Need some direction

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Dan12gt

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Hi guys I recently just joined up and my only other posts are in the introduction form. I am not going to lie this forum has so much information it’s a bit overwhelming.

Here is what I am looking to do. My car is a 2012 black Mustang GT. The paint is in very good condition as it should be ;) However I am beginning to notice very slight swirling in the finish. I have been using Zaino for about the time I have owned the car, about a year. I really like it a lot but I have also heard that Zaino is a very entry level polish for the less informed / people who want an easier effort for car care.

I plan on buying an orbital DA buffer, a porter cable has caught my eye and I have heard great things. However finding the right polish I have found is very difficult. I am sure that somewhat depends on the condition of the paint and type of paint. I really am not sure what to get to be honest. I don’t believe my paint will need a huge amount of work as it is so new. I just want the best protection and shine possible.

FYI I have also watched many of the videos here and on other YouTube channels and read over some reviews of various products. I still am having a hard time pulling the trigger. I have a friend that has a 13 black Mustang GT and he has used Blackfire polishes with a porter cable and loves it. I also think his paint looks awesome a step above mine for sure. I may just go with that but it’s so hard to decide.

Any pointers or suggestions for my particular situation? Thanks!
 
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I'll suggest to you what I started out with and it yielded me some great results.

First of all, I used a Porter Cable 7424XP paired up with a Lake Country 6" backing plate and LC Hydro Tech blue cutting and orange polishing pads, both 6.5". I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound which allows you to use it as long as you need to. I'd pair that up with Meg's Ultimate Polish, too. They're both user-friendly and they're closely related to Meguiar's M105 and M205. The UC and UP are both really affordable, but produce awesome results as long as you use a good technique and work the PC 7424XP at the proper speed.

Now after all the polishing, I recommend Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze. This will fill in any minor flaws that weren't able to removed in the polishing process and it will also lay a nice foundation for sealant. If you wish to machine-apply this glaze, go with a Lake Country Hyrdo Tech crimson pad or an LC black finishing pad, just be sure not to use a lot of product on the black pad as it tends to soak up lots of product.

After the glazing process, I recommend using Menzerna Power Lock sealant. I'd say apply no less than 2 coats, and if you're crazy about your car like myself, a 3rd or 4th coat wouldn't hurt. ;)

If you follow these steps, your paint will look like glass. Everything I've mentioned above, I do the exact same thing, no other secrets. I'm about to try out some Chemical Guys Blitz spray sealant, but once I use it and see how it works, I'll see about recommending it or not. It can be used as a stand alone sealant or as a booster over existing sealant. I'm going to use it as a booster so I won't need to use so much of my Menzerna PL.

Hope this helps you out. Send me a message if you have any questions.
 
for a PC id recommend to actually stick with 5.5 inch as the largest pad....especially if youre getting the PC.

Can't go wrong with most quality polishes. I too have black and have had great sucess with the WG twins and the WGDGPS, Menzernas polishes (SF4000 and 4500), and my current go to in most circumstances, Optimum...try the HC and HP along with the finish polish. great stuff and then a damp MF wipe is all you need to coat with OC 2.0.
 
Dan12gt said:
I really like it a lot but I have also heard that Zaino is a very entry level polish for the less informed / people who want an easier effort for car care.
Click to expand...

That's not exactly how I would characterize it. I think part of the problem is that Zaino (like Duragloss, hmm) refers to their LSP's (Last Step Product or "wax") as a "polish". Around here, a "polish" is an abrasive product used to remove defects from the paint.

Zaino makes some very nice LSP's, and also a very nice light polish known as Z-PC. However, if you have swirls you will probably need to use something a little more aggressive.
 
TH3M B0N3Z said:
I'll suggest to you what I started out with and it yielded me some great results.

First of all, I used a Porter Cable 7424XP paired up with a Lake Country 6" backing plate and LC Hydro Tech blue cutting and orange polishing pads, both 6.5". I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound which allows you to use it as long as you need to. I'd pair that up with Meg's Ultimate Polish, too. They're both user-friendly and they're closely related to Meguiar's M105 and M205. The UC and UP are both really affordable, but produce awesome results as long as you use a good technique and work the PC 7424XP at the proper speed.

Now after all the polishing, I recommend Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze. This will fill in any minor flaws that weren't able to removed in the polishing process and it will also lay a nice foundation for sealant. If you wish to machine-apply this glaze, go with a Lake Country Hyrdo Tech crimson pad or an LC black finishing pad, just be sure not to use a lot of product on the black pad as it tends to soak up lots of product.

