ilogikal1

Match the backplate to the pads - pads should overlap the plate so get the one that's just a bit smaller than the pads. Number of pads - one of each will suffice but you'll find yourself washing them out regularly. I tend to stick to two of each. 1kg of compound should last you a good few years of polishing if you're only doing 1/2 cars a couple of times a year. I'd say go for a smaller size of available but certainly don't go for more. One clay towel will be fine and should last you a fair while. Also, buffing cloths - buy thousands of them. You'll still run out though...

New paint or old doesn't really matter, always start with the least aggressive combination and only work your way up if you need to - obviously newer paint should need less attention to correct though. Pads and smaller pads. Light compound - for swirls/finishing. More aggressive compound - for deeper swirls/scratches. S20 finished quite well on it's own, but if you've stepped up to that on the medium cut pad, you might want to follow up with a second stage of S30 on a light cut pad. Once you've polished to the desired shine, follow up with an IPA wipedown - such as Prep - followed by your LSP of choice (wax/sealant/coating/whatever). That would be determined by what you're main focus is - looks, durability, ease of use, budget, etc. Clay bar - this instead (break it in on the windows before touching the paint with it!). Clay after washing the car but before polishing - although don't bother unless you're polishing as you're likely to inflict some marring. If you're claying, you're best off using a tar remover and fallout remover first though... And after that it starts to get really expensive!

Luckily there's a few people around here who can help you with that... I'm sure one of them will be along any minute now.

At least it looks a little less boring now...

Not used it myself but I know a couple of pros that swear by it. It gives a typically glossy/glassy finish and seems to last well from what I hear. You could do worse.

You fixed it yet, Dan?

That won't help a great deal because New or not, closed cell sponges will trap the dirt on your car between the two surfaces and just drag it across the paint. Tell them not to touch the car instead.

Wlecome. Not just you! Really suits the '70 though. I approve of this purchase.

They lied. Don't worry, I'll have you spending multiples of that before you know it... just ask anyone on here who actually reads my thread. PS, AutoGlym are pretty woeful too. Ditch Halfords and check out Polished Bliss instead.

Both polishes and waxes will differ from one to another, so it'll depend on the product as tohow to use it. In the case of Megs Crystal (I assume that's what you've gone for?) then the polish is best placed in the bin where it do no one any harm. The wax is best used in the same way. The paint cleaner can go in there too, it's s***e. Massive generalisation; you aint gonna find any good detailing products in Halfords. There's a reason they literally give away a third of their stock after all! I suspect your main problem, aside from rubbish products, is that you're using too much product when applying. In general, polishes need to be worked until the abrasives have broken down. Some take very little effort to do this, some take much more. Some are really oily once broken down and benefit from a little curing time before buffing (or a millitonty cloths - same, same), others dry out quickly and need to be buffed (or dusted) frequently and instantly. Waxes are similar, some bond quicker than others. Some require 2/3 minutes to cure, some you can leave for days on end (Poorboys is awesome for that, 5 minute cure time, you can leave it a week and it'll still buff easily). To get a wax to buff easily, you need to make sure you are applying the absolute thinest layer possible and it'll always be a doddle to buff off afterwards. And the pot will last you infinitely longer too.

I wouldn't go as far as to say they're the best... granted they're not the worst either but they're definitely not the best. But I'm not sure that's what he's got anyway tbh.

That'll be fine, as a new car it'll be protected by the dealer applied, super-awesome, not-at-all-expensive add-on that is AutoGlym Lifeshine...

FTFY.

Think of all that money I've just saved you in (largely) wasted product as well. Stu, Granville, take note; I'm saving people money on detailing stuff now!

Not really, no. Typically you'll be removing viritually all of the second layer when buffing as it won't bond to itself.

