RicardoD

Prior to the arrival of my 964, I cleaned up my A4 with the Meguir's three step process all by hand over the memorial day weekend. Took me 2 days working on and off in the garage. Total pain in the a**. Then 964 arrived on Wednesday. Finished polishing last night by hand (Meguir's claybar, then 3M hand glaze, will Blitz wax tonight). I just don't have the arm strength or endurance for this anymore. After polishing the finish looks the same. Paint was in great condition to begin with. Swirl marks/scratches are barely visible to begin with on a Polar Silver car but you can see them under the right light. After my hand polishing they are still there. So I feel like I'm busting my hump for no reason.

My wife wants her car done now but she has asked that I pay for someone to do that lest she lose me again for two days in the garage while she is inside with the kids driving her nuts.

I need to find a good deal on that Porter Cable 7424 and get setup with proper pads through Autopia. I know everyone warns about screwing up your paint, but I find that very hard to believe that's possible with this Porter Cable 7424 and proper products and pads.

PorscheZen

How about the Griot's setup?
Seems simple and straightforward...

tbennett017

From what I have heard.. the PC is a good move.. (I AM a detailing neophyte.. take my advice with lots of salt).. but what I understand is that the PC tool uses cooling under the pad to keep temps low.. and that it is very effective. Griot's Garage (not the cheapest around) really loves it and stands by the product.

hawk911

Ricardo-bring it to me for the day and save your arms.

merrick

+1 on the griots garage (no affiliation). I have been using the stuff for years and the results are always impressive. Yes, it's not cheap but neither is a new paint job.
Save your arms and buy an orbital buffer, porter cable makes one of the best on the market.
I follow a simple 4 step rule when doing a detail.
1. Wash with soap specifically for cars (NO DISH SOAP)
2. Clay Bar
3. Polish (if necessary)
4. Wax (NO SYNTHETICS go natural)

hawk911

not to diss Griots because it does work well, it just doesn't work well enough for me. I'll switch to either Meguiars pro line (Mirror Glaze) or Menzerna when my stash runs out. It's fine if you are timid and don't want all scratches out or a clear-coated car but on modern cars the finish is tougher to work with. I can do better with Meguiars than I can with Griots.

jimq

Geoff I bought some maguiars clay bar and need to do the 964. I am not sure how its suppose to be used. Any tips?

MarkD

The best deal I found on a PC was here: http://www.topoftheline.com/
No affiliation.

I bought this package: http://www.topoftheline.com/porcabpolpac.html
Price went up about $5 since I bought it.
I like the PC a lot and it is pretty much idiot proof. It's a random orbit.

hawk911

sure- take a lump of the clay- a small lump about the size of a large marble, and get some quick detal solution. Work the clay into a flatish shape. Spray the detailing stuff on the area to be worked, and simply move the clay over it. Continue until the clay is either dirty, or the area is clean. Now work the clay so you have a clean spot, and do next area. Keep doing that on all the flat horizontal surfaces. No point in doing vertical unless the car is really bad.

When you drop it- and you will- toss the clay in the garbage and start with a new piece. No sense using sandpaper to clean the car

Insert drink beer as necessary. For me, the whole car claying process on the 964 takes about 30-45 minutes.

Jim- fly me down, and I'll personally clay and polish the car(s) for you.

Geoffrey

It is pretty hard to screw up the paint with an orbital buffer like the PC, even with the single stage paint found on the 964. You only need to do the clay bar process if the surface is rough to the touch due to contaminants. If it isn't, you don't need the clay bar. You can then use Meguiars #6 or #9 as a glaze/polish with the orbital buffer, and then apply your favorite wax by hand. I did my 964 over Memorial day morning in about 3 hours with the buffer. Go for it, you'll be happy with the result.

last toy

before you do your next wax job, try washing the car with Dawn liquid soap. It takes out all swirls and surface scratches as well as all previous wax and some light oxidation. Don't know what's in Dawn but it's a good start to a complete polish/wax make-over. I also have read somewhere, I think in Pelican, that it's best to polish and wax your car with left to right hand motion and not circles which cause swirls.

hawk911

Dawn has no abrasive properties to it- it's simply a detergent. It will remove old wax, and is a good way to start a thurough detail where you want clean fresh paint. Swirls and scratches require a polishing agent that has abrasive additives.

