Hey guys,

I'm about to wax my crossfire for the first time (I know...I know)...and I want to make sure I do the process in order. From what I can tell, I should first wash the car, then clay - then what? Polish or Wax first? What's the difference between the two?

1. The car still has a few small areas of 'tar' looking adhesive that holds the plastic on it from the shipping tape/wrap. I assume I will get this off with a bug/tar remover, no problem, correct?.
2. There is one small 2" LIGHT scratch on the front fender...not through the clear. How would you recommend I polish this out? Obviously before waxing...correct?
3. There is two small areas where the paint looks dull. It looks like the shipping wrap was flapping in the wind during shipping, and 'sanded' the shine off. I assume the same method I use on the light scratch should be used on this area, right?
4. Otherwise, The car has very minor swirls...nothing bad and not many at all. Should I use something like ScratchX (Meguiars) or should I just clay the car and wax it?

For the record - the car is Graphite.

I do NOT have a orbital or rotary...I will be doing this by hand. I will likely use Meguiar's NXT Wax - any recommendation for good products to use WITH this?

Thanks in advance,
Shawn

 

Here is how I work on my car.

1. Wash
2. Clay bar if I feel a noticeable "grit" on the paint. Usually you only need to do the flat surfaces such as the roof and hood. Sometimes though you just need to do the whole car.
3. Polish the paint. I seriously recommend getting an orbital for both your polishing and waxing applications. Your arm will thank you!
4. Wax the car or apply a paint sealant (though I have yet to try this [paint sealant] type of product).

Always remove the residual compounds off of the paint before starting a new application. For example after you polish your paint make sure that all of the polish compound is removed before you start applying the wax.

For scratches that won't polish out you might need to try a more aggressive compound or even color sanding to properly remove it. If you do need to color sand then you will need to purchase several compounds of lesser "grit" in order to polish the paint back to its glossy luster. Generally 3 levels are all that are needed to bring back the gloss to paint after color sanding. I personally use 3Ms rubbing compound (medium brown color) with a wool pad followed up with 3Ms Finest-it (white color) with a medium cut foam pad. Then I use a polish from Griots on one of their polishing foam pads and then finish up with their wax again with one of their waxing foam pads.

It is a lot of work but the end result will be worth it.

 

Hey Shawn. You want to polish before you wax. Polish is where you get the shine. Wax is to protect the shine/paint. Check out this link, Tons of good info on detailing cars.
http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

 

Roy...I will have you look at my car thoroughly in the sun tomorrow, and see if you think it needs any type of swirl remover - or just a simple polish. I don't think the swirls are bad enough to waste much time with a ScratchX or swirl remover.

SQ

 

Visit Meguiars' website for a lot of good information. Here is the link -

http://www.meguiars.com/index.cfm

I use Meguiars' three stage Deep Crystal System (1. System paint cleaner 2. System polish 3. System Carnauba wax). I use a clay bay after I apply the paint cleaner if I find a spot where clay is needed.

Meguairs three stage system really works great with the paint on my XFire.

Good luck in working with your car's paint.

 

I have not heard good things about ScratchX, Some say it will make things worse. I have never used it myself. We can talk tomorrow. I'll tell you about how I got white paint overspray on my black car today. Man, I feel dumb.

 

Mopar paint sealant after the three Maguires applications for me thats the way to go am yet to see anything as shinny if Im really board I will throw some gold class premium clear coat after all that..

 

Please also don't forget to read my sticky labeled "How to detail your Crossfire." I will say that a PC will help you significantly. Klasse All in One and P21S make for a very hand-friendly protection package as well.