Without actually checking, I'd hazard a guess that the correction/enhancement stuff is a stronger polish and the "polish" is more of a glaze, but that's just a wild stab in the dark to be honest. When you've had enough of that stuff, look at Scholl compounds. Much better! Pads are much of a preference as anything else detailing related really. Personally I'm a Lake Country Hydrotech guy too. You'll generally find each manufacturer offers three pads mainly (many offer up to 12 which is just silly!) You'll effect be looking at heavy cut, medium cut and fine cut/finishing pads - heavy cut is too much for the soft Nissan paint, so just get one of each of the medium and fine cut pads. Standard rule of thumb for all polshing; start with the least aggressive combo (pad and compound) and only step if you need to. You've got a DA so the only important rule is ro stick to pads designed for DA's - don't buy rotary pads as they'll just not last. Claying, I'd do as much decontamination as possible prior to any polishing. Remember you don't want to be polishing more than twice a year, ideally just once (or less) if you can. Despite claying 6 weeks ago, you'd be surprised how quickly you can pick up contamination sometimes. Polishing will remove everything on the paint. And some paint. So if you're polishing don't worry about doing anything to shift any previous products. If you're not polishing then a full decontamination will get of most things that aren't nearly new or freshly applied - tar and fallout remove will kill waxes and most sealants. Coatings are a different stor altogether though. Whatever you do, do NOT believe anyone who tells you that Fairy liquid strips wax. It doesn't. It contains surfectants which affect water behaviour but it doesn't remove a damn thing! The only different shampoos I use are either pure shampoos (just for cleaning) or top up shampoos (add a bit of protection). There's no point in using the latter if you're polishing though, you might as well just use you're preferred shampoo regardless of what it actually does though. The only benefit to layers is ensuring coverage. That's literally all its good for. Shine is obtained from the prep work before waxing - the cleaner and smoother the paint, the shinier the finish. You can enhance the shine with a glaze under the wax which adds depth as well or by using something SiO2 based (anything Gyeon for example, including Bathe+!) which gives less depth but more gloss. Lots more gloss!! Not quite as short but no less sweet.

I'm claiming a small.portion of Dan's Internet for suggesting the PB knowledge base. You found an inconspicuous area of the roof to test on yet, Stu?

You called, Ricey? Firstly bin anything with Glym on the bottle... Running through your current regime, OP, you're doubling up on both jobs - SRP and PB WD are both, for all intents and purposes, filler glazes (SRP is marketed as something else but in essence that's all it does really) and then EGP and Colli are both synthetic sealants. EGP is designed to work on top of SRP but it wont sit on PB WD well as that's much oilier than SRP, so it won't bond well. Also EGP and Colli are both quite solvent heavy so they'll both weaken, if not remove, the fillers beneath. To be honest, because of the products you've used, you'll likely struggle to get 2 months out of it all. You'll get better durability if you drop either SRP and EGP or PB WD and Colli. Personally I'd drop the AG products, but that's just me. On top of that you should know that using Colli on top of either SRP or PB WD will reduce the lifespan of Colli. On bare paint Colli will last a good four months or so. On top of a glaze it should last potentially 3 months. Unfortunately that's the price you pay for using glazes, they tend to work best with oily waxes but not so much with sealants so you lose the durability advantage of using sealants. If you've got Aquawax, use that every other wash (I'm not actually convinced that, that adds any worthwhile protection personally though) until it runs out and then invest in something like Sonax BSD or Gyeon Cure instead which will happily do a month on top of anything between top ups. Finally, bin anything with Glym in the title...

^^^ He has a point y'know.

Brembos are standard on all UK 350Z. Also the Rays were an optional extra on top of the GT pack for earlier cars but we're included on later cars (possibly from the facelift onwards). GT pack consisted of leather seats, cruise control and "Bose" stereo bits. As Lexx says the CC is a hassle to retrofit and the Bose wasn't worth the effort either so if it's got both of these then it's almost guaranteed to be a GT.

Car Chem Pre Wax Cleaner for a pure cleaner or you could try Auto Finesse Rejuvenate which has very fine cut, good strong cleaners and a fair few fillers too. I'd try either on an inconspicuous area first though. I don't have a wealth of first hand knowledge around issues with vinyl wraps, but I have no doubt that if you drop Polished Bliss an email they'll be able & willing to advise thoroughly.

Polishes, Scholl s30 and S20 are my choice for for a Z of any colour.

I did watch the full episode last night, followed by EG. The first half of the show was better than the second. Sabin can drive but by god she's awful when on script! She's much, much better when off script though so let's hope either that improves or they stop writing for her. Evans did seem to be trying too hard and I'm willing to give MLB the benefit of the doubt and blame the writing for the 4x4 section. EG was pretty good though. Despite the random and pointless guest segment.

Use proper compounds and halve the workload Looks like a decent shine for a single stage though.

*Waits to see how many of those "that was ****, I'm never watching it again" types turn up to say the same thing week after week....* Just like old Top Gear.