Black 2002 Camaro - products you would use

[cpa5oh]

I've got a black 2002 Camaro - it's in pretty good shape, not great. I attached a couple of pictures...it has a major tendency toward swirl marks - not holograms, but the circular "I wash my car with Dawn dish liquid and bath towels" kind of marks. All black plastic is faded to a grey-ish color. The chrome wheels have no pitting, but they do have areas that look kind of stained. The wheel wells look like a 2002 car that's been driven in the winter though the car has never seen winter weather (kind of that dull, grey ish, "this owner doesn't pay attention to the wheel wells" look.)

What products would you use? I've not been able to pay close attention to this website for the last six months (I'm a CPA) but in the next few days (end of tax season) I want to put it on this car! Money is no object as far as products are concerned...I've got a Griots Garage polisher (not going to get a new polisher) and plenty of pads...I've got alot of detailing products but am not married to any of them...and as far as correction is concerned, I can't get this car perfect because it's too old so I'm not looking to do a two day paint correction.

The best I can think of is:
- Polish: optimum hyper spray polish with orange or white foam pad (start with white, check with flashlight, go from there)
- Wax: Blackfire Wet Diamond
- Trim: Black Wow (the newer one) - I tried Ultima's product last year and wasn't impressed
- Wheels: some kind of Meguiars chrome polish...I never have polished these chrome wheels so I haven't tried anything
- Wheel Wells: Mequiars Hyper Dressing
- Glass: not sure...I could pick anything
- Tires: Optimum's tire gel (I think it's called Opti-Bond)
- After Washes: Ultimate Quik Wax (I feel like this is the best product I've ever used - an easy to use spray wax that hides most of the wash swirls...I tried the D156 detailers' version and I swear it isn't as good)

I'm not married to any of the above and will try any replacement that could be better.

Thanks!
Dan

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

Look into menzerna fg400 for a one step polish. Clear coat is pretty hard on these cars so you might be able to get away with it even on black. That or Meguiars m101.

Don't forget to clay!


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[The Guz]

I would have to agree. The clear coat on my 02 SS and my dad's 02 Z28 is hard. I had used orange lake country flat pads with M105 and that didn't give me the correction I wanted. I ended up going with meguiar's D300 and their microfiber cutting pads and followed up with M205 on a white LC flat polishing pad.

Here is what I used on both:

My 02 SS:

Compound: Meguiar's D300 + microfiber cutting pad. Heavier correction I used a little M105 on the MF cutting pad.

Polish: Meguiar's M205 + White Lake Country Foam Pad

Sealant: Adam's new liquid sealant

Tires: Meguiar's D163 D163 Tire & Trim Gel works fine for me since this is my garage queen

Wheels: I just got new wheels so I just sealed them with Meguiar's Brake Dust Barrier

Wheel wells: Cleaned with Meguiar's APC+ and dressed with Meguiar's Plastic & Vinyl Coating

Trim: Cleaned with Mothers Back to Black trim cleaner and sealed with wolfgang trim sealant

Glass: Cleyed, Mothers Water Spot remover applied using a Lake Country White Foam Pad then sealed with Meguiar's D156

Maintenance washes are followed by either Meguiar's M135 or D156.

Dad's 02 Z28:

Compound: Meguiar's D300 + microfiber cutting pad.

Polish: Meguiar's M205 + White Lake Country Foam Pad

Sealant: Meguiar's M21

Tires: Meguiar's D163 Tire & Trim Gel

Wheels: Has chrome wheels. I used Meguiar's D143, polished with M205 and sealed with Meguiar's Brake Dust Barrier.

Wheel wells: Cleaned with Meguiar's APC+ and dressed with Meguiar's Plastic & Vinyl Coating

Trim: Front Cowl Meguiar's Plastic & Vinyl Coating. Window trim Adam's VRT

Glass: Clayed and sealed with Meguiar's D156

Maintenance washes are followed by either Meguiar's M135 or D156.


Hope this helps with what I used on both cars. I would recommend you try a test spot first with a polish and see how the clear reacts. Yours may be softer. If it is hard like mine then I hope I helped you out.

[HateSwirls]

Can't go wrong using the Wolfgang Uber Compound using an orange pad , it will finish down great for you.
I also follow up with the Meguiar's 205 Ultra Fine Polish using a black finishing pad, you don't need the white polishing pad if you use the Uber:)

If you want a wax/sealant that looks great on black and easy to use try the Collinite #845 Wax, looks amazing on black plus it will protect your car up to six months.

To maintain the high shine try the Duragloss 951 spray wax which is really a sealant, it will leave your paint very, very smooth:)
Works well as a drying aid also.

[KillaCam]

I used m101 on hard f body clear with great success. Either with an orange pad or even better a Meg's mf pad.
I liked the way menzerna sf4000 finished down better than M205 so I would recommend that.

The best thing I found for the wheel wells is to pull the plastic liners and paint them with krylon fusion.