AcuraFO

Yet another newbie question,

Just purchased a 2007 TL that is in great condition, however there is always room for improvement.

It is a NBP which looks damn good during the dawn, dusk, and evening hours---but we all know how it goes during the sun lit day. YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING.

I need some general advice on how and what to use to properly make the paint look amazing. There arent any major scratches or swirl marks--it is just the normal wear for a 2.5 year old vehicle.

I was going to to clay bar it with Meguiars, then polish it with Meguiars deep crystal, and follow it up with the deep crystal wax (maybe NXT 2.O). I think that is all the steps right there, but feel free to fill me in if i am missing any steps.

First time doing a complete wax job (Was a former jeep driver who enjoyed the dirt ), so i could use some advice.
Any recommedations on which products I should be using and methods on how to do it?

Thanks folks. I really appreciate the help. I don't wanna f' stuff up my first time around.

Drive Safe.

-AFO

P.S. Mentioned this in another post, but I was wondering if OTC wheel cleaner will damage our painted (or powder coated?) alloy wheels?? Been hearing good stuff about P21S wheel cleaner, but I was wondering about any of the other stuff....

Thanks

DetailedImage

I'd highly recommend reading through this complete detail on a NBP TL to get you familiar with how to properly care for your vehicle. It offers step by step directions on caring for every part of the TL as well as product recommendations.

Another good resource to go over would be our auto detailing guides.

They key to properly maintaining your vehicle will be to protect as many surfaces as possible and following a good maintenance schedule. I'd highly recommend learning how to properly wash and dry your vehicle as this is where a majority of imperfections stem from.

Hope this helps.

AcuraFO

wow. the NBP detail guide was the most extensive detail guide i have ever seen. made the car look beautiful again.

I think i have figured it out, going to:

wash
dry
clay bar
polish
wax

Meguiar's has some cleaning wax thing they throw into the clay kit, but i am just going to skip the "all in one" and go over the car with a polish afterwards.

which brings me to, does polish strip away your paint and ruin it due to it being "abrasive"?? I plan on clay barring, polishing, and waxing 3 times a year. Thought I read that polishing frequently can do more harm than it can help? true/false? any help is appreciated.

once again, thanks for the awesome links and the advice

-afo

Jesstzn

Please define what your meaning by polishing ... product & steps.

DetailedImage

Polishing using the polishes used in the guide will level out your clear coat, removing a tiny amount of it. What happens most of the time is you tackle the swirls and imperfections with a multi-step polishing process (say a medium cut and a finishing polish) and remove a majority of the imperfections. Assuming you care for your vehicle properly after, there won't be as many imperfections added to your paint as previous and chances are you can get away with just a finishing polish next time around. If you are smart with your polishing and follow proper techniques, you could in theory, polish say twice a year for 10+ years and not run into any clear coat failure.

If you are wet sanding, using a rotary buffer with an aggressive polish and pad combination or simply over polishing, then you can wear down the clear coat faster than necessary and run into clear coat problems.

If you follow proper technique with a safe random orbital buffer, such as the Porter Cable 7424XP, there's little to worry about when it comes to removing too much clear coat.

Let me know if this helps answer your question.

Cheers.

AcuraFO

Thanks so much for the info. Sorry for all the newbie repetitive questions, but i am just new to all this.

it tremendously helped to answer my questions. this is my method of attack ( its a lot of OTC stuff, since I can't afford too much of the good stuff--but i still care about how my car is looks/ is protected)

1. Wash/Dry ( Megs GC shampoo)
2. Clay Bar (Megs Clay w/ QD lube)
3. Megs DC1 or Swirl X as a cleaner ( those would be considered a light "cutting" polish right?)
4. DC3 GC Polish ( Pure Polish that isn't non abrasive, aka won't ruin the clear coat right?)
5. Megs NXT 2.0 or DG 105 if i can find it. ( any suggestions or advice on how DG105 performs as a wax/sealant?)
6. After washes spray down with QD after drying

Also, 3M painter's tape is safe on my car correct? I wanna tape off all my seals/gaskets and non painted surface during the polishing and waxing.

let me know if this plan of action is the way to go.

i sincerely appreciate the information guys and gals. gotta love the forums

drive safe.

-afo

Jesstzn

See above in bold.

