Tweet
My '96 Mustang Cobra Newbie Debacle
Hello,
I own a 1996 Mustang Cobra and lately the hood on the car has been looking particularly bad. The vehicle has roughly 45,000 miles on it. The first seven years the car was owned, it was stored in the garage when it was parked. Now, as a college car, the car sees a decent amount of highway driving and sits outside during the fall and spring months of the year without any protection at all. This previous semester, I neglected to wash it and remove some bird stains/water spots over the course of a month or so, and now I am paying the price for it. The rest of the car is in great condition, but the hood is really starting to show the wear.
Here are several pictures of the hood to help gauge what I'm talking about. I apologize if they're not the best shots, but I think this gives a relatively good depiction of the quality. From a distance, it looks fine, but up close and under certain angles of light, you can REALLY start to see the swirls:
(I didn't want to use thumbnails or lower quality images, so I'm linking to large images stored on another site)
**
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010022.JPG (towards the top of the image you can faintly see the swirling and spots on the middle part of the hood ... this is perhaps the worst of it)
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010024.JPG (this is perhaps the best example of the swirling ... this is essentially how the rest of the hood looks)
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010026.JPG (the white specks are paint chips, I believe, due to excessive highway driving ... I may just have to live with these)
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010028.JPG (if you look closely, you can see some water spots/bird droppings)
**
I've been doing countless hours of research all over the 'net, from reading on Autopia.org and Zaino's site, to the Rx "prescription" and forums offered on this site. I've always used Meguiar's products on my car, and I'm essentially just looking for something newer and superior to what I'm currently applying. I've read all the hype about Zaino, Tropicare, and other products, but I'd still prefer a tried-n-true Meguiar's product. In the past, I've used relatively old bottles of the Deep Crystal three step system (cleaner (step 1), then polisher (step 2), then Gold Class wax). These might be out of date products, as the bottles for the current Deep Crystal system certainly look different.
Based on what I've read, I've learned that I've been doing the prep process entirely wrong. I was a complete newbie with respect to the washing, claybar, and cleaning processes. Generally, when I wanted to wax the car, I'd do a standard hand wash with my usual car wash (Meguiar's "Soft Wash Gel"), then go straight into polishing and waxing. Just a few weeks ago, upon returning home for a stint for summer break, I decided to clean, polish, and wax it. I did a single application of each, and it did not resolve any of my swirling or stains. I imagine that's because I was not cleaning thoroughly enough by applying simply one application of cleaner. Now I know better.
Anyways, as a Meguiar's user, I came here for some sort of recommendation for what would be ideal in my scenario. Like I said previously, I filled out the Meguiar's Rx form and received a recommendation, but a friend of mine informed me to use #26 Wax instead of NXT and to use #9 instead of the Deep Crystal system. He didn't really give much explanation, but I imagine it had a lot to do with the fact that #9 and #26 are specified categorically as "Professional grade."
So, I coupled all of this input and data with the suggested five step Meguiar's process and have come out with this (I will insert specific questions at each step): ... please forgive the detail and longwindedness ... I tend to get verbose and particular when doing projects.
1.) Wash (with Dawn or with Meguiar's Gold Class)
Are there any pros or cons involving Dawn vs. Meguiar's Gold Class? I was under the impression the point of using Dawn was because of how "powerful" it was and ablebodied with respect to removing previous applications of wax. If a Meguiar's washing product can accomplish this, I'd rather go that route, since no matter what anyone says, I don't really trust washing my car with a dish-washing soap.
2.) Surface Prep
- Claybar (Meguiar's or Mother's), then
- Swirl Removal (#9/M09 or #80/M80)
While perusing these forums, I noticed a thread where another user had been contemplating using #9 to remove swirls and polish. However, from what I gathered in the text, you suggested using #80 in its place since the user was going to be applying by hand instead of by machine. Is this a correct assumption?
3.) Polish with a Glaze (#7), but if #80/M80 is used, no need to further polish.
Going back to the #80 vs. #9 question, I also gathered that #80, if used in this process, contains more polishing oils, rendering an additional polishing before the waxing relatively useless.
4.) Wax with NXT or #26. Apply second coat if wanted.
- NXT, then
- #26 ("topping" NXT)
I read the information station threads, specifically the one about topping an NXT product, which is how I obtained this process. However, I haven't decided if I want to purchase both products and do so, so I'm weighing the benefits of using NXT vs. #26. Are NXT and #26 comparable in durability and quality? I assumed since #26 is a professional grade product, it would be superior in both respects, yet the Rx prescription site still recommends NXT.
I think that's it, for now ... once I have the process nailed down, I'll probably tackle the accessory requirements, however I'm probably just going to go the 100% cotton route in all directions.
Thanks in advance for any correspondance or suggestions. It's amazing how much I've learned about the car care process over the last 48 hours.
