me too...
i need someadvice, qbmurderer13

ok...so i've always washed my cars like once a month and i clayed them not long ago...

my thing is i do have swirls and i'm planning on doing some good detailing for the spring... so what i was thinking was washing, claying and using swirlx, then applying a wax.

I dont have an electric buffer...i have always just done things by hand. I guess alot of people are using the meguiars 21, is this in place of a wax? or do you wax on top of the #21...?

also, what is your recommendation for a newbie at this kind of thing? should i get an electric buffer? and what order should i use the products in...(again, i was thinking of washing, claying, swirlx and waxing/#21)

thanks A BUNCH in advance...i love keeping my cars clean, but want to get the paint looking good again and you seem like a great source for information, sorry for the long post.

 

Meguiars 21 is a synthetic sealant. You put it on right after you finish polishing before wax. Its just like wax, except it lasts alot longer and hides alot of swirls or imperfections. When you apply this you let it cure to the paint for as many hours as you can but no more than 8. After that wipe it off and then wait another half hour and apply wax as normal. This setup should last you at least 3 months assuming it was done right and the car is well maintained.

Now swirlx is a good product, but it will not get rid of all the swirls since your hand cant create enough friction to level the surface and remove the swirls. It will help but it will also take a long time. I mean I usually take 6-8 hours on a detail using a machine. If youd really like you can invest in a porter cable 7424 which is about $130. Very user friendly and will remove swirls 4 times faster and more efficiently by hand. When I started out I picked up a bunch of black panels from junkyards and just went to town on them. They couldnt get in any worse shape then they already were lol

Honestly if your just looking to get the car looking nice, swirlx will work fine. If you want perfection your gonna have to pay a few hundred. And at that point you wouldve been better off hiring a pro. Hope this helps!

 

Looks nice, especially since there is RC51 reflections in the side of the fit
Thread bump courtesy of your sig

 

looks better now. i need to detail my fit now.

 

What % tint do you have on the metallic fit?

 

it's 16% from what i can remember.