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Newbie detail / polish question

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With spring on the horizon and few dollars to spend to detail the Boss for the start of the season which polish do I get? I have a friend who uses a product called Zaino and swears by it; yet on some of the forum posts many are using motorized polishers like rupes, flex or porter cable....I have never used one of these....On my previous cars I would use a liquid wax like Mequirs NXT or Nu Finish and got fairly good results...should I stick with this and save a few bucks or look at one of these more expensive options. Thanks for helping me make the Boss look great.
 
Zaino is the product. The Porter Cable is the machine that applies the product. Both are great for DIYers. You need to find a tutorial (spend a couple hours on autogeek.net), but the basics are as follows:

1. Wash the car to remove loose dirt
2. Claybar the car to remove embedded contaminants
3. Polish the car to remove microscratches (those "cobwebs" and prisms you see in the sunlight)
4. Cleaner wax (final preparation for your sealant)
5. Sealant (protects the paint)
6. Wax (to deepen the shine, if you want)
 
I'm not a hardcore detailer, but I usually detail the car once a year.

Go on Autogeek.net, read around their forums, they have some great articles.
I also don't have a brand preference, so I usually check out the BOGO and their sale sections time to time.
 
johna, this is the thread where I learned to get my detail on. I've been getting great results for over 10 years following this formula. You can change the products, but if you do you should know how each one interacts with the others.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?158378-Detailing-101-Common-Question-and-Answers-What-and-Where-to-buy-stuff-Technique
 
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Thanks, I appreciate everyone's help - can I use the Zaino and the Porter Cable type orbiter over the hood and side decals? Curious if that will either create a dull finish on them or burn them from the orbiter...thanks...otherwise I'm ready to get the car detailed for spring.
 
johna said:
Thanks, I appreciate everyone's help - can I use the Zaino and the Porter Cable type orbiter over the hood and side decals? Curious if that will either create a dull finish on them or burn them from the orbiter...thanks...otherwise I'm ready to get the car detailed for spring.

I use Zaino and my Porter Cable on everything. I do have a 2012 with the gloss stripes. Z2 has no abrasives and ZPC is more like a polish/prep for Z2 so the amount of abrasiveness is very small...
 

Justin

Save the dawn for your dishes!!!
Your forgetting a base step on the zanio. Z-aio. It's a cleaner and bonding coat for the z2 &z5.

My method varies on the car and condition. But I can tell you this. Skip the porter cable. Get a rupes or flex polisher.

Virgin car that I don't know the history on I so the following

Wash the car with a mix of dawn and Adams all purpose cleaner. This is to get as much previous waxes and sealants off of the car

Then spray it down with Adams deep wheel cleaner. Rinse then clay bar

Evaluate the paint. Start with meguiars 105 or 205 or a mix of the two. Using my flex and ccs pads or Adams microfiber pads.

If the decals I use Adams clear polish and a light cut pad.

Wipe the car down with 60/40 mix of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol.


I like the ease and longevity of 22ple over the zanio. But this is where you would apply you top coats. Be it zanio. Adams etc


Maintain with a good washing technic. I use Adams car shampoo and two buckets and their detail spray


I have used all kinds of products over the years and always am trying new stuff. I still like the zanio but it takes a full day to get the layers I want on it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Justin,

Awesome information; thanks for helping...printed it out for the 3 ring binder.

Any updates or better polish; please post and let us newbies know for future use.

thanks again,
Johna
 
I daily drive my Boss (ugh) and am constantly out there detailing the damn thing.

I use a rotary polisher (not for the beginner, had it over 15 years) and have learned on my cheaper cars what to do and not to do. You will not be able to get rid of the halos, or micro-scratches without an electric buffer. Waxes will hide these scratches for a few weeks, but they are still hiding under there. I have 5-6 different pads, and probably 8-10 bottles of different polishes (not a fan of cleaning waxes BTW). I've found that Meguiar's and 3M have what I find to work very well. I'm not knocking Autogeek's products, I just have not used them and I can source the others locally - right now.
 
FWIW (probably nothing) I don't daily drive my car but it's not a garage queen either. My last car was dark red, 7 years old when I sold it it had none of the little scratches that others refer to.

What matters most IMO is how the car is washed and dried. Automatic car washes or careless hand washes and/or drying are what produces the scratches - I usually dry my car with a leaf blower but will also dry it with new microfiber rags. I clay my car every year or so and use Rejex polish because it goes on and comes off easily (by hand), lasts for up to a year, is reasonably priced and is a one-step process.

I think that often more damage than good is done with power equipment.
 

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