Winterization in North Jersey

[yankees2452]

I know it's early but I want to get everything together that I need to protect my car from the winters in north jersey. They use rock salt and some kind of sand mixture and I want to prevent these from eating away at my paint. My plan is as follows...
Wash
Clay bar
Polish
2 coats of meguiars ultimate wax
Coat of collinite
Coat of sovereign
I plan on doing this in late October or early November as the past two years we have had snow before Halloween.
1. Does this sound like a good process?
2. Which collinite is recommended, I'm leaning towards 915?

[mwoolfso]

You want a really strong base/foundation to hold the more expensive waxes on the paint longer; and Megs UW in my mind won't last the winter. Assuming you have Souveran, but do not have any Collinite.....

Layer 1 - Collinite 476
Layer 2 - Souveran

Layer 1 is your protection layer.... Layer 2 is your "depth and gloss" layer. Over the months if you feel the urge, you can either top again with more Souveran or go with Megs UW.

P.S. - Once you polish, make sure you add an IPA step before you apply any waxes. That will maximize the durability of 476.

[greatwhitenorth]

I layer on power lock and top with some sacrificial wax. Upkeep every month (or week cause I work in a detail shop :p) with aqua wax
Springtime it all gets stripped off lol

[c8n]

Not sure if "prepping" for winter is necessary in my case since I use spray wax once a week on top of UW.

Do you foresee somewhat neglecting your car during the winter months?

I am not trying to pass any judgements at all because when its cold, I can certainly appreciate not wanting to work with any kind of water. My garage is not heated and am somewhat anxious to see how well my 1000w halogen will warm up the garage because it is brutal with work with these lamps now. Yep... I realize I have a problem. :)

[yankees2452]

Thanks for the reply, that's sounds like a good plan. With the ipa step, can I just use isopropyl alcohol from the supermarket and do I need to dilute it.

[BillyJack]

I do 2 apps of 476 as late in the fall as possible and it gets me through an entire PA winter in a car driven daily and kept outside 24/7. Maintenance is only rinseless washes with ONR or DG whenever time permits.

Bill

[yankees2452]

Not sure if "prepping" for winter is necessary in my case since I use spray wax once a week on top of UW.

Do you foresee somewhat neglecting your car during the winter months?

I am not trying to pass any judgements at all because when its cold, I can certainly appreciate not wanting to work with any kind of water. My garage is not heated and am somewhat anxious to see how well my 1000w halogen will warm up the garage because it is brutal with work with these lamps now. Yep... I realize I have a problem. :)

I don't like being out in the cold, I've always hated winter and I know I wouldn't want to be out in the cold too often. I have some rinseless wash so that would help reducing the time out in the cold. I know that I wouldn't clean the car as well as usual so I just want to protect the car as well as I can. Better to have extra protection than not enough plus I love waxing😃

[BuckeyeR/T]

I like #915 but I have not used 476. Either way I would skip using the other waxes IMHO

[Iron400]

Powerlock topped with 845 or 915 for IL winters. :dblthumb2:

[yankees2452]

Does power lock last much longer than Meg's ultimate wax?

[wdmaccord]

I would go with some kind of sealant like powerlock or BF WDAFPP after the polish step also. Top with Collinite 845. Don't think you need all the other waxes. I'm going with polish, seal, and Coll 845 this winter.

[BlackHawk]

Megs ultimate wax as great as you may think it is, is not meant to last through winter. Menzerna Powerlock would be a much better choice.

If it were me i would put some sort of sealant first, then any type of wax you'd like. But you cant have a wax as your strong first layer, since a wax like UW isnt gonna last

[Pureshine]

I wouldn't bother with wax in the winter I would put 2 coats of power lock and call it good. This is what I do for all my customer for winter prep on their daily drivers and then about 4 months in add another coat of power lock. Sealant has to go on first before wax!

[silverfox]

Two coats of wax over two coats of sealant is...a waste of time and money.
Stop at the sealant as the wax adds nothing to the equation in terms of durability.

The sealant will still be there long after the wax is gone.

[Calendyr]

Do a search for Mike's post on IPA dilutions, it will give you all the info you need.