Waxing, polishing, washing, detailing....

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Joined
Aug 30, 2016
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My Car
Ford focus and 1967 Fiat 500.
Hello again Forum.......now that I have my car with me, I need to get some good pointers on how to clean it correctly so the paint work doesn't suffer.

My car is black/argent and is in good condition. I am nervous that I will ruin the paint job by doing something idiotic!:cool:

How do you guys wash and detail your cars? Any specific products recommended?

Chrome polish? Interior black vinyl polish? Spray-on wax? Etc...etc....

Any info is good info.

Here is a pic of my car......I just cant stop posting pictures of her, as she is so beautiful!::thumb:::D

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Hi Anders,

I could wax lyrical on for hours with feedback and tech info on this subject.:p

I'm sure the Forum folk will come forward with many suggestions and recommendations of products and techniques for you to work with.

Three key points i want to make to you are - 1. Don't wash your car with a hose and bucket. There are several methods and procedures you can work with to keep your car pristine without washing it in the traditional manner.(research that on the Net)

2. Your car is a black color is it not? All black colored cars tend to have a softer finish to the paint film, even though most have been 2 pack clear coated. Because of this factor, your paint finish will attract a lot more scratches than normal. Be aware of this and try to combat putting fine scratches into the paint film by avoiding or minimizing any process you carry out that would cause this to happen. Your best friend is going to be you buying a random orbital polishing buffing machine. Using various grades or types of foam polishing pads in conjunction with top quality polishes like the Menzerna range offer, will bring you excellent results that should give you a scratch, swirl, and haze free finish.

3. Chrome loves wax to keep it looking good as well as protecting it from breaking down. With any chrome around your car, especially the chrome wheels, keep a good quality canuba wax cream or paste up to them. YOUR CHROME WILL THANK YOU, AND SHOULD LAST A LOT LONGER. One of the things i do all the time is keep a micro fibre duster(LIKE A TYPICAL HOUSE DUSTER) at the ready in my garage, and every time i come back from a trip out, i go around the four chrome wheels and give them a good rubbing down. This removes any road and brake dust that may be sitting on the chrome. Doing this will prolong the life of the chrome as these contaminents eat into and will break down the chrome finish.

Greg.:)

 
Ok some questions for you.

If your argent paint is flat or dull that is the way the factory applied it. DO NOT GET WAS NEAR THE ARGENT PAINT IF IT IS FLAT OR DULL. It is it shiny then the previous owner painted the way they wanted and you can polish and wax it.

As Autin Vert, Greg has stated washing these cars with a hose and lots of water is not a good thing. The water gets inside the doors, quarters, cowl, around the tail lights and feeds your number one enemy RUST. Good micro fiber towels and clean water is all you need.

If you feel the paint with your hand, especially on the sides, and it feels like there are little knots or bumps you need to clean with a tar remover to get road grime off. If you try to polish the car without cleaning you will add scratches from the trash stuck to the paint. This will also remove the old wax. Mequiar's is a well known and respected supplier in the U.S.. http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/#Clz22BzRoWULQejY.97

Plain old kerosene works to get the tar off if you cannot find anything else. Prep Solvent used before you paint is also a good solution.

The next step sounds a little strange but really does a great job of getting all the trash stuck to the paint off. Use a Clay Bar and spray included in the kit. This pulls the small pieces of grit and trash from the paint surface into the clay bar. If you do a small area and feel before and after you will be amazed at the difference, soooo smooth. http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotive/products/g1016-smooth-surfacereg-clay-kit/

Here is a short video showing the process for clay bar.


After the clay bar I wipe down with wet micro fiber towels and then use Mirror Glaze to remove small scratches and buffing swirl marks. As Greg said a good dual action or random orbit buffer will be your friend. A side grinder with a buffing pad is not to be used. A buffer has variable speed and runs slower than a side grinder. NEVER MIX YOUR BUFFING PADS. MARK WITH PERMANENT MARKER ON BACK WHAT POLISH YOU ARE USING AND NEVER USE FOR ANY OTHER. If you have used for coarse polish and even after washing go to finer you will scratch the finish. STAY AWAY FROM YOUR STRIPES AND ARGENT PAINT WITH THE BUFFER. Do areas around them very carefully by hand and do not get polish or wax on the argent paint. You can put wax on the tape stripes but do not buff. Use a soft tooth brush to remove any buffing or wax residue in the cracks and along the tape stripe edges.

Always keep your polishing towels and pads clean. One piece of grit will just add hundreds of scratches on the buffing pad or towel.

Watch the videos on the Mequiar's web site.

I always finish off with a good Carnauba paste wax. I have used this brand for over 50 years. https://www.amazon.com/Collinite-Paste-Fleetwax-885-12/dp/B008KPDA1S/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1478703792&sr=8-6&keywords=collinite+boat+wax

There should be no reason to wax your car but once a year in the spring. If you do not use soap and water to wash the wax stays on. If you apply too much wax then it just smears and the finish does not look as good.

INTERIOR

On the interior on thing I am personally against is ArmorAll. It contains silicone and that is bad to have around your car. Over time it builds up a film and starts to look milky and you cannot get it to look good again. Again unless the interior if very dirty just a damp micro fiber towel to catch the dust. Some do take a little mineral oil and apply to the vinyl and wipe back off to keep it soft. The painted surfaces on the interior should not be waxed.

