Convert to Meguiar's - need help

[zal_kindi]

Hi, I'm new to Meguiar's products and to this great forum so forgive me if what I'm about to ask has been asked a million times before.

I live in the United Arab Emirates and the Meguiar's agent here doesn't stock all the products. I am planning to detail my 2007 Carrara White Porsche Cayman S this weekend and was hoping to get your advice in getting the best results. Since I got the car, I have been using Zaino products but have decided to try Meguiar's this time.

I have managed to buy the following Meguiar's products:

1. NXT Car Wash
2. Deep Crystal pain cleaner (Step 1)
3. Deep Crystal Carnuba Wax (Step 3). I couldn't find Step 2 polish!
4. Scratch X 2.0. I couldn't get Swirl X!
5. NXT Tech Wax 2.0
6. NXT Spray Wax. I tried this last weekend and liked the results and the ease of application and removal.
7. NXT Speed Detailer.

I have some Zaino clay bars. I also have a Makita Orbital Polisher with a large selection of pads.

The car finish is in very good condition and has very few swirl marks and no visible contamination. Being white, it is not easy to spot defects which is a good thing. It is also difficult to get white to really "pop".

This is my plan and I would really appreciate you opinions and advice to make the most out of my elbow grease.

1. Wash with NXT Car wash and dry. I use an air blower to blow away any water residue in door handles, mirrors, etc.
2. Clay the entire car.
3. Mask off plastic trim with masking tape.
3. Use Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner with the Orbital Polisher and grey pad. I plan to do one panel at time.
4. Apply one coat NXT Tech Wax with Orbital Polisher and blue or red pad. Not sure if I can layer wax immediately or if I have to give it time.
5. Hopefully look and admire the results .

My questions:

1. My understanding is that the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner will strip all old polish and expose the clear coat. It has no polishing action. Correct?

2. Not having Swirl X, I have to rely on the paint cleaner and Tech Wax 2.0 to remove the very minor swirl marks I have. What do you think?

3. My understanding is that NXT Tech Wax 2.0 is polymer based and acts as a polish and wax as well so I do not need the Deep Crystal System Polish (Step 2) which I don't have or The Deep Crystal Carnuba Wax (Step 3) which I have. Does Tech Wax 2.0 do the job of both Deep Crystal Steps 2 and 3?

4. I assume that the paint cleaner and the Tech Wax 2.0 are both suitable for Orbital Polisher application. Correct?

5. Is there any value on layering the Tech Wax 2.0? and how long do I have to wait before applying a second coat?

So sorry about the long post. I shall look forward to your valuable advice. Great forum BTW. Many thanks.

[BarryK]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

Hi, I'm new to Meguiar's products and to this great forum so forgive me if what I'm about to ask has been asked a million times before.

I live in the United Arab Emirates and the Meguiar's agent here doesn't stock all the products. I am planning to detail my 2007 Carrara White Porsche Cayman S this weekend and was hoping to get your advice in getting the best results. Since I got the car, I have been using Zaino products but have decided to try Meguiar's this time.

I have managed to buy the following Meguiar's products:

1. NXT Car Eash
2. Deep Crystal pain cleaner (Step 1)
3. Deep Crystal Carnuba Wax (Step 3). I couldn't find Step 2 polish!
4. Scratch X 2.0. I couldn't get Swirl X!
5. NXT Tech Wax 2.0
6. NXT Spray Wax. I tried this last weekend and liked the results and the ease of application and removal.
7. NXT Speed Detailer.

I have some Zaino clay bars. I also have a Makita Orbital Polisher with a large selection of pads.

The car finish is in very good condition and has very few swirl marks and no visible contamination. Being white, it is not easy to spot defects which is a good thing. It is also difficult to get white to really "pop".

This is my plan and I would really appreciate you opinions and advice to make the most out of my elbow grease.

1. Wash with NXT Car wash and dry. I use an air blower to blow away any water residue in door handles, mirrors, etc.
2. Clay the entire car.
3. Mask off plastic trim with masking tape.
3. Use Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner with the Orbital Polisher and grey pad. I plan to do one panel at time.
4. Apply one coat NXT Tech Wax with Orbital Polisher and blue or red pad. Not sure if I can layer wax immediately or if I have to give it time.
5. Hopefully look and admire the results .

