Need product advice for my 1995 Suburban.

[moab]

I bought an extremely clean 1995 2500 4x4 GMC Suburban with 107,000 miles on it from California which was always garaged. This vehicle has all original paint with no dents. 1995 were known to eventually have peeling paint and this one is not missing any paint anywhere. The paint is in great shiny condition except on the drivers side rear where it has some slight oxidization. My best guess is this 3 foot by 3 foot oxidized area got hit by the sun through a garage window, but I am not sure.

Unfortunately I will have to keep this vehicle outside in the Utah winter weather, so I want to protect the paint on this vehicle.

I am getting ready to place an order with Autogeek. Right now I am thinking of ordering a Griot's 6" polisher with Lake Country 5" backing plate and 5.5" Lake Country pads. I am unsure of exactly what polishes and waxes to get. I have been reading as much as I can about Meguiar's product line, Klasse high gloss sealant and pinnacle souveran wax.

What products would you use to remove the oxidization and detail this vehicle with? Thanks in advance.

[jamesboyy]

Welcome to autogeek...you are on the right path when it comes to buying groits garage 6 inch polisher with 5 in backing plates and corresponding pads as for compounds and polishes I would suggest something like menzerna fg400 and or sf4000/4500 but if on a budget you could always get meguiars ultimate compund/polish locally its the same as meguiars m105 and m205, also I would consider getting some meguiars number 7 glaze to place on the oxidation area for paint protection its best to coat the whole vehicle with the corresponding coatings thought klasse high gloss sealant is nice with a few coats of collinite 845

[rockinrandall]

What jamesboyy said +1

[ccompton3]

jamesboyy has given you some good advice as far as products go. If you would like to spend a little more on product and a little less on hardware, you can get a 6" dual action polisher from Harbor Freight and save some money. I have used the HF DA and just purchased a new Flex 3401. The HF DA is a really good piece of hardware for the money...just food for thought...

[moab]

Welcome to autogeek...you are on the right path when it comes to buying groits garage 6 inch polisher with 5 in backing plates and corresponding pads as for compounds and polishes I would suggest something like menzerna fg400 and or sf4000/4500 but if on a budget you could always get meguiars ultimate compund/polish locally its the same as meguiars m105 and m205, also I would consider getting some meguiars number 7 glaze to place on the oxidation area for paint protection its best to coat the whole vehicle with the corresponding coatings thought klasse high gloss sealant is nice with a few coats of collinite 845

Thanks for the advice Jamesboyy. I now have three vehicles to take care of and it really is time to buy some nice detailing equipment. I want to do it myself. I have painted 400 guitars in my life over 20 years ago, so I am not a complete novice at this stuff. I have not been polishing paint for a long time though and many things have changed since I was doing it years ago.

I am looking at buying the better product over saving a few bucks. I want to protect my investment in this Suburban due to I may keep it for ten years and it is extremely nice.

[moab]

jamesboyy has given you some good advice as far as products go. If you would like to spend a little more on product and a little less on hardware, you can get a 6" dual action polisher from Harbor Freight and save some money. I have used the HF DA and just purchased a new Flex 3401. The HF DA is a really good piece of hardware for the money...just food for thought...

I have read about the Flex 3401 which I would buy if I was doing this type of work professionally. The Griot's seems to be a really good polisher at a good price point. The price of the Griot's to me is not expensive for all of the great reviews it gets. I do not mind spending the money on the Griot's or nice pads and polishes.

I spent $5,100.00 total so far getting this clean low mileage 95 Suburban. I just looked at the sticker price of a new Suburban which was $59,000.00. I want to protect my investment and keep it looking great.

[MarkD51]

Welcome to the group. As for chemicals (polishes-sealants-etc), there are many good choices, all the Palm Beach Motoring brands are all very good.
Wolfgang is a fav of mine, their polishes are exemplary, and understand are made by Menzerna for PBMG.

I'll bypass much of this for now, as you could get as many suggestions as there are members here.

Probably best common sense advice I can give is to order wisely. There are literal 1000's of products here that you won't find, or won't easily find in stores. And that's where some considerable confusion can set in.

I would say for the Griots DA, insure you have enough pads for basic work. If only for your vehicle for now, and within the LC Flat Pad line, 2-3 of Orange, 4-6 of White, maybe a couple of Blue-Black for applying Waxes-Sealants if you're preferring to use such. Do buy a small 5 pack of the spare Backing Plate Washers, this way you'll have them on hand in case you lose or damage one.

Pad Cleaner chemicals are a nice thing to have, they commonly make short work of cleaning pads where many conventional all purpose cleaners fall quite short.

Good to have a decent small selection of Microfiber Towels, some can perhaps be gotten locally. One full detail on a vehicle the size of the Suburban can have you go through 6-12 towels in no time flat when removing various polishes, and protectants.

Clay can easily be gotten locally in most locations. But not the new Clay Substitutes which are sold here. I've never used the newfangled decon towels or blocks yet, but they seem to hold very good worth, and probably cheaper in the long run.

You'll be surprised how easily, and how quickly an order here can climb into multiple $100's of dollars without even breaking a sweat. The best advice I can give before placing any orders is to choose-purchase wisely, not buy in haste, sleep on such purchases, make a list, get as much input, and assistance from other wise members here.

