Newbie needs product advice

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TobyDanger

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Hello! I've been trying to absorb as much of this forum as I can since I made a trade for a brand new PC 7424XP a few months ago. I started out just looking to clay my cars to get a really good clean, before learning what that really meant.
Now that the weather is improving I'm almost ready to try my first detail and am looking for some suggestions for what products to pair with it. I think I have a good set of tools and a good understanding about how to use them, :buffing: but I've gotten overwhelmed by the list and types of clean/polish/wax/sealant products out there.

My vehicles:
2009 Audi A3 Grey, paint in good shape. Really just looking to clean and apply protection I think.

1996 green Honda Civic, car has been little driven and stored inside for most of it's life and the paint was in good shape for it's age, until I moved and it's been parked outside under lots of pollen bearing trees for the last 2-3 years. It's been washed but the paint has picked up a lot of contamination. Light swirls.

Ducati with the PA6 plastic tank. Just been using Honda spray cleaner and polish on a microfiber so far, but would like to maybe seal and protect it better (by hand).

Tools:
I've got the PC, with some orange, white, and grey LC pads, some microfiber bonnets (do those go over any pad?), microfiber towels, grit guard, wool wash mitts, meguires car wash, pinnacle poly clay and lube. Probably some others I'm forgetting.

What products do the forums suggest for me? Anything else obvious I'm missing?

Thanks!
 
Well do you want to do correction as in remove scratches and swirls if so Meguiars M105 or M101 followed by M205. For protection you can use Blackfire Wet Diamond paint sealant or Wolfgang paint sealant 3.0.
 
I always like to see pictures before I say anything. I'm not as pro as a lot of guys here. Also I just love to see before and after pictures.
 
Thanks, I've been leaning towards the Meguiars m105 and m205, with orange and white pads respectively, for my Honda but wanted to hear what others suggested first, hoping it was as new detailer friendly as I understood it to be.

For the Audi would m205 and a grey pad bring out a little pop without risking anything?

Lastly, is the grey pad ok for applying the Blackfire or Wolfgang or do I need a blue or red?

Thanks again!
 
If your new, stay away from M105. Your life will be miserable. Pick up some FG400 from Menzerna or Meguiars 101. Have you done a test spot with other products on your paint? You might not even need a heavy compound.
 
CM8 6MT said:
If your new, stay away from M105. Your life will be miserable. Pick up some FG400 from Menzerna or Meguiars 101. Have you done a test spot with other products on your paint? You might not even need a heavy compound.
Click to expand...

May I ask why? And how would it compare it to 3M compound?
 
You have pretty much everything you'll need and the products below should get you going...

2009 Audi A3

Depending on the condition of the paint, you might be able to get away with a 1-step such as Duragloss 501. Duragloss offers some great products at affordable prices that not only work, they work great.

Duragloss 501 incorporates a fine abrasive that removes minor swirls and like defects rather than merely hiding them.

If a deeper correction is in order then something like BlackFire Duo should provide the 1-2 punch to make the finish clear and glossy ready for a quality sealant or wax...

1996 Honda Civic

Not having the car in front of me I see no reason why the BlackFire Duo wouldn't work here as well...

Ducati

Any quality sealant will work fine....
 
Hello everybody! Thank you so much for the advice. Some bad weather and an illness delayed me a bit, but over the last 3 weekends I've practiced a bit and detailed both of my cars and one of my bikes.

I was getting caught up too much at first and took a step back. I really like the philosophy of starting with the least first, so after reading some other reviews, went with the suggestions of Duragloss 501 for my Honda, and Collinite 845 to finish.

I wrote up my experience here:
First Detail! - '96 Civic & '09 Audi A3
 
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