Question for Prof car detailers

[wav399]

Hey can any of you professional car detailers help me with this?  Do you still need to wax ( or put a protectant) on a brand new car, like a Jaguar?  Or do the dealers do that before it goes out?  

[silk]

im not a detailer, but it cant hurt. stick to megiuars products, thats the industry standard for car care and detailing. i mean your next car wash will probably consist of a full detail on a car like that, so its gonna get waxed again. but like i said im no professional, so hopefully someone here is, and can help you out further.

[sykikchimp]

Both of y roomies used to detail cars for 2 years at a Chrysler, dodge, jeep, eagle dealership.  (he got to play with vipers..  bastard They had to put paint sealant on every car they rec'vd, before it even went on the lot.

[my240likenoother]

just give it a watter test if it beeds and roles its good if it just beads and doesnt role good than its almost time
but it wount hurt the car to wax it even if its new paint i waited 1 week the wax my car after the new paint job

buffing it the thing that should be left for the pros

[MorganS13]

I used to work in detail at an Infiniti dealer and we used 3M paste wax on EVERY new car that we got... but yea we used the bead test that my240likenoother just mentioned on cars after they were sittin on the lot for a while to see when they needed another wax job.  

[tnord]

i can help with this one seeing as i have detailed when not in school for the last 5 years;

bead rule: if the water beads on you're car (after a rain, not a wash) are larger than a quarter, it's time to wax again, if my beads are bigger than a dime then i "wax" my car again

as far as new cars go:
yes new cars nead attention just like old cars, the only way cars begin to look old is through neglect, now if this is genuinely a brand new car you're in luck, do not use heavy compounds, it's pointless, just get a good polish (3M and Wizards both make good stuff) and do it about every 6 months, if you get big scratches and crap in your'e paint then yeah you'll have to use some gritty stuff, but until then there's no point, claybar the car once a year to get tar/tree sap and other contaminents off the paint, new cars are easy to keep looking nice, it's used ones that are the challenge, it took me about 2 hours after work each day for maybe 6 days before i got it in a condition i was satisfied with, now i only do serious work on it 2x a year, spring and fall, let me know if you want to know anything else

[240meowth]

after you get a new paint job, you are suppose to wait 30 days or somthing.  I personally use mcguire (how ever u spell it), but my buddy recomanded this one thing called "finish first" it's a synthetic polish, #### that thing is WHACKED, you put it on and let it sit at least 15 minutes, and wipe off, it's pretty darn shiny, but i usually do 3 layers, unlike my buddy 7 layers if i remember correctly, you know his car is 32k compaired to my 6k, he's worth a lot more.  but he also recomanded somthing called blitz or somthing or blizz, it's a pretty whacked wax.  ovbiously, after you polish you want to wax it.  and there's always whacked company such as zymol, i've never tried it myself, sicne it's too expensive.  don't fall for the zymol you can get at regular auto stores, get it from the pros.  the ones you find at auto stores arn't as good as the pros.  'em zymol bastards run up from 100 to 200 bucks.  SHUCKS :o

[tnord]

i had my Z32 repainted and did crazy work on it 3 days later, i think it's only like 48 hours or something you have to wait, but i'm not sure, and contrary to popular belief, McGuire's is not the cure all detailer, yes they make good products, but far better machine compound/polishes can be found from 3M (Perfect-It series), i've used mcguire's on my car before and it actually made it look worse, there is NO replacement for a high speed buffer with quality waxes and an experienced user, i've seen truly amazing things happen with this combination on a particular porsche, charged the guy 500 bucks and he was ecstatic, just trust me on this one

[nismo270r]

After a car gets a new paint job, you are supposed to wait 30-60 days to wax it to allow for the drying chemicals and solvents to evaporate from the paint....I used to detail myself...actually pretty fun work.


(Edited by nismo270r at 2:26 am on Feb. 5, 2002)

[tnord]

30-60 days or hours?

[nismo270r]

Whoops...That's 30-60 days...I edited my previoius post...The guys at the body shop I go to tell me it's best to wait 60 days.

