products & the process

[litenup]

i have a white, newly restored, 62 vet that i drive every day, that i would like to take care of myself. the car has always been hand washed, but not by me and i know nothing about the products that were used. reading all these posts have me very confused. i need to buy all the things necessary to preserve and keep the car looking great, but i'm afraid i don't know the difference between wax & polish. the only thing i know i don't like is that shiny gooey junk they use on the interior & tires at the carwash. i found meguiar's deep crystal car wash & eagle one a2z all wheel & tire cleaner, left by my son, in the garage. a friend of mine told me to buy meguiar's gold class carnauba plus wax, so i have that. my paint is new so it doesn't have the swirls i have been reading about, but the whitewall tires are turning brown and the white part is starting to yellow. in reading thru these posts and watching youtube videos i get the impression that there are a lot of mistakes to be made if u don't know what u are doing...and clearly, i don't. if someone would please be kind enough to give me a list of things that i need to purchase, the order i need to use them in, and how often i should use them...i would be most grateful.

[Murr1525]

Re: products & the process

You can keep things pretty simple, and do a great job. I take it you'll be working by hand? Here are two processes that work well, the cleaner/wax one may be simplest the first time.

1. Wash - Gold Class Soap (can use the Deep Crystal up to start), good quality towels like the Water Magnets, wash mitt, two buckets with Grit Guards.
2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit
3. Cleaner/Wax - ColorX is a good product, you could also pick the White Wax.
4. Wax - Gold Class Wax
5. Maintain - Ult Quick Wax or Gold Class spray wax after future washes, or while drying.

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Clean/Polish - Ult. Polish is a good mild cleaner/polish.
4. Wax
5. Wax - 2 thin coats is best
6. Maintain

And then you would want to have good towels for removing the products, like the Supreme Shine towels, and you can order some of the Hi-Tec yellow foam applicator pads.

If you wash regularly, and use the Ult. Quick Wax while drying, you should get a few months out of the detail, before you feel like redoing it.

[Jarhead0754]

Murr is spot on. But lets see if I can explain this more into detail for u.
1- wash- simple enuf
2- clay bar kit- should b done at least 2
Times a year min.
3- compound- such as ultimate
Compound- u don't need this but
When u do noticed scratches or
Swirls in the light this will take t
Those away. Maybe once a year
4- polish- such as ultimate polish- not
Completely neccesary however this
Is what shines the paint. Usually
Good to do before a wax
5- wax- now there are alot of waxes
U have gold class which is terrific
Ultimate wax is the longest lasting
Those 2 just protect the paint.
Cleaner wax such as black wax or
White wax in a sense combine all
The steps into 1. It will give minimal
Correction but can save u time.
Really all depends on the condition
Of the paint. I like to do a wax once
A month.
6- maintain- like ultimate detailer which
is just to give it a quick shine if any
Dust or spot checks such as bird
Droppings. And ultimate quick wax
In between waxings and after
Washes hit the car up for a booster
To keep the wax in top shape
To give u that just waxed look.
7- tires- u can choose from any of
Megs tire shines to fit ur type of
Finish. Also use a rim and tire
Cleaner such as hot rims and scrub
With a brush. Then dress
8- interior- ultimate protectant or
Supreme shine will protect the int
And u can choose from a Matt to
High gloss finish.

Meguiars makes many different products so its really hard to say what u want to use. Gold class is pretty much the entry level, followed by ultimate lineup. Which is the best for the consumer lines. Mirror glaze is professional use bcuz it's body shop safe and gives much more options when doing paint corrections. There is a detailer line which is very cost effective if u plan on detailing ur car weekly but not necessary. I'm sure others will chime in as my post is way to long already. But let them give up ther opinions and go from there. But definitely do some research on MOL u will learn a ton and ask as many questions as u like.

[litenup]

Re: products & the process

thankyouthankyouthankyou so much for your response! yes, i will be working by hand. i am going to purchase these things, but one more question....yesterday i saw a product called ultimate wash & wax. does that actually put wax on the car while u wash it?

[litenup]

Re: products & the process

oh this is great! thank u brett for explaining what all of these products do. i think i understand how it all works now. i'm going to go purchase all these things and get to work. i appreciate the education.