There are hundreds of waxes and polishes. I would stay away from any wax that is not a paste and Carnauba which is a natural wax.

Again if your hood has shiny paint for the Argent then you treat it same as the body color but if dull or flat be careful.

I once detailed a friends 1965 mustang that had original paint. He was going to have the car painted and I convinced him to let me detail it. You could see your reflection in the Red paint everywhere when finished. He took it to a show and won first place and he was going to paint the car when all it needed was some TLC.

If you cannot get the clay bar where you live I would be glad to ship if they will allow the liquid to be shipped which is sometimes an issue. It does not have to be the brand I had linked.

I know you are excited about your car and getting a black car to be perfect is a difficult task. I have a friend with a 66 GTO that is black and you cannot find a scratch anywhere and he does not even use wax at all. Has never washed the car with hose either.

 
Nothing wrong with more pics of an awesome car! ::thumb::

You're going to get a lot of good advice from these guys - they know their stuff about keeping these cars nice.

A couple of more things to consider:

1. If your argent paint is flat or matte finish, you need to be careful what products you use on those areas in order to retain the matte/flat finish. Waxing those areas with 'standard' wax products can shine up the finish and then you've lost the matte/flat properties.

2. QCode351Mach (Scott) has some really awesome Adams Polishes car care products you might look into. His cars have show car finishes and he has some excellent videos and advice on how to get the most out of your paint and finishes.

3. Regardless of your product preferences, you'll need to follow the instructions to get the best results. I remember using some products on my cars in the past expecting awesome results, while using them in the ways I'd always been taught or learned - usually, thinking the 'one size fits all' methodology worked for everything... which didn't always work correctly depending on the products. I've since learned it's best to follow the directions and do some research to match the products up with other products that work well together. Usually, one brand name product will work best with other products from the same brand name (i.e., Meguiar's, Mother's, Adams, et al).

Good luck and let us know what you determine to work best for you. It's always cool to see what others are doing to keep their stuff nice. Sometimes, switching things up can save time, work, and even money while getting the same results.

 
Wow....ok.....I was almost about to screw that up big time! I was going to go down the 3 buckets soap and water route........

So, just a clean micro fiber towel and clean water........towel dipped in the water and the wipe the car.....? Clay/polish/wax afterwards.........?

And of course.....stay away from the matte argent and stripes......just wipe with damp microfiber....?

That is awesome information. Please keep it coming..........

 
Your car was originally another color from the factory and repainted in black / argent, correct? Ask the previous owner if the paint job is single stage (just the paint color) or a base coat / clear coat paint job. This is assuming the previous owner would know that is, if it was repainted under his care. If the argent paint is as shiny as the black then there is probably no need to stay away from it, regardless of whether or not the paint job is single stage or base coat / clear coat. And of course if the entire paint job has a clear coat over it there is also no need to stay away from the argent paint. A clear coated paint job will be much more forgiving with your efforts. If it's a single stage paint job IMO you need to be much more careful since you're working directly on the color. These cars came from the factory with a single stage paint job in that era and orange peel in the paint finish was quite common. The factory paint finish was not wet-sanded before the cars went to the dealer. The 29 hand-rubbed layers of lacquer wet-look appearance is not how these cars looked originally, but if a nicer than factory paint job was performed on the car there's certainly nothing wrong with that!

 
Nice! ::thumb::

Well, no matte/flat finish on the argent... so you should be fine using whichever polish/wax combination of products you decide upon. Based on the fluidity of the shine between the color-changed areas along with show smooth the surface is, I'd say you're probably looking at a base coat/clear coat paint job.

I wonder why the color was changed at some point.

 
Yes.....I talked to the former owner......it is clear-coated.

I will 'dry-wash' the car.......should be good!
Sorry I'm late to the party. To add to a lot of already good advise given here, I'd mention a product call "No rinse wash" by Optimum. To be honest I've never used it but I hear it's ideal if you don't want to soak the car down.

With regards to polishing and sealing products I'm a big fan of Menzerna. After you've gone through the process of washing and decontaminating the paint with the clay bar you're now ready for polish/compound depending on the condition of the paint. If you've never done machine polishing before it's pretty safe to start out with a porter cable 7424xp polisher (It's a dual action type).

Along with Menzerna products I also use Lake Country Hybrid polishing pads when I detail. These pads a color oriented which represent firmness. There is a pad/polish combo for every job.

I know there is a lot to digest with this stuff. Products are just part of the puzzle...technique is a whole other story.

If you have a go at this yourself be sure to take your time and ask lots of questions. To do these jobs correctly takes several hours and sometimes days! Hope this isn't too much or confusing.

 
A few days ago, my daughter and I polished and cleaned the car. She took the inside of the car and the rims....I took the outside.

The car wasnt that dirty from the beginning. So I dry-washed-wax the car. I bought a bunch of microfiber towels and a new-to-me product from Meg's......this product worked worked a charm......I followed instructions from the 'net......spray on...wipe off-NO PRESSURE.......turn microfibre towel.....wipe clean....polish.....amazing results! EASY TO USE! One product only! I will however give the car a REAL wax-over soon too, but the results with the aforementioned products was pretty amazing. The car is silky smooth to the touch.

I had doubts about using it on the glass....but that worked great too! Rims too! I was so excited about the process that I forgot to take pictures,:cool:

Got my new car cover too.......made a hole for the antenna......car is 'winterized' now.

I checked all the fluids too......absolutely clear oils all-round......me happy!

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