Been learning a lot on this part of the Forum, wanted to ask for a bit of advice.

 

Have a flamenco red (deep red, almost burgundy) Mk 1 Fabia

 

Bought a year ago from franchise dealer - externally had been prepared well.

 

12 months, summer and a winter later - noticing light scratches, swirls, paint marring, water spots etc. etc.

 

There are a few deeper scratches and stone chips - have got paint, lacquer and paint sticks (and some IPA to clean before) from 'paints4u').  Need to do that first. 

 

I guess this is the real condition of the paintwork - I expect it had a valet / detail when Skoda place were flogging it, and they'll have filled / polished it etc.

 

I also (stupidly) used some old Turtle Wax 2-in-1 type stuff on it once when it was a bit filthy that I dug out of a cupboard.  have seen tips for getting that off on here.

 

Did have a little play on one panel with clay mitt, autoglym super resin polish and sealer.  Looks ok, but on close inspection can still see lots of imperfections 'underneath'

 

Fancy getting the turtle wax, contaminants etc etc off and making a 'fresh start'.

 

Don't really fancy getting involved with Feracla compound etc (neither the time, inclination or skill) - but do I have to if i want to have a proper 'base' for a good polish and seal?

 

Or would I be better 'filling' with black hole then sealing with that finish?

 

I'm thinking:

 

Strip off old wax etc with fairy liquid as per technique described on here

 

Wash / condition (Meguiars Gold Class)

 

Farecla Clay mitt (lubricating with cheapo detailer from Aldi)

 

Polish with Autoglym super resin polish (to maybe get rid of the lightest swirls etc)

 

Poorboys black hole

 

Sealant (Poorboys EX-P - or Sonax BSD?)

 

 

 

Missing anything / in the right order?

 

Any views welcome.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The faracla applicators ( white for appying polish and black for wax is what you need. Use some real polish , super resin polsh is not a true polish and has fillers. To do by hand after claying is time consuming but srp and black hole only mask the swirls not cure them . So do it right 1st time then wax then bsd. If you haven't a great deal of time do panal by panel instead of the whole car. Happy detailing

Good advice from Alan

However, rather than by hand, I would Machine polish it

Where are you?

Is there anyone nearby with a DA Polisher?

Always try to remove scratches and swirls rather than fill them, ......

......then Blackhole will enhance the paintwork rather than fill in imperfections for a wash or two, when they will wash out again

The faracla applicators ( white for appying polish and black for wax is what you need. Use some real polish , super resin polsh is not a true polish and has fillers. To do by hand after claying is time consuming but srp and black hole only mask the swirls not cure them . So do it right 1st time then wax then bsd. If you haven't a great deal of time do panal by panel instead of the whole car. Happy detailing

 

Thanks - that's a good idea to do it panel by panel (I'd struggle to justify spending a whole day on the car at the moment with the Chairman.)

 

Would you recommend collinite 845 as a wax?

What methods are you currently using to wash your car, as these may be the root cause or could have made things worse since you got it. There's little point bringing the paintwork back to pristine condition unless you use the correct method after?

If you are doing so already big mis on my part!

Good advice from Alan

However, rather than by hand, I would Machine polish it

Where are you?

Is there anyone nearby with a DA Polisher?

Always try to remove scratches and swirls rather than fill them, ......

......then Blackhole will enhance the paintwork rather than fill in imperfections for a wash or two, when they will wash out again

 

Thanks Chris.

 

Manchester (though I'm not a Manc.)

 

I always worry about breaking other people's stuff.

 

I seem to remember Costco (love costco) were doing a DA polisher.  (Might just have been an orbital one though)

 

As per Alan's advice, maybe I should do it properly and do it panel by panel, one an evening or whatever.

 

Collinite 845 is a good choice of wax?

 

Thanks again

What methods are you currently using to wash your car, as these may be the root cause or could have made things worse since you got it. There's little point bringing the paintwork back to pristine condition unless you use the correct method after?

If you are doing so already big mis on my part!

 

I've used the local drive through jetwash a couple of times (wife's used them for years, never seemed to have any damage on her car)

 

Otherwise doing it myself with microfibre mitts, rinsing carefully etc. etc. 

 

I think the most damage / problem was caused by using the turtlewax, which i think left odd patterns / water spots

 

I was planning on getting a pressure washer (Nilfisk) anyway, so might start using snowfoam etc  (loads of good advice on here)

 

Know what you mean though that if i spend time doing it properly then I don't want to start degrading the wax / putting scratches on straight away

 

Thanks

Sorry but I would challenge the anti-filler brigade.  I actually think products like Prima Amigo, Black Hole and Super Resin Polish are totally ideal for most daily drivers.  The reality is that cars doing a lot of miles will pick up swirling and other minor paint defects simply from living a full and productive non pampered non-garaged life style.  Poor wash technique will inflict swirls also but it is contrary to popular presentation not the only way cars paint accumulates defects.

