Preparing the car for a show
 

Well here is the thing, a big car show is coming up and i'm getting my car ready. There are swirls in the paint that i can only see in glares of light when the light hits it a certain way. I know i'm going to wash it, hit it with the clay bar, and i'm going to need to take a medium abbrasive swirl remover and hit it with that, then go to a less abbrasive swirl remover, then wax it. My question is, if i would do it all today, would the shine still be like that come Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? My car will not move from the garage, hasn't since the end of October. What would you suggest i do? Can i hit it with a glazer or a polish come the day of the show, the show is indoors too remember that.

Or should i wait until Thursday night to do it all? And when i get to the show is there anything i can do to have it look just like i done it? Does waxing your wheels also bring shine to them?

meguiar's #7 show car glaze makes a big difference in the way the paint looks. do it after the clay bar. it goes on and off just like wax. then when you're done just put the wax of your choice over it. the wax doesn't matter. I use KIT cause it lasts forever but doesn't really matter because wax is not what makes the car shine. glaze is good for prolly a year for the shine if you keep the car waxed every 6 months or so. if you do this early, you can wash the car before the show and then when you're at the show bring some cloths and microfibers and meguiar's nxt speed detailer. go over the whole car and it will sparkle. If you have fine scratches. might wanna try KIT scratch out before waxing on those areas. its only a coverup but it works. The body shop went crazy sanding off my pinstripes and you could definately tell. After the kit its very hard to notice. but it does wear off eventually. other things to prep before a show...dont forget interior, get some turtle wax spray for all the plastics to make em shine. vacuum floors, do not leave anything in the car when you show it (no poptarts, papers, directions, etc haha). Make sure wires aren't coming out of anywhere, clean inside the door jambs, use clear plastic polish on all plastic lamp assemblies (tails, heads, sms) then glaze them and finally wax just like for the paint. polish your exhaust if you have one thats shiny metal. clean the underside of your hood. make sure your trunk setup is dusted off and presentable. then just bring a trance cd you can play before the show starts like everyone else does lol:lol:

Well right now i don't have a PC, i'm gonna have to buy one, either that or have my friend come over with his. I have all Meguiars stuff. Meguiars NXT Car Wash, Clay Bar, Meguiars Paint Cleaner, Paint Polish and NXT Paste Wax, Also have NXT Cockpit Shine and NXT Speed Detailer. I have Mothers Billet Polish. Who makes the clear plastic polish?

Can i use Meguiars #9 by hand or does that need a PC?

hey drew lemme know about the info on the show, me and some friends might come up.

what is pc? the plastic polish i use is meguiar's clear plastic polish. i think they changed the bottle and graphics but it says on it what it is. i think the name is different too.

Porter Cable Orbital Buffer = PC I bought the Show Car Glaze, But ordered the Poor Boys SSP1 and SSP2 for swirl remover.

okay just be careful with the buffer. i don't trust those things. hand always works for me

Hand works good but on www.autopia.org, everyone lives and dies but the machine polishing and buffing. Its unreal the results you get from a machine.

just don't overuse it. there is only so much clear coat you can buff.

The amount of clear that is removed by using a PC and compatible products is minimal, its when you get into rotary buffing thats the problem. If your wanting to get swirls and scratches out you will have to use an abrasive product, and a PC just makes it easier. As gearbox said Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze will add alot of depth to the paint, especially if you top it with NXT wax. The NXT does contain some fillers so it will minimize the look of fine scratches and swirls. Something to try is Meguiars ColorX, it is very lightly abrasive and easy to work with by hand and even easier by PC. Personally i would go with a PC, Meguiars #80 Speed glaze (light abrasive, high polishing properties for removing defects), Meguiars #7 or #81 Hand Polish, then top it with 2 thin coats of NXT, you will have depth and a wet look you cant imagine. Just so you know, if you only do one coat of NXT it will look very streaky, two coats will fix that. And if your looking for a clear plastic polish, go with Meguiars PlastiX, its hand down the best plastic polish ive ever used just ask Ojay. Hopefully this helps.

One thing you might also consider that works well on red is using Meguiars ColorX instead of the polish and wax. When it comes to protection its best to wax afterward, but it is a cleaner/polish/wax in one without much protection.

Well i picked up the Meguiars #7 today but couldn't find the #9. My friend is coming tomorrow to see what all needs to be done. He thinks that all will be needed is a buff/polish and not using a compound. I'll have to go pick up the PlastiX tomorrow too. I have the NXT wax already too.

