Single stage paint polish

M

moosport

New member
I have a car with single stage paint. What products should I use to bring the paint back to its previous glory? I had tried using the Meguiar 3 step products. Cleanse, polish and wax. But it is not good enough..



Is there instructions on how to care for the paint? The 11 year old car is parked in the garage most of the time. Do I need a PC to achieve results or a simple orbital polisher sufficient?
 
PC is better, but your OTC-type orbital will probably suffice if it has to. Removing oxidized single stage paint isn't usually very difficult.
 
Depends on the paint...ss white is very hard, ss black is very soft, ss red tends to fade something awful. Unless it's white, you should be OK without buying a PC (I cared for ss for many years working entirely by hand).



The clean/polish/protect regimen will still work, you just need something stronger than Deep Crystal #1 for the initial work. You can do better than the Deep Crystal #2 and #3 too. Not bad stuff, just not all that great either.



For ss, I generally like Meguiar's #80 for a mild polish (what Meguiar's calls a "cleaner"). I'll top this with one of their "pure polishes" (e.g., #3/#5/#7/#81/Deep Crystal #2) if I think it could add something then I finish up with a carnauba as opposed to a sealant. I always recommend Collinite waxes, but Meg's #26 is nice too, just not as durable.



Oh, and welcome to Autopia, moosport!
 
I use the cleaner wax, followed by Deep Crystal System Polish and finish it with Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax.



I see the website has the professional paint cleaners/compound, polishers and waxes. Are these much better products?
 
moosport said:
I use the cleaner wax, followed by Deep Crystal System Polish and finish it with Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax.



I see the website has the professional paint cleaners/compound, polishers and waxes. Are these much better products?
Click to expand...



I wouldn't so much say that they're "better" but rather that they have different capabilities and cover a wider range of applications. You do have to be a bit more careful about how you use some of them (whereas the consumer level stuff is almost idiot-proof).



Here's an example where you *don't* have to be more careful but might find something you like better- there are four "pro" products that are *VERY* similar to your DC #2 polish, all subtly different- #3 (works fine by hand too)/ #5(*VERY* user-friendly!)/#7 (not as user-friendly, but the best looking of them all)/#81 (pretty user friendly, the closest to DC#2).



Similarly, you could try one of the pro waxes/sealants instead of the DC #3, you'd probably get much better durability and you might notice a better look too. Here I *would* say the pro stuff is better. Ditto for their interior/exterior vinyl/leather/etc. products and their shampoos (the only Meg's shampoos I like are #00 and #62).



Where you do have to be careful is with the products that contain abrasives (Meg's would say "cleaners"). Instead of the cleaner wax, you could try #80. Do a little research here about how to use it.



No real need to be leery about trying the pro stuff; I first learned about them from my mother and her sister, who'd used them since forever (they remembered when #16 first came out in the '50s).



BTW/FWIW, I too used a regimen similar to what you're doing now on single stage cars back in the day. You could do worse...but I bet you'd like switching to the pro line, I know I did.
 
Accumulator said:
I wouldn't so much say that they're "better" but rather that they have different capabilities and cover a wider range of applications. You do have to be a bit more careful about how you use some of them (whereas the consumer level stuff is almost idiot-proof).



Here's an example where you *don't* have to be more careful but might find something you like better- there are four "pro" products that are *VERY* similar to your DC #2 polish, all subtly different- #3 (works fine by hand too)/ #5(*VERY* user-friendly!)/#7 (not as user-friendly, but the best looking of them all)/#81 (pretty user friendly, the closest to DC#2).



Similarly, you could try one of the pro waxes/sealants instead of the DC #3, you'd probably get much better durability and you might notice a better look too. Here I *would* say the pro stuff is better. Ditto for their interior/exterior vinyl/leather/etc. products and their shampoos (the only Meg's shampoos I like are #00 and #62).



Where you do have to be careful is with the products that contain abrasives (Meg's would say "cleaners"). Instead of the cleaner wax, you could try #80. Do a little research here about how to use it.



No real need to be leery about trying the pro stuff; I first learned about them from my mother and her sister, who'd used them since forever (they remembered when #16 first came out in the '50s).



BTW/FWIW, I too used a regimen similar to what you're doing now on single stage cars back in the day. You could do worse...but I bet you'd like switching to the pro line, I know I did.
Click to expand...





How can I reference the numbers you mentioned in your reply? I can't find those products on Meguiars website. I understand what DC #3 means but not #80 or #16 etc.
 
Sorry, didn't mean to be inscrutable..actually I thought the numbers would make it *easier* :o





Here are the names I remember, but note that they change these names from time to time and I'm kinda old-school when it comes to this sort of thing:



#3 Machine Glaze (?Machine Polish?)

#5 New Car Glaze

#7 Showcar Glaze (?Showcar Polish?), use to be "Sealer and Reseal Glaze"

#9 Swirlmark Remover

#82 Hand Polish

#80 Speed Glaze (not a glaze though, they're goofy with their names IMO)

#16 Professional Paste Wax

#26 ???something??? (maybe Hi-Tech) Paste Wax

#66 Speed Detailer ( a great cleaner-wax with good, but mild, abrasives, but only available in gallons IIRC)



Those are the ones you might want to look into at present IMO.
 
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