[tnord]

that seems pretty rediculous to me, considering i've seen them wetsanding (a buffer is used during this procedure) a day after the paint dries, maybe i got lucky, but like i said i worked on mine 3 days after and it was fine

[nismo270r]

Well...this is just the opinion of guys that have been in the body shop business for over 20 years...to each his own.

[thewholefnshow]

I just bought a host of meguire's products, and while they were good, I thought that he mothers 3 step that I used before it was even better. Next step is to really do some work on my car, need a high speed poisher and time I guess... here is a question for the real detailers though. If I have some nic's in the hood etc what do you do to remove them, do I get a compound and wet buff them with the high speed sander, do I put a little touch up on, let that dry then wet sand? Any tips for this kind of thing?

[JeffNJ]

Aside from "not real wax", what is the "power wax" cycle at the do-it-yourself carwash I go to? To be more specific, it's one of the many things you can blast out of the hose at your car.  I go there because the place is open 24 hours, coin-operated, and I don't have a hose at my apartment.

This may sound stupid, but what's the difference between using nice meguair's wax every six months and some crappy excuse for wax every week?

(Edited by JeffNJ at 10:53 am on Feb. 5, 2002)

[Ni5mo180SX]

Hey in case anyones interested I have dealership detail kits for sale. They're Perma plate kits that include Paintgaurd- wash concentrate, paintguard renwer,renewer applicator sponge, wash mitt and chamois.
Fiberguard-Carpet and upholstery cleaner
Leatherguard-Maintenance bottle.

Just wanted to throw that one out there. Email me if you're interested.

[nismo270r]

To take out knicks in the hood, use a dremel tool to rough them up a bit.  Then take your touch up paint and put just enough in there to where it's slightly higher than the surface of the surrounding paint.  Use a high speed rotary buffer (if you don't know how, DON'T USE ONE! You can really F#*$ UP your paint) to buff it down and "melt" it down to match.  

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from thewholefnshow on 10:17 am on Feb. 5, 2002
I just bought a host of meguire's products, and while they were good, I thought that he mothers 3 step that I used before it was even better. Next step is to really do some work on my car, need a high speed poisher and time I guess... here is a question for the real detailers though. If I have some nic's in the hood etc what do you do to remove them, do I get a compound and wet buff them with the high speed sander, do I put a little touch up on, let that dry then wet sand? Any tips for this kind of thing?
</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

[240sxracer]

hey tnord that(wet sanding)aka(compound sanding) is to remove orange peal in the paint as well as runs or flaws, also improves the quality of the paint(makes it look better) also on waxing, during the summer if you live in a climate like tx where it gets very hot dont even waste your time waxing becuse the wax breaks down at (135degres)i believe. cant rember the exact temp

[thewholefnshow]

That is great, but where do you get started with the high speed sanders... I mean I have seen it done on tv, and listened to countless people tell me how, I have just never done it... from what I get, a little compound, wet mist everything to keep the heat down, and keep the polisher moving constantly, don't push let the polisher do it's work and check your work to make sure frequently... and other than that, what does it do to the clear coat, cause if you are melting the colored paint, then what happens to the clearcoat? are you mixing the two together or what?

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from nismo270r on 1:30 pm on Feb. 5, 2002
To take out knicks in the hood, use a dremel tool to rough them up a bit. Then take your touch up paint and put just enough in there to where it's slightly higher than the surface of the surrounding paint. Use a high speed rotary buffer (if you don't know how, DON'T USE ONE! You can really F#*$ UP your paint) to buff it down and &quot;melt&quot; it down to match. </td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

[nismo270r]

For a small knick, after you put the touchup paint on it and use a high speed buffer, the touchup paint would melt down before the clear coat...If the buffer is running fast enough, you can begin to melt away the clear coat. &nbsp;That's how you take imperfections out from under the clear coat. &nbsp;Sand until you get the imperfection out, sand a bit more to level it, and buff it to melt the clear coat into it and make it even. &nbsp;As for getting started using a high speed buffer, I would check around local detail shops to see if they have any seminars or anything like that. &nbsp;Once a year, I believe, Meguiar's travels around the US giving seminars. &nbsp;

[240sxracer]

if you have imperfections in the paint compound sand it
wet sand the area but do not go through the clear coat
then take the buffer with compound wax and buff it when your done itll look perfect and youll never know there was anything wrong

[nismo270r]

Whoops...double posted...can a moderator delete this? =P &nbsp;My bad!

