Bullitt Mustang

[autogeek69]

Mike, first, thank you for your assistance. I consider you THE expert on paint perfection presentation! I have a new 2019 Mustang Bullitt with the Dark Highland Green metallic paint. I plan to wash the vehicle as soon as it is warm enough and then use Pinnacle Paint Cleanser then Pinnacle Liquid Souveran. My questions are what color pad should I use to apply the paint cleanser. The paint is in excellent shape, near new and I do not want to chance putting any unintentional swirls in the paint. I have a stock pile of white, red, blue and gold pads. Would white be too aggressive. I realize it is very light cutting but I want to keep this paint as perfect as can be for as long as possible. That is why I mentioned using red, blue, gold, etc. Also what speed should I use on the Porter Cable.

After wiping off the paint cleanser what color pad do you recommend for the application of liquid souveran and again, what speed. Is there any prep of the pads to ensure I am not using a dry pad which may possibly induce a swirl in this new metallic paint.

The car will be a daily driver in the spring through fall and sit out in the day time and garaged at night. I have considered the ceramic applications but want the best shine and am hesitant to use this newer technology.

I realize that any aggressive pad, even though light, is still removing clear coat/paint and want to minimize. I will follow up with weekly Pinnacle spray wax and Crystal Mist Carnuba detail sprays.

Any other thoughts or suggestions are, of course, greatly appreciated, as you are the man!

Thank you for your time and information.

Best

Lt. Frank Bullitt, SFPD

[autogeek69]

Bump for Mike Phillips; how cani best ensure I do not scratch paint with a dry pad. Would it help to spray detail mist or clay lubricant on pad before use. Does coating the pad with paint cleanser or liquid wax beneficial?

[autogeek69]

bump for mike phillips; how cani best ensure i do not scratch paint with a dry pad. Would it help to spray detail mist or clay lubricant on pad before use. Does coating the pad with paint cleanser or liquid wax beneficial?

bump for mike phillips or others knowledgeable

[Dr Oldz]

First let’s clarify exactly what pads you have. (Brand and type) Unfortunately there are no industry standards for pad colors and we wouldn’t want to steer you in the wrong direction.

Also assume you mean the Porter Cable 7424??

[Billy Baldone]

Use a black or red pad. Speed 3. Cover the whole pad in sealant.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Frank,

I'm so sorry that I missed your post. When you posted this,

February 19th, 2020 at 5:20pm,

This was the Wednesday before my first big 3-day class for this year. The days leading up to any of my classes means I tend to be a tick busy in the garage either setting up for the class OR meeting local people an getting their cars parked into the garage. Here's a thread I created the next day after your post.

Packed like sardines in a sardine can!





Luckily, a co-worker spotted your thread and that I had not responded and alerted me.

Mike, first, thank you for your assistance. I consider you THE expert on paint perfection presentation!

Thank you! That's quite the compliment. I appreciate it. I've invested my entire life now helping others to remove swirls and create a show car finish - as weird as that can be.

I have a new 2019 Mustang Bullitt with the Dark Highland Green metallic paint. I plan to wash the vehicle as soon as it is warm enough and then use Pinnacle Paint Cleanser then Pinnacle Liquid Souveran. My questions are what color pad should I use to apply the paint cleanser.

The paint is in excellent shape, near new and I do not want to chance putting any unintentional swirls in the paint. I have a stock pile of white, red, blue and gold pads.

Would white be too aggressive. I realize it is very light cutting but I want to keep this paint as perfect as can be for as long as possible.

That is why I mentioned using red, blue, gold, etc.

Good question. You've probably already detailed the Mustang, but if by chance you have not, or moving into the future, I'll answer you below.

First - A paint cleaner offers no correction ability. If you're going to use a paint cleaner, then use it with a super soft foam pad. In your instance, I'm assuming you're referencing Lake Country foam pads, if so the red, blue and gold would all work.

I would only use the white "polishing" pads AFTER doing a Test Spot to make sure the pad itself doesn't mar the paint. This can happen of softer paints.



Moving into the future....

For all the work it takes to apply a paint cleaner and get very little out of your time, hard work and energy, I would recommend using a fine cut polish. A fine cut polish like the Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish will not only do EVERYTHING a paint cleaner will do and do it better - it will also remove fine swirls and scratches. Thus a fine cut polish will do MORE to make your paint absolutely perfect than just a paint cleaner.

That's how I would invest my time and energy. I rarely if ever use a paint cleaner for the reasons listed above. This is especially true if a use detailing clay. My rule for buffing out a car is if I'm going to use detailing clay or ANY other clay type product, then I'm already factoring in doing at least ONE machine polishing step to remove any potential marring inflicted by the claying step.

Make sense?


Here's my article on paint cleaners....