My questions:

1. My understanding is that the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner will strip all old polish and expose the clear coat. It has no polishing action. Correct?

2. Not having Swirl X, I have to rely on the paint cleaner and Tech Wax 2.0 to remove the very minor swirl marks I have. What do you think?

3. My understanding is that NXT Tech Wax 2.0 is polymer based and acts as a polish and wax as well so I do not need the Deep Crystal System Polish (Step 2) which I don't have or The Deep Crystal Carnuba Wax (Step 3) which I have. Does Tech Wax 2.0 do the job of both Deep Crystal Steps 2 and 3?

4. I assume that the paint cleaner and the Tech Wax 2.0 are both suitable for Orbital Polisher application. Correct?

5. Is there any value on layering the Tech Wax 2.0? and how long do I have to wait before applying a second coat?

So sorry about the long post. I shall look forward to your valuable advice. Great forum BTW. Many thanks.

1. correct. the paint cleaner is a cleaner, not a polish

2. the paint cleaner and the NXT will NOT remove swirls. You can use the ScratchX 2.0 to remove the swirls. It MIGHT be a bit more aggressive than what you need or it may be just perfect, it all depends on how bad the swirls are and how hard the paint is. But with your list of products it's the only type of polish you have for paint corrections so use it.

3. no, NXT is not a polish, it's a polymer wax/sealant with a very MINOR cleaning ability but that cleaning ability is really so small that I wouldn't even factor it in. Use the DC paint cleaner as your paint cleaner, use the ScratchX 2.0 as your polish, and than use the NXT 2.0 as your Last Step Product

4. yes

5. only real value/ advantage is to assure full and total coverage - figuring that if you accidently moss any areas on the first application you will cover them on the second coat.
Apply the first coat of NXT, wait approx 15 minutes and do the "swipe test" to make sure it wipes away clean. If it does it's ready for removal.
NXT wants 24 hours to fully bond before having a second coat applied.

Now just use the NXT spray wax about once a week or once every two weeks after washing as a "booster wax" and use the spray detailer inbetween washings to keep the car clean from dust and fingerprints.

Nice car - I just detailed a customers 2006 black metallic Cayman S a few days ago.

[zal_kindi]

1. correct. the paint cleaner is a cleaner, not a polish

2. the paint cleaner and the NXT will NOT remove swirls. You can use the ScratchX 2.0 to remove the swirls. It MIGHT be a bit more aggressive than what you need or it may be just perfect, it all depends on how bad the swirls are and how hard the paint is. But with your list of products it's the only type of polish you have for paint corrections so use it.

3. no, NXT is not a polish, it's a polymer wax/sealant with a very MINOR cleaning ability but that cleaning ability is really so small that I wouldn't even factor it in. Use the DC paint cleaner as your paint cleaner, use the ScratchX 2.0 as your polish, and than use the NXT 2.0 as your Last Step Product

4. yes

5. only real value/ advantage is to assure full and total coverage - figuring that if you accidently moss any areas on the first application you will cover them on the second coat.
Apply the first coat of NXT, wait approx 15 minutes and do the "swipe test" to make sure it wipes away clean. If it does it's ready for removal.
NXT wants 24 hours to fully bond before having a second coat applied.

Now just use the NXT spray wax about once a week or once every two weeks after washing as a "booster wax" and use the spray detailer inbetween washings to keep the car clean from dust and fingerprints.

Nice car - I just detailed a customers 2006 black metallic Cayman S a few days ago.

Thanks so much for the response. It is a lovely car; my first Porsche.

I checked with the Meguiar's dealer and he has the DC System Polish.
Shall I use that after the DC Paint CLeaner and follow it with the NXT Polish 2.0? I would really like to avoid using the Scratch X over the whole car considering that the finish is pretty clean and the swirls are very minor. Thanks..

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

Hi zal_kindi, and welcome to MOL.

We merged your two posts and removed the hyperlink because we don't allow live links during a member's initial 30 posts. (that's also what held your post in moderation for a bit)



DC Polish is a great choice to follow DC Paint Cleaner, or any paint cleaner for that matter. Topping with NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 would also be a prime choice - in fact, you would need to put a layer of protection on top of the DC polish or it won't last very long at all.

