Pats300zx
Super Moderator
Welcome Juan !!!
Newbie Coming Through!
- Thread starter thenewvessel
- Start date
RatZ1LLa
New member
Welcome!
Everything you need to know is here. There is a lot of great reading. I spent many a late night getting myself dialed in. My advice is break up the process into small bites.
1. Learn the proper 2 bucket wash process including wheel / wheel wells cleaning products and tools.
2. Learn the proper decontamination process iron removal, clay or Nano skin type particle removal
3 proper correction process for paint - you will need to invest in a DA buffer and pads and some polishes. This is the hardest step but it makes the biggest diffeeence in looks and appearance. Not the last step product.
4 lsp- last step product wax, sealant or coating. Take your pick. I`d start with a sealant until your ultra co ride t in polishing and then jump to coating.
5 glass coating
6 interior clean up including class cleaning and interior surface coating if desired.
7 trim coating
8 engine cleaning and detailing / exhaust tip cleaning and polishing.
9 convertae top cleaning and protecting
Once you think you have mastered the above there will be new products to try to slowly amp your care toward perfection. Just don`t expect to ever get there because you will be disappointed. It`s a journey that you will be on until you lose interest or die because it will never be absolutely 100% perfect.
1. Learn the proper 2 bucket wash process including wheel / wheel wells cleaning products and tools.
2. Learn the proper decontamination process iron removal, clay or Nano skin type particle removal
3 proper correction process for paint - you will need to invest in a DA buffer and pads and some polishes. This is the hardest step but it makes the biggest diffeeence in looks and appearance. Not the last step product.
4 lsp- last step product wax, sealant or coating. Take your pick. I`d start with a sealant until your ultra co ride t in polishing and then jump to coating.
5 glass coating
6 interior clean up including class cleaning and interior surface coating if desired.
7 trim coating
8 engine cleaning and detailing / exhaust tip cleaning and polishing.
9 convertae top cleaning and protecting
Once you think you have mastered the above there will be new products to try to slowly amp your care toward perfection. Just don`t expect to ever get there because you will be disappointed. It`s a journey that you will be on until you lose interest or die because it will never be absolutely 100% perfect.
rlmccarty2000
Active member
I believe the top on your Miata is vinyl not fabric correct? Polishing by hand will leave you frustrated. Invest in a used/new polisher and a few pads for around $200. The time saved will be well worth the $200 many times over. Take a look at 303 products instead of Raggtopp. Welcome to the addiction.
thenewvessel
New member
Correct it is vinyl. I`ll definitely take a look at the polisher sections and consider what`s recommended. Thank you all for your input so far.
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Civicclutch
New member
The only good thing a porter cable is good for is lsp application or carpet brush
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Why do you say that? (Asks the man who only owns a PC)
Also, welcome Juan! I too am new to the forum & have a Miata myself.
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Civicclutch
New member
I own several DAs and the pc is one the other one is groits garage 6" with a 5" backing plAte and this is a lot stronger motor and bogs less than the pc. Then I have the longthrow and rupes is better of the two I have
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thenewvessel
New member
Nice! Lets be best friends!
What chassis do you have?
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Civicclutch
New member
Miatas are fun little cars to drive but only if they`re manual
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thenewvessel
New member
I have a `99 as well. Mine is the 10th Anniversary Edition with a 6-speed manual and a really sweet sapphire blue mica paint (it was my favorite color of all NAs/NBs)...
Too bad that the previous owners were not too kind to the paint though. I`m going to have to repaint it before I really do much to it from a polishing standpoint - clear is delaminating from the front bumper and badly across the hood and there`s some burn through behind the driver`s door. So I am not sure how close the rest of the clear is to burn through and add in some rock chips that went down to the metal and I think it`s just best for a high quality respray.
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Too bad that the previous owners were not too kind to the paint though. I`m going to have to repaint it before I really do much to it from a polishing standpoint - clear is delaminating from the front bumper and badly across the hood and there`s some burn through behind the driver`s door. So I am not sure how close the rest of the clear is to burn through and add in some rock chips that went down to the metal and I think it`s just best for a high quality respray.
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thenewvessel
New member
Awesome! Those are very rare to see in good shape and stock condition.
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thenewvessel
New member
True. Yeah mine was posted as an anniversary edition... Got him down 2000 on the price which is nice. He thought just because it was a 99` it means it`s an anniversary model even though it`s obvious it doesn`t have any of the features lmao.
