Newb detailing advice

[PaulMys]

Welcome to AGO, William!

My wife has a JK Wrangler Sahara. (2-door as well).

In addition to the awesome advice from Mike and others, I would strongly suggest a 3" backing plate and pads to go with the 5" set up.

Wranglers have a ton of little "nooks & crannies" where the 3" set up is a must IMO.

[wrz0170]

Wow! What great advice and suggestions. Thank you!

To summarize with some questions:

It would appear that a G9 would be a great start with 3” & 5” backing plates.
6” Yellow Buff and Shine pads.

Regarding the BlackFire One Step with yellow pad. Will I need to do or use anything further than this AIO?

Re: the Jeep itself. My fenders and front grill are plastic. I can treat the light scratches and swirls as I would on the metal?

The “Wrangler” “Sahara” decals on the side. Do I protect them with some type of tape? Since the pads can be somewhat abrasive...

Based on advice, suggestions and wanting to adhere to KISS principal

>Rinse
>Wash using Wolfgang Uber or equivalent using two bucket and/or foam cannon.
>Dry
>Sonax Fallout or equivalent
>Claybar (haven’t researched which product or like a mitt or bar system)
>Blackfire One Step AIO using 6” Yellow pad and maybe 3” for hard to reach
>Pinnacle Black or equivalent for my black plastic bumpers, door handles, mirrors etc.
>Tire cleaner/Protectant.
>Sit back and admire with an adult beverage, preferably Bourbon.

William

[SWETM]

Wow! What great advice and suggestions. Thank you!

To summarize with some questions:

It would appear that a G9 would be a great start with 3” & 5” backing plates.
6” Yellow Buff and Shine pads.

Regarding the BlackFire One Step with yellow pad. Will I need to do or use anything further than this AIO?

Re: the Jeep itself. My fenders and front grill are plastic. I can treat the light scratches and swirls as I would on the metal?

The “Wrangler” “Sahara” decals on the side. Do I protect them with some type of tape? Since the pads can be somewhat abrasive...

Based on advice, suggestions and wanting to adhere to KISS principal

>Rinse
>Wash using Wolfgang Uber or equivalent using two bucket and/or foam cannon.
>Dry
>Sonax Fallout or equivalent
>Claybar (haven’t researched which product or like a mitt or bar system)
>Blackfire One Step AIO using 6” Yellow pad and maybe 3” for hard to reach
>Pinnacle Black or equivalent for my black plastic bumpers, door handles, mirrors etc.
>Tire cleaner/Protectant.
>Sit back and admire with an adult beverage, preferably Bourbon.

William

Sounds like a great plan!

When you are polishing painted plastic panels it's the heat build up that you need to be carefull with. Either polishing in smaller sections and varies the place where you do next section so you don't do it the next beside it. Know that the painted plastic fenders and bumpers can be on the thicker side. So usually it's not a problem. Feel the paint from time to time during the polishing passes. Sometimes you can polishing on larger sections to keep the heat build up lower. It depends much on how the panels and the polish and pads and polisher is acting. It's when you do a lot of passes per section and use a polish that don't have a long working time aka so it don't dries while you are polishing. The Blackfire One Step Finish is knowned for it's long working time and should help with holding down the temperature. So with what you are planning on to use I don't think you will have any problems with the heat build up and can treat it like the paint on the other panels. Just feel the paint so you are certain that's it's not going up to much. And what is too much? Hard to say exactly but if you would notice the BF AIO dries when you are polishing these panels it's definitely building up the heat. Do 1-2 lesser passes per sections if that's happens and maybe come back and do an extra section passes on it if you don't get the correction you wanted. It's going to be warm but you don't want it hot if that makes sense.

Fun times a head

/ Tony

[Mike Phillips]

Regarding the BlackFire One Step with yellow pad.

Will I need to do or use anything further than this AIO?

It's generally accepted that most one-step cleaner/waxes, or cleaner/sealants also called AIOs, protect or "last" for about 3 months on a daily driver parked outside.

The benefits are,

Ease of use - the BF One Step wipes off super easy.
Excellent correction and finishing ability
Dramaticallly less time needed - One step isn't just less time buffing but it's less time wiping.

But the drawbacks are, longevity. At least with most products. How long anything lasts ALWAYS depends on how the finish is "touched" after application. Park the car in a garage and leave it sit there and the product will last a long time. Wash your car with a brick and nothing is going to last. It's all about the word "touch".

What I do I apply a dedicated sealant over the paint after wiping off the BF One Step. A week ago, I used the new BLACKFIRE BlackIce Hybrid Liquid Wax.

Lots of options for a long lasting topper.

Or - once in a while, simply buzz over the major panels with the One Step again. It's about as fast and easy as it can get.

[wrz0170]

Great stuff! One other question re the factory decals. On the side panel where it has “Sahara” “Wrangler”. Will I need to protect them somehow or is it ok to gently go over them with the polisher/pad? Thank you!

William

[Mike Phillips]

Great stuff! One other question re the factory decals. On the side panel where it has “Sahara” “Wrangler”. Will I need to protect them somehow or is it ok to gently go over them with the polisher/pad? Thank you!

William

Probably wouldn’t hurt them with a light touch. I buff over glossy graphics all the time.

It’s the “tips” of any graphic or lettering that you have to be careful of - once the lift - its game-over. They will never lay down flat again.

I have an article on this somewhere.

[Mike Phillips]

Click this thread

Tips and techniques for using detailing clay


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