A while back when i first got my car you guys(Mike in orange especially) were a great help on claybaring and what not.

If some of you remember i have really bad calcium deposits on my car that are unremoveable by clay bar even our painter said it looked as if they are etched into the clearcoat. Short of spending $500+++ dollars for someone to wet sand the whole car which is kinda absurd and scary IMO i just decided to let it go.

But...now i am having some awesome new emblems made to replace the ugly chrysler badges, and in addition i really want to remove the "crossfire" emblems. Should i do this considering the horrible water marks etched into the paint or just assume i will have to paint the entire piece? BTW that big piece is NOT removeable like i once thought. It is part of the hatch.

How much will this cost

 

what big piece? the section that "crossfire" is on?

 

Happy to help, but sorry to hear you're still dealing with those water spots. If you're stuck working by hand I would suggest you pick up some Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound and get to work on those spots. We sell it by the quart for about $30 but autodetailingsolutions.com sells 12 ounce samples for $9.99. M105 was designed to be used with a high speed rotary but it works great by hand due to it's micro fine abrasives. I've taken out some pretty nasty bird dropping etchings by hand with this stuff so it's probably your best bet for removing those stubborn water spots by hand. The abrasives are so fine that you won't scour the paint like you would with an old fashioned rubbing compound, affectionately referred to as "rocks in a bottle". It will leave a great finish that's ready for a nice coat of wax.

 

yes exactly.

 

Yesterday i used conventinal rubbing compound(brown turtlewax brand) for the first time on my truck and i swear it did more damage than good

Is the stuff your referring to safe enough where i should go ahead and remove the emblems and try it myself without any worries or assume that it might mess it up or flat out not work and be prepared to paint it?

 

Old school rubbing compounds will do that to a modern clear coat when used by hand. Our M04 Heavy Cut Cleaner is not something I'd recommend for that very reason - you can feel the abrasives in it they're so big, hence "rocks in a bottle". M105 on the other hand uses extremely fine micro abrasives that are very uniform in size - Meguiar's has an exclusive on this particular abrasive in the automotive finish car market and nothing really compares to it. Used by hand, with a soft foam applicator pad and some decent elbow grease, it does an awesome job and leaves a highly reflective finish. The characteristics of this product are truly unique.

M105 is perfectly safe when used this way, but working by hand to correct serious defects is always a ton of work.

 

Not to downplay the Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound, as I'm sure it works well, but my father was an auto painter by trade, and he gifted me a bottle of 3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound. This stuff has been awesome for removing anything I've thrown it at. Doesn't mar or scratch up the paint, and after using it, with a coat of wax, whatever I've tried it on looks better then new.

Just a thought.

 

I like that $9.99 price. Is it safe to say this is a specialty product that the local autoparts stores will not carry on the shelves?

 

Nothing against 3M, but we've had several body shops tell us they're throwing out their 3M line since using M105

Here's a picture of the side of the Alpine Electronics boat they put together for the CES last January. This is what M105 on a wool pad with a rotary looks like after pulling out 1000 grit sanding marks. That's right - no finishing products of any kind here. This is literally cutting edge technology.

 

Yep, this is a Professional Line product so you'd only find it at auto body supply stores or through our website, autodetailingsolutions.com, or other online retailers. ADS is the only place I know that sells sample sizes though.

 

Mike it's hard to argue with results, the Alpine boat looks great.

What's the difference between your Gold line and the NXT line ?

Thanks,
Brian

 

NXT Tech Wax is a fully synthetic product that has the same hydrophobic polymer technology found in our Ultimate Quik Detailer. Gold Class is a carnauba blend that contains some of the same polishing oils found in our M07 Show Car Glaze.

 

Hmm...so would it be safe to say that one is not really "better" then the other, their just different (el naturale vs synthetic) ?

I typically use the Ultimate Quik Detailer spray over the Gold wax (or on the Zymol on the other car).

 

It can be argued that synthetic sealants give a brighter shine than carnauba does, but that carnauba gives a deeper and wetter look than synthetics do. Those who complain about the look of Zaino often say it makes a car look like it's wrapped in plastic. What I find is that synthetics do a great job on lighter colors, especially silver and white, since those colors can't really show depth like black, red, and other dark colors do. Carnauba waxes tend to enhance that depth in darker colors.

Having said that I've seen side by side tests with NXT 2.0 on black cars where it actually made the black look blacker, darker and richer than the untreated "control" area.

My personal preferences: M21 Synthetic Sealant 2.0 topped with either M26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax or M16 Professional Paste Wax (although M16 was discontinued two years ago). The key word here is "preference". Your car, your money, your expectations. Find something you like and use it often.

 

Is the sample size enough for the "crossfire" emblem area? Can i just paypal you directly or do i have to order through the website?

And what do you think is the best method to remove the emblems? I was thinking a hair dryer and small pocket screwdriver to gently lift the letters making sure i dont touch the paint...

 

Mike I 've also used your Scratch X product with the PC on Bird droppings.
Pat

 

The screwdriver would be too risky for me. I've seen others say they used fishing line and/or dental floss after heating heating it up with a hair dryer. That's what I did to take off the dealer's tag and remoe/replace the SRT-6 emblem.

 

The sample size is available through autodetailingsolutions.com, not direclty from Meguiar's, so you'd have to order through them. It's a 12oz sample so there's probably enough to do the entire car, if you're so inclined. I recommend using a soft foam applicator and put some elbow grease into it! Do NOT use cotton terry cloth towel because terry has a bite and will likely mar the paint when you work the M105 aggressively.

Keep your screwdriver away from those letters!!! Hair dryer, dental floss or fishing line, and some Goo-Gone to remove the last of the adhesive.

 

Interesting feedback Mike. I was curious about mixing synthetics sealers with natural waxes, and looks like you confirm that it's not an issue. Guess when my SRT gets delivered I'll be claybaring, then I'll try the M21 Synthetic Sealant and probably the Gold wax or Zymol.. I don't know, I like them both :-) The Gold's definitely easier/faster to apply though,.

 

Thanks, 12oz M105 ordered through autodetailingsolutions.com.