How would you suggest I attack my black truck?

[Michael92]

Hey everyone. I picked this truck up about 6 months back. Black on black 2011 Silverado LTZ with literally every single option. Got it with only 30k miles and it was a beaut. I love this thing..best truck I've owned. Course being 22 I haven't really owned many trucks :p

Anyways fast forward 2 months and I decided to really clean the car. I stupidly bought mitts and rags at walmart. I washed them twice before using them thinking I was going to beat the man. Turns out I scratched the poop out of it as you can see in some of the pics. It looked brand new until I touched it :(

So I have a few questions and if someone could answer a few that would be great. Right now there is 0 protection on this, no wax, sealer...anything. I am going on a cross country trip at the end of the month and it will need to be protected.

What is a good way to get some of the swirls out?
Should I use a wax or sealant? If so which kind?
The back bumper plastic needs a deep cleaning, how would you suggest I do that?
What do you guys use for Tonneau cover protection?
What kinda clothes and mitts should I get? I

haven't washed it with a rag since then and there is a ton of build up you can see on the tailgate that simply won't come off during a touchless wash. I am trying to keep the total for everything under $150 if that is possible.

I just want it to look good again. It is just a shame to go outside and see tons of these little scratches when you paid so much. If anyone has any tips it would be much appreciated.






http://imgur.com/gND2W0P

[skwidd]

What detailing tools and supplies do you have? From what I can see, you have swirls and water spots.

[Michael92]

At this point I wanna restart everything. I have 2 buckets for clean and dirty water.

All I have bought in the past is junk because well..it is all I have owned. So I have like a 5 dollar thing of turtle wax, walmart microfiber clothes, a bottle of scratchx that was frozen over winter and a really really cheap wax/buffer thing. Not like a real one...the 20 dollar ones.

See so I am kinda lost on where to even begin this...The water spots are terrible as well and they don't seem to come out apart from washing it 5 times. The swirls are the killers for me. There are no real scratches anywhere, just swirls.

[PA DETAILER]

Meguiars Black Wax, black wax for cars (http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-black-wax.html)

That would be a easy 1-step to get the paint looking decent. You might be able to find it locally. Then i would invest in some decent wash media. Buckets/grit guards/a good mitt/soap. And some good ww towels for drying. Here is a really great starter kit!

Poorboys Wash Bucket Kit (http://www.autogeek.net/poorboys-wash-kit.html)

[tpr1634]

I use Wolfgang products on my 150, I do use Blackfire all in one on customers vehicles. Prep work will be important clay, is available Iron-X I use Collonite 845 for LSP. Wolfgang sealant is very good as long as you can keep moisture off of truck for the 12 hour cure time.

[Ebg18t]

I would suggest investing in a GG6 kit. This will save you time and give you much better results than trying by hand.

Griot’s Garage Random Orbital Wolfgang Duo (http://www.autogeek.net/griots-garage-wolfgang-kit.html)

Add the Wolfgang Sealant and enjoy a great looking black truck.

Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant delivers a deep, wet, liquid shimmer unlike anything you can imagine. (http://www.autogeek.net/wg5500.html)

You are going to need some grit guards for you buckets, quality wash and quality wash mitt.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

Welcome to AGO!

At this point, others are doing a pretty good job at suggesting specific products, my only input would be to get some knowledge on how those products work, especially if you're just starting out.

I think the best place to start is by watching the car care videos in the product guides archive on AGO with the link here:
Download free detailing handbook guides, how-to videos, free wallpapers, and free screensavers! (http://www.autogeek.net/auto-detailing-resource-center.html)

Good luck!

[roguerobot]

If you wanna keep it under $150, you can start with Meguirs Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish, and apply by hand. Then top with Ultimate Wax. This will cost you about $10 ea for Compount and Polish, and about $20 for Wax. So $40, and you can get it all at Wally World. (and here on AG)

Now, to really take these same products to the next level, you want to go the DA route. Right now you can get the PC7424xp deal on AG (http://www.autogeek.net/porter-cable-buffer-value-kit.html): you get 5 pads (orange for compound, white for polish, red for wax and a blue for All-in-Ones, plus two nice microfibers, plus the Porter-Cable Dual Action polisher, all for $149. Add this to the Ultimate products above, and you are set for a long time.

If you wanna go a bit cheaper on the products, you can instead go with an All-in-One...recommendations here generally suggest HD Speed (http://www.autogeek.net/3d-hd-speed.html), or perhaps GPS (http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-gps.html), and even Klasse (http://www.autogeek.net/klasseallinone.html).