Car Wax/Polish. Any advice on whats best????

[Tiger Magnet]

Hiya

I washed the car today and noticed alot of rain drop watermarks in the paintwork. My car is red and seems to be mainly affected on the engine cover and bootlid. I assume they are worse as it is flat and water doesnt drain away. I used Turtle wax red colour restorer but it doesnt seem to remove the watermarks too well. After a few coats, it has softened the marks but they are still there. Any ideas on whether T-Cut is better and if so. Once done, is there a wax i can use to protect the car from this kind of problem again??

[sloopeh]

just in case you are thinking ill use some TCut while i wait for a reply - please dont - well not unless you hate your car

i'll let the experts step in now and tell you why not!

[SuperRedMR2]

I used to use Autoglym super resin which is excellent but do use Harley Wax now which is equally as good. Rain water beads off both without leaving marks.

[mrfil13]

I've taken a liking to poorboys products, well I say taken, I've been using it for years. :idea.

To start the ssr1 polish is easy to use by hand and is great for getting dead paint and light swirls out of the paint swirls. Next ii used menzerna finishing touch glaze, this gives the paint a nice wet look and fills in remaining light scrathes with a clay.

Next ii used poorboys sealent, ex-p. This you put on the car, leave for an hour and buff off. Gives a protection for about 6 months. Finally the poorboys wax.

Decent clothes, sponges etc make the world of defence as well, makes the whole process much easier.

Did the above when I had my mk2, washed the car 6 months later and dried, still looked like I just waxed it.

[T.F.S.]

just in case you are thinking ill use some TCut while i wait for a reply - please dont - well not unless you hate your car

i'll let the experts step in now and tell you why not!

whats wrong with t-cut?

[elbon50]

just in case you are thinking ill use some TCut while i wait for a reply - please dont - well not unless you hate your car

i'll let the experts step in now and tell you why not!

whats wrong with t-cut?

T-Cut is good if there is heavy oxidation on the paint surface TFS

It's a bit severe though

Peter

[T.F.S.]

severe?, i used sandpaper on mine before using rubbing compound and then i used t-cut as its far less abrasive than the previous

you cant remove orange peel or scratches without using abrasive products

[Jim-SR]

I wouldn't say T-cut is even that abrasive really. For old car paint you have to be pretty abrasive to cut it back to good paint if you want it to look good and have any kind of shine. Especially on red MR2's!!!!! They are horrendous for oxidisation.

Personally I've got a DA polisher, bought a package for £150 last year with the DA polisher, the full range of Sonus 6" polishing pads and the matching polishes, and some other bits. Got it from www.cleanyourcar.co.uk its the DAS-6 polishing machine.

No hand polishing will ever match what a DA polisher can do. Rotary is even better, but too easy to get wrong and just burn holes in paint, DA is pretty much foolproof, almost impossible to do any damage with, but very easy to do a fantastic job with. You can do a whole MR2 in under 2 hours easily, and that includes masking off all the black plastic near to panels so they don't get stained, which takes longer than the actual polishing almost.

Depends how bad your paint is and how good you want it to look as to whether you can justify the outlay. My paint was almost entirely pink with oxidisation, but after a couple of hours of polishing (which would have taken a couple of days by hand, at least!) the paintwork looked almost new. I've lost count of the number of people who have said since "has your car been resprayed?", or "is your car really an E-reg, or is that a personalised plate?" (even though it looks in no way like it would be personalised lol).

If you don't want to spend the cash, but want to do a decent job, get yourself some Sonus SFX Pro applicators...
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/accessori ... od_31.html

Sonus SFX-3 polish...
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing ... od_45.html

and Sonus SFX-4 sealant...
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/ ... d_582.html

Thoroughly wash the car, then give the whole car a once over with the polish (which will take you ages!), work it in fairly hard with the applicator pads, buffing off the polish with a microfibre cloth. Then go over it with the sealant (which will keep it shiny for ages), and job done. It will take you at least a whole day I should think though, maybe more.

[phipck]

as above, working your cars paint is an art and worth while, the cutting compounds are only good for evening your paint, theyre not really intended for continual use over a long time, just a very spartain periodic use unlike most peoples opionions of t-cut. once the paint is back to the colour it should be, i use collinite 476s wax. I was drawn to it for its long lasting protection but was pleasently supprised at how good a finish it also provides. Most painted surfaces that have been clayed and polished will last about 6 months with a coat of collinite, just with a simple considerate wash here and there.

if you really work hard at getting your paint tidy and use multiply coats of colinite, over time it will build a layer of substancial protection, easy cleaning and suprisingly good drying properties. got to say its the best wax ive used for the combination of easy aplication and results

[Polypedates]

I like One Grand Blitz Wax, available from Frost.

I use the AG super Resin once or twice a year as required then the Blitz wax every couple of months to maintain a glossy shine.

[Jim-SR]

It is worth noting that everyone has their own preferences on products. Personally I use Chemical Guys for everything apart from polish (I use their pads though), for which I use Sonus. But everyone will have their own preferences. It is the method that is more important really as there are lots of products that do a similar job. Most of what you can buy in Halfords is overpriced consumer product, there are plenty of online detailing shops that sell products for less money that vastly outperform the usual turtle wax and T-cut options that you average joe opts for.

[Grendel]

My personal preference is wash the car twice once with brush then rinse then with micro fibre sponge rinse dry then autoglym Super resin (Red label) Followed by Autoglym Extra gloss protection (gold label). That way it seals it and keeps it shiny for few months rather than weeks as I found when I used to seal it with clear wax.

But as said before it's all down to personal preference really. As for water marks some of my paint work has them and I can’t get rid of them no matter how much I try.