[zal_kindi]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

Hi zal_kindi, and welcome to MOL.

We merged your two posts and removed the hyperlink because we don't allow live links during a member's initial 30 posts. (that's also what held your post in moderation for a bit)



DC Polish is a great choice to follow DC Paint Cleaner, or any paint cleaner for that matter. Topping with NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 would also be a prime choice - in fact, you would need to put a layer of protection on top of the DC polish or it won't last very long at all.

Thanks for the advice and sorry about the double post and link. I will Wash + Clay + DC Paint Clean + DC Polish + NXT 2.0. I will use the rotary machine for the last 3 steps.

[Murr1525]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

What type of machine will you be using?

[zal_kindi]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

What type of machine will you be using?

The only thing I could find here is a Makita BO6040 Random Orbital Sander and Polisher. I have Red, Blue, White, Grey and Orange pads to go with it.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

The Makita BO6040 is a combination D/A and forced rotation machine - it never quite achieves full rotary mode as it still has some oscillation in the "circular" mode. Good machine though, no doubt.

Keep it in dual action mode when using it with the products you've mentioned. We assume the pads are Lake Country, is that correct? If so you should probably use the white polishing pad with the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner as the grey finishing pad is most likely going to be too mild to help correct defects. Run the machine at a moderate to fairly high speed for this step You can even experiment with the orange pad, but depending on the paint it may be a bit too aggressive. You can then use the gray pad for application of your DC2 Polish and the blue pad for applying the NXT Tech Wax 2.0. These last two steps should be run at low speeds on the machine, and with light pressure.

[zal_kindi]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

The Makita BO6040 is a combination D/A and forced rotation machine - it never quite achieves full rotary mode as it still has some oscillation in the "circular" mode. Good machine though, no doubt.

Keep it in dual action mode when using it with the products you've mentioned. We assume the pads are Lake Country, is that correct? If so you should probably use the white polishing pad with the Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner as the grey finishing pad is most likely going to be too mild to help correct defects. Run the machine at a moderate to fairly high speed for this step You can even experiment with the orange pad, but depending on the paint it may be a bit too aggressive. You can then use the gray pad for application of your DC2 Polish and the blue pad for applying the NXT Tech Wax 2.0. These last two steps should be run at low speeds on the machine, and with light pressure.

Thanks very much for the advice. The pads I have areLlake Country which I ordered online from the US. You are right about the Makita not being a rotary only machine. Being a non-pro, I'm not sure if I know how to use a rotary without causing damage. I will follow your advice and hopefully post some pictures of the results. Cheers.

[zal_kindi]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

OK, so after 7 hours of work....


1. Wash with NXT Car Wash
2. Clay using NXT Shampoo solution in sprayer as lubricant
3. Dry with MF waffle weave towel followed by air blower to dry residual water
4. Use masking tape to cover all plastic trim and front and rear light edges.
5. Clean paint with Meguier's DC Paint Cleaner one panel at a time using the Makita DA buffer + White pad. The paint cleaner is not too difficult to remove if you don't allow it to dry. I used speed detailer to help with the removal.
6. Apply DC Polish with machine + Grey pad. Did the whole car, allowed polish to dry before removing. Not the easiest to remove but Speed detailer helped.
7. Applied NXT Tech Wax 2.0 by hand on foam applicator. Very easy to apply and very easy to remove. Just buffs off with a dry MF towel. Easiest wax to remove I've used.

The Results are quite good for a white car if I say so myself. I didn't have many swirl marks before, now I have fewer still but still some visible under fluorescent light. The finish is very smooth and very glossy and reflective. I am very satisfied with the results, especially impressed with the NXT Tech Wax 2.0. Let me know what you think.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

Two things:

1 - Yowza!! The Porsche looks fantastic, you did an awesome job!!! Great reflections in the white paint


2 - We resized your images as they were a couple thousand pixels wide and you just couldn't see the whole image clearly on a monitor. Your originals are still in your gallery, but these have been resized and properly inserted to better show off your work!

[Murr1525]

Re: Convert to Meguiar's - need help

Looks great. And up keep with the spray waxes after future washes should be easy.

I am sure if you ever find SwirlX there, that will be all you need to remove the last few swirls now.