Fat Mike
05-30-2014, 11:14 PM
I picked up my 2014 RDX back in December and didn't have the time or temperatures to do a good detail on it, just a quick coat of wax to get by until warmer weather. Between having our first baby in Feb and the March, April AND May snowfalls, I haven't had much time to detail the new ride. Saturday I finally had an afternoon to spare, so I got a chance to pretty up the exterior. Steps included:
- 2 bucket wash with DG901 and CarPro merino wash mitt
- IronX decon and rinse
- Clayed all paint
- ONR wash (more of a post clay wipe down really)
- Wheels and tires cleaned with OPC
- Prima Amigo (paint cleaner/fine polish/glaze) applied with green BnS polishing pad
- Prima Epic (LSP) applied with black BnS finishing pad
- Trim protected with CarPro PERL diluted 3:1
- Colli 845 on the Wheels
- Tires dressed with CarPro PERL diluted 1:1
- Glass cleaned with Stoners and 2 coats of good ol' RainX
I was very fortunate that there was no dealer installed swirl option on this car when I picked it up so I didn't do any correction :) I did notice some RIDS in a couple of spots, likely from the winter driving...they'll need some attention eventually.
There are no before pics since the paint was in good shape. Just some after shots:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/14329857283_2f56b106e2_z.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/14307783562_f0785d17cd_z.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/14307785962_f865b2d8a5_z.jpg
Can see small RIDS in this one
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5508/14306321721_f6fe6d2f0c_z.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14286525946_fc4b835994_z.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14309655475_96b4a19442_z.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/14123005508_aa4cb04352_z.jpg
Since I decided on most of these products through LOTS and LOTS of reading here on AG, I thought I'd share some preliminary impressions:
Prima Amigo:
I read a lot of good things about this product and when I found it at a local detail shop for 50% off, I decided it was worth a shot. If you read Prima's description, they describe it as a pre wax paint cleaner and glaze with a super fine polish. Prima says it can give different results depending on how its applied. Less aggressive = more filling, more aggressive = more fine polishing. I chose to use my GG6 with a polishing pad, 3-4 light passes on speed 4. Amigo is very easy to use and wipes off effortlessly. Feeling the paint side by side before and after was amazing...The difference in slickness between the Amigo'd and un-Amigo'd sections was night and day! The paint was so slick and smooth afterwards and you're left a very nice gloss. Hard to tell since I'm very new to paint correction, but I doubt I'd use this right after a correction. It seems well suited for an in between polish / maintenance situation on paint that's in good shape. I can't comment on the filling abilities since there wasn't much for it to fill, but as a pre-LSP paint cleaner and gloss enhancer, it seems to perform wonderfully.
Prima Epic:
Since I've never used a paint sealant before, I was looking for something to try out. Again, at 50% off I thought EPIC was worth a shot. As with Amigo, EPIC went on very easily and spread a long way. I used my GG6 with a black finishing pad, with a hand applicator to get at the tighter areas. Prima says to avoid black trim, and I did find some white staining in a few spot where I was sloppy with the DA, but they wiped off right away (it was still 'wet'). More effort might be required if it dried on the trim, but I can't really comment. The instructions say to let it cure for 30-45 min, but I read in another forum that the longer the cure time the better, so I let it cure in my garage overnight. Buffed off the excess the next afternoon and it found it very easy to remove. Initial impressions: very slick, very glossy, very happy! I haven't hit it with the hose or been out in the rain yet so no comments on beading/sheeting. Other than the trim issue, the only down side I can see is that it seems to off-gas somewhat as it cures....my wife pointed out several times how much the garage STUNK the next AM. Fortunately the smell died off after a few days. I have no experience with other paint sealants so I don't know if this is smelly business is the norm, but it's definitely worth noting.
The interior is up next if/when I get some time. After a good overall cleaning, my plan is to protect all of the dash, trim and seats with CarPro PERL at 5:1. Pics of that to follow.
PS - My old ride was a pretty beat up 12 yr old Civic and wasn't too concerned about keeping it looking good, so I haven't been into detailing in a long time. Picking up the new car got my interest in detailing sparked up again, which ended up leading me here. Hours and hours and hours reading this forum and watching Mike's videos over the winter completely rekindled my OCD-ness in keeping my ride clean and shiny. You guys also gave me some great knowledge, new tools and techniques to put to use and I'm pumped about the preliminary results, so thanks to everyone here!
