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miata54

New member
Greetings All:



Why not? That was my reaction before registering on this site and as I approach my 69th birthday, I'm very eager to learn more about the "do's and dont's" of polishing/waxing on a single stage paint.



My patient is my 21 year old Miata which I bought new and have maintained myself over her entire life, both mechanically and bodily. The paint is original. Waxing has been done about three times per year for the last 21. I have used nothing but Meguiars Gold Class over all these years. I know there are as many different preferences for brands of wax. Mequiars has worked well for me. Prior to my Miata, I struggled with Simoniz paste!



My GF bought me an inexpensive B&D oscillating/rotating polisher a few weeks ago and I did use it on my Miata this past week after reading as much as I could about proper technique. I used the foam applicator pad that came with it and also the wool buffing pad (not good, I realize now) to buff it out. However, I did notice a slight improvement in the depth of shine from previous applications using a hand applicator and hand buffing. But then again, maybe it was all in my head!



I do have a concern for which i would appreciate any feedback. When finished with the wool buffing, I did notice a small amount of paint color on the pad. Is this to be expected with single stage paint even though I was using a wax with no cleaning agent?

I have also been advised to ditch the wool pad and use a foam pad for buffing. Comments please.



Seeing that I can't post an attachment, please go here to see the car.



www.cardomain.com/id/miata54



Pic # 9 gives an excellent view of the original paint condition, plus wax!



Thanks
 
miata54- Welcome to Autopia!



You've sure done a great job of keeping your Miata nice.



Yes, it's normal to get some color ("pigment transfer") on the pad when you polish single stage paint, even with a presumably nonabrasive product (the pad itself is abrasive) and Meguiar's Gold Class isn't as nonabrasive as one might think anyhow.





With just a little tweaking to your approach, I think you'll be getting results that will utterly astound you. I won't get into detailed suggestions here and now, but there are a scad of different ways you can go. You might start a thread asking for an "Extremely User-friendly Approach for Single Stage Miata" or something like that, then compare the various suggestions.



And FWIW, my late father was a lot older than you are when I got him serious about detailing his vehicles ;)
 
Welcome! The Miata looks great! I also have owned one of my cars longer than the age of many of the readers here! :)



As mentioned, your wool pad is reasonably abrasive as is. I would use a foam pad for your purpose. You can easily get one to fit your buffer. Start a post in the Detailing Section as suggested and you will get lots of info.
 
Welcome to Autopia miata54. I hope after reading the info on our forum you'll be able to kick your car's appearance into overdrive. Watch out, it's addictive.
 
moderator said:
Welcome to Autopia miata54. I hope after reading the info on our forum you'll be able to kick your car's appearance into overdrive. Watch out, it's addictive.
Click to expand...



Already started poking around. Am looking for some 6" foam bonnets.
 
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