of swirl marks. Very similar in fact to one of your attached photos. Will look into to everything you suggested. Thanks so much for taking time to write to me!

KMG

You will definitely want to get a DA if you plan on doing your car. You will never be able to achieve very good correction by hand. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Thanks

tmdm

Thanks KMG.

Which DA Would you suggest? not really in a position to spend a fortune on one at the moment. Is the meguiars one any good? the one that attached to a household drill?

I've pretty much got the whole Meguiars range. Ultimate Compound, Ultimate Polish, Ultimate liquid wax, quick detailers, clay bars. everything. I'm pretty much set to go, just need to know how to use it all!

The collection:

berzerk_1980

So hey, just a word of caution... this process is called "detailing" for a reason, and it attracts people with an eye for detail. The amount of info, methods, products, etc. that are out there in order to satisfy the harshest critic is mind-boggling.

KMG sounds pretty knowledgeable, and probably will have better answers to your questions, but as a recovering perfectionist, I've been trying my best to keep it simple. So here's a summary of what I do. You can spend more time and get better results, but you may want to consider starting here:

1. I use Meguiar's or Mothers products unless Idecide they aren't good enough for a particular task. The ready availability, cost, and "pretty good enough" quality outweigh the fact that there are better "ultra quality" products out there.
2. I use a Porter Cable 7424 XP with Chemical Guys orange and black Hex Logic pads. I have all the colors but so far I've only needed those. I use the orange pad at speed 5-7 for polish, the black at speed 3-5 for removing polish and only if I'm feeling lazy. I've used the white pad before but pretty much only to remove any marring I've created by using the orange pad aggressively. In general I don't need to use that much aggression and the orange does not need a follow up.
3. I use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Meguiar's NXT 2.0 wax. Again, there are products that cut more, cut less, etc. But I've found these two to be sufficient. I've also tried Turtle Wax ice, and I like it but I never hear detailers talk about it. The beading is crazy.
4. I use the "two bucket" method to minimize scratches while washing so I can do the above less often. My car's a daily driver.

Hope that helps get you started!

KMG

Without seeing pictures of your car, you should be fine using Ult. Compound and Ult. Polish. Those are both good products and I used them a long time ago when I was first starting out. As for using the drill attachment I can not tell you how good that will actually be as I have never used it. It has to be better then doing it by hand though. I would strongly recommend getting a porter cable though.

GLOCKer

I use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, Polish, and Wax (because I can just pick them up at the store). I've been using these with both an orbital buffer and more recently with the Meguiar's DA Power System (the drill attachment).

I really wish I had a good DA like the Porter Cable and the Meguiar's DA. The DA Power System that attaches to a drill is okay. Ergonomically, it's not the best thing in the world and can fatigue you a little bit. Also, it's speeds are limited by the drill you are using. I use a cordless drill that seems to get decent RPMs, but it kills the chargeable batteries relatively quickly. On the plus side; it's particularly great for spot compounding the car, and it does make compounding, polishing, and waxing sooooooooo much faster than by hand or with an orbital buffer.

GLOCKer

Oh yeah! Black cars are a PITA to own and if I find sanity, I'll never buy one again! But I did this with just a two bucket wash, and Meguiar's Black Wax (has some polishing oils in it), and the Meguiar's DA Power System that goes in the drill.













I was looking for a fast solution as I had a car show/cruise thing and not a lot of time to prep, so I tried the black wax to try to save some time. It can be used on cars of all colors, by the way.