First Self Detailing Job

[LA370z]

Please be kind since this is the first time that I have ever gone this deep into detailing on my own before.

I'm working on a 2014 370Z. No major scratches, no swirls or paint imperfections. I've also watched ALL of Jumkman's videos (great stuff) on detailing along with some others as well.

With that being said, I do plan on using clay bar since the paint is not smooth as it should be. The car already shines but would anyone here that knows way more than I do suggest on polishing the car anyways? Or by polishing would it actually get my paint to look even more deeper than it already does?

Sorry for the noob question but I figured on asking instead of just guessing on my own.

Here is what it looks like now.

[JARblue]

If you have watched Junkman's videos, then you should know that there is no reason to polish the car if there is no reason to polish the car. If you're trying to get out scratches or etchings in the paint, those are good reasons to polish.

There is no harm in clay barring. I do it every time I wax

[LA370z]

Only reason that polishing came to mind is "if" I could get even a deeper shine out of it I would do it. Appreciate it.

[JARblue]

Originally Posted by LA370z

Only reason that polishing came to mind is "if" I could get even a deeper shine out of it I would do it. Appreciate it.

You're going to get the deepest shine possible out of a clear coat that has zero imperfections. So if there's nothing to fix, then you're not going to get any benefit from polishing. In fact, it is just the opposite, as you are thinning the clear coat layer every time you polish.

Try layering different products for maximum shine. I would try a glaze layered with a show wax (neither will last very long). There are a billion products out there, and opinions are all over the place.

[LA370z]

Which is the reason why I had asked because as you see I was very unsure of it. Thanks for the answer and help!

[burntz]

I'll jump in here, rather than start a new thread...

I have a 3 month old MB Z that i am about to do this exact thing to; polish with m205 to go for a show car shine because(1) "everything's shiny Capt'n" is my favorite quote and (2) I just bought a new RO polisher / pads / compounds and cleaned up my wife's 2011 dark blue Prius to get top $ trade on a new Subaru Forester, when I was done ( and I to watched all the Junkman's excellent videos!) it was a gorgeous blue ( just ignore the Prius part) it really outshined my Z, which is new/ flawless paint , clayed, with 2 layers of Meguirs Ultimate paint sealant and a layer of good carnuba wax to boot.

so I'll be testing this theory out v soon and will report back, the Z; under my bear flashlight's beam(a Cree 3 led light I scan the backyard/ woods with at night before letting the mutts(pugs) out ever since letting them out one night while Yogi bear was emptying our bird feeders of tasty sunflower seeds) beam I can read newspaper print in, but can see the faintest spread out orange peel type pattern across the clear coat which (I think/ hope) will polish out and if I get the same results as the blue on the Prius shined up to I'll do the chubby checker dance like junkman, just not on my hood.

[LA370z]

I completed my detail over this past weekend. Took about 10 hours total time to complete the task (everything done by hand, which I will use a machine polisher next time since I'm too old to be doing this stuff the hard way now).

I used the following;

Mother's Clay Bar Kit:
(I had never heard of this until I joined this site, what a difference it makes).

Meguiars Ultimate Polish:
(Found some areas that I did need to polish which most of them were just lite imperfections which it worked great on. Very deep shine and easy product to use).

Mothers California Gold Pure Brazilian Carnauba Wax Paste:
(Easy to use wax. Went on and buffed out very easily).

I loved the results that I gotten out of the amount of work that I had put into it. Like I stated it would had been so much easier if I had used a machine polisher but over all great results for the first time ever doing this process on my own.

[burntz]

Reflections :-)

Pics of super shiny silver Z?

[Totally unrelated pic of my just installed rudder / tiller on the sailboat I'm making]

[Car-ry]

Originally Posted by LA370z

I completed my detail over this past weekend. Took about 10 hours total time to complete the task (everything done by hand, which I will use a machine polisher next time since I'm too old to be doing this stuff the hard way now).

I used the following;

Mother's Clay Bar Kit:
(I had never heard of this until I joined this site, what a difference it makes).

Meguiars Ultimate Polish:
(Found some areas that I did need to polish which most of them were just lite imperfections which it worked great on. Very deep shine and easy product to use).

Mothers California Gold Pure Brazilian Carnauba Wax Paste:
(Easy to use wax. Went on and buffed out very easily).

