Know of a good professional Detailer in north Florida?

 

How often should you PC your car?

I have a black Z and I use pinnacle products. Intermediate swirl removed kit. Used my PC twice on it last year with orange/white pads/red with different compounds. This is my DD during spring/summer. Dont want to over due it, is once a year good? I lock it all in with collinite .

Or is this as many times as I want

 

This is a question that is asked a lot by people who are guilty of improper paint care. You should fix your paint ONCE, and then properly maintain it from that point forward. If you are caring for your paint properly, the only polish you should need after completely fixing your paint is the lightest polish that your choice of manufacturer makes. That should be the product used on the white pad for most manufacturers. If you are constantly having to go back to the orange pad and a heavier polish, then you are totally touching your paint wrong; be it the way you wash the car or whatever else you are doing when you touch your paint.

Removing paint damage requires the removal of clear coat. Ideally, you want to keep as much clear coat on the car as possible so if touching it up is done with a very light polish, polisher and pad, then you are going to extend the life of your clear coat a lot further. Thus, completely fix your paint ONCE, and then properly maintain it from that point forward. I address a lot of improper paint maintenance in my many videos.

 

Ok thanks for your help. Will do that for now on.

 

This is the exact kit that I have and followed the video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GZVDsiEQ8-w

Locked everything in with collinite 845? I think it is

What polish for a black car would you suggest. Now I havnt done anything but wash the car this year. Should I just apply the polish and be done? Still fairly new to all of this

 

I just ordered some Brown Royal to clean up my stock wheels I took off of my car for sale.

 

this is the polish that i use and have for a while. great product, great result, reasonably priced, easy to use, smells amazing...

 

Yes a minor one but it was painted before the accident and after and always had the waves to the doors only. Thanks for the input.
I'm thinking of selling her for a Vette and wanted it looking it's best for potential buyers.

 

Two questions...

1- What do you think of the new LC hybrid pads? I hear they finish down nicer than regular LC flat pads but they are not quite as durable. AG currently has them on buy one get one, and while I'm pretty well stocked up on pads, I'm wondering if I should pass this deal up. What do you guys think?

2 - Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion. I've heard that it's practically a "must" for white vehicles. Is there any truth to that? Two of my vehicles have the same paint, arctic white, and both are in need/in progress of paint corrections. Should I order and apply some PPCL after compounding/polishing out the swirls and before applying sealant+carnuba paste wax? Discuss!

 

They are both good products and get the job done, but 105 will outdo them easily. Though I keep both as handy backups in case I were to run out on site.

Its a nice upgrade, but you can do the same cord change yourself for under $10.

Paint can get swirls as fast as you put them in. They never magically appear. Example....new client of mine has a 5 year old X5 thats been neglected and is lacking a lot of gloss, but by the lack of severe swirls/RIDS I can draw the conclusion the car was never washed much. Someone who doesn't wash the car often isn't going to have the best washing methods and is sure to induce swirls in the process, so for him it works out pretty good as the new owner looking to get the car detailed.

That body shop (like most) don't know how to buff paint properly. What you're seeing is buffer trails and holograms from a heavy cut wool pad on a rotary, in the hands of someone lacking the proper skill to do the job. It needs to be corrected properly by a professional detailer.

Lake Country makes a very good glass polishing kit, but its not an easy thing to do. Because the cost of new glass is so low, and glass polishing is so time consuming, generally it makes more sense to just replace it.

Thank you! Glad its been such a help to you. The product you're referring to is CarPro's Iron X. It starts to interact with the rusted iron particles and starts to turn purple. It opens the pores in the clear and allows the clay to remove the particle much easier. Follow the directions to the letter. Oh and the stuff smells awful.


Yes, though you can keep working it for a long time to amp the gloss even further.

 

I apply it with a foam applicator and when done I use a clean MF towell. Since the leather is coated, no conditioning step is needed after cleaning.

Different products flash differently. Which products are you referring to?