After the glazing process, I recommend using Menzerna Power Lock sealant. I'd say apply no less than 2 coats, and if you're crazy about your car like myself, a 3rd or 4th coat wouldn't hurt. ;)

If you follow these steps, your paint will look like glass. Everything I've mentioned above, I do the exact same thing, no other secrets. I'm about to try out some Chemical Guys Blitz spray sealant, but once I use it and see how it works, I'll see about recommending it or not. It can be used as a stand alone sealant or as a booster over existing sealant. I'm going to use it as a booster so I won't need to use so much of my Menzerna PL.

Hope this helps you out. Send me a message if you have any questions.
Click to expand...

In no way am I saying that this information is wrong, but I disagree with a lot being said here. Again, however, every detailer does things differently.

For example, I would not get the Porter Cable. I would get the Griot's Garage DA. The power difference is quite noticeable and overall it's a better machine. I would get the new 3rd gen, not the old 2nd gen like I have however. More often, I reach for my Griot's Garage rather than my Porter Cable.

Also, on just about any Dual Action (DA) polisher other than the Flex, I would not go above a 5.5" pad as the DA polishers have a hard time spinning it.

Ultimate Compound and Polish are highly recommended, but my favorite go to products are Optimum Hyper Compound and Hyper Polish. They are simply much more newbie friendly. Hardly any dusting, and awesome results, with extremely long working time.

A glaze is fine, but if you're going to buy everything to take out swirls, I would take them all out and not rely on a glaze to fill in those swirls. As you said your car is only a year old and you have been using Zaino on it, I have no doubt that your paint is in good shape.

Sealants are great, however, doing more than 2 coats is actually working backwards. Your first coat of a sealant will have the thickest layer bond to the paint. Your second coat will add to that thickness but not as much. Your third coat will actually start to diminish the thickness and reduce it. This is all scientific and backed info from Todd at Autopia, so this is something that has been tested and the results are quantifiable.

I hope this helps, and welcome to the forum! As I probably have shown, detailers can be quite opinionated! The best thing to do is try as much as you can out yourself and decide what you want to do from your own experiences :dblthumb2:
 
Welcome to AGO!:welcome:

If you really want to start down the DA road, I'd have to say get the Griot's Garage unit. You will not be wishing later you had more power, nor will you have problems spinning a 6½" pad. (Unlike the PC where most that have it prefer a 5½" pad)

Considering you've been taking care of your car pretty well you probably can get away without very abrasive pads. It's a good chance that you might be able to load up with whites and blues as your main pads and they'll be plenty to get rid of any swirls you might have.

I'd 2nd the Megs UC and UP, both can be used in the white pads and the UC by itself finishes out really well. Thing is, once you do the UC the first time you can get away with UP perhaps forever! :)

Hit the UP with M21 and depending on what type of 'pop' you want afterwards you can put pretty much any wax on it, hybrid, synthetic, or pure 'nuba'. (UW/ULW or M26 perhaps) But I wouldn't limit it to just those. Betting Souvern would look pretty snappy on it!:coolgleam:

I'm sure SONIC has a Dodo suggestion for your black. ;) :laughing:

Any-who... welcome, prop your feet up and stay awhile.

Later,

Cardaddy
 
cardaddy said:
Welcome to AGO!:welcome:

If you really want to start down the DA road, I'd have to say get the Griot's Garage unit. You will not be wishing later you had more power, nor will you have problems spinning a 6½" pad. (Unlike the PC where most that have it prefer a 5½" pad)

Considering you've been taking care of your car pretty well you probably can get away without very abrasive pads. It's a good chance that you might be able to load up with whites and blues as your main pads and they'll be plenty to get rid of any swirls you might have.

I'd 2nd the Megs UC and UP, both can be used in the white pads and the UC by itself finishes out really well. Thing is, once you do the UC the first time you can get away with UP perhaps forever! :)

Hit the UP with M21 and depending on what type of 'pop' you want afterwards you can put pretty much any wax on it, hybrid, synthetic, or pure 'nuba'. (UW/ULW or M26 perhaps) But I wouldn't limit it to just those. Betting Souvern would look pretty snappy on it!:coolgleam:

I'm sure SONIC has a Dodo suggestion for your black. ;) :laughing:

Any-who... welcome, prop your feet up and stay awhile.

