A7DY W

Thanks Tango.

NineBolts

[QUOTE=Tango Man,Aug 27 2008, 11:12 AM] Depends on the wax but some of the coloured waxes are for 'enhancing' the pigment. I would not bother with them as the effect might not be what is wanted Get yourself a tub of collinite 476s for

Boab01

Tango, I'm going to strip wash my car next week. Planning on using fairy in the foam gun and in the hand wash, any guidance how much I should use?

Xd

Spray the engine lightly with Meguiars APC diluted 1:4 then use a soft bristle brush to work it in. Leave this for around five minutes then rinse off thoroughly. If needed repeat again. Once it is all off then pad dry using a microfibre drying towel making sure there is no water left around the spark plugs or electrics.
Now dressing which is the real secret, if you want nice and smelly that will stink the cabin our for a while then use Poorboys Natural Look diluted 1:1 if you want a good all rounder then Meguiars Hyper Dressing. The second has the advantage of being easier to dilute, 1:1, 1:2 or 1:4. Going from shiny to matt in finish. I personally prefer a matt look. When dressing be generous and make sure you cover all including underneath the piping then make sure you will any excess off the paintowork using some water.

As you might have guessed by now I am a big fan of APC, it is cheap and can be used on anything just dilute 1:4 for degreasing such as engines or wheels or 1:10 for cleaning such as the dash or the carpet.

Xd

You cannot stop swirls, they will appear eventually but proper cleaning/drying and a little protection from a wax will reduce how often you need to buff. There are no decent battery powered units as yet, these machines need around 300 watts to run. An alternative but bulky is a generator.

Personally I would leave the car for another three months before you consider machine buffing. for now use a claybar, some paint cleanser then a good wax. All of this should take you no more than a couple of hours. If you want to hide swirls then a good compound such as Clearkote Vanilla Moose is a good start, it will also give a lovely depth to Moonrock. apply that before the final wax stage.

Polish is generally something to remove swirls, sometimes called compounds.
Sealent is a synthetic wax that bond to the paint and gives a hard protection.
Wax is a Carnauba based, wax.
Glaze is a finishing compound usually with fillers, some are designed for machine such as Meg 80 and some for hand such as vanilla moose.

Xd

I would keep it pretty dilute similar amounts to what you would use for washing up. In the gun I think it would be a pointless waste. An alternative for the gun would be a commercial Wax Removers or my favorite Meguiars APC mixed with Snow Foam 1:4

You may well want to follow this with a very mild claybar to make sure you have removed all.

Boab01

Thanks, is what I thought. I'll use Megs APC instead of fairy in the foamer mixed with hyper wash.

Am going to claybar and PC as well

NineBolts

Thanks all this info is really starting to help out.

is it filler then seal or seal then filler or does one render the other pointless?

Here's my plan, please correct me where I'm wrong or have missed a step or have fallen foul of the add-man.

Wash / Clay / Wash (from previous replies are there grades of clay )
1 x Glaze with Clearkote Vanilla Moose (does it need a wash afterwards)
2-3 x Seal with Jetseal 109 (I like what I've read about this stuff - it's that add-man again)
2 x Wax with collinite 476s

Wheels will be P21S Gel stuff and jetseal 109 x2. Do people clean the backs of the wheels or is that just too OCD?

oops almost forgot to mention that the lid will be 303'd

Xd

nine, I am not a fan of sealents for the paintwork myself and personally I don't think they benefit the darker colours. So for the paintwork I would suggest dropping it, it's one additional stage too many. You are adding an additional hour to your labour, use the VM instead which will take half the time and you don't need to wait for it to cure.

Overall it's a good combination and well though out plan so go for it, I am splitting hairs.

Again, hairs 303 is good but it drips. I prefer Megs hyper dressing which is harder wearing, cheaper and more versatile.

By the way I am drunk and happy. We are finally moving into a property with a decent size garage so I can concentrate on my projects in controlled conditions.

Xd

Danny, pleased to confirm that great minds think alike. Oh and BTW I am expecting you all down for our house warming party, especially you Danny.