Detailing Advice Please

[V8 OWL]

I plan to hand detail my tvr and I have bought the following products bilt hamber clay bar, Auto Glym Super resin Polish and DO DO Juice Prime Lime, finishing off with Poorboys Paste wax.
Hopefully the end result should look good.

However I'm new to detailing and not sure which I should use first after the clay procedure either the resin polish or prime lime? I guess they are both similar? but does anyone know the products well and can recommend which way round to use them?

Paul

[mneame]

V8 OWL said:

I plan to hand detail my tvr and I have bought the following products bilt hamber clay bar, Auto Glym Super resin Polish and DO DO Juice Prime Lime, finishing off with Poorboys Paste wax.
Hopefully the end result should look good.

However I'm new to detailing and not sure which I should use first after the clay procedure either the resin polish or prime lime? I guess they are both similar? but does anyone know the products well and can recommend which way round to use them?

Paul

Hi Paul,

After a good 2bm wash, clay the car and then 2bm wash again and dry. Then use the SRP. SRP has fillers which will help to hide some of the defects left in the paint. By then using the lime prime it will remove these fillers revealing the marks that had been filled. However you will then leave the paint perfectly prepped to apply the wax to.

My advice would be to spend more time with the SRP removing the defects and then go ahead with the LP. You will end up with a better bond of wax to paint and therefore better protection and the need to wax less often.

Try and get a couple of layers of wax on the car over a couple of weekends initially and then top up when required. Or get some Dodo Red Mist to use after washing. This will enhance gloss and help the wax last longer.

HTH,

Matt.

[PJ S]

SRP & DJ LP are effectively one and the same - so you've replicated a process if you used both.
One or t'other would be sufficient.

[mneame]

I thought that the LP was a prep / paint cleanser rather than a polish?

[PJ S]

LP Lite is - a glaze, but LP is DJ's version of SRP with trace glazing oils.
SRP would mask better, and both will work with a wax, but LP wouldn't be the optimal "undercoat" for sealants, whereas SRP is fine.

[st170dan]

PJ S said:

SRP & DJ LP are effectively one and the same - so you've replicated a process if you used both.
One or t'other would be sufficient.

i second that, no need to use both. in this case id prob use srp to mask what you cant polish out. srp has cleansing oil in it aswell iirc so will cleanse the paint aswell.

[aubrey9160]

can SRP be applied by machine.

[PJ S]

Yes, and can be quite effective, but not just as good as the more often mentioned polishes, on an absolute scale.

[aubrey9160]

When i did my TVR I was told that I only needed one or the other LP or SRP but if you use the LP first and find some swirls left go over it with SRP as it has better filling properties.It also easier to wax over SRP

[PJ S]

Wax isn't fussy, it'll happily sit on either, and dedicated glazes.
Sealants need the bare paintwork to cling on to for optimum durability, but can work with synthetic glazes like Black / White Hole, Prima Amigo, and so on.

Some waxes like Collinite will displace fillers, due to the solventy nature of its design, and Bilt Hamber Auto-balm wil too, but as BH AB has plenty of its own fillers, then it's not too much of s concern.

[V8 OWL]

Thanks for the help, after using the clay, followed by a wash I'll attack it with SRP for a couple of hours and see how it looks.

[RichB]

Bit of a thread resurection; I'm gearing up to give my Griff a proper clean and polish shortly and I have a Porter Cable polisher which I'll use. One question, would you bother to use a clay bar before using the PC with Sonus polishes because to my mind these will remove anything the clay bar would. Seems like an unecssary step?

[Johno]

RichB said:

Bit of a thread resurection; I'm gearing up to give my Griff a proper clean and polish shortly and I have a Porter Cable polisher which I'll use. One question, would you bother to use a clay bar before using the PC with Sonus polishes because to my mind these will remove anything the clay bar would. Seems like an unecssary step?

It would be unusual not to clay before machine polishing as it will remove contaminants into the clay, rather than onto your polishing pad which will then use them to mark your paint, repeatedly, in circles.

When you're machine polishing all you want to be working with is the painted surface, polish and pad. Anything else will effect the finish and the clay will help to remove those other contaminants.

[RichB]

Johno said:

It would be unusual not to clay before machine polishing as it will remove contaminants into the clay, rather than onto your polishing pad which will then use them to mark your paint, repeatedly, in circles.

When you're machine polishing all you want to be working with is the painted surface, polish and pad. Anything else will effect the finish and the clay will help to remove those other contaminants.

Got you... I like to understand why I'm doing things, makes sense now.

I was going to pay someone to "detail" it but on reflection it looks like about £750-£1,000 and I've got a big drive and the kit so I'll do it myself and spend the money on Optimax!

[RichB]

p.s. What do chaps use to polish the plastic lenses? Especially the Griffith headlamp fairings? I've read about detailers putting the machine on these but with what polish?

[Ironballs]

Have you used a machine polisher before? using them on Tivs takes a bit more care as the paint will heat up more quickly due to the lack of metal to conduct it away.

When detailing my Tiv (and the other cars) I've stuck with my cheap but effective Megs Clay/clean/polish/wax system. Does the trick very well and you can hide/remove minor blemishes

[RichB]

Yeah, I have a Porter Cable polisher which I have used (successfully ) a few times on the Tiv and my wife's Alfa. I was just looking for a few tips on stuff like the lenses before I get all the kit out again.