But my plan for Wednesday night and Thursday will be:
Wash/Clay/Wash/Paint Cleaner/Polish/Glaze 3x/Wax 2x

Soonercivic: I talked to BallistekCivic tonight on aim and we decided on what products i'm gonna pick up just for my car.
1. Porter Cable 7336
2. Sonus Pad Kit
3. Klasse AIO (All In One)
4. Klasse SG (Sealent Glaze)
5. Poor Boy SSR2.5
6. Poor Boy SSR1
7. Pinnacle Souveran or S100

I also already have:
Meguiars NXT Car Wash
Meguiars NXT Cockpit Shine
Meguiars NXT Speed Detailer
Meguiars Step 1 Paint Cleaner
Meguiars Step 2 Polish
Meguiars Professional #7 Show Car Glaze
Meguiars Tech Wax Paste
Meguiars Insane Shine Tire Shine

Mothers Clay Bar Kit
Mother Billet Polish

You made good choices on your what you're ordering. I prefer the S100 over the Souveran, but mainly because Souveran isn't that durable. Since this is for a car show, that really shouldn't matter. You'll like Poorboy's SSR line along with the PC.

Since my cars red, here's a pic of a combo with Souveran. I believe it was: Poorboy's SSR 2, SSR1, Clearkote Vanilla Moose Glaze, Poorboy's EX-P, and Pinnacle Souveran.

Wow, very nice man, what all did you do to get it looking that way?

im still baffled how shiny that is

Yea same here, thats insane, hopefully my car will look like that in a couple days :)

Thanks man. I listed the products that I used to get it like that. I used a PC along with Lake Country Manufacturing pads as well. Main thing I would say is make sure you clay it first. A nicely prepped surface goes a long way. :tup:

Gearbox, thanks again man. The main thing here is that it's red. It's so easy to make red paint "pop" (as detailers say... LOL). Black cars too.

Well we'll be using a PC too, but not the Poor Boy products or Klasse yet, we're using my buddies stuff he uses for his work, he details cars at Five Star Auto Detailing. So his stuff should be pretty good, but i'm getting ready to put in an order for this stuff soon. My paint has some swirls in it and a little bit of water spots on the hood :( so hopefully we'll get it all out. Take some medium abbrasive swirl remover first then lighter and that should make it work. I know what you mean about the pop of the red. So easy to get it to look wet.

just becareful with the PC. after my dad finished painting my car he hit it with the buffer and burnt the paint on a corner. those corners are the worst parts. also on the body lines becareful too.

Paint is really soft when its first painted, thats its said not to wax or anything for 30 days. Let the paint set up and stuff. I've worked with a PC before, not hard at all. And the orbital buffers make it alot hard to burn anything.

thats cool man i just didnt want you to mess up your sweet ass car lol. the buffer my dad used was a cheap one from harbor freight anyways so you know its not that good. good luck with your show though man

Thanks alot man, the pads i'm getting are used by everyone. They show great results and the products i chose are really good too. Trust me, i done some research and ask some pros about it.

Sounds like a good plan. Balistek knows his stuff. I love the NXT insane tire shine too. Make sure and pick up some speed detailer in case you get something on the car after your done or need to shine up a spot.

Yea i got that too, i may have forgot that on the list i already have. I swear Advance Auto Parts never gets tired of seeing me. They have every NXT and Meguiars product offered, so i spend alot there. But now with me buying all the top stuff, they don't carry it.

Not only am i trying to get the car ready, i'm also trying to get the display for it ready check this out and tell me what you think.


http://img475.imageshack.us/img475/5...isplay28su.jpg

^^layout looks good. simple and easy to read.

Thats what i was going for, i hate when you go to a show and can't read the writing. I'm going today to get the photo blown up to 24x36, or 20x30.

Soonercivic: What would you suggest that i do once i get to the show. Put on another coat of Meguiars Show Car glaze or hit it with Speed Detailer? Which would work better. I'm not on the 3rd coat of glaze for the car. After this 3rd coat i'm going to wax then. We worked on the car for 2 days now. Wash/Clay/Wash/Paint Cleaner/Swirl Remover/Buff-Polish/Glaze 2x, now we need to hit it with one more glaze and wax.

There is no need to glaze it multiple times. When you apply the first coat you just wipe of the excess. Your just doing the same work over and over again wasting time and product, but if you like the look, more power to ya. I would suggest that you shoot it with the speed detailer. You already did the work before the show, this will just clean off any dust and such. The NXT speed detailer is a great compliment to the NXT wax. Otherwise its all sounding good. Take some pics so we can see how it came out.

if you glaze it, you have to wax again. there is no need to do anything at the show other than speed detailer. the glaze lasts a long time 6-12 months.

I heard when you glaze it that you leave it on for 12 hours or so then take it off, then do the process again, it helps with filling in anything missed. In www.autopia.org they have mentioned this, they said after 3 or so then the returns are minimal. Balistek told me he does around 3 or 4 coats, and he has heard of someone putting like 30 + coats on a car, leaving each sit for 24 hours before applying a new coat. Talk about crazy.