First Timer Questions

R

redundant

New member
Hey guys, I am about to attempt my first two step on my car and had a few q's regarding the process. To my eyes, my car (g35 sedan) has some decent swirls and more than a few hard water etches, as seen in this photo





Before I received all of my supplies, I did a test run on my car and washed it with Dawn, Clayed with claymagic blue, rewashed with Z7, and sealed with rejex. It looked decent

but I was still so very annoyed at the imperfections in the paint. I did some intensive reading and tried to figure out the best combo. Here is my proposed process:



ONR Wash

Clay w/ OID lube

Optimum Polish on Orange with PC

ISA Wipedown (?)

ZPC (Or pink moose + to save a step?) on White with PC

Pink Moose on black with PC

Optiseal

Carnauba Moose wax



Would I need another dawn wash to rid the car of rejex, or would ONR suffice in the stripping duties? Also, which trim do you tape off during polishing? I have tried to search but that has yielded few if any results. Do I polish the plastic trim in between the windows? And do I tape off the black plastic trim on the bottom of the doors and the plastic around the door handles??



Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have been agonizing for weeks over which products to buy and use =]. Thanks!
 
I don't think ONR will have any 'stripping' abilities, you could just wash with Dawn again and/or IPA wipedown.

I think a general rule of thumb is, if the plastic is porous, it could stain (which products you use makes a big difference too, I've heard CMW shouldn't stain trim).

But if you are new to Autopian level detailing, you'll still gain from the practice of taping a car.



Anyone else want to chime in?
 
redundant- I'd expect the OCP to cut through any Rejex that's left after the ONR (which won't remove it) and the clay (which might remove a little).



No need for the IPA between the OCP and the ZPC unless you're worried about the OCP hiding some imperfections. Dunno how well the OCP/orange will work on that paint, I'd be using 4" pads as larger ones don't do much correction for me.



You'll need another, milder abrasive polishing step after the orange pad, so don't just go to pink moose after the OCP/orange. Do some real polishing with the white pad and something like the ZPC.



I dunno about using Pink Moose before Optiseal, won't the Optiseal just clean it off? Sorry, I'm no expert on the Pink Moose or the Optiseal :nixweiss



That's just more products than I'd use...I'd correct it and then seal or wax it.



Some plastic trim responds well to some polishes, but if in doubt tape it off so you don't have to be extra careful. When the trim does *not* respond well (i.e., the white polish stain issue) it can be a hideous PIA, so err on the side of caution.
 
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