Advice on Changing Products

I

imported_buffer

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I own both a red Honda Prelude and a black Honda Civic. I have put in lots of effort to keep them looking there best. Both cars have been very good to me and deserve no less. Recently I have been thinking about moving on to different products. I like the ones I am using but I like to constantly look around for something that will give me that better shine and protection. Currently my process is



1) Meguires Premium Paint Cleaner

2) P21S (I think that is what its called)

3) S100

(all applied with a PC)



Of course before the above comes the wash and clay. I must confess something that I don't think will be to respected on this board. I am getting tired of the multi-coat thing. But I doubt that there is a product that will do all of the above in one step. I tried Crystal Glow at the beginning of the year and it just produced a bland red color on my Prelude.

So I guess my question is 1) Keeping with he multi stage products what can I use to punch out black and red more. I love the wet look 2) Is there a product that can do it all in one shot?



Thanks guys

:)
 
You have good products there, although there is some redundancy and there is no abrasive polish for swirls or marring.



You don't mention how old the cars are or what real condition the paint is in, but assuming that they are not garage queens, it is likely some swirls or other micromarring is present. Ridding your paint of those imperfections will go a long way to improve the overall look of your finish. It's good that you already have a PC, and I bet a thorough going-over with some DACP or another polish would be beneficial. Do a search for "swirl removal" and you'll find great discussions about one of the most important steps in surface preparation.



With regard to the rest of your process, MPPC is a good chemical cleaner and an excellent step to follow swirl removal polishing. P21S and S100 waxes are thought to be one in the same. Regardless of whether they are formulaic twins, they are both pure caranauba waxes and putting one on top of the other serves no purpose other than to ensure complete coverage. Two coats of either/or would do the same thing.



P21S and S100 also make paint cleaners. If either of the products you mentioned are the paint cleaners (SEC or GEPC), then they are redundancies to the MPPC. You would not need to use them if you already used MPPC.



In all, you can lose one of the steps you currently do and add the polishing step and probably see the difference you are looking for without adding any extra work.



Another thing I note in your post is that you are applying the S100 and P21S with the PC. I don't know of anyone else who does that and am not sure its the recommended way. I don't know if it will yield better results or not, but hand application of those waxes usually yields impressive results on red and black cars.



As far as looking for a more "one step" product, I have heard excellent reviews of Meguiar's ColorX. Of course, being a "multi-step program" guy, I haven't used it myself.
 
AIO darkens and creates a decent look by itself. You could use that and then your s100 or p21s. Perhaps use VM or any glaze to add more wetness before your wax?
 
The condition of the cars are as follows. The Prelude is driven on weekends and is garaged and covered for the rest of the time. The Civic is driven daily and a lot.

I really never noticed that the SEC was a cleaner. For some reason I got it in my mind that it was a polish and never looked at it again. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. What a waste :( .

As far as applying them by hand or by PC I was told way back when that the PC would be better as it allowed you to work the product in better. Is this not the case? :nixweiss

I couldn't find out what PwC and TC-3 where in acronyms section. Someone wanna offer some light there.

As far as #80... What is so special about this product?





Thanks guys



:up
 
PwC is Poorboy's Polish with Carnauba, TC-3 is Tropi-Care's Premium Car Polish. A lot of people on this board love #80 (I have some, but have not used it yet). From what I gather it breaks down fast and leaves a nice finish ready for a wax or sealant, or can just be used on it's own (lasts about a month though). It does a nice job of removing light swirls, is very good by hand and has some nice abrasives (3-4 on meg's scale). There is a bunch of info on this site about it, you should look it up.
 
I'll definitely take a look at #80 through the search. Just nice to get a quick overview of the product . Can it be machine applied (PC)?

Can someone tell me what the difference between a wax and a sealant? I usually use a wax but if a sealant will offer better protection against the elements I will switch to that.

From the list above I guess the process would be



MPPC

#80

S100 or recommended sealant.



I solute your knowledge

:ca
 
#80 can be applied by PC, and works well at removing light swirls. also, if you work it until it is almost clear, you can usually go to your LSP.



a wax doesn't last as long as a sealant. the bettercarecar.com website might have a better description of the two. but people have done a sealant with a wax topper.



hope this helps. :usa
 
The acronyms section really has to be updated.... What is LSP? And if a sealant protects better than a wax why bother with a wax?



Will the questions never end?

:o
 
LSP = Last Step Product (wax or sealant)



Sealants normally last longer, but often don't give the "warmth" or "depth" that some people prefer. For that reason, some people apply sealants as a more lasting protective coat and then wait a week or so and apply a wax over the sealant to add the "depth" or "warmth." It's really a personal preference thing, and can be a little tricky. First because you have to give sealants at least a week to "cure" before topping them. And second, because even then some products don't get along and result in smearing.
 
Thanks for the expanation. Kinda mind blowing to think that it takes a week to cure. I'll stick to the wax as I too enjoy as much depth and shine as I can get.

Looking around I have found that the #80 is a 3 on 10 as far as abrassive goes. I think that this would be an acceptable product to put on the car once a year. What I usually do it with my old products is one pass cleaner, two pass polish, and one pass wax. I would only wax again when the car looked it needed a little pepping up.

In an effort to get more (always needing more :xyxthumbs ) I think I will try the products below. What do you guys think?



MPPC

#80

NXT



A pic of my car is below. The life it leads is that of luxury. It sits in the garage for most of the week under a car cover. I wash it religiously, once a week depending on usage. The paint is in good condition with minor switch etc.



preludeshine1.jpg




preludeshine2.jpg
 
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