Yep, you know you have The MINI Bug when the first five items on your Christmas wish list are all MC-related.


BTW, skitelluride531, I was remiss in not telling you in my previous post how great your MINI looks !! I can't recall seeing any car more shiny than that appears in your pics. Impressive !

 

Still need to barrow mine this weekend? Call me after work if you do...

 

Finding answers to these questions is as simple as going to the NAM store

http://store.northamericanmotoring.c...t=0&bestseller

The numbers are just a part number.

#80 refers to Speed Glaze which is the most commonly used polish/paint cleaner in the Meguiar's line.

#83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish (DACP) is about twice as aggressive as #80--the numbers are meaningless--they are just numbers much like a name is.

Sometimes the # sign is replaced with an M as in M80. It refers to the same thing--M actually stands for Mirror Glaze--the product line name for the professional polishes.

There's also #82 which is half as aggressive as #80 and then there is #84 which is the most coarse and it's even used with a PC.

As far as anyone should be concerned with the PC--#80, #83, #82 are all you need. Get a PC, and get #80 and you will be all set.

Some people may suggest Swirl Remover 2.0 which is similar to #82.

If you don't use the Meguiar's professional products, there are similar choices in the off the shelf products, but no actual equivalents. Best to start with the Pro products if you ask me.

Richard

 

sharp looking ride man... closest thing to a mirror

 

holy crap! that looks awesome.. how long did it take?

 

Really nice detail--I forgot to mention in my last reply.

Can you tell us more about your use of #21 and Tech Wax? What was the reasoning behind this, and what order?

Thanks!

Richard

 

How bad (read: how deep and how many) are your swirls and on what color paint?

In all likelihood, Prima Swirl will do the trick to remove your swirls (hence the name). It's not a filler, so you would be physically removing the swirls instead of just filling them as some products do. The Swirl with the orange pad (Lake Country system) can do wonders for swirl removal.

If the swirls are super, super fine and few, then you may be able to get away with the Prima Finish instead. Finish is also a true abrasive but it's extremely light. It's nice for paint "you think is perfect" until you start working on it. It'll get all that really fine, surface stuff out.

The Prima line doesn't use numbers... just descriptive words to help you figure out what you need to do.

-Heather

 

Thanks for all the help Richard and Heather. Now my last question, best deal with the porter cable, pads, and waxes I need. I know what your answer is Heather and I hear great reviews about detailers paradise, just want to hear other peoples opinions. Sorry Connor for turning this thread into a different topic. Your mini still looks great. I would like some input from you to if you have a moment. Thanks

 

Wow! Lots of responses here guys! Thanks for all the compliments! To respond to a few of the comments:


I think Octane Guy might have already answered this, but yes...I did use a more agressive polish on the areas that needed it.



Well, the main purpose of the Showcar glaze is the bring out the color more (it works really well, especially on darker paint colors). The glaze really does not have much of any other purpose besides that. As far as I know, it does not offer any sort of protection for the paint, and since it is non-abrasive, it does nothing to remove swirls (although it may help fill or hide whatever swirls still remain).

As for the wax, sealant, and carnauba madness...scroll down a bit in this post as I think I may answer your question in the next reply.

Thanks! On the boot of the MINI, I applied two coats of tech wax followed by two coats of #21, with P21S on top (simply because I like the way it makes the paint look). I decided to apply more layers on the boot simply because I wanted to see if this would help keep the MINIs boot clean for a longer period of time. From what I can tell, it seems to have helped a little bit.

On the rest of the car, I did one coat of NXT, followed by two layers of #21. I also topped it with the P21S.

Although you do make a good point. Honestly, I am not too worried about it though. I just am used to doing it since I have to when I post pictures of other people's cars on my website.



No fair! you get cooler smilies than I do. Haha...but seriously, where are you finding those? I can't seem to locate them in the "Smilie" box.

Like others have already said, the Porter Cable works great on getting rid of swirls (assuming you use the correct products). It is also great for quickly and effectively applying a thin coat of wax or sealant to the paint. It is very easy to use, and would highly recommend purchasing Octane Guy's Corvette Porter Cable video to correctly learn how to use it!

Well, I did the majority of the polishing on Saturday, and then applied one coat of wax that night. But the next day I had to get up early to do some detailing. When I got back, I rewashed the MINI and then applied the rest of the wax and the sealant ect. ect. I would say I spent between 8-9 hours on it total though.



Hey Peter! Although I have heard great things about the products from Detailer's Paradise, I have not had a personal use with the products they sell. I would love to try the prime lineup, but currently meguiars is working well for me, and well...I always felt that I don't need to fix something if it isn't broken. But one of these days I will get around to trying it.


I personally order all of my detailing equipment from www.autodetailingsolutions.com They have the best prices on the web for Meguiars products that I have seen.

 

nice job!

 

The actual site is actually www.autodetailingsolutions.com Oops!

 

Car looks fantastic Connor, well done!

FWIW to the people who are interested in the PorterCable random orbital polisher (from Griots or anywhere else), I have the Griots DVD and OctaneGuy's DVD on how to use it. I learned next to nothing from the Griots DVD and I'm pissed I actually had to pay for it. OctaneGuy's DVD on the other hand took me from n00b status who knew nothing about detailing cars to an intermediate detailer level in easy to understand and follow steps. All the helpful people in this forum are filling in all the gaps in knowledge that remain. I'm still working on experience and practice to truly be at an intermediate level though.

 

Call them, I am sure they will fix that for you.

 

that's perfect !