(Edited by nismo270r at 4<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>0 pm on Feb. 5, 2002)

[thewholefnshow]

Thanks, I am an automotive perfectionist... the previous owner was not, so I have a lot of making up to do before I even start my mods... fucking useless non-car lovers who buy classic peices of machinery and take advantage of them like the giant retarded morons that they are...
Sorry for that. I am better now. lol.

[240sxracer]

to buff go left to right all the way down in the section then go up and down through the section also dont let lt dry out on you while buffing keep it damp if it dries and you will start to get that &quot;melted paint&quot; on your buffer pad you might leave swirl marks in your paint. my father did this on his 1st car

[my240likenoother]

putting more than 2 coats of wax is a wast of time
when you put on wax it takes some with it as well so if you put on 7 coats it realy only like 2 in the long run the only thing that 7 coats is going to do is garenty that you have got the whole car <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[Tuck&Poke]

what is the trick to using a buffer. &nbsp;you have to keep it moving or what can you do to fuck it up

[tnord]

i've been at class all day so i've got some catching up to do.........

nismo270r.......this guy sounds like he knows what he's doing, i would trust what either he or i has to say

touch up work.......you can make this as simple as you want with bad results, or you can spend hours on it
STEP 1: like nismo said, get a small grinding tool like a dremel and sand down the exposed area ALONG with the very outside edge of the paint
STEP 2: primer, you can get primer in small bottles just like touch up paint, cover the problem area
STEP 3: wait about 30 min after primer is applied, then wetsand, i use 2000 grit 3M sandpaper, let it sit in warm water with a small amount of carsoap, sand until smooth and the primer you got on places you didn't want it is gone
STEP 4: use the touch up paint in the same method you used the primer
STEP 5: wait 30 min and wetsand just as you did the primer
STEP 6: use a very fine grit compound or a polish to bring back the discolored paint to original status, i've heard of clearcoat in a bottle and spraycan before, but never used it


240sxracer..........i would think that there hast to be some kind of wax that will stand up to texas heat, i mean, that's half the purpose of it is to protect, and i'm sure people in like new mexico and arizona have the same issue
as far as you're comment about wetsanding goes i think you're a bit confused, using a high grit compound with a high speed buffer and wetsanding are not the same thing, wetsanding uses actual sandpaper (2000 grit or higher) to remove a very thin layer of paint, but yes you are correct it is used to fix &quot;orange peel&quot; and other problems of gargantuan proportion

continue to ask questions and i or nismo270r will continue to answer

[tnord]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from minime686 on 2:32 pm on Feb. 5, 2002
what is the trick to using a buffer. you have to keep it moving or what can you do to fuck it up
</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

to understand buffing you have to understand a couple of basic ideas; friction causes heat, heat moves paint around, and too much heat=no more paint

the &quot;waxes&quot; you use have an inherant amount of grit in them, some of which you can actually feel in you're fingers. now, the grittier the compound, the more friction/heat is created. &nbsp;think about you're car when it's completely soaked, looks nice right? well that is because the water fills in all the little imperfections in the paint and gives the light a perfectly flat surface to reflect off of. &nbsp;this is what we are trying to achieve. &nbsp;by heating up the paint you can actually physically move it around by means of a high speed buffer. &nbsp;BUT, heat up the paint too much and it &quot;burns&quot; right off onto the pad and you're left with a spot on the car with nothing but primer exposed, not good. &nbsp;also, the more pressure you apply the quicker the paint will heat up, so the technique you should use is apply moderate pressure gradually backing off to light. &nbsp;if you don't get the results you desire, try using a higher grit compound and turn down the speed on the buffer (about 1000-1250rpm). &nbsp;some paint is much more detailer friendly than others. &nbsp;unfortunately nissan is not one of them. &nbsp;BMW, MB, Audi, and porsche all use excellent paint. &nbsp;i don't know what the chemical properties of it are, but it always seems easier to get better results from these cars than others. &nbsp;if i have left anything out, feel free to let me know