Am I on the right track?

[JuddGA]

I got a 2006 F350, black. Guess it hasnt been maintained too well. Waxed every few months with #66 cleaner/wax and washed when I get to it. Its a dually and its just a monster to wash.

I have some time and decided to get it nice and sprakly. My main issue is water spots. So I busted out the 66 and orbital buffer. BTW I used to detail almost 15 years ago as a teen, nothing super fancy mostly washes and simple waxes. But I do own a heavy duty orbital and Milwaukee high speed. So the orbital and #66 didnt do much good and the surface still wasnt as nice as I though it could be. Did some homework here and bought some ScratchX. did a better job but not perfect. Then I tried the high speed with a foam finishing pad, a little better. More homework reveals that ScratchX is not for use with a high speed buffer. BTW, I have only done small portions, not the whole truck.

The water spots are almost gone after the scatchX but if you look REAL close, you can see the outlines. Is there anything more I can use to get a little deeper? Would that require using the high speed which I reallly want to avoid.

So more research shows I should I clay the truck to get it smooth first then use the scratch X?

So in short to get my finish nice and remove the water spots I should:

Wash
Clay
scatchX
Wax with NTX?

I hope thats it, walmart is like 15 miles away and my wife is out on a 2nd trip to get the clay. She'll kill me for a 3rd trip.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Am I on the right track?

Hi Judd,

Sounds like that to meet your expectations, (remove the water spots), you'll want to switch over to some more aggressive products from our Professional Line. Just to be on the same page, removing water spots means removing paint, see this article,

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...
(Same idea with removing water spots)


Tackling a F350 with a Rotary Buffer is a monumentous job because at a minimum you'll have to go around the entire rig with the rotary buffer steps once, and probably twice, that's a lot of buffing to try to tackle in one day by yourself.

Chances are good the Orbital Buffer you have won't remove enough paint to remove the water spots effectively, thus the need for the rotary buffer.

So you're kind of in a quandary as we're not sure how much experience you have in using the rotary buffer.

We have some really cool new products out that make the rotary work easier, products like M105 which can be used with your RB to remove the water spots and it will finish out to a very light swirl that you can then remove with a second step polishing process and then go to wax.

Here are some of the other products that could be used to remove your water spots,

M80 Speed Glaze
M83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish
M105 Ultra Cut Compound
D151 Paint Correction Creme (Not available yet but coming in May)


You can give these two threads a read to see if tackling this behemoth of a truck with a rotary is the direction you want to go, maybe only carving out portions of the truck at a time?

Can a Rotary Buffer like a Makita or DeWalt be as Idiot-proof as a PC?

Learning to use the Rotary Buffer


Another option would be to get one of our DA Polishers, it might have the power to remove the water spots, depends upon how hard the paint is and how deep the water spot etchings are.

It would be useful for the polishing steps AFTER the rotary buffer steps to remove any swirls from the RB step as a black F350 is going to show swirls easily.


And seeing this is your first post... welcome to Meguiar's Online!

[JuddGA]

Re: Am I on the right track?

My experience on the rotary is not much. I did a few cars a long time ago.

I got another question. The truck is outside, garage is full and wouldnt be big enough anyway lengthwise. If this job takes me 2-3 days is that OK? If I clay it today, then it rains, can I just scratchX it tomorrow, then wax it the next day? Ideally I would like to clean and wax the same day but mother nature doesnt always cooperate.

I think for now I am going to stick with what I got so I can get the job done.

The water spots wont get worse or harder to remove in a couple months if I clay, scratchX and wax now and prevent any more damage?

I read most of those links, good info. I do have a basic understanding of how the cleaners and compounds work, and how wax/polish just fills the holes.

Lots of good info here.

Why do new users have to be approved? That is frustrating

[EAT HEMI]

Re: Am I on the right track?

Why do new users have to be approved? That is frustrating

Perhaps one reason is to eliminate spammers...


By the way, I have gen-u-wine ROLOX watches! CHEEP!

[Andy M.]

Re: Am I on the right track?

I got another question. The truck is outside, garage is full and wouldn't be big enough anyway lengthwise. If this job takes me 2-3 days is that OK? If I clay it today, then it rains, can I just scratchX it tomorrow, then wax it the next day? Ideally I would like to clean and wax the same day but mother nature doesn't always cooperate.

