The quest for a perfect shine

S

Silli

New member
Gold Class Paste wax really never impressed me that much and it really is not a wery long lasting product, even if that's not my priority. I didn't want to spend hundreds on expensive designer waxes like zymol and pinnacle. My garage is full of usefull polishes and cleaners anyway so I got a quick call to my local bodyshop which sell Meguiar's. I asked if they had #26 Hi tech yellow wax which by the reviews section seemed to be decent stuff. They had, and it was on sale - 10€, great I said and off I went. To my suprising they had a whole bunch of #16 Professional Paste Wax-tins which I remembered was valued four stars at the reviews-section. I didn't believe they had such a 'rare' item for sale in Finland, and it was on sale too! 10€. I bought that instead.



As it is raining today, and the forecasts predicts rain a week ahead, I have time to plan my strategy, which I need your judgement for.



I have a 2003 Indie Blue metallic Mini Cooper S.

I planned on using these products to get a really wet and deep shine, by hand (no polisher).



1. Meg. Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner

2. Meg. #9 Swirl Remover

3. Meg #7 Show Car Glaze

4. Meg #16 Professional Paste Wax



I allso have an allmost full bottle of Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection, do I have any use of this stuff? Can I use it as a Sealant on top of #7? Is there any improvement in shine to outlook?



I don't have a clay nor do I think I need it, my paint is wery smooth. Some swirlmarks are present and visible in fluorecent light. I have a few minor scratches which I will buff out with ScratchX.



Does anyone have any tips and advice for me before I begin working?



How much better shine could be expected using P21 or Souverän?





Thanks in advance,

Silli
 
If you haven't clayed before, it's probably worth doing it. I clay once or twice a year regardless. If your surface isn't clean, you're not going to get optimum results. A good test that will blow your mind is the plastic bag trick. Wash you car. Run your fingers over the paint. Feels smooth? Try again with a plastic sandwich bag over your fingers. You'll feel stuff there you that will surprise you.



Other than that, for the #16, let it haze but then wipe it off quickly. Also put it on fairly thin and if you need another coat, apply it the next day. If you put it on too thick or let it sit too long, it tends to be harder to take off.



Good luck!!!
 
No, don't try to add the Autoglym EGP into the mix. Stick with what you have planned and it should turn out great.



The P21S might/might not look a *little* better than the #16, but I'd stick with the #16, no question. The Souveran will give a slightly different look, but on your car, I'd still go with the #16. You're all set with what you have now.
 
Accumulator said:
No, don't try to add the Autoglym EGP into the mix. Stick with what you have planned and it should turn out great.



The P21S might/might not look a *little* better than the #16, but I'd stick with the #16, no question. The Souveran will give a slightly different look, but on your car, I'd still go with the #16. You're all set with what you have now.
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Thanks, your comment makes me feel much more comfortable :)



I'll leave EGP out then, the #16 should be durable enough even without a "polymer sealant", not that I could be waiting 2 months between waxings. :D EPG seems to contain solvents which might wash away the glaze...



Is the MPPCC strong enough to strip off the old wax layer with one handling?





zzyyx: I'll have to try out the plastic bag trick, thanks for the tip. The problem is that I cannot find a decent detailing clay anywhere in Finland. My local bodyshop has the meg. C-2000 Overspray clay but it has an outrageous price of 50€ (~60$)!!

Should I try to mix clay from the beatch and some plasticine to get a homemade claybar :D :D (joking... you know :) ).





.silli
 
Silli.....Ive seen pictures of your car and to me it doesnt look like you need all that.If you were to ask me your paint looked real good so I would say #9 and then #16 the hell with glaze it only lasts 4 days and your not putting your car in a show are you?
 
Silli- Sorry, not really familiar with the MPPCC, but between it and the #9 you should be OK.



ALAN81- As long as Silli got the #16 over the #7 it would last OK, that's an old-school combo that's been proven over the years.



But as you said, it's hard to say if the #7 would really add much though. Sometimes it really improves things, other times it doesn't.
 
I tought the MPPCC would kinda be a substitute for not having a clay, the MPPCC should only be a chemical cleaner - shouldn't hurt in any way, or could it?



I tried all of these stuff on a front bumper I have in my storage (a crashed one from the car I had before, red in colour though), and I really think the #7 gives a wery, wery wet-look to the finish. Don't know if it lasts for long but even the 4 days would be worth the effort :D .

I tried side by side GC Clear Coat Paste Wax and #16 (both prepped with MPPCC, #9 and #7) and the #16 side was _clearly_ more deep, shiny and wetter in its appearance. This was only on a small piece in dull lightning conditions so I am hoping for a BIG improvement when I get to detail the whole car!





Thanks for all the response I've got!





a pic for the day:

shine.jpg


This one is taken at night, car is waxed with GC Paste Wax, not that bad either...



Oh.. I would like to remove those bonnetstripes before the next detailing, they've been on for 3-4 months now, most for the winter/spring. Do you think there will be any marks left behind? Is a hairdrier warm enough to assist the removal?





.silli
 
Silli said:
.. I would like to remove those bonnetstripes before the next detailing, they've been on for 3-4 months now, most for the winter/spring. Do you think there will be any marks left behind? Is a hairdrier warm enough to assist the removal?
Click to expand...



