Paint care

[Mikey444]

I thought many of you might find this interesting: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-polishing.html

I usually get the car polished every year at the end of the winter and wax it in the summer.

Winter is another story, not a really nice thing over here.

 

[Killer]

In winter here in Florida I wax about every 6-8 weeks. In the summer though its once a month here. heat and rain are EXTREME.

Was a Meguiers Gold Class guy...just switched to Meguiers NXT..love the results.

 

[genericuser]

good info mikey.. I'm actually doing a full detail run today.. clay bar, 3m wax, carpet shampoo, leather cleaner, taking off all four wheels and cleaning from the inside..

gonna be a fun day for me and the hatch (cabpatch)

 

[genericuser]

growl.. stupid clay bar put a bunch of swirl marks in my paint.. I'm gonna have to compound the entire car with 3m fine cut rubbing compound this weekend.. I had a temporary solution with some meguiars scratch x

 

[Mikey444]

I usually take the car to Mazda anually to get machine polished, takes a way at least 75% of all the imperfections because I have them do a quicky thus not "wearing" the paint too much, after reading this articel and getting a few tips I feel confident enough to get my own machine to polish the car. Apparently, also according to what they use at the dealer, 3M machine polish cream is the best.

I use Meguiars wax for the paint, I'll be waxing it weekly for the next 3 weeks to give it as much protection as I can, than it will just be monthly and the last 4 weeks of autom it will get waxed weekly again before winter.

The seats get treated with this special wax wich is organic. it protects the leather. Leather is obviously skin, anything non organic will accelerate the wear and tear of your leather, according to a friend "leather expert" that's been in the business for 20 + years. The stuff I use is like a thick cream, It is a b**** to apply properly but the results are well worth the time and effort, one thing that I am not sure of is the sides of the seats, is it vinyl by any chance? Is just the part you sit on leather? and the rest vinyl?

For the brakes, I just smutter the whole thing thru the wheel with Mazda brake cleaner let it sit and pressure wash it away.

Here is a link to a thread I started of pics of my car: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105533

It looks really sharp, but like we say in french: <<Beau de loin mais loin d'tre beau!>> Means Nice from far but far from looking nice. It's just what the winter does here that's why I lease. If I lived whre there was litle to no snow I would buy because clear coat doesnt last more than 5 years up here and once that is gone the paint goes and so on.

 

[2020Pro5]

Good info man, a lot of people aren't sure what to call the process(polishing). Hopefully, more people go to this link and read the differences and understand what polishing really entails. I try to wax my cars about once a week to two weeks at the most, Hawaii weather beats the cars up out here. Good job.

 

[Mikey444]

It's a very good article, very long but well worth reading till the end, this guys job title is not car polishing but he has been doing it for long enough to give really good info and bottom line matches up with every other legit thing I have heard about paint.

2020Pro5, I still cant get over how good looking your car is in that colour with the HID's

 

[2020Pro5]

Try this brush...

Wanna do your rims without taking them off? Try this brush.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/2020Pro5/Detail%20Brush.jpg

Picture and description:
http://nationaldetail.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NDSS&Product_Code=MI1190&Category_Code=SBFD

This is what we use to clean behind the rims and the grilles of some cars...(sssh) . Just joking, happy cleaning guys....

 

[Alpinejwl]

this is definitely one of the most useful and car-live saving thread I have read so far! I am in love with that autopia website and i think I will start detailing all the cars in my family, starting with my aunt's old pos black 98 camry with bird s*** mark all over its hood!

 

[Mikey444]

And here is an article about how to use a polish machine: http://bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=47
Also very helpful and informative.

 

[Mikey444]

While were on the topoic of detailing, I found that Meguiars leather cleaner is very good stuff! Just my $0.02

 

[2020Pro5]

Tip on the meguiars

Hey guys,

Try the new meguiars NXT gen wax(Purple bottle with Green cap and a wax pad.). There is a trick to this wax though, once applied let it sit on the car for 20 Minutes(provided the car is in the shade.) Wipe it off with a MICROFIBER. You shouldn't have any shadows. I'd say that this wax is probably THE BEST on the market right now. I would like some feedback from the mainland guys as far as how long it lasts. So far in Hawaii, it holds up for an easy 2 months(washing on a weekly basis.) It smells really good and out performs the waxes I use now. Good luck and happy waxing.

 

[Lord_Zath]

hmm maybe when I run out of my meguiar's spray wax I'll try the NXT...

LZ
Z

 

[Mikey444]

I use the Meguiars classic

 

[Mikey444]

uh, guys, where can I find detailing spray for the exterior of the car?

 

[2020Pro5]

Dude, you gotta try the tech wax, it is DA BOMB. That classic stuff is good, don't get me wrong, but, this tech wax is the best that Meguiars came out with, it even goes as far as hiding some swirls, and makes the paint look A LOT deeper. Try it, trust me you'll like it.

I use the Meguiars classic

 

[Mikey444]

When I run out of my classic wax, I'll try it. The Meguiars stuff is pretty expensive here so I am better off finishing what I already have. 3M car wax paste is also amongst the best. In fact, when it comes to polishing a car with a machine, I would only use 3M products.