Later,

Cardaddy
Click to expand...

This is pretty much spot-on with what I was going to recommend. If you have the extra cash then replace UP with M205. You won't need M105 for now, so it is left out consciously. Also, consider that by going this route with Meguiars, if you find that these products are not working well enough, you can always borrow BF from your friend and compare.

Once you have the swirls taken care of you need solid protection layer(s). If you are looking for maximum value for your dollar than Collinite products need to be your base. I'd suggest 845 as your sealant/wax. From there you can either leave it at one coat or apply a second layer. If you want a little more then top with a Carnauba, like 915. Once you complete this work and have some time to appreciate it, you may wind up having some more questions with the added experience.
 
Wow! Just looking at the polisher you guys suggested seems like a much better polisher. Now I just need to make my mind up about what polishes to use. I watched a 3 part video youtube by Mike Phillips I had not seen before and he used the Wolfgang swirl remove, glaze, and wax and the car looked stunning. The results defiantly had me thinking about using those polishes.

If I went with:
Griot’s Garage Random Orbital Wolfgang Duo

Would you guys suggest any additional waxes / sealants I would need? I thought about pairing it up with Zaino since its really just an light application wax it seems.
 
Dan12gt said:
Wow! Just looking at the polisher you guys suggested seems like a much better polisher. Now I just need to make my mind up about what polishes to use. I watched a 3 part video youtube by Mike Phillips I had not seen before and he used the Wolfgang swirl remove, glaze, and wax and the car looked stunning. The results defiantly had me thinking about using those polishes.

If I went with:
Griot’s Garage Random Orbital Wolfgang Duo

Would you guys suggest any additional waxes / sealants I would need? I thought about pairing it up with Zaino since its really just an light application wax it seems.
Click to expand...

Going that route you might wanna' look at the WG DGPS 3.0 to top off. Then you might want to take it to the nth level with Fuzion.

You will need at least 6 more white and blue pads however, unless you say get a 6 pack with 3 of each. Given that method you'll have to use them one day to do half the vehicle, wash and dry, then finish the next day.

Some are not big fans of the CCS pads but I like um' OK. Flats tend to work a bit harder but being thinner, they get hotter quicker.

Later,

Cardaddy
 
ihaveacamaro said:
In no way am I saying that this information is wrong, but I disagree with a lot being said here. Again, however, every detailer does things differently.

For example, I would not get the Porter Cable. I would get the Griot's Garage DA. The power difference is quite noticeable and overall it's a better machine. I would get the new 3rd gen, not the old 2nd gen like I have however. More often, I reach for my Griot's Garage rather than my Porter Cable.

Also, on just about any Dual Action (DA) polisher other than the Flex, I would not go above a 5.5" pad as the DA polishers have a hard time spinning it.

Ultimate Compound and Polish are highly recommended, but my favorite go to products are Optimum Hyper Compound and Hyper Polish. They are simply much more newbie friendly. Hardly any dusting, and awesome results, with extremely long working time.

A glaze is fine, but if you're going to buy everything to take out swirls, I would take them all out and not rely on a glaze to fill in those swirls. As you said your car is only a year old and you have been using Zaino on it, I have no doubt that your paint is in good shape.

Sealants are great, however, doing more than 2 coats is actually working backwards. Your first coat of a sealant will have the thickest layer bond to the paint. Your second coat will add to that thickness but not as much. Your third coat will actually start to diminish the thickness and reduce it. This is all scientific and backed info from Todd at Autopia, so this is something that has been tested and the results are quantifiable.

I hope this helps, and welcome to the forum! As I probably have shown, detailers can be quite opinionated! The best thing to do is try as much as you can out yourself and decide what you want to do from your own experiences :dblthumb2:
Click to expand...

I appreciate the advice. I can be a little extreme with my sealant application, lol. While on that subject, I just bought a new spray sealant from Chemical Guys called Blitz. It can be used by itself or as a booster. If I use it after, say, every wash or every other wash, is that similar to adding 3 and 4 coats of the main sealant? I just try to keep my car protected as much as I can. I live in Florida, lots of sun, lots of bugs, and my car sits outside 24 hours a day.

The PC worked just fine for me, but I can understand how we're all opinionated. I'm not a pro detailer, but I know what works for me, so I tend to suggest them a lot. And the CG glaze I recommended made my paint look crazy glossy. :dblthumb2:
 
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