This Detailing Order OK?

M

Mass. Wine Guy

New member
My dark green Golf TDI has a few pine sap spots, paint chips and swirls I'd like to take care of. Is this a good regimen:



Wash with Dawn to remove existing wax.



Use sap/tar remover to remove spots.



Sand and touch up rock chips (then wait a day for paint to dry).



3M SMR or Megiuire's Scratch-X (appliying by hand; any better product?).



Pinnacle Paint Cleansing Lotion



Klasse AIO and SG



Top coat with Meguire's No. 26



Thanks very much.
 
A few comments if you don't mind:



(1) Use an adhesive & wax remover for the sap and tar spots. 3M makes a terrific product that works great for this (I used it on a friend's car to remove large pine sap blobs and it came out great)



(2) Scratch X is too harsh for most uses. OK to remove scratches (imagine that....) but not good for general polishing. Stick with the SMR.



(3) I think the polishing ability of AIO will negate the PPCL step. If you were going straight to SG or #26 then I'd say OK. If you already have these items then test them to determine which performs the way you want; if not, skip the PPCL.



(4) If it were me, I'd clay *after* the tar/sap removal. Might as well get the big stuff off first. No sense in ruining your clay. So the steps are: Wash, Sap removal, Clay, Polish....



Good luck. Take some pics so we all can see.
 
skip the Meg's #26 and get yourself a small tin of BLITZ.



Also, unless you are an expert with sandpaper/touch up work, I would strongly recommend against the practice. It can really lead to some serious tears ( :sosad ) if not done just right...it's not the kind of thing to experiment with on your new TDI. (Man, those are great cars!!)



Good luck, proceed with caution and may your TDI look newer than new!
 
I would go by tom's advice.

I tried touching up a clearcoat scratch on my wif's truck with a wet sand and rubbing compound.

Had it looking pretty good until I thought I could do better and ended up breaking through the clear.

Now it looks worse.

As far as I am concerned now - wet sanding should be let to the pros and not a DIY on fine finishes.
 
Thank you, so much, everyone for your extremely useful coments and suggestions. My TDI is just a year old and I really want to keep it looking great (as much as I can). I'll keep you informed about my progress.
 
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