[Murr1525]

Re: products & the process

Of course glass, interior, wheels, tires, etc are all other stories....

Do you know what kind of wheels you have on there now? As far as the surface material... bare metal, chrome, painted, clear coated?

Yes, the Ult. Wash and Wax will leave some wax behind, but I would rather use the Gold Class, and use the UQW while drying, and get a better coat of wax easily that way.

[Jarhead0754]

I 2nd with murr. Go ahead and use the deep crystal wash till its gone before buying others u may want to try. Me personally I like gold class for my tires and once a month when I'm gonna wax the car. And in between waxings I use wash and wax just to bump up any protection along with the spray wax. But alone u will get minimal protection for prob a week. But it's pointless to use wash and wax before I clay, compound, polish as it just comes right off.

There's alot more to learn so ask questions. The guys on here are very knowledgable and try to help as much as they can.honostly I would recommend investing in a meguiars da. There are others that are just as good but for me I like to keep it all meguiars if possible. But when u do compound, polish, or wax u get so much more correction than u would by hand, and not to mention ur arms and body will thank u.

I didnt get to much on the glass, tplastic protection cuz my text was to long as is. But that's y I mentiond the hot rims wheel and tire but as murr stated if u know what kind of rims u have then u could go with a specic cleaner

One last thing for ur outdoor black or grey plastic u want to add ultimate black for uv protection, along with a little shine and keep from fading. I would also suggest using headlong plast x followed by headlight protectant to keep them from yellowing. Or u could just get the heavy duty headlight restorer kit.

Anything else ur wondering feel free to ask.

[litenup]

Re: products & the process

hi murr....i used natural shine protectant on the interior. i haven't bought anything yet for the glass. my car has original hub caps...they are chrome. if u could recommend a good chrome cleaner/shiner. i noticed when i washed the car, even though i dried it good the chrome all looks like it has a cloudy film on it. i would post a pic, but i don't know how to do that yet. i used the eagle one a2z all wheel & tire cleaner on the tires with a brush and they look much better, but the white wall has yellowed a bit and it looks the same. thanks for the tip on the ultimate wash & wax...i will follow your lead.

[Murr1525]

Re: products & the process

Always used to use the brillo pads on white walls.

Meguiars makes a Chrome polish, as well as milder metal polishes that could also work. I have not used the newest ones, but no reason to suspect they wouldn't be great.

[litenup]

Re: products & the process

hey brett, gold class what for your tires? i saw that meguiars da but i read somewhere that if u don't know what u are doing u can burn the paint. my car has the original chrome hubcaps. i have no outdoor black or grey plastic....all fiberglass & chrome. my headlight covers are glass so they are fine.

[Jarhead0754]

U could use bleche white by black magic. Another option is a heavy duty degreaser such as simple green or meguiars d108 super degreaser in their detailer line. Spray on lit sit for 30 sec and then take a hard bristled brush and scrub the entire tire. Then repeat if necessary.

[litenup]

Re: products & the process

oh yeah...i remember the old brillo pad routine. lol i was hoping there was something new and improved, like a spray so i wouldn't have to use them. i'll check into the chrome polish. do people wax chrome? what do u recommend for the glass?

[litenup]

Re: products & the process

thank u brett...i have simple green. i will try that and if it doesn't do the trick i will get bleche white. what do u use on the glass?

[Murr1525]

Re: products & the process

The Bleche White is probably the newer version... but still need some working in at times.

The Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner is a good one, if you don't want ot buy a gallon of concentrate all at once.

The Meguiars DA is quite safe, but a bigger up front investment. The products we have been talking about can be used with it though, so no loss there.

You can wax chrome... wont nessicerily last a long time on wheels.

[Jarhead0754]

U might want to look into meguiars detailer line. It's cost effective and has everything u need.

I agree with Murr about the da. But to keep it simple for u meguiars has an excellent da along with their soft buff pads 2.0. A great combination. So between the detailer line products, da and pads prob b around $500 but don't quote me I'm just taking acquick guess. If u want me to break down the detailer line and what u will need for ur details I can do that.