Detailing a Bl@ck C@r

T

truflip

New member
Ok first of all, I did try search.. "detailing black car", "detail black car" , "detail dark car" etc.. for some reason would not work. It just gives me a blank, empty page... :(



Anywho, I have a black 07 honda civic and I am looking to spending moderate amount of money on detailing supplies. I was looking to get the Sonus Perfect Shine Kit but I want to get a more experienced detailer's opinion and advise first before I do that.



Also, there are some Meguiars over the counter stuff locally.. and that seems to be the best I can find, everythign else is Online buy and are quite expensive. I dont need that. I just want my car in top shape for the years to come.. :)



My other option was a Meguiars kit. Gold class car wash, NXT liquid wax (some say this is bad for black cars cuz it causes minor marring?) , meguiars 3 step paint cleaner, polish, wax, meguiars clay bar kit (theres also mothers but there seems to be mixed feelings about these two here on Autopia.. help?) and some "Simoniz" MF towels.. all in all, it runs a bit less in price as the Sonus kit (after the sonus conversion to Canadian Dollars its almost $200+ CAD)



Again, I wll probably spend around $150-200 on supplies and a few hours of my weekend on detailing. Thanks in advance to all for your help :)
 
what really makes a car stand out from the rest is the quality of the polishing job. I'd recommend that you get a Porter Cable 7424 and some good pads. Then if you want to get some stuff from your local Pep Boys, you can pick up some Mothers power polish and either Mothers/Megs wax. Megs 26 is cheap and looks good on black, also Megs NXT is great stuff as well. Like I said, I'd put the lionshare of that $150-200 into a PC, pads and decent polish. If you polish the car, it doesnt matter what wax/sealant you put on it, it will look good.
 
IMHO, you'll need to spend all of the $200 on a PC kit if you are getting one. eshine.ca has one for $169.98 or a kit with pads for $210 (CDN) which runs about the same price as the Sonus kit, but you wouldn't get duties charged and both eshine kits come with free shipping. If you went to CDN Tire, you'd be looking at well over $200 for just the buffer, and you'd still need the backing plate and pads.

Unfortunately (so far this year at least) you can't get Mothers Power Polish in Canada (That I've seen, anyway). Most OTC products aren't geared towards PC application, so you'd have a bit sparse of a selection unless you went to someplace like NAPA or such. If you were to get the kit from eshine, you can get some polishes/waxes/etc. from them as well.

If your car is in good shape, you should be able to maintain it with the 3 step and it should look pretty good. I like the looks of NXT on black, but the $25+ per bottle in Canada is a bit steep, IMO. (You wouldn't need both NXT and the DC Step 3 wax.)
 
Hi guys,

Im kind of confused.. I thought the Sonus kit was a supply of wax, polish, cleaner, clay, applicators, towels, etc... as shown here: Sonus Perfect Shine Kit



are you guys meaning to say this comes wth a PC like porter cable?

if you say I should get a porter cable.. then dont I still need to get washing supplies such as wax, polish, cleaner, clay etc... ? soo the PC (210$) plus wash and wax supplies (another 100 or so) hmm...



Also the car is brand new.. never hand washed.. theres practically no swirls or marring, so Im not sure if it needs a porter cable machine .. yet



BigLeegr, If I do get the Megs 3 step kit.. Id only get step 1 and 2.. replace 3 with the NXT.. would that be ok?



Way2SSlow, I'll look more into the PC stuff, I dont have easy access to a good variety of products up north but I'll see what I can work with here. (eshine probably).. Im just not sure if Im ready to go out and buy a PC.. its a lotta money =(
 
That sonus kit would be ok but i would recommend that you go to zainostore.com and all you need is zaino z5 pro and zaino z2 pro. To me thats all you need on a black car.
 
Sorry. The link you had in the first post wasn't working yesterday, so I assumed (incorrectly, apparently :D) that you were referring to the Sonus PC kit. Your linked kit doesn't come with a PC polisher. (But the FX1+2 are recemmended to be used via machine, even though you can use them by hand (with lots of effort! ;) .)



You can replace DC3 with NXT. NXT tends to fill minor marring better than DC3, IMHO, so it may be better for hand maintenance.
 
no problem. I used the forum buttons and just pasted the link there. Thought it would do everything else by itself after.



Anyway, with the porter cable, am I looking to save a lot of time?

Maybe I'll just wait another paycheck and get that as well.. *sigh*
 
White lexus 23 said:
That sonus kit would be ok but i would recommend that you go to zainostore.com and all you need is zaino z5 pro and zaino z2 pro. To me thats all you need on a black car.
Click to expand...









wrong.



that would be AFTER polishing
 
Not nec. much time saving if you are just applying wax, but it makes marring removal much easier/faster/more effective than by hand.



If you were so inclined to try something else for 1/3 the money or less you could go to someplace like Home Hardware or Rona and get a variable speed random orbital sander with a 5" Velcro® plate. I think they are around 3-5amps, depending on the model, so they are somewhat powerful (PC is 3.7amps). They are around $40-$50 (pads extra-you'll likely have a hard time finding any locally - Megs are available at some car parts stores, but I think they're around $32-$35CDN each.) If you were to order some pads from Autopia along with your shine kit, you'd be looking at about $100 more to get a machine and pads included, rather than over $200 for the PC and pads. (Not the same prestige, mind you... ;) )
 
If I were you I would save the money until you can buy a PC, pads, and some polishes. For the time being, pick up ColorX and NXT, a decent shampoo and some microfibers locally. This will keep your car looking good and protected until you can spring for a PC for some swirl removal.
 
Thanks BigLeegr.. I really dont know what to do.

But I like xhaust's suggestion.

The cars unprotected right now. the only thing it gets is the touchless automatic car was at Sunoco....



I think I will go ahead and buy some small supplies right now to keep her clean and waxed. I'll just be extra careful not to cause marring or cobwebs/swils. Already got 2 buckets, sheepskin wash mitt, gold class car wash, NXt liquid wax and some MF and buffing towels.. still looking for a huge waffle weave MF towel for drying (locally) then get a claybar and yea... thats all for now



I will definitely keep the PC on my to get list. thanks for your help!
 
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