How do I get the "WETTEST" looking paint?

[holdenhsv2004]

Can anyone please advise: How do I get the "WETTEST" looking paint on a black car?

Is Meguires #2 polish the best from the range?

Thank you!

[Don]

What is the current condition of the paint?

[Marc08EX]

I think it has a lot to do with the preparation of the paint.. As a lot of people say (or a quote? I might have read it from someone's signature), reflection is nothing without depth... I think that having a clean paint would not only give you a deeper and shinier paint after your LSP but it would also be as smooth as glass and that would even enhance the gloss and the reflection of your finish. Post some pics!

[Don]

Prep is everything. If the paint is is good shape (few, if any swirls etc) then I would start with with a decent paint cleaner, Color-X is an excellent choice, followed by a pure polish...the Deep Crystal #2 is more than acceptable, followed by NXT, #16 or #26.

[robnyva]

I have a Black Grand Am GT New.......Im a rookie to detailing cars the Meguiars way and learned a great deal here, but Im still a little stumped or stymied.
The car bought new must have sat in the dealership lot for months and altho when i took delivery the car had a nice shine Whwn I got it home I ran my hand over the paint and uhh ohh it felt like the finest sandpaper maybe a little exageration but it didnt fell glass smooth like one would think.

I learned on here about the clay bar and used the QD clay bar system on a test spot and could not believe what a difference it made...
Ok, so get to my point I clayed the car, then used#7 polish and then used the Gold Class clear coat wax.....All by hand...

I dont know if it's me but it seems the car is not as shiny as it was or it is Im just getting OCD about it lol...
I noticed it first when the car was at work in th sun it seemd the car was shiny but there looked like there was a cloudy film over it...?

I read in another post here about #7 being a pain to remove correctly but when i did THE 7 in my garaGE IT appeared it came off ok.......
So if i want to start over to remove the wax n polish, Whats my best approach,, Should i Clly the car again...??
I have the deep crystal polish if you recommend it over the 7....

Im looking for the wetlook black also......

[Don]

Going on what you said, I still recommend Color-X, DC-2 followed by NXT, #16 or #26.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by robnyva
So if i want to start over to remove the wax n polish, Whats my best approach,, Should I Clay the car again...??
I have the deep crystal polish if you recommend it over the 7....

I'm looking for the wet-look black also......

Hi robnyva,

You shouldn't need to clay the car again, not unless you feel little bumpy dots on the surface after washing or wiping down with a quick detailer.

For a new car, the Deep Crystal Polish is usually a little easier to work with over the #7 Show Car Glaze, but if you're not having any problem with it then might as well continue to use it till it's gone, then give the Deep Crystal Polish a try.

Gold Class Wax leaves a very clear, dark reflective finish on properly prepared paint. Because your car is new, this should be the results you're seeing?

Are you removing both of these products with a microfiber polishing cloth? This will help you to completely remove any smears, (both the product you're using contain rich polishing oils), if not try applying a second coat of Gold Class Wax, apply a very thin coat, allow it to dry for 10 to 15 minutes and the remove with microfiber polishing cloths.

Give this a try and then post back your results. If the finish is still not looking right, you might need a paint cleaner? It's possible the dealership applied something that's causing the problem. If you want to try a paint cleaner first, and then re-polish and re-wax, pick up a bottle of Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner. This is a very safe and gentle, chemical cleaning only paint cleaner and retails for around $5.00 to $ 6.00

Hope this helps...

Mike

[robnyva]

Ok Mike Thanks for your info and input,,,,,,
With major flooding in SW Va on account of Hurricane Jeanne Thank Goodness my Grand Am was in the garage.....and I took my 96 Cavalier to work
Ok
I am using Microfiber cloths to remove polish and/or wax.
The car finish feels smooth still so I'll take your recommendation on not having to re clay.....

When I waxed with the Gold class I did not let it sit 15 minutes or so as you stated.. I thnk, Ill try what you mentioned and try a second light coat of Gold Class wax with letting it set in for 15minutes before removal.

I have the Deep Crystal 3 step system, So If I opt to use step 1 that will remove the #7 and Gold class wax?
I wanted to use NXT with al lthe raves about it here but I just bought the gold class jar so why waste it....

Ok I have a project this weekend Mike, Recoat the car with gold class and see how it fairs.........Ill try n post a few pics ..



Thanks
Rob

[robnyva]

Heres the Grand Am a few days after I took delivery,( Before any Meguiars products etc.) Shine is there but it had such a rough feel to it after sitting on the dealers lot. Using the Clay bar restored the new car feel.
Dont get me wrong the car still shines well but Im wondering if im getting too picky about its look.
Ill take new pics this weekend after 2nd lite coating with Gold class.

Also note in the pic the tail end of my 96 Cavalier after the 3 step Meguiars!!

[holdenhsv2004]

WOW thanks for everyone's great input.