 

I worry sometimes that people are constantly being bombarded with the message that the only solution in car care is to have 99% corrected paintwork.  The reality is that what most people want is a sustainable look on their cars of having near 100% corrected paint.

 

There are a huge number of great products out there that cleanse polish and fill paint and with only simple good technique hand application leave fantastic results.  True certain products will only last a week on their own, but even those don't wash away in one go when it rains, and beyond that it is very simple to top them with a good durable wax that will lock in the fillers for the stated lifetime of two coats of said wax, I expect 3 months to be very achievable.

 

Just to argue that there are always more than one way to look at these things.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, a well machine polished finish is something really very special and certain defects or heavily marred paint will require a machine to remove/restore.

And to answer your other question yes collinite 845 is a great wax. Easy to use in summer, it needs warming in winter, but expect good results in every way from it.

It out performs a lot of expensive waxes out there.

And to answer your other question yes collinite 845 is a great wax. Easy to use in summer, it needs warming in winter, but expect good results in every way from it.

It out performs a lot of expensive waxes out there.

 

Very good point there Carl, 845 is a great product.

 

Only caution is when using over a filler heavy product, most Collinite waxes are quite solvent heavy and can lift fillers.  In practice it has been mostly theory for me as when ever I have done this the result has been good, particularly where a sealant based product is used like SRP or Amigo and left to cure. 

No worries. Using the 2BM and a microfibre mit and good shampoo will certainly help, but if you've not got a mf mit yet the dooka sheepskin washpad is far better. There's loads of nilfisk fans on here including me and when you are ready for the snowfoam route the autobrite one gets the biggest thumbs up, plus if you get it as part of one of the detailing world group buys with some magifoam the lance isn't that more expensive than one off ebay.

As Alan says the farecla stuff is good, ChrisRS used the paint restorer on mine yesterday (though we did use DAs) and if you pop onto his sponsor thread in this section you can see for yourself what is possible.

Halfords have 3 for 2 on at the mo so you could get the renavator, scratch repairer plus something else (clay mit?) for 20 ish quid.

I'm still finding my feet too, but its surprising how much using the right stuff (or the wrong stuff) makes a difference.

Both are only an hour away from you too!

Good luck.

I get what your saying Mark but when a car has got to stage that its 'swirl city'..filling is simply not enough

For an every day kind of regime, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using glazes and AIO products to mask minor swirls.....I would recommend that too,

BUT

When paintwork gets bad....it needs correction ..that way there is base to work from for future swirl prevention and good wash technique

I get what your saying Mark but when a car has got to stage that its 'swirl city'..filling is simply not enough

For an every day kind of regime, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using glazes and AIO products to mask minor swirls.....I would recommend that too,

BUT

When paintwork gets bad....it needs correction ..that way there is base to work from for future swirl prevention and good wash technique

Totally agree and point well made Chris

Thanks for all the advice people.

 

Looking into it, while I'm sure it would yield the best results, the dual action polisher route requires kit, learning, skill and practice, and I don't have all the time in the world right now.

 

So i'm going to

 

Do it all a panel at a time

 

Strip off old wax from paintwork and out of chips with fairy liquid and IPA

 

Deal with chips and fingernail catching scratches with paint, lacquer and paintsticks

 

Edit - Feracla clay mitt! 

 

Feracla scratch remover for other deeper scratches

 

Feracla paint corrector using the black and white pads for swirls

 

Poorboys black hole

 

Collininite 845

 

Sonax BSD

 

(I'm assuming that if i'm using 'proper' polish I don't need to clay here - just clay during future 'maintenance' washes?

 

I might put up some before / after photos so you can have a good laugh

Edited 2 July, 201411 yr by teutonic

You need to clay.

 

The purpose is to clean the surface before polishing so you don't take a piece (or multiple pieces many times) of embedded hard contam and drag it across the paint whilst polishing thus inflicting more damage than you fix.

You need to clay.

 

The purpose is to clean the surface before polishing so you don't take a piece (or multiple pieces many times) of embedded hard contam and drag it across the paint whilst polishing thus inflicting more damage than you fix.

 

Ah I see.  So the abrasive in the polish wouldn't break down or hold those contaminants, you'd be grinding them into / across the surface

 

Good advice again, thanks.