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  #1  
Old 12-02-2014, 01:47 PM
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Vacation project-product list help...

I'm looking forward to a long Christmas-New Year vacation, and want to do quite a bit of detail work on my X and my work truck, which literally gets TONS of road grime on! My brother wants help with his black Escalade if we get time. I used to do quite a bit of ''amateur detailing'' in my teenage years for pocket money. I've been doing quite a bit of reading in the detailing forum here, and discovered I'm quite a cave man when it comes to ''shine time.''

Here's what I've been using, (go ahead, hate on me, I'm here to learn!)

Bleche-Wite on wheels and tires (harsh chems, terrible, I know)

MEGUIARS Gold Class-
car shampo
clay bar
wax

foam applicator

Micro-fiber towels

Black Magic Gel Tire Shine
apply-let set-wipe down


I'd like to support DD as much as possible with my future car care products. This is what I came up with so far- not in this order, this is just a product list-

1st time only-wash with dish soap to strip all previous waxes, and then never again.

Adam's Car Shampoo w/ Uber wool mit

Autoglym Intense Tar Remover

Nanoskin Auto Scrub for decon

Tarminator for wheels and tires

Adam's Super VRT dressing

Sonax PNS to seal wheels

SF4500 for interior

3-M cutting and polishing for paint correction

Opti-Coat to seal- literally don't have time to wax every couple months, this seems like a good alternative...

Adams Americana on top

I need a deep-cleaner for the Shadow-line trim, more than just a polish. What do you reccomend?

When I got my roof resprayed, looks like someone let a sander slide all the way down the windshield, right in front of the driver's seat. Can't see it unless the sun hits just right, but it looks terrible when it does. Overlapping half-circles, all the way down. Can I polish this out? With what?

Ready, GO! Let the ridiculing/suggestions fly...
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--2003 X5 4.6
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2017 GMC Sierra, 7K miles...
2017 GMC Sierra, 60K miles...
2015 GMC Sierra 280K miles...
2011 GMC Sierra, 500K miles...

Previous wheels:

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Last edited by mam4.6; 12-03-2014 at 09:41 AM.
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  #2  
Old 12-03-2014, 12:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mam4.6 View Post

Here's what I've been using, (go ahead, hate on me, I'm here to learn!)

Bleche-Wite on wheels and tires (harsh chems, terrible, I know)
Terrible, throw it out now. Use Adam's APC or Optimum Power Clean, at least those won't give you cancer. I would use either of them at full strength, on tires only.

You use Bleche-Wite on wheels too? Stop immediately. You can dilute APC 1:6 for wheel cleaning if you want, but I would just use an iron fighting cleaner like Sonax Full Effect Plus to deep clean the wheels, then when they are clean, use some Polymer Net Shield for protection, and you'll only have to maintain them with soapy water and brushes! I get about 4 months out of a coat of sealant on wheels, so I only "deep clean" wheels 3 times a year max.

MEGUIARS Gold Class-
car shampo
clay bar
wax
Meg's shampoo and Clay is ok, I'd say use it up if its on your shelf (also use it on wheels as I mentioned above). If you are buying from Phil, buy the Adam's Car Shampoo, its my favorite because its sudsy, slick, and smells awesome, he sells it in a kit. The Clay you can buy from Phil too, the uber yellow clay works well.

Meg's wax? Which one are you using now. Most of the OTC waxes have fillers in them, I can recommend you a better LSP most likely.

foam applicator - Get a few of them, and a couple Hex grip applicators and MF applicators for applying sealants/etc, I keep an applicator dedicated to each product to avoid cross contamination, and clean them out with APC and hot water after each use.

Micro-fiber towels - This is where I don't cheap out, buy the good towels from Phil @ DD and stock up, and buy the MF detergent as well so you can use them for years. His ultra plush towels are great for removing waxes after polishing.

Black Magic Gel Tire Shine
apply-let set-wipe down
Again I don't trust many of the products in the big box stores, my buddy used Lucas Tire Shine and stained his paint because of the chemicals in there. I use Adam's Super VRT as a tire and trim (black plastic) dressing, but if you like shine, I would recommend Adam's Tire Shine. At least its safe. I apply on tires and trim with a foam applicator so no overspray or splatter.


I'd like to support DD as much as possible with my future car care products. This is what I came up with so far- not in this order, this is just a product list-

1st time only-wash with dish soap to strip all previous waxes, and then never again. I would just add 2-3 oz of APC to the Meg's car shampoo bucket as a strip wash, I hate using dish soap.

Adam's Car Shampoo w/ Uber wool mitt Use the two bucket method (DD sells grit guard buckets) and a third bucket dedicated to wheel/tire cleaning - I call this the 3 bucket method or 3BM. Get a gallon of the shampoo with the Uber Wool Mitt, and use the mitt only on the top and up to the beltline of the car, get the Uber Yellow Sponge to put in your bucket and use it on the lower beltline below, for the rest of the car. Always use 2 wash medias.

Autoglym Intense Tar Remover Never used it but for Tar/Bugs I buy Stoner Tarminator from Phil.

