BigD

Well I found this site I have been reading on. Looks pretty good so far.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/category...7s+handbook.do

Yeah when I went there was just so much that I wasn't sure what to get. Had rubbing compound, polish, glaze, cleaner wax, wax, clay bars all in solid and liquid form. I read to use clay bar, polish, glaze, and then wax. What exactly does the cleaner wax do?

1991civicsi

once again it really depends on the condition of ur paint. The liquid clay bar acts like a cleaner wax, which is pretty self explanatory. I use it on hard to reach areas like the door jambs. This a not a substitute for the solid clay bar.
do you have any shine to ur paint? What r u trying to do remove scratches, make it shine, more info is needed to give u an accurate reply.

BigD

Let me go snap some pictures and see what you guys would recommend

Oscar

www.autogeek.com <<awesome website to get all of your detailing supplies.

For cheaper alternatives, I've found Meguiars to be the best products. I've used a lot of Mother's products, and have been let down each time.

For car's that have never been clayed, I would definitely use a Clay bar as it eliminates a huge percentage of road grime that's on the bottom of the doors/fenders. It pretty much takes everything and leaves the clear.

Meguiars liquid polish is the best polish I've used for small/medium sized scratches. It works for most applications. But if you have a lot of swirls, you'll probably need a finer polish. Or you can do like I do and go over the area about 2 or 3 times until you can't see the scratch anymore.

I follow that up with Meguiars liquid wax. It doesn't leave your car looking like it's wet. It's not a super glossy wax, so it won't look like you just washed it. But it does well enough in protecting your cars paint.

BigD

The paint doesn't look too bad to me. I washed it really good and hit it up with some sort of wax they gave my mom with her new car from GM. I pretty much have to wash the thing ever day right now due to the pollen







The trunk has some scratches and it's kinda hazy around the middle.





I don't know what happened here.



So what would you guys recommend?

1991civicsi

Ok, since your car is black it would benefit from using some hand glaze. The best way is to use 2 seperate soft cloths. 1 is saturated with glaze and the other is completely dry. Do not apply in direct sunlight and do small sections at a time. Rub the glaze back and forth not in a circular motion. Then dont wait for it to dry but use the dry cloth to remove it and polish it up. You will see a lot of the minor scratches and haze being removed.
Once the car is done it will need to protected with a nice coat of wax. You can use spray detailer to "touch up" the imperfections in between waxings.
The clay bar will not improve the shine or look of the paint it will remove the contaminants left on the car that could be felt after you pass your hand over the paint when the car is clean.
I cannot tell from the pic but it looks as if the scratch needs to be repainted in the last pic.
Its good practice to wax the wheels b/c they too have paint on them. The paint is clear and can be scratched. The plastic flat black skirts can be removed and sprayed black or if they are not too bad you can try Mothers Back to Black or some Armor All.
Oh yeah you will see a difference in the headlights if you glaze them up nicely too.

gen4acclude

acid buff ftw

knife

I work for lexus full time as a detailer. on black cars i like using zymol. it actually will replace the natural oils that are found in paint. It will make black look deep and rich in color. you have to apply it evenly or else it will look streaky. i llike to use a orbital buffer with this product. Or you can use a very special wax made by a company called Swissvax which is made out of almost entirely of carnuba wax which comes off a tree in brazil very expensive about 140.00 for 8oz. This product is applied by hand literally you rub the wax into your hands and then apply it to the car. in your very last picture thats orange peel and a deep scratch if you can grab the scratch with your finger nail its too deep and will need to be repainted. If not then try to wet sand it out.

BigD

I'll probably pick up a clay bar/polish/wax and maybe glaze tomorrow. I was reading up on glaze and they said the effects only last a few days-week.

Do you guys recommend solid/liquid products? Also I noticed that the cleaner wax is pretty much a polish and wax in one. Would you guys recommend picking this up instead of polish/wax separately?

BigD

Yeah it's actually not a scratch I don't think. I can't figure out wtf could have happened there. It's almost like the clear coat uniformly came off. Maybe pin striping? I'll take better pictures of it tomorrow when there isn't such a glare.