I loved the results that I gotten out of the amount of work that I had put into it. Like I stated it would had been so much easier if I had used a machine polisher but over all great results for the first time ever doing this process on my own.

Can these products remove scuff marks?

[LA370z]

If the scuff marks aren't deep then the polish will remove them.

[kenchan]

if there's no swirls and maybe light hazing, i would claybar and use a glaze instead of polishing. no need to thin the clear for light haze.

i use PrimaAmigo

[burntz]

I did the horizontal bits on my 4 month old Z this week after a super thorough washing (didn't clay as it felt very smooth) took 2 hours with a PorterCable(7346, Junkman recommends the 45 but it was on sale) and 6" hex pads (ZFE hexlogic orange and white off amazon, 7day delivery from China) and Meguirs 205 (plus 1/2 hour to wash and a 1/2 hour to re wax =3 hours before driven indoors by f---ing mosquitos!)
Super shiny!
It was factory shiny plus 2 coats Meguirs ultimate polish topped with a layer of carnuba already but the mirror clarity (reading labels in the reflection) definitely improved

Will do the sides with the next bath!

And then keep it protected with M ultra-polish 2+ times per year and carnuba every ~6 weeks (my 350z Lemans Sunset (the gold/orangey color) lasted 10.5 years and looked nearly new when I sold it which tricked the trade in folks because they didn't notice the engine rebuild after ventilating the oil pan with connecting rod bits due to a poorly tuned turbo (blew up at 140 down the back stretch of Sebring)

(TLDR watch the junkman videos and send him rep)

[kenchan]

just a note, my z only use the wax in Griot's Speedshine. she is beautiful.
best detailing technique is to keep the car out of the sun and dont get her dirty or swirled to begin with.

im sure it's fun, but u really dont need all that stuff a lot of folks use on their panels to keep the car looking nice.

[vividracing]

To echo what others have said, claybar is a great idea to use and DEFINITELY layer wax in order to achieve more depth. I always used Zaino products on my 350Z and LOVED the amount of depth it gave the paint.

-Seth

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by vividracing

... Try layering different products for maximum shine. I would try a glaze layered with a show wax (neither will last very long). There are a billion products out there, and opinions are all over the place.

NO.

Anyone who has watched my videos and paid attention KNOWS that I preach POLISH = SHINE, WAX = PROTECTION. Layering different products is the exact thing that will REDUCE the amount of shine in your paint IF your paint is perfect to begin with.

To the OP, this is something that I preach over and over again in my videos and is why I tell people to watch them MORE THAN ONCE so that they don't miss or misunderstand anything that I say. It sounds like you need to revisit those videos because this should not be a question that you have after watching them, especially given the fact that I repeat myself like a hundred times already (which some people don't like but this situation is exactly why I do).

If you are not satisfied with the amount of shine in your paint, there can only be two reasons. Your paint has damage in it, which will greatly reduce the amount of shine or your paint has oxidation on it, which will also reduce the amount of shine. POLISHING is what takes care of both of these issues. Right now, you are taking a simple process and trying to make it rocket science. It's not that complicated. Have a method/reason to your madness. I give all the answers in my videos as to resolving every paint issue that you may have.

Originally Posted by vividracing

To echo what others have said, claybar is a great idea to use and DEFINITELY layer wax in order to achieve more depth. I always used Zaino products on my 350Z and LOVED the amount of depth it gave the paint.

-Seth

Depending on the Zaino product that you used (and I'm going to assume Z2 and Z5), they are NOT traditional polishes like the ones I use in my videos. They are more like glazes because they have FILLING characteristics. That's why the more you use, the better your paint looks. Those products don't REMOVE paint damage, they hide it. You would have to use a product like Z-AIO in order to compare a Zaino product to what I show and use. You could get even better results by removing the damage in your paint instead of covering it up. Fixing the damage will give you much more pop.

Here are two pictures of my car. The first is with Zaino covering the paint damage and the second is with NOTHING on the paint AT ALL. The difference is, I REMOVED all of the paint damage using a compound and a polish to get the look you see in the second picture. Other than that, the paint in the second picture is BUTT NAKED. No wax at all.

The same goes for the Camry in the video. NO WAX OR ANYTHING AT ALL.