What is needed to get started

[Diesel44]

All,

I have done detailing in the past with previous cars. Once I had a kid there seemed to be no time to keep up with cleaning the cars like I was use to so I dropped to basic wash and interior cleaning. Anyway I want to give the wife's and my car both white a good cleaning and polishing. I just got a Harbor freight DA polisher as I'm on a tight budget. I know it may not be the best but from what I read if I add a little grease and new backing plate it will hold it's own.

With that what do I need at a min to get a nice finish on each car? Below is what I have sitting in the autogeek shop[ping cart and want to be sure I have what I need or if I should getting something different.

nanoskin autoscrub fine 6" pad - planning to use with DA polisher. I use to clay all the time and the last time I tried my grip would give way and I kept dropping the clay and having to toss it.

Nanoskin Glide Instant Detail Spray Lubricant Concentrate

5" backing plate

Lake country 5.5" CCS Pads - 2 orange, 3 white, 1 red - Should I do something different here?

Meguiars M105 Ultra-Cut Compound

Meguiars M205 Ultra Finishing Polish

Meguiars Mirror Glaze #26 Hi-Tech Paste Car Wax

A few of microfiber towels

Plan is to wash/nanoskin/M105/M205 and finish with #26

Also wanted to note we just moved and my truck no longer fits in the garage so it sites outside in the elements until I can build new workshop that my truck would be stored.

Thanks for any help and can't wait to get started.

[wdmaccord]

I might suggest M101 instead of M105. Maybe throw in some Collinite 845 for the truck to give it a little more durable protection until you can get it stored inside.

I think your pad selection looks good but maybe consider the flat pads instead. That way if you ever switch to a DAT compound/polish you won't need to buy more pads. If you plan to stick with Meguiars, the ccs pads will be fine.

[arisking]

I might suggest M101 instead of M105.

I've been reading this a lot lately too. That's why I just ordered it for my Audi's hard clear vs. M105. Suppose to be an all round better compound. Apparently dust control and work times are better as well.

[trekkeruss]

Maybe throw in some Collinite 845 for the truck to give it a little more durable protection until you can get it stored inside.

If you want something you can buy locally at almost any store, Megs Ultimate Wax (sealant) is very good; certainly much more durable than #26.

[cardaddy]

I say ditch the 105 as well, it's just too hard to work with for most. Get a bottle of 101 and you WILL NOT regret it.

That aside, once you use it that one time (on each vehicle you own perhaps) then you'll not need it again.

I'd stick with 205, throw in some Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish along with Ultimate Quick Wax (you can get those locally).

I really would like to see a dozen pads though. It's hard to compound a vehicle of any size with only 2 orange pads! They just hold on to heat too badly and end up with the middle collapsing. I'd say 4 orange, 4 white, 2 blue, 2 black (or 1 black 1 red).

When working with a pad it'll build a TON of heat not just on the surface, but on the back side at the backing plate. Do half your hood, (doing clean on the fly after each section pass) then pull the pad off. Put the back of it up to your cheek..... if it's more than just slightly warm....... PULL IT OFF and let it cool. With 3~4 pads you can always have 2 cooling while working with another one. Just rotate; first on, first off.

Really good idea on the Nanoskin pad! Don't really need glide though as you can actually use a thin layer of shampoo and it'll do fine. You can also use any good QD spray like ONR, ONRW, Meguiar's M34 or the like.

Didn't see you mention towels. Look at 360 GSM units, treat them well, and you'll probably be able to do anything you need with them. If you want a few that are really soft you can go with an ultra fine thread 400 or 500 GSM. That or a few Korean 500 edgeless units. (On MFT they are listed at 470 but they are actually 513.)
(Hint.... Microfiber Tech !!!!!!!!!)

[Diesel44]

I thought the 101 was for a rotary tool. will it work with the DA polisher? Also is there are way to get in smaller size other than 32oz? How much would be used for 2 cars. Same goes for the 105, I was getting that in 8oz size. Do I need more than that.

I will skip the #26 and try the Collinite 845 as I could use the extra UV protection on the truck.

I will add a few more pads but was thinking I could cool off a pad on a box fan to help cool down quicker thus not needed as many on hand.

Thanks for the tips on the towels. I was planning to get some but was trying to decide which ones.

[Diesel44]

Also what kind of time am I looking at to do 1 car. Just want to know so I don't plan for 3 - 4 hours and it really takes 6 - 8 hours or what every it turns out to be.

[cleanmycorolla]

Also what kind of time am I looking at to do 1 car. Just want to know so I don't plan for 3 - 4 hours and it really takes 6 - 8 hours or what every it turns out to be.

totally different for everyone, more skilled folks, as little as 4, some not so skilled, spread over days.

If youre going to do a proper detail, and it's your first real time, if you're doing it right it should take a day!

[cardaddy]

I thought the 101 was for a rotary tool. will it work with the DA polisher? Also is there are way to get in smaller size other than 32oz? How much would be used for 2 cars. Same goes for the 105, I was getting that in 8oz size. Do I need more than that.

I will skip the #26 and try the Collinite 845 as I could use the extra UV protection on the truck.

I will add a few more pads but was thinking I could cool off a pad on a box fan to help cool down quicker thus not needed as many on hand.

Thanks for the tips on the towels. I was planning to get some but was trying to decide which ones.

Megs 101 works great with a DA and what is most important is it'll allow a decent working time. (Quite unlike 105 which dries out after pretty much less than 60 seconds!) Working with 105 requires a handy spray bottle of distilled water, and even a little bottle of mineral oil (baby oil) to sometimes get yourself out of trouble when it dries out on the surface. Once it dries it's like CEMENT!

