Looking for a show quality shine?

[blonzz]

I have 3 cars that I want an ultimate show car shine on.
They are always garaged and covered.

The first car is a 05 Viper Copperhead. (satin orange) It was just recently purchased on 06/11/05. The paint is swirll free and in visibly pristine condition.

The second car is a Gold 70 Oldsmobile 442 that I inherited from my father in 1981. He purchased it new on 10/02/69. I drove it for awhile and it went into garage storage for 18 years. It was resurrected in 12/03 and went into a complete restofication. It was resprayed with a base/clearcoat during the process. The paint is pristine. The cars body paint was done in the summer of last year. A ram air was just added and the paint on the hood is 2 months old.

The third car is a Purple 66 Nova I picked up earlier this year. After purchase the newer House of Kolor paint was professionally cleaned and 6 coats of clear were applied. This was done 04/15/05 It has had nothing applied to the finish.

I am only concernend with apperance not duarability. Or can both be achieved?

I am looking for product recommendations and tips.

Thanks,
John

[Mike Phillips]

Hi John,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

First, your car collection is awesome and each car does look as thought it has a flawless finish to start with. How does each finish look when the sun is placed direction onto the hood and viewed from overhead?

Like this?



Or this?



The reason I ask is because these are before and after pictures of a very beautifully restored black 1963 Corvette Stingray Roadster that we buffed out for the 2004 Plastic Fantastic Corvette Show in San Diego.


During the process



Afterwards on display



While to most people, to look at the finish of the Corvette before we buffed it out it looked awesome, to the trained eye in the right light you could see what we call cobweb-effect typically caused over time by normal wear and tear, things like wiping down and washing etc.


If your car's finishes are perfect and pristine in every way in any light right now, then all you need to do is find a wax you like and use it once in a while to maintain that "Just waxed look" and in-between waxing the paint, use a quick detailer to remove light dust.

For waxes, it kind of comes down to your personal preference which you'll never know what that is until you have personally tried a few.

For show car finishes, in which you want a very clear, wet, glossy, rich in color, reflective look, any of the below waxes would be great choices...

M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax
Gold Class Wax
NXT Tech Wax
M21 Synthetic Sealant

Each of the above waxes when applied to a pristine finish will maintain the finish and even take it to a higher level.

If any of the finishes in your car collection looks like this,



Or even light cobweb effect like I found a few weeks ago on wild show car called the Panic Parrot,







Then you might want to consider spending the time upfront massaging each painted panel with a light cleaner polish using a dual action polisher to work out the light swirls and then apply a wax of your choice.

Either way, we would be more than happy to help you choose the right product to get the results your looking for. Just let us know.

[g15389]

WOW! Beautifull cars *drool*

I am looking at a '65 Chevelle Convertible, seeing that 442 makes me want it even more

G-

[blonzz]

Thanks for the compliments.

Hello Mike,

Thanks for the welcome.

That 1963 Corvette Stingray Roadster is gorgeous!

None of the cars have heavy cobweb-effect.

Once the finish is viewed under direct sunlight If I need to remove light cobweb-effect what products do you recommend?

I have a G-100 DA and a few products available.

7006, 8006, 9006 pads

#9 Swirll Remover
#82 Swirll Free Polish
#83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish

#7 Show Car Glaze
#81 Hand Polish

Ultimate bonnets and MF towels

And a very large array of quality waxs and quick detailers.

If the cars finish is perfect now will using # 7 or #81 enhance the shine before the application of wax?

Thanks,
John

[soonercivic]

Those cars are beautiful. To answer a few questions, yes, applying a pure polish like #7 or #81 will help the shine after the wax. If your looking to remove the swirls i would say pick up a bottle of #80. That should do the job if they are very minor. Apply #80 with the 8006 pad until you reach your desired results. Then polish, I use #7 but #81 is easier to remove and more user friendly. Then wax on top of that. The NXT wax adds a great deep wet shine and, from what i hear, is the best protecting wax meguiars makes (always do 2 light coats). The wax can be removed by using the Ultimate Bonnet over a 9006 pad and then getting the rest with a MF towel.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by blonzz
Once the finish is viewed under direct sunlight If I need to remove light cobweb-effect what products do you recommend?

