Help tweaking my detail plan

Randomhero

New member
Paint products i have on hand: Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, Mother's Pre-Wax Cleaner, Mother's Micro-Polishing Glaze, Mother's Pure Brazilian Carnauba Wax, Klasse Sealant Glaze, Mother's Claybar, Meguiar's DA Power System with Cutting, Polishing, Wax pads.



Car has plenty of scratches, some deep some not. Never been compounded before.



Here is my plan of attack:

Dawn wash

Claybar

Ultimate Compound with cutting pad

Pre-Wax cleaner with polishing pad

Klasse Sealant Glaze

Pure wax



Thoughts on this? Recommendations?



Or alternatively i could use a Griots 6in DA. Ultimate compound with a LC Orange Pad, Pre-Wax cleaner with LC White pad, KSG by hand, and wax with a LC Red or Yellow pad?
 
I'm not one of the professionals here - I can't even be classified as a Weekend Warrior - but from spending some time on here I can suggest:



1. Use the <SEARCH> function & look up your car, especially the Click & Brag forum. A lot of the pros & many of the really good Weekend folks post the pics of their projects there. You should be able to determine how hard or soft your paint is, & what process others have used to correct the paint.



2. Do the same with the products you have on hand & determine what others have said about how they work, & what they work best on.



3. Take some photographs of what you are trying to correct in different lighting that clearly show the condition (important!).



4. Try your process on a small section of your vehicle; it would be wise to take a pic or 2 after every step. If the final result is not what you expected, post the pics & your questions (important!).



5. Be specfic on your questions including the make, model, & model year of the vehicle & try to give as much info as you can (any sign of repainting, any sign of previous detailing efforts, etc.)



6. READ. We purchased (2) vehicles last year; I am just now preparing to detail each of them. I bet I have a good 10 hours of reading here & I haven't yet touched the paint on either. I've learned that (1) of our vehicles has hard paint & that certain finishing products seem to really pop the dark metallic paint while others seem to mute it. The other vehicle has soft paint that some classify as "sticky" & it can be a real problem; there are some products that are absolutely a bad idea. Also, 1 of our vehicles is known to sometimes have thin paint.



I'm honestly trying to help here; I can't offer advice on your process but I think if you really spend some time on research at this site you'll be able to ask questions that will get you some really valuable input; the pros here are very willing to help noobs out IF you put some work in research.



Good Luck!
 
Ive been doing some research ha. So would this be a better combo?



Ultimate Compound, cutting pad

SwirlX, polishing pad OR Klasse All-In-One, which would be better?

KSG, by hand



I tried UC with a cutting pad on my hood. It got out alot of scratches, but there is still a bunch left. I also noticed it left a slight hologram. Going over it with Pre-Wax Cleaner and a polishing pad seems to remove it. I was using a good amount of pressure. I also have a black 04 Honda Accord.
 
UC and Swirlx are a great combo but you will still need KAIO to get a good bond with KSG. And KAIO might not clean up as UC that well. Plan on using all four. An marring after UC is normal especially once you remove the oils.



And great job doing a test area. Most would have done the whole car first.
 
Dan said:
UC and Swirlx are a great combo but you will still need KAIO to get a good bond with KSG. And KAIO might not clean up as UC that well. Plan on using all four. An marring after UC is normal especially once you remove the oils.



And great job doing a test area. Most would have done the whole car first.



So...

Wash

Clay

UC

SwirlX

KAIO

KSG

Think that is worth $120? Its about 5.75hrs worth of labor on a normal sedan.



Could i skip a step when using this setup on lighter cars? Like skip the SwirlX? I have a black car, so when i get the KAIO ill do the top of my trunk and post a couple before/after pics.
 
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