I'm staying at a friends house for a few days while I'm trapped at my Demob site (no Mini ) To keep from going insane I'm going to wash my wife's truck and our friends. I don't have time to wait for internet delivery so I guess I'm looking at getting something Autozone or O'Reilly's locally. What are the best products say for a wash and a quick or spay wax? Both cars are in pretty rough shape so other easy products (still injured so kinda limited in how much I can do) suggestion would be appreciated.

Cheers...

 

For quick and simple - I'd get Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo and just use ICE to get good results (although not long lasting), but at least till you recover from your injury and can do a full detail!

 

Yeah if you gotta go store-bought, IMHO, I say stay within Meguiars

 

Agreed, however DO NOT BUY their Spray-On Quik Wax. Oh my god, the horror.

But I had to get some stuff from OSH when I was in the mountains, and I got Meguiar's Soft Wash, the evil spray-on wax (never again!), and some window cleaner. It works out okay for the 3 or 4 day stretches I spend at the cabin.

 

Yeah, been pretty happy with the Meg's stuff I've been using so far. Two of the vehicles are not too bad (dirty and probably could use a good clay) so wash, clay, wax should be ok - just some chips / scratches that I'm not going to worry about. The third car here is an old Monte Carlo that's in pretty rough shape. It has an area of what I'd call oxidation - rough texture with a milkiness to the colour (if that makes sense). Is there anything I can do for it short of the aggresive machine type stuff (or repaint)? If not, should I bother with wax or clay or just give it a bath and call it a day.

 

The old Monte likely has single-stage paint and is "chalking". There is a product called Color Back, sold at most auto-type stores which will help some. Use expendable cloths/ rags with this as a lot of the color will transfer to the cloth. Follow up with a good wax and it will look good, for a while. Since the paint has already degraded to the point of texture change, the only real fix is repainting.
But hey! If you're bored, you can make it shiny and impress the heck out of your friends!

 

I would agree that ICE (or NXT) would probably be a good short-term local wax to use. 3M has some excellent products that are sometimes available locally. As a general rule, IMO, whenever 3M products are available at an auto parts store, go for them.

For the Monte Carlo, clay should help a great deal (especially if you work it alot). It's likely that you will really dirty your clay, so be prepared with enough clay (a full standard bar cut into thirds might do it).

For the oxidation, see if you can find a cleaner-wax (Megs has a couple of Cleaner Waxes and are called just that). Although most auto store paint cleansers aren't going to be that powerful, even a light cleanser on older oxidized paint will make a difference. It always amazes me how relatively easy it is to remove oxidation. Too bad you don't have Klasse All-In-One... it's amazing in oxidation removal. Still, any of these others will likely help.

Good luck!

-Heather

 

+1 for ICE. Not that long lasting though.

 

+1 for ICE. Not that long lasting though.

 

Here's what I got...
Meg's deep crystal cw
Meg's clay kit
Mother's cleaner wax
stoner for the glass
MF mitt

Haven't tackled the Monte Carlo yet, started with the Toyota truck that wasn't quit as bad. So far I washed it and clayed it once around. Feels pretty good but will probably hit it with the clay one more time before getting it with the cleaner wax. Have a small bottle of the Meg's stuff that came in the clay kit but may use the mother's since I've got more of it.

If it turns out good might take an after shot (forgot to take the before). Will remember to get before and after of the Monte Carlo - hopefully it will be better with my resources and energy levels. But it is good therapy for me after living in the dusty desert in a HMMWV for a year

 

Finished the truck. hope to get some pics on soon. Turned out pretty well considering where it was and how little energy and tools I had (if I do say so myself). Went back and tested some areas to see if it needed more clay but didn't seem to so went on with the wax and hit the windows and it's shiny.

 

Cool deal can't wait to see some pictures.

 

Waiting for the pics from my friends camera but washed and clayed the Monte Carlo this evening. It's a museum of how to destroy paint. There's bird stuff from eons ago that has etched the paint all over, the car was 'egged' and there are scratches all around it where it was attempted to be cleaned, it's been got a sizable dent in the fender right behind the door, and it's been keyed. Definitely needs a respray but I'll see what I can do to it and see just how far I can get it with what I have. pics to follow.

 

Cadfael, I hope the folks you are staying with took very good care of you, fixed you margueritas for messing with that Monte Carlo. It must have taken a whole lotta clay to do that car.

 

Will wax in the morning with the cleaner wax. Says to let dry - how long is that and is there any benefit to waiting longer?

 

The Truck after doing some work...

 

Before pictures of 'the boat'. Oh, the horror.

 

The after shots. Still cringe worthy but at least I know what's possible a little better. Hopefully scared my wife into not leaving bird stuff on her car for weeks.

 

Oh the horror, indeed!

It looks MUCH better now. Nice work! Sure, it's still in rough shape but it's a big contrast from what it was. I actually really enjoy working on trashed vehicles like that. The satisfaction is similar to saving an animal at the shelter.

The truck looks really good too!

As TheBigNewt said, I hope you received a batch of margaritas for your efforts!

-Heather

 

Kinda makes me wonder what I could have done with Prima stuff. Know it still would have looked rough but I was figuring every little bit helped. Picked up some Mother's Back to Black to take care of some wax residue on my wife's SUV today and may try it on some areas of those two cars if i get bored. This has been great therapy for me!

 

To hijack my own thread again:

Washed and waxed my wife's Trailblazer today (used the cleaner wax stuff since it was all I had). When we get settled again, plan to order the Prima stuff (I post a thread about what I hope to order). It will probably be about a month before I order and get the stuff. Do you think the Meg's cleaner wax will be gone by then? Will I need to do a dawn wash?

Another aside - got some Meg's ScratchX to take care of some small scratches in her paint and it seemed to make them stand out more - anybody had luck with it?

 

ScrachX is in my tool chest. It is a great product for spot work and their new formulation is even compatible with a PCDA. Thing is, you will need to do more than one application and you will need to rub like crazy if you are using it by hand. The key then becomes the applicator. Make sure that what you are using does not impart more scratches then the ScratchX is removing. I either use a thin blue pad from DP or the dual layer sponge pad from Sonus. I'm sure there are others that will work too.