Dunno about the hair dryer, but I'd be pretty sure you'll be able to see where they were. I'd proceed *very* cautiously on this...
 
I like the car without the stripes but before you remove them know what you are doing YOU may be in for a big PROBLEM
 
The stripes came off wery easily and there was no traces left behind whatsoever! Wery nice, but now I'd like to get those stripes back on, it looks bare as it is now..



Weeell.. I did the whole show today for my Mini! I'm sorry I have no pictures, I was so exhausted after the hard 5 hour work that I could not manage to drive my car to a beautifull place and shoot some frames..



After washing the car two times (to make sure no place got missed) I dried the car with a leafblower (thanks for the tip, autopia!), thank god my neighbour didn't see that! Then after removing the stripes I did a quick go with the MPPC cleaner. I then got out a few scratches with ScratchX. Then I put on #9 with an "Einhell" polishing machine, which is not that good but did the job well, and removed most of the swirlmarks after the second pass. I then applied #7 by hand using "Mike Philips" method. After that I waxed the car two times with #16 to make sure no spot was missed.



Then Autoglym Bumper Care to the wheel-arches and EO Wet Polish and Wax on the wheels + Armor All on the tires. Autosol metal polish on the exhaust-tips. A good wacuumcleaning for the interior and I wiped the interior with a damp cloth.



...



The shine is unseen.. Totally unbelievable! It looks like the car was melting in the sun. Wet and really reflective yet deep and shiny. The work was hard but worth it for every sweat and tear-drop. I totally love #16, I still have to try #26 and see if it can give a deeper/darker finish. Now I am finally satisfied with the looks.



Thanks to everyone for the advice! I'll post some pictures when we get some weather suitable for photographing.





Regards,

.silli
 
Good job! Sounds like you had a lot fun and the car SOUNDS like it looks very good. We will hold it to you to get pictures up soon :D
 
Thanks, the most fun part is the outcome and the feedback you get from your job. My sister actually came to say hello when I was about finished and she just spontaneusly said "wow, that looks good", and mind you, she's about never seen my car dirty before either. :)



#16 seems to be excellent stuff. How does #26 perform when comparing to #16? My local meg's shop has both of them on sale, because they will not be importing neither of them anymore. I heard a rumor here that #16 will no longer be produced? Should I buy one more tin for the future?



My can of #9 is soon to be empty, is #81 Hand polish a good substitute?



I still seem to be having some swirlmarks and micromarring left, what should I try to remove these with, the next time a do the whole treatment?





Thanks,

silli
 
Silli- Glad to hear things turned out so well.



Word from Meguiar's is that they will keep making #16, but I'd get another can while it's easily available.



The #81 is NOT the equivalent of the #9. #9 is abrasive and #81 is not. The "80s" series equivalent of #8 is #82.



If you didn't get the marring out, you'll need to try something more aggressive. If you *put* the marring in, you'll need to use something *less* aggressive. I'm gonna guess that you oughta try something more aggressive and then follow it up with the #9/#82. But I'd wait until the #16 quits beading, which might be a while.
 
Accumulator said:
Silli- Glad to hear things turned out so well.



Word from Meguiar's is that they will keep making #16, but I'd get another can while it's easily available.



The #81 is NOT the equivalent of the #9. #9 is abrasive and #81 is not. The "80s" series equivalent of #8 is #82.



If you didn't get the marring out, you'll need to try something more aggressive. If you *put* the marring in, you'll need to use something *less* aggressive. I'm gonna guess that you oughta try something more aggressive and then follow it up with the #9/#82. But I'd wait until the #16 quits beading, which might be a while.
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I don't think I made more swirls as I could see that the amount of marring was reduced a little after using #9. I'll have to try something more aggressive next time. Which product do you suggest for use by hand? I'm a little scared to use those stuffs as it eats the CC-layer, it's a rather new car anyway... How often can you rub out swirls on a normal clearcoat layer?



I'll wait for the #16 to vanish however, I really like the shine now and the swirls are visible only at really hard direct sunlight or fluorecent lightning.



Thanks for the advice!



-silli
 
Silli said:
#16 seems to be excellent stuff. How does #26 perform when comparing to #16? My local meg's shop has both of them on sale, because they will not be importing neither of them anymore. I heard a rumor here that #16 will no longer be produced? Should I buy one more tin for the future?



Thanks,

silli
Click to expand...



I'd say 26 will look great on your blue as well, expect it to look deeper and richer with 26 but less reflective and transparent compared to 16...



If I were you, i'll grab a couple of jars of the waxes before they run out... 2 of each should work out nice for the next 12-18 months. Even if you do someone else's car .. :)



Great job on a nice car. :)
 
6cyl's_of_fury said:
Oh, and if you do find the perfect shine, do the righty and lets us all know what you used! :)



:xyxthumbs nice Mini to!
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I don't think a perfect shine could ever be fully achieved. But, my method gave me a really nice shine of which I am really pleased with... for now.



#9

#7

#16



I'll probably settle with this as long as I have the stuff laying around, I won't be buying any more chemicals before the old one runs out. And hey, if #7 and #16 has been on the market for over 50years and is still top-notch stuff, I'll think they will still be good for a couple of years more...



.silli
 
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