New To Car Polishing

[Jocksuper7]

hey all i have a bit of time on my hands this weekend and was planning to give the motor a bit of a clean, and was wandering what type of polish and cleaner to get to give her the best shine, i know that megs and klasse are good but, there are many options and i dont know what, and the links in the car care centre are not working so i am a bit lost reading through the varios posts and i aint taking sand paper to it unlike some one with a black beast , any help appreciated

is this any good for starters?

here

[Lex-aholic]

hey all i have a bit of time on my hands this weekend and was planning to give the motor a bit of a clean, and was wandering what type of polish and cleaner to get to give her the best shine, i know that megs and klasse are good but, there are many options and i dont know what, and the links in the car care centre are not working so i am a bit lost reading through the varios posts and i aint taking sand paper to it unlike some one with a black beast , any help appreciated

is this any good for starters?

here

That kit will be perfect. The only bit that I'm not keen on is the tyre endurance gloss stuff - it's a bit messy cuz it's a gel so you could find that if by accident you apply it too thick, it'll splash up on your paintwork as you drive away.

Buy Meguiar's Hot Tyre Shine - it comes in spray form (clear looking). Also buy yourself a tyre applicator - Halfords do a good one for about a Fiver (it's plastic with a foam base). This will save alot of overspray on your wheels.

I think I noticed some wheel cleaner in the bucket - only use this if your wheels cannot be cleaned by car shampoo and water. Some of these wheel cleaners can be a little acidic, and this will remove not only a layer of dirt but possibly a layer of lacquer as well, and as your wheels are the closest thing to road debris they are going to be the first thing to take a pounding.

Try a high polymer wax for the wheels - this should protect the wheels from brake dust, dirt and grime by producing a layer between the lacquer and the dirt (also makes it alot easier to clean !).

Other than that, have fun with the Meguiar's bucket - the Gold Class shampoo is brilliant, the Gold Class Wax is brilliant, and the same for 99% of their other products. :winky:

[Hando]

hey all i have a bit of time on my hands this weekend and was planning to give the motor a bit of a clean, and was wandering what type of polish and cleaner to get to give her the best shine, i know that megs and klasse are good but, there are many options and i dont know what, and the links in the car care centre are not working so i am a bit lost reading through the varios posts and i aint taking sand paper to it unlike some one with a black beast , any help appreciated

is this any good for starters?

here

Kit looks good - but you might want to check out Autopia too. Get their free e-book for guidance here and if you decide to order from them - they deliver super-fast and goods are marked as cheap to avoid hefty tax hit. (Plus there's a LOC discount I think).

[Jocksuper7]

cheers Guys from what i undersatnd about cleaning and polishing etc etc would it be worth getting the megs quick clay kit aswell?

[Lex-aholic]

cheers Guys from what i undersatnd about cleaning and polishing etc etc would it be worth getting the megs quick clay kit aswell?

Sorry about this mate - I did reply earlier, but something dodgy has been happening with this computer !!

It depends on the condition and the age of your car really. If your car is fairly new I wouldn't bother using a clay bar as really a bit of polish and elbow grease should do the job.

They do work really well though - I had a black car once with plenty of "spider's webs" on the paint. The clay bar (and plenty of patience) cleared them all, and left the paint feeling really glass like.

If I was you I'd just give your car a good polish first. Run your hand across the surface of the paint, if it feels kinda rough (like bitty) this'll be down to the elements, ie. tree sap, plus industrial contamination. This'll definitely be a good time to buy a clay bar kit.

Make sure you wash the car first as clay bars pick up debris and you don't want to drag your dirty debris across your paint. Then make sure that you just do part of the panel at a time, keeping it nice and wet with the spray, or the clay will stick to the car (don't panic if it does as it can just be removed), which will make it hard work. Use an up and down motion rather than circular following the lines of the car. Keep turning and kneeding the clay so that you use a regular clean surface.

When finished you will probably see lines where the clay bar was rubbed, so make sure you polish the area, and then wax it to protect the paint.

This is a really long and tedious job, so make sure you put plenty of time to one side if you are going to do the whole car (it takes hours !!). You could always do just a panel at a time to enable you to spend more time concentrating on that panel.

VERY IMPORTANT : If you drop the clay bar on the floor - chuck it out !! Even if it doesn't look too bad, it will have picked up grit and sh!t from the floor, so do yourself a favour and save yer paint.

[koshime]

Washing....

Tyres

1/ Wash once

2/ Wash carefully

3/ Wash tyres. Prep with Meguairs Hot Tyre shire.

4/ Protect your alloy with some nice carnuaba wax of own choice

Wax on. wax off.

the trick to super polishing is in the preparation

if the surface is like sand paper, no amoutn of wax will polish it smooth

Hence,

1/ Wash once (water)

2/ Wash with car shampoo (use a natural mitt)

3/ Dry with a good chamois or synthetic one

4/ prep the surface clean with CLEAN claybar + product

5/ wax wax wax. Good waxes to use are P21 or Swissol or Meguairs or Zymol. Wax off!

Have fun!

[Jocksuper7]

Ok i got my kit, went out this morning and washed the motor and dried it, chucked it in the hanger and started to polish, well i have done the whole car panel at a time, and am please with the results, i have another day of free hanger time, is it worth chucking another coat of polish on tomorrow? I have also followed the autpoia guide to engine cleaning and now the only prob i have is that the standard cam cover is all white (ally rust i think) i have some aircraft stuff to remove it (could be a bit severe and leave stains) but wondered what others have used to remove the white corosion from the engine?? have painted a few its up will post some picts when i have finished.

After the first coat i ran the back of my hand over the paint and it seams proper smooth take it i sould leave th eclay for a while?

[Mr Morse]

After the first coat i ran the back of my hand over the paint and it seams proper smooth take it i sould leave th eclay for a while?

If it's smooth it means the clay has done the job...onto the next stage! :)

[Lancio]

I recommend using Meguires Tech wax very good no elbow grease required easy to use comes with applicator pad n all excellent stuff!! :D

[Jocksuper7]

its megs gold class liquid wax, i have used and it was pretty easy work and no tale tale white residue over the place , i got the megs applicators and the hi shine micro cloth thingy and it was easy, do i polish it again tomorrow or not what you recomend?

[Heebeejeebee]

i used Harly Wax from Knightsbrooke Autodesign - knightsbrooke.co.uk. It's left a really deep wet look shine, and is so easy to use. For £18 and free delivery i thought it would be worth a go, glad i took the chance, as the stuff is amazing! Its the same as P21s, but better!