Newbie

X

xcoldricex

New member
Hello all, this is a wonderful forum! I'm new to car detailing, I just got a black mica mazdaspeed3 and would like to keep it looking great for years to come, so I need your help! I'm hoping this car will teach me a lot in detailing/maintainence to prepare me for more expensive cars down the road.



I need a bit of help with product selection as I don't want to go too overboard with products. Everything will be ordered from AG with a 15% off code. I plan on washing frequently since my car is black, but I live in Michigan so extensive detailing in the long, cold winters will probably be hard... trying to keep the $ reasonable but things seem to add up very quickly! Am I missing anything? Should I substitute other things instead? Thanks in advance.



Here's a tentative list: (updated 5/27)



Interior:

Leather: Pinnacle Leather Cleaner and Conditioner

Everything else: 303 Aerospace Protectant



Exterior:

Soap: Optimum No Rinse

Wheel Sealant: Poorboy's Wheel Sealant

Polisher: Menzerna FPII or Optimum Poli-seal?

Glaze: Clearkote RMG

Wax: Poorboy's NB and

Winter Wax: Collinite 845 w/Polycharger



Supplies:

PC7424 w/LC dual action pads and backing plate

DP Polishing Pad Rejuvinator

Grit Guard

Pinnacle Safe Scrub Bug & Tar Pad (worth it? couldn't seem to find any reviews)

Megs Versa Angle Wheel Brush

Cobra Chenille Wash pad

Metro Vac n' Blo (still deciding)





Towels:

1- 16" x 16" Miracle Towel

2- 16" x 16" Microfiber Detailing Cloths

1- 16" x 27" Microfiber Glass Cleaning Waffle Weave Cloth

1- 16" x 24" 'The Guzzler' Waffle Weave

+ 24 Vroom MF towels from Target.
 
You cannot go wrong with those products. Keep in mind that Souveran is a wonderful looking wax but does not have a lot of longevity, so prepare to wax often...The KAIO will help a lot though.
 
It would absolutely be beneficial. Pinnacle Souveran looks excellent, but like joshtpa said, it lacks in the endurance dept. What you will do by adding a couple layers of sealant prior to Souveran, is add layers of very durable protection, which will make it to where you won't have to polish (Klasse AIO, etc.) so often, yet have the look of Souveran. This is actually what most people do.



That being said, you don't have to use "Klasse SG" just because you are using Klasse AIO. You can use any sealant you want. I, personally, like some other sealants that are currently available over SG. There are lots to choose from.



Also, before you buy a PC, you may want to wait for the new Ultimate Detailing Machine to come out by Autopia. There are a couple threads already started on this particular machine. It's basically a PC, but much better. I don't know much about it, but I am told that it's going to be awesome, and am in line like everyone else to get my hands on one. :buffing:
 
Thanks! I'm getting a very lightly used PC for cheap so I'm going to go that route- I figure that I can always resell later if I want to upgrade to the UDM.



Looks like I need a good sealant - I'm thinking EX-P or Wolfgang's?



Since this is my DD - I'm wondering if I should even splurge on the Souveran (the Souveran/Klasse kit does make it a lot more reasonable though). Looking through the black car thread - a lot of people use Clearkote RMG and Poorboy's NB with good results... hmmm.



Would Menzerna's FP be a good addition to the KAIO?
 
Wolfgang is my *personal* favorite sealant. I absolutely love the stuff, but I also have a lot of other sealants, and like them a lot too.



RMG + Natty's Blue would be a very good combo on black, especially if you can't or don't want to be absolutely perfect about getting all the defects out. The RMG will fill in a lot of sins, which is good to have on a dd.



As far as carnauba wax goes, especially if you are using it on a dd, Souveran may be overkill. Go with Natty's blue, P21S, S100, CG's 50/50, etc. instead.
 
JDookie said:
Wolfgang is my *personal* favorite sealant. I absolutely love the stuff, but I also have a lot of other sealants, and like them a lot too.



RMG + Natty's Blue would be a very good combo on black, especially if you can't or don't want to be absolutely perfect about getting all the defects out. The RMG will fill in a lot of sins, which is good to have on a dd.



As far as carnauba wax goes, especially if you are using it on a dd, Souveran may be overkill. Go with Natty's blue, P21S, S100, CG's 50/50, etc. instead.
Click to expand...



Check out what CMA says about the differences between S100 and P21S now...I would spend the extra 10 bucks and get the P21S now. But back on topic, I agree with all of the other stuff. Nattys for the money is hard to beat and looks great over RMG.
 
xcoldricex said:
..Looks like I need a good sealant..Since this is my DD - I'm wondering if I should even splurge on the Souveran ..Would Menzerna's FP be a good addition to the KAIO?
Click to expand...





Yeah, IMO you should use some kind of mildly abrasive polish. I always recommend stuff from 1Z as it's *so* user-friendly and effective. It's my hands-down choice for people just getting serious about this stuff (and it's a good choice for experts too). I get mine at Welcome to Exceldetail.com! or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing Supplies & Accessories . Not sure what I'd order from AG, IMO it's very important that you start with something user-friendly.



