RJaero19473
New member
- Jun 8, 2015
- 2
- 0
I bought a 2003 Honda Element with 142k miles and for it's age it was well taken car of. Definitely not hand washed as there are plenty of scratches/swirls in the paint along with a handful of small door dings, but overall the car is clean and the prior owner did a good job of keeping the car in what I would consider better than average condition. Yes, I do realise the Element is an ugly car and you're probably wondering why I'd want to waste my time on this car - but like I said earlier, I'm using it to learn how to perform paint correction as well as serving as my trial mule for products - if they pass the test then they get to go onto the BMW.
I have been using Zaino for about eight+ years on my cars and have been pleased with the performance and ease of application. Up to now I did everything by hand and have never used a DA polisher to perform paint correction or apply/remove product to my cars. I've debated getting a DA in the past but never took the plunge. Compared to others on this forum my standards for how I keep my exterior may be less stringent, but compared to the average person I'm still anal retentive about how my car looks. In general, so long as it's clean, shiny, and water beads off of it I'm a happy camper. That being said, I just bought a second car as a daily commuter and would like to experiment with using a DA polisher to both learn how to use it, as well as to restore the finish on my second vehicle.
Now for the questions to the forum. I know there are plenty of opinions on what products to use as well as how much prep work needs to go into the whole process, so let me bound the problem.
1) Here is what I'm looking to achieve:
- I'm looking to take a finish that has never been polished, get rid of most of the swirl and scratches, and get it looking nice and shiny - it does NOT have to be perfect, but it does need to look good. Keep in mind that this is a daily driver, it will never be in a car show, it will be kept outdoors.
- For the paint correction I would prefer to stick with one system: Menzerna or CG.
- For the polish afterwards I will use either Zaino or Duragloss. I'm leaning towards DG as I've used Zaino and I'm looking to try something new that will still hold up nicely but is cheaper.
- For the DA polisher I'm going with the GG 6" or PC 6".
2) Here's what I need from the forum. For the outcome I described above can you tell me exactly what products I will need? I basically am looking for a list of product names/part numbers I should go buy to get started.
- Before performing paint correction I will clay bar the car. In the past I used the Zaino bar, but do you have other recommendations?
- What Menzerna/CG products will I need fore the paint correction?
- What size backing plate, pads should I get for the DA. How many pads?
- GG or PC DA, which would you pick?
- What other products will I need, such as ONR to lubricate during claying, spray bottles? etc.
I really appreciate your input!
I have been using Zaino for about eight+ years on my cars and have been pleased with the performance and ease of application. Up to now I did everything by hand and have never used a DA polisher to perform paint correction or apply/remove product to my cars. I've debated getting a DA in the past but never took the plunge. Compared to others on this forum my standards for how I keep my exterior may be less stringent, but compared to the average person I'm still anal retentive about how my car looks. In general, so long as it's clean, shiny, and water beads off of it I'm a happy camper. That being said, I just bought a second car as a daily commuter and would like to experiment with using a DA polisher to both learn how to use it, as well as to restore the finish on my second vehicle.
Now for the questions to the forum. I know there are plenty of opinions on what products to use as well as how much prep work needs to go into the whole process, so let me bound the problem.
1) Here is what I'm looking to achieve:
- I'm looking to take a finish that has never been polished, get rid of most of the swirl and scratches, and get it looking nice and shiny - it does NOT have to be perfect, but it does need to look good. Keep in mind that this is a daily driver, it will never be in a car show, it will be kept outdoors.
- For the paint correction I would prefer to stick with one system: Menzerna or CG.
- For the polish afterwards I will use either Zaino or Duragloss. I'm leaning towards DG as I've used Zaino and I'm looking to try something new that will still hold up nicely but is cheaper.
- For the DA polisher I'm going with the GG 6" or PC 6".
2) Here's what I need from the forum. For the outcome I described above can you tell me exactly what products I will need? I basically am looking for a list of product names/part numbers I should go buy to get started.
- Before performing paint correction I will clay bar the car. In the past I used the Zaino bar, but do you have other recommendations?
- What Menzerna/CG products will I need fore the paint correction?
- What size backing plate, pads should I get for the DA. How many pads?
- GG or PC DA, which would you pick?
- What other products will I need, such as ONR to lubricate during claying, spray bottles? etc.
I really appreciate your input!