The paint condition I have is very smooth, although I haven't tried paint cleaner etc before polishing or waxing. To be honest I'm not a great fan of paint cleaners because I'm worried that after many times of paint cleaning, I'm going to remove most of my clear coat... so therefore up until now, I have prefered to either use a pure polish a couple of times, or otherwise I have regularly used a wax such a pure wax or NXT.

I guess I will prep the paint prior to polishing and compare the results.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by robnyva
Heres the Grand Am a few days after I took delivery,( Before any Meguiar's products etc.) Shine is there but it had such a rough feel to it after sitting on the dealers lot. Using the Clay bar restored the new car feel.

Don't get me wrong the car still shines well but I'm wondering if I'm getting too picky about its look. Ill take new pics this weekend after 2nd lite coating with Gold class.

Also note in the pic the tail end of my 96 Cavalier after the 3 step Meguiar's!!

Hi robnyva,

I saved your picture to my hard drive and then uploaded it into your gallery here,

Your Gallery



To everyone reading this thread, the ability ot "Attach File" feature is disabled because, take my word for it, it causes too many problems. I know everyone likes this feature because it allows you to quickly and easily add a picture to you post, but over time, the database gets corrupted and the wrong pictures show in in you post. It also makes backing up the database take longer. What works better for the long term, (and Meguiar's is in this for the long term), is to have anyone that wants to display a picture to learn how to upload their pictures to their own gallery. This keeps pictures in one place and works better over the long run.

Anyway, if you want to learn how to upload and insert pictures using the gallery, here are some tutorials on working with pictures in the vbulletin environment.

Tutorials on how to crop, resize, upload and insert your pictures into your messages

How-to Crop your photos before uploading them to your gallery
How to resize your photos using Easy Thumbnails - Free software!
Step-by-Step Picture-Posting HOW TO

As far as your car goes, you should expect the finish to look great! It is a brand new car and the quality of the paint should be high. If the paint doesn't look good, then there is either something physically wrong with the paint, or it needs to be properly cleaned, polished and protected.

Everyone here is committed to helping you bring the quality of your car's finish up to the level it should be.

Mike

[robnyva]

Ok Mike Thks for the info,
Student here gets 3 demerits for not doing his homework.

I apologize about not knowing to use the Gallery instead of trying to post my pic using the attach file tab.

I just went thru the tutorials,, Excellent information . Thks

rob

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by robnyva
Ok Mike Thks for the info
I apologize about not knowing to use the Gallery instead of trying to post my pic using the attach file tab.

No need to apologize, I just wanted to share with anyone that reads this thread the reason the "Attach File" function doesn't' work and how to use use the gallery instead. If you read enough of my posts you'll see I include this little code snippet all the time,

Tutorials on how to crop, resize, upload and insert your pictures into your messages

How-to Crop your photos before uploading them to your gallery
How to resize your photos using Easy Thumbnails - Free software!
Step-by-Step Picture-Posting HOW TO

I have a MS Word document that is 11 pages long with what are called snippets of code, that is all the words formatted to show up as bold, or colored, or linked to another page that I copy and paste from all of the time, and the above is just one snippet of code.

When I first started out posting to vbulletin forums I always used the "Attach File" feature because I didn't know how to use the vbulletin code to link to pictures on the Internet. Someone taught me, and now I try to teach others.

It's the,

"Each one, teach one

philosophy, (that I really like).

Technically, you don't have to upload your pictures to the Meguiar's gallery, you can upload them to a number of places including your own website if you have one. (A lot of Internet Service Providers, (I.S.P.'s), give you an average of 5-10 megabytes of space with your account and if you now how to create a web page and do a little ftp work, you can upload and place your pictures on you own website and then link to them in your posts on any forum.


Like this,

The story behind my Avatar



So no need to feel bad or apologize, people use the "Attach File" feature all of the time only to find out it doesn't work. I wish I could remove the code that makes it show up but I can't, so I offer up a few tutorials instead.

Hope this helps...

Mike

[robnyva]

I think I found what makes me happy with the Grand Am's appearance using Meguiars.. I worked on it all day Saturday......
NXT Wax,,,,,, A trip down to the local Auto stiore had the wax 2 dollars off the Reg. price so I grabbed a bottle..

What I did was.. Applied the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner on the car to remove the wax and prepare it for Polish.
Next, I used Step #2 Deep Crystal Polish,, Applied & Buffed out.
Lastly, One coat of NXT wax, I was impressed with how smoothly it buffed out and especially the shine it gave to the car...
I'll have to rewash the car next weekend and give it coat #2 of NXT.

So what works for me is listed below and altho I have the PC im applying all wax n polishes to the car by hand..

Deep Crystal Cleaner Step#1
Deep Crystal Polish Step #2
NXT Wax

Any of you guys use the NXT spray wax to maintain??

[Andy M.]

Heres a Grand National with:

DC#1
DC#2
and NXT x 2

Hope this helps.


101impala