Nanoskin Auto Scrub for decon - Fine grade mitt works great, use it according to directions. I prefer to follow up with clay after using the mitt.

Tarminator for wheels and tires - Only on heavy grime with a cheap MF towel to spray on and wipe off old dressings, otherwise for normal use use an APC and brushes.

Adam's Super VRT dressing - Yes

Sonax PNS to seal wheels Yes and you can use it on door jambs, and paint too! It works great!

SF4500 for interior - This is a final ultra fine polish? Not sure

3-M cutting and polishing for paint correction - I don't have experience with the 3M line but I use Menzerna FG400 for correcting and if needed I follow up with Menzerna SF4000 or Sonax Perfect Finish 4/6 as a final polish.

Opti-Coat to seal- literally don't have time to wax every couple months, this seems like a good alternative... - If you do your correction properly you can apply Opti Coat, see my note below though.

Adams Americana on top - I wouldn't top Opti Coat with Americana because of the solvent content in paste waxes. I would only top with PNS, but honestly, with 2 quick coats of PNS you will get 6 months of protection so I don't know why you wouldn't just stick with PNS or a high quality liquid sealant.

I need a deep-cleaner for the Shadow-line trim, more than just a polish. What do you reccomend? - See my notes about Menzerna FG400 and SF4000 above. The Shadowline trim needs to be compounded and polished just like the paint, use 4" pads on your DA polisher and go to town, it will take a while and you probably won't get them 100%, but mine are about 90% now. Years of abuse from previous owner. A deep cleaner is not going to do anything (if you're referring to what I think which is a cleaner wax), you probably have some embedded and etched stains and such which need to be corrected out.

When I got my roof resprayed, looks like someone let a sander slide all the way down the windshield, right in front of the driver's seat. Can't see it unless the sun hits just right, but it looks terrible when it does. Overlapping half-circles, all the way down. Can I polish this out? With what?
- For Glass, you can do a test spot with a polishing pad and a compound for paint, since glass is harder than paint it shouldn't scratch. Note I said to test it first. I've polished glass with metal polish, and paint polish, and it makes it better, but if you have deep scratches you'd need to use Car Pro CeriGlass which is a Cerium Oxide polish which is the only thing that can truly cut and polish glass. Try least aggressive method first.

Ready, GO! Let the ridiculing/suggestions fly...
Hope I started you out nicely
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Old 12-03-2014, 02:00 PM
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When your cutting run your buffer at low speeds the lower the speed the less swirls you will get, you see people running buffers at high speed and that's just the worst
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Old 12-03-2014, 02:01 PM
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Started me out VERY nicely, J, I was hoping you would help me out! You seem to take care of your X, and know what your doing.

I'm hoping to start on my brother's Esky first, before mine. His paint literally looks like it was never cleaned or waxed. Contamination and serious swirls. Hoping to decon it and then hit it with the FG400. Looks like Phil gets some pretty amazing results with it. What pad would you reccomend using? Also need to get rid of a couple fine (but visible) scratches in my paint. Reccomendations on pad/polish for that?

I might end up finishing up with PNS if I can get 6 months out of it. Probably would be easier and quicker than trying to get it perfect with Opti-Coat.

I'll probably only use Adam's dressing on tires. I use an applicator to dress my tires, let it penetrate a couple hours, then wipe down. I just wanted them nice and black.

I'll give the Menzerna a go on my trim. I had had it looking good soon after I got it. When it went to the mechanic for awhile I'm guessing he left it outside for some time in the rain, looked terrible when I got it back.

I'll check exactly what wax I'm using when I get home from work.

Disregard the interior cleaner, had something else in mind.

Thanks again!
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Current-

--2003 X5 4.6
Estoril Blue
Black Nappa leather
rear air bags
OEM nav
OEM hitch
OEM cargo liner
Black housing SPYDER headlights - Evo-XR projectors

2017 GMC Sierra, 7K miles...
2017 GMC Sierra, 60K miles...
2015 GMC Sierra 280K miles...
2011 GMC Sierra, 500K miles...

Previous wheels:

--First love~
1969 Chevy C10, 396BB bored, 3 on the tree, Black ~SOLD~

--2011 Chevy Silverado LT 2500HD CCSB, Black, 250K miles ~SOLD~
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  #5  
Old 12-03-2014, 02:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E38flagship View Post
When your cutting run your buffer at low speeds the lower the speed the less swirls you will get, you see people running buffers at high speed and that's just the worst
Thanks, will definitely keep it in mind...

Any suggestions on running buffer left/right, up/down, or in circles?
__________________
Current-

--2003 X5 4.6
Estoril Blue
Black Nappa leather
rear air bags
OEM nav
OEM hitch
OEM cargo liner
Black housing SPYDER headlights - Evo-XR projectors

2017 GMC Sierra, 7K miles...
2017 GMC Sierra, 60K miles...
2015 GMC Sierra 280K miles...
2011 GMC Sierra, 500K miles...

Previous wheels:

--First love~
1969 Chevy C10, 396BB bored, 3 on the tree, Black ~SOLD~

--2011 Chevy Silverado LT 2500HD CCSB, Black, 250K miles ~SOLD~
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  #6  
Old 12-03-2014, 02:26 PM
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If you're a beginner I wouldn't recommend a buffer (rotary).

