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imported_tim

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Hi Guys,



Noob here, hoping for some advice.



My son has a 2000 Ford Focus. ( red ). He bought

it used a year or so ago. It's in decent enough shape

for a car that old. Some swirls and scratches in the finish.



I'd like to spend a couple days over Thanksgiving weekend

working on this with him. We'll be in a nice warm garage

with pizza and Pepsi's.



The equipment I have is a Cyclo model 5 with various of the

old style rubber bonnets with different types of fiber material

on them. I'm planning to meet up with a local distributor of

the Cyclo stuff this week and see what's new in the way of applicators that velcro on ( Yup, joining the 21st century )



What I have in the way of chemical assistance is;



Clay bar



Klasse AIO



Various Meguiars polishes and sealants.



The plan is to clay bar, AIO, then probably NXT2.0



But then, I'm a total amateur at this, so.....



Any and all suggestions, critiques, etc. are most welcome.



thanks,



tim
 
Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but although I frequently like pizza, I think you're going to get better results with Coke rather than Pepsi...



:D



Seriously, if you get yourself some new (foam, not fiber :think:) pads, you should be all set. However something in my brain bank is saying that Accumulator and/or Aurora40 have noted that Cyclo's don't like AIO for some reason. What Meg's polishes do you have? You've used the Cyclo before?
 
The Megs I have are just the Deep Crystal from Autozone, the cleaner/wax, and the NXT.



But, I've got a couple weeks to put things together if need be.:grinno:



I more or less inherited the Cyclo from my Dad. He bought it, and we've used it just for applying waxes and polishes for about 35 or so

years now. I love that thing, but honestly am near totally clueless as to

it's true capabilities. That's where you guys come in.



I kinda guessed I'm gonna want some of the foam pads and such.



Truth is, I'm just discovering microfiber stuff, I've got some old

cheesecloth I've used for years....love that stuff.
 
Well, you'll want to keep that Meg's cleaner wax and NXT FAR away from any rubber or textured plastic trim. If you're just looking for a little father/son bonding and gloss it up a bit, you can get some new pads and then wash, clay, cleaner wax (or the AIO if it behaves with the Cyclo), topped with NXT, and call it a day.



If you want to do some correction, you're going to to need something else. IIRC, Pep Boys has Meg's #9, which doesn't really have any cut, some members suggest the Mother's...um...Power Polish? as a good OTC polish. Just be prepared that if you really start to get into this with Cyclo pads, products, microfiber towels, the cost is going to snowball on you.
 
Just get a PC they are on sale at Autogeek.net for $119.99. Pads and polishes and everything else you might need to get that Focus detailed can be had for about $250.
 
or go to a paint shop and see what they have. A local paint shop here has a good slection of 3m polishes...as does Carquest. SOME Advanced Auto parts have Meg's 83 and 80. Locally our AAP even carries the Meg's DA polisher for $139. They sell gallon sizes of many of the mirror glaze polishes, Megs pads etc....



more importantly, it's good bonding time and no matter the path you take it'll make that car 10xbetter and your son will probably want to keep it that way.



ok, how about you order a complete PC kit with pads polishes etc and give it to your son as an early Christmas present?
 
dublifecrisis said:
or go to a paint shop and see what they have.





ok, how about you order a complete PC kit with pads polishes etc and give it to your son as an early Christmas present?
Click to expand...



Hadn't thought of the local paint shop, I like that idea.



As for his own PC, I figure I'll just keep handing down the Cyclo,

it appears to be built to last a few more generations.:D
 
I would suggest you get the EDGE adapter and some green and orange pads. No Velcro, you just click them on, and you get the pads centered right away, which is more important with the Cyclo.
 
Accumulator might chime in here, but I'll tell you what he told me. I also have a cyclo and he said that do NOT use Klasse AIO with the cyclo. He said the product flashes much too quickly on the Cyclo.



As for pads. I just went on a shopping spree on them. This is what I bought (all foam with the velcro backing):



Orange -- for the more aggressive polishing job.

Green -- This is for medium duty and for following up with after you've used orange. Accumulator said this is the pad that he uses most often.

White -- This is for glazes and waxes.