You could be the judge of that. After you clay it feel the surface of the paint. It will be as smooth as glass. If when you go back to finish your vehicle, it doesn't feel the same, I would re-clay the area that your going to work on that day. It doesn't take that much more time and in the end it will be worth it.

I think for now I am going to stick with what I got so I can get the job done.

This is good. If you aren't that experienced with a rotary buffer, I wouldn't suggest using one. ALWAYS use the least aggressive method first. A lot of people go out and get an old hood from a junk yard to practice rotary skills before using on a vehicle.

The water spots wont get worse or harder to remove in a couple months if I clay, scratchX and wax now and prevent any more damage?

You will probably be able to remove most of these spots using scratchx and an applicator like a terry towel or pad. Put some passion behind the pad and you may need to go over the same area more than once to remove the spot.

Why do new users have to be approved? That is frustrating

Not quite sure but I believe it is to check for spammers and scammers and not allow them on the site.

Hope this helps. Do you have any pictures of your vehicle and the spots you are trying to remove? That would help.

Andy
101impala

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Am I on the right track?

Why do new users have to be approved? That is frustrating

It's due to Spammers and some of them are pretty vile. If we let people join by confirming themselves then if we were in bed sleeping a horde of vile Spammers could be posting tons of spam for our breakfast in the morning.

Sorry for the delay, as is the way the world goes, a handful of bad people ruin all the fun for everyone. We try very hard to keep this forum family friendly and that includes manually confirming each new account.

Just so you know, it's hard to tell a good guy from a bad guy by looking at a forum name and an e-mail address, most of the Spammers are either using their own domain name or a Gmail account so anyone that joins using a Gmail account is instantly suspect, but usually approved.

Manually confirming new accounts creates more typing time also...


As for your plan of action, go for it, we're big believers in using what you already have. Rub the paint out with the ScratchX, do a small section at a time and then wipe the residue off and move on. After you've cleaned all the paint then apply a thin coat of wax and let it fully dry before removing.

Hope to see a picture of a beautiful black truck!

[Jeepster04]

Re: Am I on the right track?

I wouldnt really like to wash the truck one day and clay, then wait till the next day to polish or wax. Alot of dust and such would build up on the paint throughout night. At a minimum you would need to quik detail the paint to remove the dust. Pollen is so bad right now my paint is covered in a matter of minutes.

I saw where Mike recommended #80 and #83. Those two products would be the first two I would try. I would think M105 would be a bit much for what youre wanting to do but Ive never used it.

The cool thing about #80 is it breaks down and polishes the paint too, so you can go straight to waxing after you use it.

[JuddGA]

Re: Am I on the right track?

Thanks. The weather is just not cooperating with me. I just did the hood and passenger side and it started raining. I can see the dirt coming off, its mostly orange which makes sense since we have clay in GA, not dirt. I guess the surface is smooth, just still hazy. Its kind of weird to feel it smooth but look hazy. I guess the scratchX will take care of that. I clayed the fender and door which I scratchxed yesterday and the water spots were really hard to see.

I think a little elbow grease with the orbital will get those spots out. Its not a plastic one, its old school heavy metal casing

I may take some pics but the decent sony broke. We are now looking at a Canon 40D ($1500) but need to wait a few more weeks

If I have to wait till the next day to use the scratchx and wax should I use the QD or just wash it again?

Thanks guys for all the help. Next car to do will be the wifes Expedition. That car is trashed inside and out, darn kids

I understand about the spammers.


BTW, I dont have rolexes but my family works in a bank in Nigeria and theres $20M US unclaimed and I need some help. PM me for details

[JuddGA]

Re: Am I on the right track?

the rain is killing me. I clayed the whole truck. Just about ran out of QD.

I was able to get the hood and passenger side done. I scratchx'ed it, then put some wax on by hand, let it dry, then wiped off. Looks real nice. The hood, wow, I had to do it like 8 times, I guess it was some oxidation as well but with each application, it got better and better. A few spots left but most came off.

I cant believe how bad it got. Glad I took the time to address it now. Thats not a cheap truck

So kind of ghetto, the truck is half waxed And the forecast is more rain today. I will try to finish it today