So the car is under wraps in my garage and I'm a pedestrian today. I clayed the whole car last night. Then did the cleaner step this morning. I did some scrach removal with the 3M Perfect-It III compound. Then I ran out of clean pads for the buffer. So while they are in the wash I was hoping to get some advice on the next step.

Should I put down more than one layer of polish before the wax? And if so, at what point is it a matter of diminishing returns?

And...after each step I'm currently going over the car with a microfiber buffing pad. I was thinking that after removing the product with a microfiber cloth by hand, that buffing it with a microfiber buffing bonnet would remove any remaining traces of the product and finish the surface a bit better. Should I continue with this practice?

Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

CM

 

everything you have said sounds good to me man.. good job.. you can do one coat of polish that should be fine.. i always after buffing go over it again..

 

Lessons learned from the wax-fest in my garage over the past couple days:

1 - Do not let the polish dry. It makes it hard to remove and does not come off evenly. I did the hood first and there were some areas that had a smeared/scuffed appearance that would not come off by buffing. Mind you, they are only apparant at a very shallow angle..ie. eye at hood level looking across the whole hood.

I ended up laying down another coat of polish. The second, very thin, and makes for a perfect finish if there are any imperfect areas from the first layer. Essentially it disolves the first layer a bit.

2 - Let the wax dry. Previously I did have some troubles with streaking and the Gold Class wax. Letting it have 15-30 minutes to completely dry did the trick!

3 - Lay down thin coats. I didn't have much Gold Class left in the bottle and tried to stretch it out. Worked out wonderfully. Easy to buff off and didn't fill the pad.

4 - You can never have too many microfiber towels. Never! Gotta go get some more to add to the stash. As soon as they start to fill up a bit, they go into the wash bucket. No need to have smears from full towels as you buff off product!

Now that its all done I'm not sure what to top the gold class with. I was going to top it with Eagle One Nanowax but I think it may have a cleaner component to it and would essentially strip off the Gold Class as I apply it.

CM.

 

Sean - i would go to Canadian tire and buy a tin of Mothers Pure Carnuba to top off the Gold Class.

Based on my experience (on my "silver" Max), the carnuba will add a bit of a warmer glow to your paint. I would lay down a first coat and then follow up with a second to make sure that i havn't missed any spots.

Bob

 

Bob,

I'll take a look a that. I'm looking for something thats long lasting for the winter season so I was thinking synthetic.

heh heh 1000 posts. I'm a post hor now!

 

According to what i've read here, it looks like Nano does have some cleaning abilities:

http://forums.roadfly.org/forums/det...5256389-1.html

But so does your Gold Class and NXT. Also from what i've read, durability is questionable with all of these products. But the pure carnuba would not be any better from a durability standpoint either in the salt and snow of our winters. So having said that, i would just do a couple of coats of whatever you have on hand....

Do EO Nano once as a base and then a second coat to make sure you didn't miss anything.

I still have a bit of NXT in my bottle..i could try to ship you enough to do your car with if it CPC doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Bob

 

Nah. Thats alright. I'll likely just put down some of the Eagle One Nanowax. I used it a couple times this summer and was pleased with its durability.

Ship your trunk lid out if you don't mind.

 

Do the 3 steps in order, once (be thorough though). NOTHING in Megs 3 step has that much paint correction power, so if you have tougher problems to deal with, use the PI-III on them. Step 1 is a (very) mild polish, Step 2 is just glaze, and Step 3 I would (personally) substitute Mothers step 3 paste or Meguiar's #26 for more longevity.

 

There's nothing really available locally in anything but the retail product lines. Even those are being taken off the shelves to make room for winter junk.

I now have access to a heated garage in the winter. I should be able to put on a coat of wax in December.

CM.