AcuraFO

thanks jesstzn for the awesome info!!

so would you suggest the skipping the whole swirl x and pure polish, and stick with the "cleaner wax" (i was trying to stay away from the all in ones and do it separately, but if doing each as a single step won't help much--im hoping their cleaner wax will take care of minor swirl marks) they have and then 2 coats of DG 105??

would that achieve the max protection and shine?

thanks

-afo

zguy95135

Klasse All in One is a great product too, it uses chemicals to remove oxidation and contaminants and gives nice color depth and glass, it also fills in minor swirls. Plus it gives some protection from the elements. The best part is it's pretty much a wipe on and remove product. I would suggest layering some good wax on top (or sealant) and use Quickwax or Quickdetail on your car after each wash to keep it protected.



It's not going to replace using compound and a good buffer but if the paint is still in good shape its a great, quick product.

AcuraFO

thanks for the heads up.

just went to the store and i think i am going to go with this combination (haven't purchased anything yet, but this is what my plan will be for the weekend)

1. wash/dry (meg gc)
2. clay bar (meg w/ qd lube
3. Zymol All Natural Cleaner Wax/Polish (the blue stuff)
4. DG 105 to seal in the polish and protect.

first time doing all this, so kind of intimidating.....hopefully i will not f' this up too bad and it wont take me a week.

As before, give me any suggestions, advice, or opinions you got!!

thanks

-AFO

PortlandRL

As you are new, I strongly suggest staying away from rotary polishers like the Makita 9227C as they have a fairly steep learning curve. For a starter such as yourself, look into the Porter Cable random orbital; it's a much safer machine for learning and it's virtually impossible to screw up with.

Most new cars have between 100 and 140 microns (1 micron = 0.001 mm) of paint to them although some have almost 200 microns. Polishing correctly may remove 3 to 5 microns so this gives you an idea of just how shallow most swirl marks really are.

Welcome to AcuraZine and the sickness that is detailing.

Jesstzn

See bold above .. if your going to go this direction do the following

1. wash/dry (meg gc)
2. clay bar (meg w/ qd lube
3. Meguiars ColorX to remove oxidization and do some filling.
4. #105 x 2 layers but each layer needs to be at least 12 hours apart (preferably 24 hours )


Where your off track is by manufactures use of the term polish .. they use it randomly and out of context for marketing reasons.

Polishes correct paint / clear issues via abrasion and unless done with a machine are near fruitless by hand.. waxes/sealants protect.

Cleaner waxes clean up oxidization etc via chemicals then lay down som protection. Multi purpose products never do all the jobs well.

AcuraFO

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AcuraFO

jesstzn,

thanks so much for the info. if i was local to you, you would be having multiple beers on my tab!

yes. i have officially been information overloaded on polishes, waxes, sealants, abrasive, non abrasive, yadda, yadda, yadda. I just wanna 1. protect the longevity of my paint and not hurt it and 2. shine the livin sh!t outta it

The paint is in great condition and I just have very light and no major scratches. I just want to ensure i am doing the right things with tools that i have.

So Color X acts as a "polish/wax" yet doesn't have the abrasive attributes to it because it fills? (Or am i still just missing the concept?, damn marketing departments.)
If I cannot get color x, will swirl x suffice?

Also, this may be a stupid newbie question, but is it ok to use the DG105 and then wash it with MEG GC shampoo/conditioner?? Its not harsher on the wax/sealant than any other car wash liquid correct?

Once again, thanks for the info.

-afo

Jesstzn

ColorX is a chemical type cleaner product that will leave some sealant behind .

Any OTC car wash will be safe to use after your done . none will strip the wax/sealant.

Jesstzn

ColorX is available just about anywhere .. Walmart .. target etc etc ... #105 id available at Car Quest and if they don't have it onb the shelf they will bring it in from the central warehouse .. Both are about $10.

If you have a Costco near you go get a package of thier yellow Microfiber towels for wax removal.

Also if your really serious .. get M/F drying towels 24 x 32 for drying and sheep skin mitt for washing.

Most swirling comes from bad washing practices.

AcuraFO

yup, got the M/F drying towels. i have a M/F washmit, ill try to invest in a sheep skin one.

been looking at some more DG stuff. DG101 vs. ColorX? recommendations?

also, would you recommend using the DG601 (bonding agent) prior to applying the DG105 or does the 105 go on easy enough?

all this stuff is @ carquest. ready for it to stop raining so i can start rolling my sleeves up.

thanks

-afo

Jesstzn

See Bold

Izzy-Type-S

iTrader: (1)

Great info...my 08 NBP TL-S came with some swirls. The previous owner must have gone through tough car washes because it only had 4,500 miles when I got it. I'm going to try these products and techniques. Thanks.

Jesstzn

The above will only work on very minor swirling .. some of the car wash induced stuff will require at least a PC and the proper polishes etc.