I would recommend getting the Griots 6" DA from Phil, with the Uber Foam pads.

FG400 is a great compound but if the Escalade is a hammered black it will take multiple passes with MF cutting pads to get it looking decent again.

For fine but visible scratches in your paint, again I'd start with least aggressive method first. For me and my shelf, that is the SF4000 or Sonax Perfect Finish with the Uber Green Foam pad. If I want more power, I step up to the Uber Orange pad with same products. If I'm compounding I can use the FG400 with the Orange pad, but I mostly use the MF cutting pads because its quicker and finishes nicely.

Always start with least aggressive pad/polish combo and work your way down.

I would watch Garry Dean, Larry Kosilla (AMMO NYC) and Mike Phillips videos on how to use a DA machine properly, even though it is a basic tool to use and you won't burn your paint, you need to use it properly to be proficient in orbital polishing.

For the shadowline trim, the reason it came back looking like crap is whatever fillers in the products you were using wore off and thats why when you got it back the trim showed what it "truly" looks like. Once you machine polish it (and the products I mentioned have no fillers) it will be permanently looking better.

Good luck man hit me up if you need anything, proper detailing is a true regimen and once you're "caught up" maintaining it is easy, but to be honest the most marring of the paint comes from improper washing/drying techniques in my experience.
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Old 12-03-2014, 02:49 PM
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Foam pads all day ^ good advise. I have a Milwaukee nice variable speed. Doesn't matter what way you cut I put a very slight angle left or right what ever is comfortable when doing a hard cut, I lay the pad flat when removing say like in the glazing process. Another piece of advice is make sure you have the right pads you can't just go from a compound to fine polish as it will not take away the abrasion from the compound pad when doing black or dark colors I go from compound "depending on paint condition" to med, light, Polish in that order
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Old 12-03-2014, 05:18 PM
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^ This is good advice when using a rotary.

Question is Matt will you be going Rotary or with a DA style machine on your work?
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  #9  
Old 12-03-2014, 07:07 PM
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Great advice as always, from everyone!

J, my brother has a DA Porter and Cable, I've played around quite a bit with it, but never knew enough/never invested in the right pads/polishes to get good results. I'll be investing in a rotary just so I have the option, and so that we can work simultanously. Any info on handling the 2 different buffers?

So if I understand correctly, you suggest using microfiber cutting pads with FG400, as they cut quicker? I shouldn't need a more aggressive compound on heavily damaged black?

Concerning cleanup, how do I take care of foam and MF pads after using them? Anything special?

I've always enjoyed cleaning cars, really looking forward to being ''schooled'' and being able to make my X keep the shine longer. I'll definitely check out the vids you mentioned, J, thanks for the reference.

Thanks for clarifying pad usage, E38, can't wait to order some Uber foam pads and give em a try...
__________________
Current-

--2003 X5 4.6
Estoril Blue
Black Nappa leather
rear air bags
OEM nav
OEM hitch
OEM cargo liner
Black housing SPYDER headlights - Evo-XR projectors

2017 GMC Sierra, 7K miles...
2017 GMC Sierra, 60K miles...
2015 GMC Sierra 280K miles...
2011 GMC Sierra, 500K miles...

Previous wheels:

--First love~
1969 Chevy C10, 396BB bored, 3 on the tree, Black ~SOLD~

--2011 Chevy Silverado LT 2500HD CCSB, Black, 250K miles ~SOLD~
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  #10  
Old 12-04-2014, 08:29 AM
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Personally I have no experience detailing with a rotary, so I couldn't recommend it for a beginner as well.

Check which Porter Cable your brother has, if it's not the XP model you are gonna need a machine with more grunt. Instead of buying a rotary buy the GG6 kit from Phil which comes with 5.5" pads. If you use anything over 5.5" pads on a Porter Cable it will take you forever to get work done, the machine just doesn't have much power.

As I mentioned above I'd recommend getting 4" pads for the Porter Cable (and a backing plate) and using that for curves and tight areas like bumpers and headlights, etc and use the GG6 with 5.5" pads for the larger sections of car. This is what I do.

MF cutting pads will cut more than Orange foam but they are very friendly and will finish really nice. Please watch videos on using them and you'll need to fluff the fibers up with a brush after each section pass. If the fibers flatten down they won't be correcting. Don't use MF cutting pads on a rotary although that should be self explanatory.

If you need more aggressive than Meg's MF cutting pads and FG400 on black, you might as well be wet sanding. FG400 is rated to remove 1200 grit scratches.

As far as clean up, just soak the hell out of the spent pads with APC, massage into the pads, and rinse them out well with HOT water until there is nothing coming out anymore, then wring them out and air dry.

Again your choice on rotary vs DA but you don't run risk of burning paint with rotary and you won't be chasing buffer trails, holograms, etc and won't need 3 different polishes to get LSP ready.
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