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ev_g35

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Located in the middle tn region, ive had a black 2004 infiniti g35 for the past three years. Never in my entirety of owning it have i clayed it, have only washed it with the horrible public car wash brushes. As you can imagine it has quite a few swirls in the paint but, im looking to claying, polishing, and waxing.

I have been doing some heavy research the past few weeks and am learning all kinds of things about properly detailing and maintaining my vehicles paint.

I have here a list of products im going to order:

Chemical Guys Medium Clay Bar Only (i already have quick detailer)
Chemical Guys VSS Scratch and Swirl Remover 16oz (now remember this product is designed is a 1 step swirl and polish)
Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax
(3) Orange Cutting Pads
5" Backing Plate for HF Da

Products i already have:

HF 6" da polisher
ShowCar quick detailer
ShowCar leather conditioner and cleaner

A few question that i cant seem to find answers to..
1. How many orange pads do i actually need for a vehicle of thhis?
2. Anyone have experience using the vss product from chemical guys, if so does it work well enough to get rid of some pretty heavy swirling?
3. If you answered no to the question above what other direction could i take this in, it is my first time using a polisher. I am pretty skilled on a da sander though.

If your still reading thanks for reading, and have an awesome day/night!
 
Welcome to autogeek, as for question number one I would suggest you have two or more of each pad to evenly distribute the saturation among the pads as for question number two Chemical Guys VSS is a alright product just mostly hype also another one step suggestion would be Menzerna Medium Cut Polish 2500 also do a test spot first to see what works best lastly look into clay mitt/sponge/towel as a easier alternative to traditional clay
 
thank you for the reply, im trying to order everything from one place and ive found chemical guys has some outstanding products.
With that being said i think im going to go with v36/v38 for cutting and final polish and then hit with the butter wet wax.

Can i use the v36/v38 to restore plastic headlight lenses also?
 
Welcome to the forum!
As for pads, I can do my Acura TSX with 3 pads per step. I would say 3 is a minimum though. You will most likely need a softer pad though. You may be able to finish down with a cutting pad, but I doubt it, especially on soft Japanese paint. Finishing down on my ultra soft red Acura paint is a PIA sometimes.
I've never used VSS, but I do know it has a little more cut than V36. It's supposed to be a polish that cuts a little more than 36, and finishes almost as good as 38. I have used 36 and 38 and I like them both. I'm not as much of a fan of 34 and 32 though. They are alright, but there are better options out there. I've only tried a couple others but I do like Sonax Cutmax. I've heard great things about HD Cut, McKee's 37 fast compound, Griot's correcting cream, Menzerna FG400 to name a few.
As for headlights, any polish will work. I usually just grab any compound first and then any decent polish to finish it out. Even Meguiar's ultimate compound and ultimate polish can even get the job done perfectly well(I've used them for multiple headlight restorations. All turned out great.)
 
hey viperguy thanks i think ive seen you posting quite a bit on here.
As for the pads im going to buy this to start with one for cut, one for polish, and one for wax or, will i need to buy 2 of each pad?
 
Hi, welcome to AutoGeekOnline!

What are you trying to accomplish?
1-step cut, polish, & wax (All in one)
1.5 step polish & wax
2.5 step compound, polish, & wax
 
ev_g35 said:
Located in the middle tn region, ive had a black 2004 infiniti g35 for the past three years. Never in my entirety of owning it have i clayed it, have only washed it with the horrible public car wash brushes. As you can imagine it has quite a few swirls in the paint but, im looking to claying, polishing, and waxing.

I have been doing some heavy research the past few weeks and am learning all kinds of things about properly detailing and maintaining my vehicles paint.

I have here a list of products im going to order:

Chemical Guys Medium Clay Bar Only (i already have quick detailer)
Chemical Guys VSS Scratch and Swirl Remover 16oz (now remember this product is designed is a 1 step swirl and polish)
Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax
(3) Orange Cutting Pads
5" Backing Plate for HF Da

Products i already have:

HF 6" da polisher
ShowCar quick detailer
ShowCar leather conditioner and cleaner

A few question that i cant seem to find answers to..
1. How many orange pads do i actually need for a vehicle of thhis?
2. Anyone have experience using the vss product from chemical guys, if so does it work well enough to get rid of some pretty heavy swirling?
3. If you answered no to the question above what other direction could i take this in, it is my first time using a polisher. I am pretty skilled on a da sander though.

If your still reading thanks for reading, and have an awesome day/night!
Click to expand...
Welcome! I'm right down the road in Knoxville! When I first started detailing I went ALL IN with CG. Over time, I've found good products and a lot of mediocre but overhyped products. VSS falls into the overhyped. The cut is "fair" and the sealant leaves a lot to be desired. Butter Wet Wax is another mediocre product. It looks good but doesn't last long. I have both and can send you a sample. I use VSS on my head/taillights to correct and seal in one step (they are not in bad shape) and BWW is used on friends cars that I detail for free. I can send you a sample if you send me a bottle. There are MUCH better one-step products that are super easy to use i.e. HD Speed. Optimum Hyper Polish is very easy to use but you will have to seal afterwards. Second, I would skip the clay and use a nanoskin...much quicker and if you get the nanoskin for the DA, its sooooooo much faster than traditional claying.
Third, I would get one polishing, one cutting pad per panel.
You will tape for trim and edges.
 
ev_g35 said:
hey viperguy thanks i think ive seen you posting quite a bit on here.
As for the pads im going to buy this to start with one for cut, one for polish, and one for wax or, will i need to buy 2 of each pad?
Click to expand...

I would suggest you use 5-6 Orange pads. Likewise, 4-6 for Polishing (white) and 2 minimum for final. I say that as you should always have a back up in case your contaminate the first.

Product wise, you'll get tons of opinions so here's mine:

If you want to keep it simple: If you want a one step, HDSpeed is great. Top it with your choice of LSP's out there and you'll really enjoy it. Will work fine with your situation.

Want to take it the next step, Megs Ultimate Compound with your Orange, Ultimate Polish with your white and top with your LSP of choice. Being a black paint fan, I'd even say use some Menzerma SF4000 or the newer version SF3500 in place of Ultimate Polish. It will really deepen the shine.

Really want to have fun and look in a deep black mirror, once done polishing, put on two coats of Chemical Guys Blacklite and then top it with a good LSP. See my car in the avatar I have.

LSP wise, I love Menzerma Powerlock topped with Collinite 845. The latter beads water like marbles.
 
ev_g35 said:
hey viperguy thanks i think ive seen you posting quite a bit on here.
As for the pads im going to buy this to start with one for cut, one for polish, and one for wax or, will i need to buy 2 of each pad?
Click to expand...

I'm going to recommend at a minimum:

3 for cutting step

3 for polishing step

1 for wax/sealant step

3-4 for an AIO step

I wouldn't try to do it in less because you'll really end up risking melting your pads
 
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