Out of the products you listed,

To remove light swirls, use these to re-polish each panel using about 10 pounds of pressure on the head of the G100 on the 5.0 setting and using a slow arm speed.

G-100 DA
8006
#82 Swirl Free Polish

Then remove by hand using a microfiber polishing cloth. Remove a section at a time as a cleaner/polish doesn't need to dry and sometimes allowing it to dry will make it more difficult to remove.

If you find the M82 Swirl Free Polish is not aggressive enough to remove any swirls in the finish, then get your hands on some M80 Speed Glaze as this is truly a wonderful product for what you're trying to accomplish. It's more aggressive than M82 and M09 but less aggressive than the M83 and very, very, very easy to work with.

Here's the deck-lid of a 1973 Challenger built on the Overhauling car show after a thorough polishing with the M80 Speed Glaze.



After you have polished each panel and removed the excess product, next apply your wax using Meguiar's W-9006 foam finishing pad on the 3.0 setting with about 4-5 pounds of pressure, just a little more than the weight of the machine. You can use a little faster arm movement now because you're not trying to remove defects, just lay down a nice even coating.

Allow the wax to dry until it swipes clear.

How to tell when a Meguiar's wax is ready to remove - The Swipe Test

In Arizona, this shouldn't take very long. 10 to 15 minutes.

To remove the dried wax, use an Ultimate bonnet on a clean, dry W-7006 foam cutting pad on the 5.0 setting and push down about 10 pounds of pressure on the head of the polisher. Reverse or replace the bonnet as it loads up with wax.

For a wax, I would go with either NXT Tech Wax, or M26 Hi Tech Yellow wax or Gold Class Wax if you already have one of these. Be sure to shake the bottle well before using.

If the cars finish is perfect now will using # 7 or #81 enhance the shine before the application of wax?

Thanks,
John

Yes, for two reasons.

1. Just the act of applying a pure polish has a polishing-effect, that it touching the paint in the way you do when applying a pure polish tends to maintain and improve smoothness and gloss and this is something you're looking for out of finishes like your car's have.

2. Applying a pure polish like the #7 or the #81 will tend to increase clarity of the clear coat and reveal the true, rich color of the basecoat underneath.

After applying and removing a pure polish by hand or machine, then immediately afterwards, apply your choice of wax. Apply a thin coat. If you have time, apply a second thin coat after removing the first coat. Some people wait for some time to pass before applying the second coat of wax, this is an option. If you decide to wait, make sure the cars stay clean and dust free.

[blonzz]

I appreciate all the information.

I understand that a pure polish should and will be applied prior to waxing.

Once a car has been waxed can a pure polish #7 or #81 be applied on top? Just before taking the car out?

Will this offer any shine enhancing effect? Will it remove the wax?

Thanks,
John

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by blonzz
I appreciate all the information.

I understand that a pure polish should and will be applied prior to waxing.

Once a car has been waxed can a pure polish #7 or #81 be applied on top? Just before taking the car out?

Will this offer any shine enhancing effect? Will it remove the wax?

Thanks,
John

I know I've answered this question a number of times on the forum as owners of show cars run into this situation. Let me search for it and see if I can find it.

Found it... typed the words polish over wax into the search engine and selected search titles only and came up with a number of threads, here's one of them and my answer in it.

[b]Polish over wax?

Originally posted by benhui86
can i apply polish after i have waxed my car and keep the polish there?

Meguiar's pure polishes are for creating brilliant gloss, depth of shine and a deep, dark wet look. They offer no long lasting protection ingredients as that is the purpose of a wax.

Meguiar's recommends that you apply the polish before you apply the wax as the polish will be better able to penetrate into the finish and the wax will tend to seal, or lock in the polish.

If you like, (or prefer), you can also apply a Meguiar's pure polish over your wax, this is personal preference. You may find removal a little more difficult or smeary, depends on a lot of different factors.

Meguiar's polishes applied over wax will not last long if you wash the car or the car is exposed to inclement weather as the polish will more or less wash off, thus the reason to apply before waxing.

M07 Show Car Glaze gets its name from giving paint a show car look. It's been around since the 1930's and it's completely plausible that over all these years many people have applied it over their wax before showing their car. It could be that some people after having purchased a car, (that has wax on it), have applied the #7 Show Car Glaze with no detrimental effects. So it definitely can be done, you just might find it difficult on the removal side on some paint types. If you decide you do want to try applying a pure polish after waxing, we would highly recommend applying a very thin application and have on hand, some clean soft 100% cotton towels, or premium quality microfibers to remove it.