I'd just put some Collinite over top of the 1Z polish, I wouldn't even bother with the AIO much less a sealant. The 1z/Collinite combo holds up for months on my daily drivers and it looks good (don't get caught up in the subtle differences between LSPs, it'll look fine with Collinite and will be well protected). I do use the Klasse twins on one of our vehicles, but it's not like sealants have rendered waxes obsolete. One of my daily drivers gets Collinite and it works out great.



Note that sealants don't hide marring, but rather make any flaws stand out, and keeping a black car nice enough for a sealant would be a tall order.



I use Souveran on one of my vehicles, but I sure wouldn't use it for a daily driver. Ditto for the Cystal Mist, I'd just get some FK425.



IMO your primary focus should be on developing a marring-free wash/dry regimen. This is harder than one might thing! The foamgun isn't so much for making things go quicker, but rather for helping to keep the marring down. I never wash without one.



Oh, and I wouldn't touch *any* vehicle with cheesecloth or a Kozak ;)



Oh#2, Welcome to Autopia!
 
thanks for the input! i've read some more and have modified my list a bit. haha the cheesecloth and kozak are part of the package of towels - won't use 'em :)



since it's a dd- i'm glad you're pushing me away from souveran since it's expensive!



after seeing all the pics with RMG i'm definitely going to get some along with either NB or P21S... for a polisher instead of KAIO was looking more towards menzerna FPII or optimum PS - any input (i'll look into the 1Z)? should i add in the opti-seal for more protection or should i just leave it at that?



i'm going to go the ONR wash route instead of the foam gun route.. much cheaper and people are getting good mar free results as far as I can tell. maybe i'll cave in and buy a foamgun later (looks fun!)
 
xcoldricex- Heh heh, pardon the not-what-you-want-to-hear part of the stuff that follows :D



While some people do fine with ONR type washes, I'll be very surprised (pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless) if you can wash a black dd that way and not mar it up. Sorry...but I'd bet serious money on this one. Hope you prove me wrong if you decide to go that route.



[No flaming about how swell ONR is, please. I know plenty of people do fine with it, and with CCDs, and with all sorts of other things that don't always work as well for others]



I don't have any experience with the OPS, but I prefer 1Z Metallic Polish over Menzerna FP. The FP might be a better choice if you're going with the OPS, dunno for sure.



I'd want more protection than I got from P21S (a wax that didn't impress me). Dunno about the NB, never tried it.



Consider that with a dd, there's a lot more to LSP selection than looks. Durability of course, but also "shedding"- how a LSP responds to getting dirty. Some LSPs are very "self cleaning", they shed dirt and are also thus easier to wash without marring (no need to "scrub").



I *just* finished a quick spring-cleaning on my beater-Blazer and it might be of interest as it's my version of a dd (daily dog-hauler in all kinds of weather, the household beater). Last coat of wax was some Collinite back in Sept (I had a few layers built up at that point). Nothing but washes since then, and some QD after maybe half of them. Several trips through a touchless. The Collinite was still holding up great everywhere except the wheels, rear bumper cover, and some of the plastic trim. After a quick claying with Sonus green (the clay didn't show much contamination) I added another coat of Collinite just to make sure everything's protected and I don't expect to do anything but washes for a long, long time. There was no marring from a winter's worth of washes because of the way the Collinite sheds dirt (and because of my gentle, foamgun-centric wash techniques ;) ). And I can assure you that it got *VERY* dirty between some of its washes; it's not like I wash it every week ;)
 
Its funny, because when I first got really into it...I have done details for a while, but lets just say when I found Autopia, I switched to ONR and had no problems with marring as long as I took my time. We also differed in on the P21S. With the exception of Blackfire Ivory Paste, it is my favorite Paste Wax that I have found, and that includes Souveran. But that is why this is great stuff. Different strokes for different folks. But Collinite is a great product. You cannot go wrong with that at all.
 
joshtpa said:
Its funny...[different experience/opinion follows].. But that is why this is great stuff. Different strokes for different folks..
Click to expand...



Yeah, there are so many personal preference factors, and differences in experience, that all we can do is offer our $0.02 and hope that enough people respond to give a fair selection of opinions. Then the OP can decide which advice to go with (or, better yet, synthesize all the different opinions and come up with something just right for *him*).



It's not all *that* common for recommendations here to be completely ill-advised. And any that *are* will usually attract some strongly worded caveats :D
 
well i ended up getting both the ONR and the foamgun.. so we'll see which I like better.



I have water spots etched into my car :( the ONR was not successful in getting them off - I assume you shouldn't expect it to though - so I should probably wash, clay (might not be necessary), Poli-seal, (FP not necessary?), Wax?
 
xcoldricex- That looks great :xyxthumbs



The waterspots are often etched into the paint, and sometimes even aggressive polishing won't get 'em out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top