mwoolfso
New member
- Jul 18, 2011
- 2,592
- 0
I recently spent 8-10 hours getting my wife's DD to get it ready for the summer. I performed typical steps we have all seen and used before. The approach I used is below.
1- Dawn Wash
2- Clay (Wolfgang Clay)
3- Decontaminate (IronX)
4- Documented areas I will do some pain touch-up later in the year
5- Minor trim touch-ups to remove last year's errors (Megs APC+ & Simple Green)
5- Minimal spot polishing (Menzerna SF4500)
6- Cleaner/Sealant (Mothers FX Synwax)
7- Finishing Wax (Collinite 915)
8- Wheels & Exterior Trim (PERL)
Notables:
- Overall the paint was in very good condition. The NY winter was quite light and the previous sealant and LSP were still holding up well. It was degraded enough to cause me to act. The last detail was with Mothers Synwax FX and OCW as an LSP and I have to say this combination easily lasted 4 1/2 months. The swirls range from fine to ultra fine and hardly noticeable on silver paint so I decided to do the correction later in the year. The spot polishing gave me an idea on level of effort and value this time around, and it served its purpose.
- Wolfgang Clay did a good job this time around. I didn't like the firmness in the clay. The clay is usually harder than say, Mother's. I read a tip to soak the clay in warm water. After several minutes the clay was very pliable and equally effective. I soaked it maybe 2x in the 45min. it took me to cover the car.
- I have type 1 and type 2 water spots on the passenger side windows thanks to my sprinklers the last 2 years. Menz SF4500 and a Tangerine pad on my Flex 3401 did really well! With a small tweak in technique I should be able to remove them completely next time around. Hand techniques and a few OTC products did not work last year.
- I stuck with FX Synwax as opposed to polishing the whole vehicle because the test spots comparing SF4500 and Synwax was about the same; so went with the cheaper product. The finish was smooth as a baby's bottom.
- First time using Collinite 915, and boy it was a breeze. I may put another layer on this weekend or next.
- The reflectivity on this car with this combo is AMAZING; never saw silver paint pop like this. The car is always parked on the same spot in the driveway, and we had to close the front door because the glare was too bright for those in the house. No joke! The wifey said, "What did you do to that car?". Sure could have been the angle of the sun was just right, but we have never needed to close the door in 14 years of living there due to sun glare.
Here is a nighttime beading shot from the hood. Amazing.
1- Dawn Wash
2- Clay (Wolfgang Clay)
3- Decontaminate (IronX)
4- Documented areas I will do some pain touch-up later in the year
5- Minor trim touch-ups to remove last year's errors (Megs APC+ & Simple Green)
5- Minimal spot polishing (Menzerna SF4500)
6- Cleaner/Sealant (Mothers FX Synwax)
7- Finishing Wax (Collinite 915)
8- Wheels & Exterior Trim (PERL)
Notables:
- Overall the paint was in very good condition. The NY winter was quite light and the previous sealant and LSP were still holding up well. It was degraded enough to cause me to act. The last detail was with Mothers Synwax FX and OCW as an LSP and I have to say this combination easily lasted 4 1/2 months. The swirls range from fine to ultra fine and hardly noticeable on silver paint so I decided to do the correction later in the year. The spot polishing gave me an idea on level of effort and value this time around, and it served its purpose.
- Wolfgang Clay did a good job this time around. I didn't like the firmness in the clay. The clay is usually harder than say, Mother's. I read a tip to soak the clay in warm water. After several minutes the clay was very pliable and equally effective. I soaked it maybe 2x in the 45min. it took me to cover the car.
- I have type 1 and type 2 water spots on the passenger side windows thanks to my sprinklers the last 2 years. Menz SF4500 and a Tangerine pad on my Flex 3401 did really well! With a small tweak in technique I should be able to remove them completely next time around. Hand techniques and a few OTC products did not work last year.
- I stuck with FX Synwax as opposed to polishing the whole vehicle because the test spots comparing SF4500 and Synwax was about the same; so went with the cheaper product. The finish was smooth as a baby's bottom.
- First time using Collinite 915, and boy it was a breeze. I may put another layer on this weekend or next.
- The reflectivity on this car with this combo is AMAZING; never saw silver paint pop like this. The car is always parked on the same spot in the driveway, and we had to close the front door because the glare was too bright for those in the house. No joke! The wifey said, "What did you do to that car?". Sure could have been the angle of the sun was just right, but we have never needed to close the door in 14 years of living there due to sun glare.
Here is a nighttime beading shot from the hood. Amazing.
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