waxing show cars

[FloridaNative]

I've always heard that show cars have something like 15-20 coats of carnauba on them to make them that dripping wet, but I've also heard that there is a point of diminishing returns with carnaubas and after 3 or 4 coats you cannot expect any more improvement in appearance. This has always mystified me. Does it depend on the wax that is used as to whether you can apply 15-20 coats? Does anybody know the answer to this??

[Kelso]

i think after a few coats, you wont see any difference. id like to be proven wrong though honestly cause then ill start waxing daily!:awesome:

[GearHead_1]

Two coats are great. Three I would question as to whether the look gets any better.

[FloridaNative]

LOL Well they do it on show cars for a reason. I wish Dennish were here. He'd probably know the answer. It's good to see you here Gearhead. :)

[supercharged]

The best way to find out would be to ask anybody who prepares show cars.

[GearHead_1]

LOL Well they do it on show cars for a reason.
When you have a show car and you're all caught up on everything else, what is there to do? Put another coat of wax on it. Peace of mind baby. :) I used to do all the maintenance work (from building the engines to finish maintenance) on a couple of world record holding sand drag cars. Though these cars weren't looking to be concours winners they saw many car shows. We experimented quite a bit and found that anything beyond 3 coats was beyond our ability to perceive a difference. Two coats makes sure that you haven't missed a thing.

Seriously though, Mike Phillips (I have a lot of respect for this guy) did a good write up on layering or multiple coats of carnauba. I think that what he said made a lot of sense. I'm sure you can find it over on MOL for those who might be interested in looking it up. By the way, I don't claim to know it all here. This is just my 2 cents.

[abrcrombe]

Sounds like a job for the Mythbusters. Man I love that show. We should have some AG mythbusters.

[Reddwarf]

Sounds like a job for the Mythbusters. Man I love that show. We should have some AG mythbusters.

Yeah Baby! I love the Mythbusters!

[FloridaNative]

I was going to say, "is this one for mythbusters" but I didn't know how many people there are out there who watch that show so I thought maybe the reference would be lost. Did I just totally overexplain for nothing?? I do that at times. hmmmmm :p

[BILL]

I've always heard that show cars have something like 15-20 coats of carnauba on them to make them that dripping wet, but I've also heard that there is a point of diminishing returns with carnaubas and after 3 or 4 coats you cannot expect any more improvement in appearance. This has always mystified me. Does it depend on the wax that is used as to whether you can apply 15-20 coats? Does anybody know the answer to this??


Great question and i hope we get a real answer to that......but i still believe that the hard core show car showers have a secret weapon they use to make those cars the way they look..i think its more than souveran......;)

[sparkie]

Yeah Baby! I love the Mythbusters!

Love the show!

[abrcrombe]

Man I wish someone lived near me so we could do some fun stuff like make a mock mythbusters episode on this question!! I also want to know if you leave a PC on speed 6 on one spot for a LONG time will it eventually burn through?? Since the PC is supposed to be like 99% safe I wonder if that is the 1% where it would mess up your paint.

[Moises_C]

Great question and i hope we get a real answer to that......but i still believe that the hard core show car showers have a secret weapon they use to make those cars the way they look..i think its more than souveran......;)

Yes, that secret weapon may be a perfect paint & surface, no swirls, no marring, so preparation must be the key...
just my 2cents

:p

[Bags]

I agree I think the secret is in the paint prep. I imagine that there are paint and body work people who are more anal than detailers.:p I would like to hear a pro tell us how many hours go into prep and paint on a show car. Anyone? Mythbusters for detailing sounds like a great idea....One name comes to mind.......NEOTHIN. :righton:

[OCDetails]

I've preped more than a few show cars. I wouldn't ever put more than two or three coats of wax on a car. Beyond that you just get cloudy paint due to the wax buildup. Most of the beauty of a wax is in the oils that it has in it. Multiple layers would just end up diminishing the appearance of the car. Think about the jar of wax. How clear is it really? how clear is that chunk you just scooped out? Why would you want that much wax on the car?

I'm preping a few cars for a show in a couple weeks. Only one of them is getting a wax topper. I found that wax on top of Wolfgang actually diminishes the appearance of the sealant, so I just go straight synthetic when I use that product. On a black car I'm doing I am building it up 4 layers of 4* UPP and then a coat of paste Souveran the day before the show. I've used that combination on black cars several times and it is by far the most pleasing to me. More is not always better when it comes to layering things. You just have to keep your eye on that point of diminishing returns.

The jury is still out on how well carnaubas even layer anyway. One school of thought is that by adding additional layers you are just blending the previous layer with the new one and not really getting any additional protection. All you are doing is just renewing the protection you already had. I'd leave the layering for sealants. If you want dripping wet looking paint then get a couple layers of a good sealant or a fresh coat of a greasy glaze or carnauba on the car prior to the show. That'll do the trick. ;)