I own a 1996 Mustang Cobra and lately the hood on the car has been looking particularly bad. The vehicle has roughly 45,000 miles on it. The first seven years the car was owned, it was stored in the garage when it was parked. Now, as a college car, the car sees a decent amount of highway driving and sits outside during the fall and spring months of the year without any protection at all. This previous semester, I neglected to wash it and remove some bird stains/water spots over the course of a month or so, and now I am paying the price for it. The rest of the car is in great condition, but the hood is really starting to show the wear.
Here are several pictures of the hood to help gauge what I'm talking about. I apologize if they're not the best shots, but I think this gives a relatively good depiction of the quality. From a distance, it looks fine, but up close and under certain angles of light, you can REALLY start to see the swirls:
(I didn't want to use thumbnails or lower quality images, so I'm linking to large images stored on another site)
**
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010022.JPG (towards the top of the image you can faintly see the swirling and spots on the middle part of the hood ... this is perhaps the worst of it)
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010024.JPG (this is perhaps the best example of the swirling ... this is essentially how the rest of the hood looks)
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010026.JPG (the white specks are paint chips, I believe, due to excessive highway driving ... I may just have to live with these)
http://students.ou.edu/H/Justin.M.Hayden-1/P1010028.JPG (if you look closely, you can see some water spots/bird droppings)
**
I've been doing countless hours of research all over the 'net, from reading on Autopia.org and Zaino's site, to the Rx "prescription" and forums offered on this site. I've always used Meguiar's products on my car, and I'm essentially just looking for something newer and superior to what I'm currently applying. I've read all the hype about Zaino, Tropicare, and other products, but I'd still prefer a tried-n-true Meguiar's product. In the past, I've used relatively old bottles of the Deep Crystal three step system (cleaner (step 1), then polisher (step 2), then Gold Class wax). These might be out of date products, as the bottles for the current Deep Crystal system certainly look different.
Based on what I've read, I've learned that I've been doing the prep process entirely wrong. I was a complete newbie with respect to the washing, claybar, and cleaning processes. Generally, when I wanted to wax the car, I'd do a standard hand wash with my usual car wash (Meguiar's "Soft Wash Gel"), then go straight into polishing and waxing. Just a few weeks ago, upon returning home for a stint for summer break, I decided to clean, polish, and wax it. I did a single application of each, and it did not resolve any of my swirling or stains. I imagine that's because I was not cleaning thoroughly enough by applying simply one application of cleaner. Now I know better.
Anyways, as a Meguiar's user, I came here for some sort of recommendation for what would be ideal in my scenario. Like I said previously, I filled out the Meguiar's Rx form and received a recommendation, but a friend of mine informed me to use #26 Wax instead of NXT and to use #9 instead of the Deep Crystal system. He didn't really give much explanation, but I imagine it had a lot to do with the fact that #9 and #26 are specified categorically as "Professional grade."
So, I coupled all of this input and data with the suggested five step Meguiar's process and have come out with this (I will insert specific questions at each step): ... please forgive the detail and longwindedness ... I tend to get verbose and particular when doing projects.
1.) Wash (with Dawn or with Meguiar's Gold Class)
Are there any pros or cons involving Dawn vs. Meguiar's Gold Class? I was under the impression the point of using Dawn was because of how "powerful" it was and ablebodied with respect to removing previous applications of wax. If a Meguiar's washing product can accomplish this, I'd rather go that route, since no matter what anyone says, I don't really trust washing my car with a dish-washing soap.
2.) Surface Prep
- Claybar (Meguiar's or Mother's), then
- Swirl Removal (#9/M09 or #80/M80)
While perusing these forums, I noticed a thread where another user had been contemplating using #9 to remove swirls and polish. However, from what I gathered in the text, you suggested using #80 in its place since the user was going to be applying by hand instead of by machine. Is this a correct assumption?
3.) Polish with a Glaze (#7), but if #80/M80 is used, no need to further polish.
Going back to the #80 vs. #9 question, I also gathered that #80, if used in this process, contains more polishing oils, rendering an additional polishing before the waxing relatively useless.
4.) Wax with NXT or #26. Apply second coat if wanted.
- NXT, then
- #26 ("topping" NXT)
I read the information station threads, specifically the one about topping an NXT product, which is how I obtained this process. However, I haven't decided if I want to purchase both products and do so, so I'm weighing the benefits of using NXT vs. #26. Are NXT and #26 comparable in durability and quality? I assumed since #26 is a professional grade product, it would be superior in both respects, yet the Rx prescription site still recommends NXT.
I think that's it, for now ... once I have the process nailed down, I'll probably tackle the accessory requirements, however I'm probably just going to go the 100% cotton route in all directions.
Thanks in advance for any correspondance or suggestions. It's amazing how much I've learned about the car care process over the last 48 hours.
Comment