I've only used my Cyclo once and I used the orange with 1z Intensiv Polish followed with 1z Paint Polish on my yellow jeep and I think it did a fantastic job of getting rid of swirls and rids. However, I'll tell you that it's not that aggressive. It may take several passes for you to remove the swirls and rids.



Just chiming in and hoping that others with Cyclos will help out.
 
Ok, an update for ya.



Ordered the foam pads and Velcro system from

Cyclo. They'll be here Friday. I looked around the local

paint shops and they had polishes and such, including

the Megs #80. I believe I'll pick up some of that.



So, the process appears to be,



Wash and clay the car.

Eat pizza and drink Pepsi ( or Coke if ya have to. )

Wash it again, or will and alcohol wipedown suffice ?

Polish with Megs #80.

My lsp will be Megs NXT 2.0



Crack open a couple of Yuengling's.



Thanks for any and all input.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
You don't need to wash or IPA the car between clay and polish, as long as you didn't leave any clay smears.
Click to expand...



QFT. Actually you can clay as you wash and just quickly go back over the clayed area with your wash mitt or sponge. That's the path I usually take when I'm trying to save time.
 
Ah, I'm a little late to this party :D



Yeah, KAIO is *NOT* Cyclo-friendly IME. Other people claim to have done OK with it but I wouldn't wish my experience on anybody, it was one nasty PIA.



spookertunes- The #80 works *great* via Cyclo, and #80/NXT is what I used on my buddy's Jaguar showcar. Good combo, but it *is* very mild so don't expect a lot of correction.



The green pads work well with the #80, but watch that a) you don't use too much product, b) you work it long enough to break down the abrasives (watch for the initially opaque product turning translucent), c) you don't, OTOH, *overwork* it (don't keep going until it's dry), and d) you clean out the pads as needed so they don't get loaded/caked with product.



And yeah, the Cyclo will last forever. Rebuilds are cheap too, if it's ever necessary. I sent my older one in after 20-some years and they said it didn't *need* rebuilding even though it had lead a pretty hard life. I think it'd be *VERY* cool for that Cyclo to serve multiple generations in your family.
 
Thanks very much guys.



I like the idea of claying while I'm washing, but. We'll be doing

this next week in Northeast Ohio...I'm gonna wanna wash as

quickly as possible outside and get into a warm garage right away.:)



One more question.



I have the Meg's Deep Crystal polish in the garage too. Is there

anywhere in the process ( perhaps after the #80 ) that this will

be useful ? Or would that be a wasted step ?



Again, thanks to all, you're most helpful.



tim



.
 
I like to clay during the wash as well, but if it's cold the clay becomes very stiff, so under your circumstances I'd do it in the garage with some QD, then go right to the #80. You can certainly use the DC polish, which is similar to #7 Show Car Glaze, after the #80. It's a bit of a PITA, and it will probably be of some minimal improvement under the NXT, but if you want to, go for it. OTOH, many will say that #80 is plenty "glazy" by itself and that following it with DC2 is redundant.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I.. OTOH, many will say that #80 is plenty "glazy" by itself and that following it with DC2 is redundant.
Click to expand...



Count me among those who think the DC#2 is, if not redundant after the #80, still not of sufficient benefit to justify hassling with it. I wouldn't be surprised if it caused more frustration that satisfaction, and NXT after #80 looked nice enough to me.
 
Thanks guys, it sounds like the time I would have used on the

DC polish will be better spent on the LSP.



Surely do appreciate the advice.
 
OK then, an update and a question.



The Focus' paint is ( in my kindest possible assessment ) less than stellar. That's OK, it's showing some serious improvement already.



We washed the car, moved it into the garage and clayed it with medium clay. Started using the Megs #80 with the yellow cutting pads. Did the hood, top, and hatch. Decided that since I appeared to be doing not disastrous that I'd move to the orange pad. BIG improvement with the #80.:grinno: Played with that combo some more on the hood



Will be working on the rest of the car tomorrow. After the whole car is polished, will apply the NXT 2.0.



What do you guys think of a coat of Natty's Red on top of that ?



Thanks, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all.



P.S., so far the conversations while working have been fairly deep.

Am really enjoying this.
 
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