There are many products here you can bypass if desired, and according to funds, that one can of course buy needed brushes of various sorts, some towels, and even some chemicals locally, from everything from a Dollar Tree Store, to the big Auto Parts Stores. Just initially consider the good basics so you will be able to properly accomplish the personal tasks at hand.

I ran the gamut with many products from here, and concluded my own '97 Tahoe was not getting any younger. From Waxes, and Sealants, I concluded a durable robust Paint Coating would offer the best protection against the ravages of time, UV, mar resistance, and other nasties that vehicles encounter in their day to day use.

Vehicles like ours aren't commonly garage kept sunday drivers, being entered in shows, or 6 figure vehicles that one should be slathering $200 a can Estate Waxes like WG Fuzion, and only getting 2-3 months protection at most. I think mostly what folks like us ideally want-need, are products that last on both paint, and trim, give us the best bang for the dollar spent.

After I ran the gamut, I finally concluded products such as Carpro CQuartz Ceramic Coatings on both Paint and Trim would meet those personal needs I had. One would be hard pressed finding products that will last longer, and protect better. I see this as highly important when one lives in areas with quite harsh conditions, long cold winters where one cannot easily turn around and have the luxury of heated garages, or milder weather like the southern states can experience.

The coatings such as from Carpro may seem initially expensive to purchase, but in the long run you will save money, and get more durable protection protecting your investment.

Best of luck.

[moab]

MarkD51

Very good advice. I am researching everyone's recommendations on here. I just ordered the Art of Detailing book by Mike Phillips. I have to wait a few days before my PayPal funds are available to place an order from Autogeek, so I will keep researching on this forum and also take that books advice before I order.

[MarkD51]

MarkD51

Very good advice. I am researching everyone's recommendations on here. I just ordered the Art of Detailing book by Mike Phillips. I have to wait a few days before my PayPal funds are available to place an order from Autogeek, so I will keep researching on this forum and also take that books advice before I order.

Wise to have the book, and Mike has tutorials and articles here covering basically all aspects of vehicle care. All are good reads with valuable and wise information.

[miad]

me personally, I would choose the GG6 with the 5 inch plate and LC pads. Megs 105, then 205, then M21 sealant would work wonders. that way you are sticking with 1 brand. but seriously, there are countless combos of products on here. Menzerna is great, if you have the cash. Souveran is great stuff, as is Klasse. but Megs is economical, if that matters to you.

[Kengo123]

The gg6 is an excellent polisher!

[moab]

me personally, I would choose the GG6 with the 5 inch plate and LC pads. Megs 105, then 205, then M21 sealant would work wonders. that way you are sticking with 1 brand. but seriously, there are countless combos of products on here. Menzerna is great, if you have the cash. Souveran is great stuff, as is Klasse. but Megs is economical, if that matters to you.

Meguiar's was the brand I was using over 20 years ago when I was painting guitars. It was the brand to use back then. Now they have more competition and have broadened their product line. Meguiar's means high quality to me, but I am going to consider all of my options.

I am glad you mention the Meguiar's products you would use because I know the excellent results that their products can achieve.

[EVOlved]

If I was sticking to one brand for polishes and LSP it would be either Wolfgang (Uber compound, finishing glaze, and deep gloss paint sealant) or Menzerna (FG400, SF4000, and Powerlock). That said I would actually go the Menzerna polish route but top it off with Sonax PNS.

[moab]

I placed a $403.00 order from Autogeek and I am going though the steps to detail my Suburban. I have washed it twice which removed 300 to 400 pine needles out of hard to reach places. I have now clayed the entire vehicle.

It did have some road tar on it in places which I tried to remove with Turtle Wax bug and tar remover, but it did not remove all of it. What do you guy's recommend using to remove this without removing paint?

Thanks

[MarkD51]

I placed a $403.00 order from Autogeek and I am going though the steps to detail my Suburban. I have washed it twice which removed 300 to 400 pine needles out of hard to reach places. I have now clayed the entire vehicle.

It did have some road tar on it in places which I tried to remove with Turtle Wax bug and tar remover, but it did not remove all of it. What do you guy's recommend using to remove this without removing paint?

Thanks

You could maybe give Stoners Tarminator in the spray can a try. Usually easily gotten at the big auto parts stores, and Wally World even carries it here.

Sounds like the vehicle is, or was parked around lots of evergreen trees. You might find lots of nasties down underneath the Winshield Wiper Cowl, and as well stuck on the AC Evaporator.

I did my Wiper Cowl about a year ago, removed it, not that hard, commonly a 3-piece affair, and got out various leaves and muck. Then prepped and coated it with Carpro CQuartz DLX. Looked like brand new.

To get to the AC Evaporator, one must first remove the Blower Motor Cover then the Blower Motor. Not that hard, and you might be shocked at what you find.

Some debris can be removed via hand or a long handled slender brush, then the rest can be gotten by first either using a Evaporator Cleaner Chemical, or a good All Purpse Cleaner, let sit, then by sticking a garden hose up there with a sprayer head and hosing down the Evaporator. This then flushes all cruds-drts-debris out the drain hose. AC will work better.
Mark

As for some other recommendations with Meg's polishes, yes they are all very good, and can all be usually locally gotten in a pinch if need be.
Mark