Remember also that #7 Show Car Glaze does not need to dry before you remove it. You simply apply the product, work it in well and then remove it. No waiting time.

[the other pc]

Hey blonzz, to Meguiar's online!


PC.

[blonzz]

Thanks for the welcome PC.

Mike you have been a great help!

Thanks,
John

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by blonzz
I appreciate all the information.

I understand that a pure polish should and will be applied prior to waxing.

Once a car has been waxed can a pure polish #7 or #81 be applied on top? Just before taking the car out?

Will this offer any shine enhancing effect?

It's pretty hard to beat the results the above mentioned waxes will produce on a properly prepared finish, especially when applied and removed using a dual action polisher.

Check out these two first prizes the owner of this Overhaulin Challenger received after we polished out the swirls and applied two coats of NXT Tech Wax.

Will it remove the wax?

Thanks,
John

Sometimes questions like this come up and because of the nature of discussion forums and the type of hardcore serious enthusiasts they attract, we often have to ask

How far do you want to drill down?

For example is a my reply to a similar question on the third page of the below thread...


NXT Booster Wax Cleaning Properties

Originally posted by sky8811
Hi Mike,

In fact the finish result looks great after using NXT booster wax.

However, as what Gen2 has pointed out my concern:

Will NXT Spray Wax clean away the NXT paste wax that was last applied to the car?

Just want to learn more about Meg's product thats all...

I would say that at some level, yes a spray on wax will remove some of the wax applied previously to the surface, but will also leave behind some of itself in the process as it is a wax after all. It could be a zero sum net gain situation.

Remember, washing your car removes wax, even wiping it with a cloth removes wax, basically anything that comes into contact with wax coating on the surface has the potential to affect the coating. By the term affect, I mean... when you touch your car's paint and subsequently the wax sitting on top of the paint, you're disrupting the wax at some level. If you're applying more wax, in the form of a liquid, paste, or spray-on, you are probably removing a little, and then leaving a little till you reach the point of diminishing returns.

If you're just running a towel over the surface, or washing with a wash mitt, then you're not adding any wax to the surface and more than likely you're removing a little at the microscopic level.

How far do we want to drill down?
Nothing remains the same, nothing is excluded from change. Everything is in a state of chaos according to The second law of thermodynamics.

I wouldn't stop using either Meguiar's spray waxes over any concern they are removing wax because in the big picture, they are adding wax and restoring beauty and that's what most of us are looking for, protection and appearance.

~~~~~~~~~~~

End of copy and paste...

So to answer your question,

Will it remove the wax?

Rubbing an applicator pad with a smooth creamy product over a painted finish with a coat of wax already on it would in my estimation have a tendency to remove some wax at least off the surface and at least at the microscopic level.

Should you let you keep this from applying a pure polish to your car before showing it? Not in my opinion however what you should do is a Test Spot. That is, after you have for example your Nova waxed, find a place on a flat surface like the deck-lid and apply either the #7 Show Car Glaze or the #81 Hand Polish to a small section and then remove and then inspect in different lighting condition and see if you have improved the finish or diminished the previously achieved results. Then go with the system that worked the best.

How's that sound?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by blonzz
Thanks for the welcome PC.

Mike you have been a great help!

Thanks,
John

It would be more fun to help you polish your cars in person than it would be to try go help you polish them with a keyboard!



Best of luck with your projects, if you have any more questions please feel free to post them here. If we've been of some help please feel encouraged to share the link to our forum with your car crazy friends.

Also, if you end up re-polishing the paint on any of your rides, please share your results with our forum as I'm sure everyone would be interested.

[jimbo_01]

that challenger looks pretty good. do you happen to have anymore pics of it???

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by jimbo_01
that challenger looks pretty good. do you happen to have anymore pics of it???

Over 200 from the makeover...

All I need to do is to go through them pick out the ones that will best tell the story, rename them, crop them, upload them, add words and create the thread...

[blonzz]

It would be more fun to help you polish your cars in person than it would be to try go help you polish them with a keyboard!

Mike,

Do you offer mobile service?

Can you recommend someone that offers high end mobile service in the PX area?

Thanks,
John