New Black Car and I'm here to learn

[350ZED]

Hi all, from Oregon.

Just purchased a beautiful Nissan 350Z that, although looking beautiful, still needs a little more TLC.

No questions at this time as I've found what I needed to get rid of slight swirling in clear coat. I'm starting with Meguiar's Ultimate wash, some Doctor Color Chip for the few gravel hits on the lower front of the hood, then clay the beast before finalizing with Meguiar's product that will remove the swirls. This will probably need to occur over a short period of time since I haven't the room in my garage for completing the post wash tasks.

Anyway, that's what I'm up to. You'll hear from me if I run into problems! Thanks for being here just in case!! ZED

[Eldorado2k]

Welcome to MOL!
Sounds like you're well focused on achieving some good results. Will you be working by hand or machine polisher?

[350ZED]

Re: New Black Car and I'm here to learn

Welcome to MOL!
Sounds like you're well focused on achieving some good results. Will you be working by hand or machine polisher?

Probably hand...can't justify the $225 for the machine and don't want to buy the funky one that attaches to a hand drill.

[Eldorado2k]

Have you thought about the 1 Harbor Freight sells? It's quite fair on the price and reviews are respectable as long as you buy your proper backing plate & pads elsewhere. That's what I did. $65 is enough to jump in and get excited about stepping things up, Right?

[Eldorado2k]

As far as handling things by hand, I can tell you from my experience, there's no way on earth you'll handle it in 1 day [at least not properly]
I've done a complete 4 step correction twice. 1st time was about 6yrs ago and it took me 3days to complete in a garage. I did it again on my recent vehicle and it took 5 days almost 6 to do as proper a job as you deserve. And it's gonna be some straight up work! Arm sore by the 1st night but you know there's no stopping till the job is complete! It's quite rewarding but the results will not be "perfect" because we are only human, not machines

[Eldorado2k]

The recent correction I mentioned was done by hand just a few days b4 Christmas day. So just over 2months ago. Car looks good, wax is still there but at the point where it's about due for another proper application. But I'm not even worried about that, because I'm about to buy my 1st set of foam pads and use my new DA polisher soon. Oh yea, excited about this! :]

Good luck! However you choose to tackle it. It Will be an improvement, no doubt.

[350ZED]

Re: New Black Car and I'm here to learn

Thanks for the info E2K. I found a Meguiar DA machine on another site for $159 so I'm going to take the plunge. I've sent you a PM to ask other questions so as not to bore all here.

[wifpd4]

Re: New Black Car and I'm here to learn

350ZED,
Once you have that buffer in your hands you will never look back. Having a black car is a bit of a commitment and not working by hand is going to make your life so much easier and your car will look it's best.

Be sure to watch all the videos here on MOL.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?134-How-To-Videos

Another location is here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Junkman2000

Check out the pictures from the Saturday Class at Meguiar's or better yet go to the class

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?36-Pictures-from-Saturday-Classes

Remember to start with the LEAST aggressive method in TEST SPOT. Or better yet someone else's car....kidding....

Good luck and stop back often

[Top Gear]

Re: New Black Car and I'm here to learn

I also strongly recommend a DA (I got a Porter Cable for about $150), especially for a black or dark car. You can certainly hand-wax any car to great success, but doing that over time on black with no other prep work will make it look worse and worse. There's almost no chance at all you'll be compounding, polishing and then waxing all by hand, either, and even if you did, it would look holographic. I know exactly what you're thinking, but if you have the time and a place to do it, invest in a DA and you'll never look back! Even a light compounding step, followed by a polish step, and then your choice of wax, will give you an outstanding show car result

[dwg51357]

Re: New Black Car and I'm here to learn

I'll second what Top Gear says. A DA makes all the difference in the world with a black car. After I got my jet-black Saab, I did it by hand (long, hard work) and got mediocre results. No matter good I got it looking in the shade, it always showed hazing, etc. in direct sun. With my Porter-Cable DA, I can do a wash, clay, Swirl-X where needed, polish, wax in a weekend -- and the difference in appearance is amazing!

One thing I've discovered: Ultimate Wax gives my black finish a bright, glossy look. When I apply a coat of carnuba over the Ultimate, I get a deep, rich, almost wet look. Extra work, but worth it in my opinion.

[Eldorado2k]

Wish we could get an update on what happened?

[350ZED]

Re: New Black Car and I'm here to learn

Here's what I'm going to do. I have decided, and I think wisely, to have a professional detailer do the base work on the car first; air-brush chipped paint, clay, remove swirls/holograms, polish, wax, and seal. I can then do the upkeep knowing that everything has been taken care of. I'm afraid being a newbie and doing an intense detailing regime would only be frustrating and result in, at best, a mediocre job. I'm still buying the G110V2 DA and other products but by going this route I won't need to do the detail in a trial by fire manner.

Make sense?

[Eldorado2k]

If you're still going to buy the DA, I think you should/could do it yourself. Unless there's something funky you're working on, like a re painted finish, it's almost foolproof.