A paint cleaner is an either/or product - The difference between a paint cleaner and a paint polish by Mike Phillips

Also what speed should I use on the Porter Cable.

When using a non-abrasive paint cleaner like the Pinnacle Paint Cleansing Lotion, I'd recommend the 5 speed setting. With the Porter Cable, using the 5 speed setting you'll get JUST A LITTLE pad rotation and that's all you want and need. Buzzing the tool up to speed 6 will work but again, I would be cautious about marring the paint if using a polishing pad and the paint is soft. So play it safe. Plus - the paint cleaner is going to work just as good to gently clean the surface at a low pad rotation rate like you would get via hand applying.

After wiping off the paint cleanser what color pad do you recommend for the application of liquid Souveran and again, what speed. Is there any prep of the pads to ensure I am not using a dry pad which may possibly induce a swirl in this new metallic paint.

Same as applying the paint cleaner. The Pinnacle Liquid Souveran is a NON-CLEANING wax. All it does is protect. So you don't want or need high speed. A super soft foam pad for waxing is best and minimum pad rotation will be find.


Let's go deep....

When applying a non-cleaning wax to paint in perfect condition - you don't NEED pad rotation with a tool like a Porter Cable random orbital polisher. BUT a little pad rotation HELPS the pad to glide over the paint better than zero pad rotation. So the pad rotation is not a needed function as it relates to the paint but to make the experience for YOU more pleasant and easier when moving the polisher over a body panel.

Make sense?


You would love one of my car detailing classes - I cover all these questions you're asking and so much more.

The car will be a daily driver in the spring through fall and sit out in the day time and garaged at night. I have considered the ceramic applications but want the best shine and am hesitant to use this newer technology.

I realize that any aggressive pad, even though light, is still removing clear coat/paint and want to minimize. I will follow up with weekly Pinnacle spray wax and Crystal Mist Carnauba detail sprays.

Any other thoughts or suggestions are, of course, greatly appreciated, as you are the man!

Thank you for your time and information.

Best

Lt. Frank Bullitt, SFPD

IF you want to CLEAN the paint and WAX it at the same time, get a bottle of the Pinnacle Jeweling Wax. It's super safe yet will do more than a paint cleaner and leave your car wax. Face it, even if you're the best detailer in the world, you're still going to put minor swirls and scratches into the paint via normal wear-n-tear.

The Pinnacle Jeweling Wax will fix all of that.

Here's the link to a review I did for the RUPES BigFoot 21 Mark III polisher when it first came out.

Review: RUPES Mark III BigFoot 21 Polisher by Mike Phillips


I used the Pinnacle Jeweling Wax on the Lipstick Red 2016 Corvette Stingray you'll see in the review. Here's the thing... that car sat in our garage for a little over a week as we shot some videos using it for technique demonstrations, you'll see it in a lot of the most recent Pinnacle videos.

The entire time it was in the garage - everyone that visited Autogeek and passed through the garage kept asking me the same question about the finish on the Corvette,


What ceramic coating did you use?


And that's the thing - I DIDN'T use a ceramic coating - I used a one-step cleaner/wax.

Pinnacle jeweling wax at its core is a one-step cleaner/wax. Check out the finish on this old 2-door Chevy,













So I hope the above helps in some way moving forward and congratulations on you way-cool Bullet Mustang!

[autogeek69]

Thank you Mike. Your response was truly worth the wait. I wanted to use the liquid Souveragn because I believe it will last longer than the jeweling wax as far as protection goes.

Finally, would it help to spray the pads with clay lubricant or detail spray before applying the jeweling wax or any other product to reduce potential scratches/swirls etc induced by the rotating pad? Again, thank you.

Best

Lt. Frank Bullitt, SFPD Homicide (per the movie line)

[Mike Phillips]

Thank you Mike. Your response was truly worth the wait.

Now that's rewarding.

I wanted to use the liquid Souveran because I believe it will last longer than the jeweling wax as far as protection goes.

That's technically correct. The Pinnacle Liquid Souveran has ZERO correction ability though. So to start with the Pinnacle Jeweling Wax followed by the Souveran would net the best results and my guess is a perfect show car finish.

Finally, would it help to spray the pads with clay lubricant or detail spray before applying the jeweling wax or any other product to reduce potential scratches/swirls etc induced by the rotating pad?

No. First - waxes and sealants are water in-soluble. So getting your foam pads with with anything that has water would be counter intuitive. Plus waxes and sealants are by their nature slippery, you don't need to make a soft foam buffing pad MORE slippery when using these types of products.

Just use a soft foam polishing, finishing or waxing pad and you'll get great results with no marring using these products.

Again, thank you.

Best

Lt. Frank Bullitt, SFPD Homicide (per the movie line)

And again - thank you for your patience.