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True 10AE`s in good condition seem to command a premium price. I have seen many that will list any `99 as one though. Still to this day I kick myself about getting outbid on an auction for a 10AE in TX that was sold for $1900. It had 120k miles and an original factory hardtop! To this day, that`s the cheapest NB in good condition that I`ve ever seen.
Back on topic though! Did the emerald green (just the base emerald green color) actually have flake or mica in it? I always thought it was a plain solid color with no additions.
I am hoping to take a few before and after shots of my trunk and polish it good sometime soon. Just got to find an hour or so sometime soon since it`s too hard to actually find enough time in a day to do more than 1 panel in a day (for me) haha.
As far as what equipment you should get, I highly recommend getting a DA buffer. Recently I used my PC DA to polish the headlights on an old Taurus and it only took me about 20 minutes a side. A few years prior I did the same job with a DIY kit in which I did it all by hand. That job took me about 1.5hrs each side! The results are so much quicker to achieve with a DA that it just doesn`t make sense not to get one. I cannot compare the PC to anything else, but I haven`t found it to bog or to be underpowered as long as I`m not putting too much pressure on it. Maybe that is where the GG or some others excel.
Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk
Back on topic though! Did the emerald green (just the base emerald green color) actually have flake or mica in it? I always thought it was a plain solid color with no additions.
I am hoping to take a few before and after shots of my trunk and polish it good sometime soon. Just got to find an hour or so sometime soon since it`s too hard to actually find enough time in a day to do more than 1 panel in a day (for me) haha.
As far as what equipment you should get, I highly recommend getting a DA buffer. Recently I used my PC DA to polish the headlights on an old Taurus and it only took me about 20 minutes a side. A few years prior I did the same job with a DIY kit in which I did it all by hand. That job took me about 1.5hrs each side! The results are so much quicker to achieve with a DA that it just doesn`t make sense not to get one. I cannot compare the PC to anything else, but I haven`t found it to bog or to be underpowered as long as I`m not putting too much pressure on it. Maybe that is where the GG or some others excel.
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thenewvessel
New member
WHAT!? $1900 is such an amazing deal.. Sorry to hear you lost out on that one.. 
But yeah the emerald green looks like it has some silverfish sparkles in it or something? It could just be a bunch of silver overspray lol
Thanks for the suggestions! ^_^
But yeah the emerald green looks like it has some silverfish sparkles in it or something? It could just be a bunch of silver overspray lol
Thanks for the suggestions! ^_^
Paul@Autopia
New member
Not sure how I didn`t see this thread until now but Welcome to the Family! (Autopia & also Miata). Seems like we`ve been getting a lot of new members with Miatas recently :bigups
Nice looking BRG - easily my favorite color on a Miata.
1. For Vinyl tops I prefer the 303 Aerospace Protectant - for Canvas I prefer the Raggtopp.
2. I would not bother trying to remove defects on clear coat by hand, you can get very slight improvements but not much. If you want to work by hand than I would go with something like Poorboys Black Hole or their Natty`s Black Wax. If you want to go machine than we have some open box Porter Cable 7424xps, shoot me a PM if you`re interested and we can put together a good kit for you.
3. Good luck on the build! v8 Miatas are awesome - there are a few around here for sale for around 10K (one has a Ford 5.3 and another has a Lexus 1uz). I`ve driven one with the Ford 5.3 and it was a riot, handling suffers but usually the extra power more than makes up for it.
Nice looking BRG - easily my favorite color on a Miata.
1. For Vinyl tops I prefer the 303 Aerospace Protectant - for Canvas I prefer the Raggtopp.
2. I would not bother trying to remove defects on clear coat by hand, you can get very slight improvements but not much. If you want to work by hand than I would go with something like Poorboys Black Hole or their Natty`s Black Wax. If you want to go machine than we have some open box Porter Cable 7424xps, shoot me a PM if you`re interested and we can put together a good kit for you.
3. Good luck on the build! v8 Miatas are awesome - there are a few around here for sale for around 10K (one has a Ford 5.3 and another has a Lexus 1uz). I`ve driven one with the Ford 5.3 and it was a riot, handling suffers but usually the extra power more than makes up for it.
thenewvessel
New member
Awesome I have some of the 303. I thought it was intended only for interiors but I guess it makes sense since a majority is vinyl anyways..
Awesome I have some Black Hole as well! B)
Ill be sure to try it out when I get off work tonight and post some pics of the results.
Thanks. I`m stoked. I`m primarily looking for a 5.3 myself but going GM instead. Anything from 5.3-6.2 will do nicely.
Civicclutch
New member
You should start a thread on this Miata build so we can follow along with you fun and frustrations
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