- 2 bucket wash with DG901 and CarPro merino wash mitt
- IronX decon and rinse
- Clayed all paint
- ONR wash (more of a post clay wipe down really)
- Wheels and tires cleaned with OPC
- Prima Amigo (paint cleaner/fine polish/glaze) applied with green BnS polishing pad
- Prima Epic (LSP) applied with black BnS finishing pad
- Trim protected with CarPro PERL diluted 3:1
- Colli 845 on the Wheels
- Tires dressed with CarPro PERL diluted 1:1
- Glass cleaned with Stoners and 2 coats of good ol' RainX
I was very fortunate that there was no dealer installed swirl option on this car when I picked it up so I didn't do any correction :) I did notice some RIDS in a couple of spots, likely from the winter driving...they'll need some attention eventually.
There are no before pics since the paint was in good shape. Just some after shots:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3680/14329857283_2f56b106e2_z.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/14307783562_f0785d17cd_z.jpg
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/14307785962_f865b2d8a5_z.jpg
Can see small RIDS in this one
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5508/14306321721_f6fe6d2f0c_z.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14286525946_fc4b835994_z.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14309655475_96b4a19442_z.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/14123005508_aa4cb04352_z.jpg
Since I decided on most of these products through LOTS and LOTS of reading here on AG, I thought I'd share some preliminary impressions:
Prima Amigo:
I read a lot of good things about this product and when I found it at a local detail shop for 50% off, I decided it was worth a shot. If you read Prima's description, they describe it as a pre wax paint cleaner and glaze with a super fine polish. Prima says it can give different results depending on how its applied. Less aggressive = more filling, more aggressive = more fine polishing. I chose to use my GG6 with a polishing pad, 3-4 light passes on speed 4. Amigo is very easy to use and wipes off effortlessly. Feeling the paint side by side before and after was amazing...The difference in slickness between the Amigo'd and un-Amigo'd sections was night and day! The paint was so slick and smooth afterwards and you're left a very nice gloss. Hard to tell since I'm very new to paint correction, but I doubt I'd use this right after a correction. It seems well suited for an in between polish / maintenance situation on paint that's in good shape. I can't comment on the filling abilities since there wasn't much for it to fill, but as a pre-LSP paint cleaner and gloss enhancer, it seems to perform wonderfully.
Prima Epic:
Since I've never used a paint sealant before, I was looking for something to try out. Again, at 50% off I thought EPIC was worth a shot. As with Amigo, EPIC went on very easily and spread a long way. I used my GG6 with a black finishing pad, with a hand applicator to get at the tighter areas. Prima says to avoid black trim, and I did find some white staining in a few spot where I was sloppy with the DA, but they wiped off right away (it was still 'wet'). More effort might be required if it dried on the trim, but I can't really comment. The instructions say to let it cure for 30-45 min, but I read in another forum that the longer the cure time the better, so I let it cure in my garage overnight. Buffed off the excess the next afternoon and it found it very easy to remove. Initial impressions: very slick, very glossy, very happy! I haven't hit it with the hose or been out in the rain yet so no comments on beading/sheeting. Other than the trim issue, the only down side I can see is that it seems to off-gas somewhat as it cures....my wife pointed out several times how much the garage STUNK the next AM. Fortunately the smell died off after a few days. I have no experience with other paint sealants so I don't know if this is smelly business is the norm, but it's definitely worth noting.
The interior is up next if/when I get some time. After a good overall cleaning, my plan is to protect all of the dash, trim and seats with CarPro PERL at 5:1. Pics of that to follow.
PS - My old ride was a pretty beat up 12 yr old Civic and wasn't too concerned about keeping it looking good, so I haven't been into detailing in a long time. Picking up the new car got my interest in detailing sparked up again, which ended up leading me here. Hours and hours and hours reading this forum and watching Mike's videos over the winter completely rekindled my OCD-ness in keeping my ride clean and shiny. You guys also gave me some great knowledge, new tools and techniques to put to use and I'm pumped about the preliminary results, so thanks to everyone here!