2013 Challenger prep?????

Mike Phillips · 12-31-2012, 10:00 AM

I share some info on marring when wiping black paint in this article,

Hologram Free with a Rotary Buffer

Actually share a few pictures too...

Next I wiped the panel down with IPA at 12.5%. Note when I wiped the panel down both with MS and IPA I dragged the panel into the shade first.

Now you can see some light marring, but that's because IPA isn't a very good lubricant, in fact it's a horrible lubricant. I think of all the people that have been told by others to wipe their car down with IPA before going to the next step and it's pretty easy to understand that when they did this they likely marred their car's paint and this is called working backwards. It's also likely that if the people taking this advice were working on light to medium colored cars they never saw the marring.

I actually don't even enjoy getting this anal retentive on forums on the topic of car detailing but a segment of the personality types that make up detailing discussion forums demands it.

**Ron Meadows** · 12-31-2012, 10:16 AM

Thanks Mike. I think that the easiest thing in the long run for me is to just buy the Optimum polishes and go that route. I don't want to work for a few days getting the car perfect and then undo it with a wipe down of some sort. Which products to do you recommend and with what pads?

Thanks so much for your help

Mike Phillips · 12-31-2012, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Ron Meadows

Thanks Mike. I think that the easiest thing in the long run for me is to just buy the Optimum polishes and go that route. I don't want to work for a few days getting the car perfect and then undo it with a wipe down of some sort. Which products to do you recommend and with what pads?

Thanks so much for your help

I like all the Optimum products, Dr. David Ghodoussi is a very good chemist in my opinion.

For what you're trying to do you can probably get away with the Optimum Polish and Optimum Finish like I show in this thread...

Bumblebee - Testing out the NEW DeWALT DWP849X

New Optimum products and Constant Contact foam pads and the Flex PE14

Optimum Polymer Technologies: Advanced Polymer Technology is in every Optimum Car Care Product. opt car care, optimum car wax, optimum car wash,

**mg6045** · 12-31-2012, 10:31 AM

These optimum polish's are the best offering from them IME,

Optimum Polish is a swirl remover, finishing polish & paint cleaner in one for the optimum shine! swirl remover polish, fine grade polish, final

Optimum Hyper Polish Spray, Optimum spray polish, hyper spray polish, Optimum car polishes

Optimum Finish Polish 8 oz., car polish, finishing polish, final polish, black car polish

If you cut/compound the paint with the Meg's polish's you can thoroughly wipe the car down (because Meg's I believe is solvent based) then finish with Optimum polish's.

All three of the products I posted most every time finish amazingly well on OEM paint. I personally think the Optimum Polish II is the most universal polish from OPT.

Now another GREAT option, which is the cheapest way to go would be to buy CarPro eraser to do your final wipe down instead of IPA. This product works really well and most professionals use this before applying opti-coat. So its proven that CarPro eraser cleans the paint thoroughly enough for the OptiCoat application. It works far better than IPA and wipe off is smooth and effortless. No need to bear down on the paint to remove it like IPA.

CarPro Eraser Intense Oil & Polish Cleanser, IPA, paint cleaner, polish remover, wax remover

For final polishing I much prefer Menzerna products like the Wolfgang finishing glaze. Works incredible and is a joy to use. very easy buffing and wipeoff.

The truth of the matter is that you have all the products you need to complete this job without buying anything else according to your list you posted. I would simply add the carpro eraser to replace using IPA. You dont need to buy another slew of polishing product to be honest.

Mike Phillips · 12-31-2012, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by mg6045

You dont need to buy another slew of polishing product to be honest.

That's another option and Erasure definitely wipes better than IPA and smells good too...

**Ron Meadows** · 12-31-2012, 11:46 AM

Thanks so much for the help guys. I think that I'll order up the Carpro Eraser and go with what I've already bought. Looks like we may end up buying a new Dodge Durango today so I'll be having 2 vehicles to protect instead of one. The wife's new one will probably be the first one pulled into the garage as well since it will be her daily driver.