Technique # 1 contributed by Keman

Technique # 2 contributed by: Max W. Cottrell

Technique # 3 contributed By: Jack Tertadian

Technique # 4 Contributed by Gregg Couture (car detailer!) A recommended read before you do it yourself!!!

Technique #1

Contributed by Keman

When you wash your car, your prolly pulling the dirt out of microscratches... I guess it's about time for me to babble on about the kind of wax I use, it will pull out minor and major swirls. Takes about 8 hours from start to finish. Yeah, it's worth it.

Once a year is about all you need.

McGuires (however you spell it) Purple bottle.. 3 step process. Scrubber #1,

Polish #2, Yellow Carnuba Wax #3. DO NOT USE ANYTHING ELSE... don't use

cleaner wax, don't use turtlewax, don't use finish2000, (that is, if your

going to use any of the above three)... my point is, they all pick up where

the other left off. Don't do substitutions or mix'n match... and not buy #3

cuz you "allready have blue coral autofom wax, and dun wanna spend the 7

dollars on the Yellow #3)

#1: Scrub on as hard as you can, for as long as you can. You will get tired,

and you have to do the whole car... so start out nice and smooth, and drink

lots of water. Avoid direct sunlight, and make sure a good radio station is

playing. Your neighbors will start to observe you laboring away right about

now. The stuff goes on and leaves a "beaded up" water formation at first...

continue to scrub and it cuts through your existing wax like a hot samuri

sword through a cheap pad of margerine. Continue to rub (using an applicator

pad, most autostores sell packs of em for a couple bux, use one pad per job)

putting LOTS of stuff on... remember, this isn't wax. This is an extremely

fine buffing compound.. rub hard, into the paint. You'll feel things smooth

out and keep working to the next area on the car.

Wipe off with a towel.

#2: Put on like wax, only rubbing harder, this is the *really* crucial

process.. this stuff is going to really make you sweat putting on, as it's

the second "coat" on the car. The more time you spend here, the better your

paint will look... right about now your neighbors will start saying "I

thought he just waxed it..." KEEP GOING... remmeber, this is a ONE time shot

at making your paint kick ass.

Wipe off with a towel.

Guess what? #2 AGAIN... that's right. Re-Polish... don't press so hard this

time.. use as much as you want, it's easy to remove with a towel so don't

skip. That pad should be SOAKED with the stuff. Make sure you use a new pad

this time, as well however. Now your neighbors get out the lawn chairs and

start watching you, wondering what the fuck your doing.

Wipe off with a towel

Observe... that's right. That ultra-shiny surface aint done, it has NO WAX

on it at this point whatsoever. The polish you see, is the PAINT shining..

well, the clearcoat, but whatever, it's unprotected.

#3: Put on nice and smooth like any wax. You don't have to rub too hard

here.. this is NOT a cleaner wax. It has no abrasives or harsh chemicals.

Stuff's neat, smells like bananas and by now your hungry as fuck cuz you

should be going on about 6 hours... wax them intercooler ports! Avoid the

men in the white truck- your neighbors called em a few minutes beforehand,

something about you being crazy and waxing your car four times in a row.

Make sure you use a new pad for this step too.

Wipe off with a clean towel, flipping over frequently.

POOF... your car is now shiny enough to make most people go "Woah..." ... my

7 year old Stealth R/T shines better then most cars offa the lot do. Try

this stuff... trust me. It blows the doors off any other wax job out

there... had a friend with a black 95 Probe GT, well.. he believes me now.

[Top |Technique # 2 | Technique # 3]

Technique #2

contributed by: Max W. Cottrell

Once you have the paint / wax job the way you want it, here's a way to keep the paint slippery smooth all the time without having to rewax a lot. Plus, dirt just washes right off with water. Works in the winter too, if you have a heated garage.

1/2 cup (hand) dishwashing soap-use a mild soap.

1 cup Mequire's mirror glaze.

1/2 cup Black Magic (A Blue Coral product - contains teflon and is supposed to

repel dust. I use if for the great smell).

2 gallons _warm_ water.

When the soap/wax ratios are right, the wax will suspend in the water.

Wash the car with this formula. Be sure to rinse the car VERY well and hand dry it right after or you'll get water spots from the wax. I've been using this for a couple of years and have experimented with the ratios for a while.

[Top | Technique # 1 | Technique # 3]

Technique #3

Contributed By:

Jack Tertadian

Results count; I have learned from a master, whose previous-generation

red Mustang Cobra and Lightning truck are ALWAYS _PERFECT_. I am also

sometimes lazy :). He turned me on to the following, which used

properly DO it:

1) buy Sears 9" orbital buffer, the one with the locking button so it

stays on without holding the damn button down all the time, about

$50-60.

2) Meguiar's products to be used IN ORDER: Numbers 2, 9, 3, 26.

3) Put each product ON with a yellow foam disc on the buffer; REMOVE

each step with white terry-cloth discs (likely need two terry cloth

removers per product applied with one yellow foam bufferpad).

4) You can wash the yellow foam and terrycloth pads in clothes washer

after done, and reuse later.

5) Can use a lamb's wool or other such supersoft polisher after the #26

terrycloth cleanoff as final clean.

6) Can skip steps depending on how car is looking, but full boat is all

the above. If car is really rough may need to use a stronger product

than #2 which is the lightest of the cleaners (4 is rough cleaner, 1 is

medium, 2 is finest). 9 is polish with light cleaner; 3 is machine

polish; 26 is wax.

7) I'm sure there are a thousand other ways to do it, but my 88Honda

CRX looks like new using this, people comment about it alot (it is

black); may be other buffers etc but this works. This letter may well

bring out the car-detailing religious fanatics, beware. I just know

this works GREAT, take it for what it's worth.

8) Between buffings, I use either Meguiars's Quick Detailer spray and a

clean towel, or Dri-Wash.