Very nice

Thank you! Its different for every car. Its not so much how bad the car is but how hard the clear is... With that combo, (white/205) it wouldn't take long to see if its cutting enough. Under a minute to be sure. To jump up to a Surbuf pad, the defects need to be pretty resistant to the orange pad with 105 and a MF cutting disc as well. Surbuf is an extreme, so it should be treated as such, same as with a rotary/wool.

Some Meguiars Degreaser should handle that just fine. Looks like its on the rubber door armrest/pull right?

The yellow pad isn't very good. I'd stick to the orange, white, and black pads. You can correct the paint right now, but wait to wax it for 30-90 days according to the painter.



Think of it this way, you're stimulating the economy.

I will not do LT1 engines because of the Opti-Spark. Too much risk. Spot clean it with brushes and good spray bottles, work in small areas and don't get anywhere near the Opti-Spark.

Just clean the leather, no need to condition it as GM uses coated leather in F-bodies, as in almost all its cars.

Yes. Not a fan. Doesn't cut as much as 105 and it marrs up more. Old school compound. When 105 came out it made both 85 and 95 obsolete.

You can use the 303 on it, though I don't think its really going to be of much benefit.

The factory touch up paint is a good quick fix when used properly. People constantly over use the paint. Use just enough to fill it, and NO more. Come back in an hour and apply again. The paint shrinks, so don't try too fill in too much at once.

I like the Lake Country gold and red hand pads, and also the Kompressor pads of the same color with the DA.

 

They are a coarse cast metal and difficult to clean. A stiff bristled brush and some Chemical Guys Metal Shine is a good start. Those tips are not the easiest to clean.

P21S 100% looks really good on silver. Blackfire Wet Diamond is also a really good one.

Like Junkman said, the PC is the entry level buffer and anything less is a waste of time and money.

Do a small section at a time. The the temp/humidity in CA I wipe the panel with a MF after just a minute or so. Follow instructions to the letter.

Stoners Tarminator will help a lot, and so will Chemical Guys Bug Bugger and Tar Remover. Make sure to wear gloves when doing it. Once clean, wipe it down with some water/alcohol mix then dress it with your favorite plastic dressing.

No. Give it a full 90 days.

Yes. This is not like a wax or sealant....this is a serious coating. If you do it before the paint is fully cured, you're likely to have major issues in the paint in the near future. Let it cure.

Dawn (for the start of a detail...not normal washing) is great and foams amazingly. Chemical Guys Citrus Wash and Gloss is good too and they have a CG Snow Foam too "Honeydew" I think.

 

AWESOME THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!! my car just got a fresh black paint job about 3 months ago and i want to stay "fresh" lol.. thanks to this thread i ordered some products(for now buhaha)

1.Meguiars Shampoo Plus
2.Mothers Genuine Lambswool Wash Mitt
3.Cobra Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Microfibers
4. BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish paint sealant

still need to go pick up grit guards and 2 buckets

my question is; did i order the right stuff?

btw thanks gofast908z!

 

Thanks for the replies man I'm trying to gather all of this information..

You're going to end up costing me a lot of money. I see a LOT of things that I want to purchase.

This thread is very helpful, also autogeek's forum has answers to a lot of questions and go in depth if anyone in this thread wants to check that out over there!

 

A few months ago I stupidly tried to buff out a scratch with rubbing compound. It didn't do much except for make that area of the paint look very dull. It doesn't have the shine of the surrounding areas.

Is it possible to bring the shine back to this area?

Thanks!

 

I'm about to use the clay bar on my car. I know the order is

1. Wash car
2. clay bar the car.

But when do I put the swirlx compound on the car so I can buff out swirl marks and such?

And what's a good scratch/swirl remover to use on the car?

 

after you compound an area/car you need to follow up with a polish. it will remove the fine scratches (dullness) that the compound put in the paint.

what kind of compound did you use?

 

I don't think I've seen this asked yet on here, sorry for a repeat if it has. For f-bodies, what's the best way to try and clean out our vents and ventilation system?

I know there's no cabin air filter and all. I'm having a problem with stink bugs getting into my car and I see them around my vents and dash, so I want to try and clean that out good to keep the pests away.

 

M105/m205. After clay you do this.

 

what he said!