Not that 105 doesn't correct like mad, and can't make paint look great with the amount of correction it does. (It *IS NOT* intended however as a finishing polish.) Just that you have to be careful and do maybe 1 section pass, wipe the area, reload your pad and do another pass. Have to play it by ear/feel/look/etc while you're working with it. Where with 101 you can work a section for 2~3 passes and it'll be pretty much knocked out and ready for polish.

No, 101 only comes in 32oz containers. But to do an entire vehicle will take several ounces though.

Want something that is easier to work with, has a ton of cut on the first pass, then continues to diminish and finish down WAAAAAY better than what you'd imagine a cutting compound should finish? If so.... get a bottle of Menzerna FG400. It'll cut really good first pass, then as you continue to work it it'll finish down LSP ready on hard paints just by switching from a cutting pad to a finishing pad somewhere around 4~5 passes in then do 2~3 more passes with a lighter pad and a spritz of distilled water. On softer paints you'll have to switch to something like 205 or Menzerna 2000 or 2500 and your good to go.


Collinite 845 is something else. Just make sure you have gloves on when you use it. It has one INTENSE solvent smell and feel to it. For some reason I can't bring myself to using it as an overall LSP, but have used it on wheels. You can find Megs M21 2.0 locally, which is a nice sealant. And of course you've already mentioned M26 yellow wax, which is also a sealant of sorts and in fact can top M21 2.0. M26 has an EXCELLENT D.O.I. rating (Distinction Of Image) that if I remember correctly is 92%~93% (or more).

From Mike Phillips:

I have a catalog in my collection from 1988 that states,

M26 is the only wax that will increase the D.O.I. of a previously polished surface.

The context of that statement was after using #7 Show Car Glaze on black paint, most waxes would decrease D.O.I. while M26 would actually increase D.O.I.

I asked a chemist friend about this and he said it was because M26 has/had the ability to bend light. Maybe one of our engineering type people can explain how that would work...

D.O.I. = Distinction of Image

The ability of a surface to reflect an image clearly. A mirror offers 100% D.O.I.

It's in this thread: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-tech-wax.html


Yes you can use a fan to cool your pads. Just put them Velcro side towards the fan. Would have to lay the fan suspended in a horizontal position and put some weight on the pads.

Towels:
Get the 360GSM units, or if you really want to splurge try the extra-fine 400's. Thing is, the 400's are so fine that you have to be careful with them.

I like MFT's 530's as a great general use towel, plus they make good drying towels. Like them much more than the Cobra 530's (even though the Cobra's may be a little thicker). The MFT towels are just softer.

While the 600's and 700's are big and fluffy, I can take or leave them. Rather have the Korean edgeless, and the new Korean 850 whites. For that matter, if you want just a couple of really nice LSP or QD type towels check out the Duragloss polishing towel(s).

Here's a link from 2013 for a few towels I had reviewed then. The Korean 470's were in that batch and have now been replaced with 500's (although the site still calls them 470's). They are now a TON thicker, measuring in at 513 GSM in the last 50 I bought.

Also what kind of time am I looking at to do 1 car. Just want to know so I don't plan for 3 - 4 hours and it really takes 6 - 8 hours or what every it turns out to be.

Takes me 10~15 minutes per wheel when washing, another hour or more to clay/nanoskin then finish washing and drying. Then it'll take a couple rolls of tape to get all the edges taped up, window trim taped up (so the dust doesn't settle down between the trim and the glass), plastic trim, headlights, rubber/vinyl trim etc. so that'll be as much as another hour.

So that's 2 hours in easy.

Then you'll start spending time doing test spots.
Once you start compounding you'll need to work out the test spot first.

Tape off the hood into say 6 squares. You can try 2 compounds, 2 pads (that's 4 squares) to get the method down on something you've not done before.

Do it like this:
Square 1: 101, white pad, speed 4.5, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes.
Square 2: 101, orange pad, speed 4.5, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes.
Square 3: UC, orange pad, speed 4.5, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes.
Square 4: UC, white pad, speed 4.5, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes.

Then depending on which one looks the best you can go back and tweak that method.
Either start on Square 5 and Square 6 or do a complete panel wipe with an Eraser mix or make your own Eraser mix with Megs 114 and a 20%~25% alcohol mixture.

Say Square 2 is a bit too much, but Square 1 is looking pretty good but might look better. Then you can either go back and do 2 more passes at the same speed on that Square *OR* start a new Square and change up your speed.

Say you go to Square 5 then do the same (white) pad but go to speed 5.5, medium arm pressure, slow arm speed, 4 passes.

The reason I do all the same amount of, arm pressure, arm speed, section passes is you need to keep it constant from one product/pad combo so you know what the difference in cutting power is for the compound/pad combo. From there you just vary your machine speed and amount of section passes to get the best result. Once you have that down it's just a matter of repeating that process all around the vehicle.

For THAT you can AND WILL take (on a truck) a full day most likely!


On a light buff, AIO buff, etc. if we tag team it we'll knock it out in 7~10 man hours start to finish. (Including washing) If it's more than that it'll be sometimes an all-nighter, or a multi-day event. I honestly don't do wash jobs in under 2~3 hours!!!!!
(Then again, I don't wash anything for less than $65. Did one last week for $150.)

I ended up herniating a disc last November doing a 17 hour straight paint correction job, (TWO of us). That's 25+ hours easy we put into it (what with breaks, lunch, dinner, etc.).

When MitchLiving showed up here last for some training he stayed something like NINETEEN HOURS! That boy didn't leave till after 5:00am! Let's just say he owes me.... BIGTIME!

But if you're both learning, AND trying to do it right......
I'd set aside 2 days just to be comfortable with it.

[Diesel44]

@cardaddy, thanks for all the great info. I ordered it all yesterday. Can't wait for it to get her and get the cars the deep cleaning they need.