Detailing Noob in need of some guidance!

[Jordanwaterhous]

Hello hello!

I'm an avid car cleaner, my car gets cleaned at least once a week, and at this time of year, it usually gets hosed off all over and under and in arches after every couple of journeys.

Had her since she was 6 months old so shes not got many swirl marks (never let anyone else clean it and it has its own sponge).

Always used the 2 bucket method

Usual cleaning procedure is;

- Hose off with a hose pipe and clean the arches and under the door sills.
- 2 bucket with AG Bodywork shampoo conditioner.
- Hose off with cold tap water.
- Dry with large microfibre (gets the bulk of water off).
- Completely dry with a smaller more absorbent MF cloth.

Then wheels with brush and sponge of remaining clean water.

When i polish i usually do all of the above, then:

- Wipe over car with AG Intensive Tar Remover
- Apply AG SRP.
- Wait around 30mins for the polish to become cloudy.
- Polish it with rotary polisher on slow speed with 100% lambs wool pad.
- Apply AG Extra Gloss Protection, wait 30 mins again.
- Polish in by hand using clean small MF cloth.
- Apply wax (FK1000p) wait again.
- Polish with rotary again with clean lambs wool pad.


I'm wanting to do some paint correction on it to get the light swirl marks out. My problem is there are so many products out there!

I am on detailing world but those guys on there leave me a bit

I know that i need:

- Clay bar (Zaino Z18)
- Clay bar lube (Dodo juice 'Born Slippy')
- Light cutting mop (Valet Pro ultra smooth finishing pad) Is this too soft to get out the light swirl marks?
- Light cutting compound (Megs swirl remover 2.0 - this stuff right for what im wanting?)
- IronX (Stronger than AG Intensive tar remover)


Am i on the right track here? Could anyone out there please point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

 

[n_d_fox]

Hi mate... just read through your methods above... all looks fine apart from the polishing with wool pads after leaving SRP and the FK1000p to cure.

There is absolutely no need to work the products by machine once they have cured. If anything you are risking marring / swirling by doing this.

Have a look at some polishing pads for your machine. There are lots of brands out there so do some surfing and see which ones you like the look of. Once you have a couple of polishing pads try machining the SRP onto the car. You should notice a reasonable difference doing it this way as the machine and pad will help break down the abbrasives in the product and will lightly correct the paint removing some of the swirls.

EGP doesnt need to worked in either once cured. Depending on the conditions your working in i would apply it to the car after machining with SRP and leave it to cure for at least an hour. then just wipe the car over gently with a clean MF... EGP is a sealant which bonds to the paint when it cures so there is no need to work it once cured.

Apply the FK1000p by hand with a clean applicator, nice thin layers are best. Leave it to cure then buff off by hand with another clean MF cloth. Leave it for an hour then buff again and apply a 2nd layer then repeat.

Only other thing i would suggest is cleaning the wheels first then clean the car... if you use wheel cleaner this reduces the risk of it over spraying onto the paintwork and removing any protection due to the high acidity / alkaline content.

The clay and lube you have mentioned are both very good. For compounds have a look at Menzerna, Meguiars, 3M or Scholl, all have a wide range of abbrasive levels to suit what you are trying to achieve. Pad wise, all of these manufacturers also do pads so the choice is yours there.

IronX is a different type of chemical to AG tar. IronX is designed to remove iron filings only and doesnt do such a good job with tar. AutoSmart Tardis is about the best tar remover out there but again, there are other options. As with IronX, Wolfs Chemicals do a range of decon gels which do the same thing.

HTH, any more questions just ask.

Nige

 

[wakey_6l]

D/A polisher + gtechnic P1 + Chemical guys hexologic pads = job done

 

[Jordanwaterhous]

Thank you very much for the help n_d_fox!

I didn't know the procure about EGP and the wax thanks for that, I shall get looking for some new pads and some tardis!

 

[n_d_fox]

No worries mate.

Just make sure you get yourself a decent range of pads and polishes so that you are able to try different combos to get the results you want. Always start with the least abbrassive combo and work up from there changing the pad first then the compound until you get there.

Also dont try to chase every last mark out of the paint. If you dont have a paint gauge you will have no idea how much of the clearcoat you will be removing and you dont want to risk striking through.