Geoffrey- I agree about when to clay, but amazingly most cars have enough surface contaminants to make claying a once-a-year process. No sense in doing it every wash, or even every month unless you have that much spare time on your hands.

As for the potential for problems with a PC- I think they are still there if you use the wrong polishing agent. Something real aggresive will still take off paint. I just did an '87 944, badly oxidized that all I used was Griot's polish 4 to make sure I didn't damage the paint any more. There were lots of spots already down to primer and I was not going to contribute to that condition. The car shines nicely now (attached pictures) and the owner will be happy with it given the underlying paint condition.

The hood shot is unpolished side (left) and polished side right.

YMMV and I'm not responsible for any oops conditions.

polar964

Ricardo, i totally empathise with you.
Over in the UK two other products that are very popular and also used by professional detailers are Zymol and Swissol. I have just purchased the Zymol treatment ... wash, clay, cleanse and wax (Glasur) which is wax specific for Porsche paint. I have swirls, minor scratches which have been added by the previous owners over the last 13 years, although to the less particular they would view the finish as already being excellent. I hope it can be better and hope the Zymol treatment will achieve this. The guy i purchased it from at www.johnswax.co.uk is very helpful with over 20 years experience and more than happy to advise and ensure you get that ultimate finish. Will let you know how i get on.
Paul

RicardoD

I did the following over the past few days:

1)Dawn wash with brand new wash mit
2)Meguiar's Clay bar
3)3M imperial hand glaze
4)Blitz Wax

This the car-care online recipe. There are still some areas I am having a hard time getting cleaned up but I will seek the assistance of Hawk911 to correct those spots. I just wanted to get a fresh coat of wax on the car cause it has been a while since the previous owner did a full exterior detail. Paint, to my eyes was in extremely good condition.

Now I am looking for a machine polish system for all my Silver German cars. Probably an xmas gift for this year. I will have Hawk911 do my wife's A6 and show me the ropes.

My engine compartment is very dirty and the fan screams "remove me and paint me silver"

SimonExtreme

Ricardo

Forget all this stuff. IMO, there is an answer but before getting there, you need to get past a few things. These are my thoughts, having tried almost every major product and technique,

The first thing is, doesn't matter how hard you try, swirls return. Therefore, you have 2 choices. Lots of polishing, or find a way of "hiding" the swirls.

Next, you need to ignore comments like "No syntheics". Simple fact is, a good synthetic will out perform traditional waxes in almost every aspect.

Finally, All you should care about is the final look and how long it lasts.

I used to be a real traditionalist. I have more Zymol, Mequiars etc sitting around doing nothing thatn you could ever imagine. I haven't used a mechanical polisher for at least 2 years on any car, yet on any car I detail, you cannot see any swirls and the finish just lasts and lasts.

IMO, your new best friend should be Mr Zaino and his range of products. They are the easiest products to use, the results are simply stunning and the finish lasts and lasts. It is easy to "top up" if required. I can apply and remove a coat of Z3 polish in about 45 minutes. Z3 is the final coat you put on and isn't a polish as people would normally think of polish but more like a synthetic glaze.

You will hear a lot of BS critisism from professional detailers about Zaino, but google is your friend and read about it. Make up your own mind. I even went as far as to back to back test Zaino against a full Zymol treatment by doing half my hood with one, half with the other. This is on a Guards Red 964RS which was kept outside. I have to admit that the shine looks different when first applied. Zaino is a bit more hard in look, while the Zymol is a deep watery and soft look. However, within a short period of time the Zaino side began to look better and water beaded off better. Bird droppings did less damage to the Zaino side. In fact, on the Zaino side it wiped off with being able to see a thing.

The best thing was after about 6 weeks when the Zaino side still looked as fresh as ever and the other side was no where near as good. Washing was easier, as the dirt just fell off. The Zaino was still going strong well after the other side was "dead".

However, for me, the biggest indicator that Zaino lasts is that keeping my car outside, the red fades. Over 8 weeks in the summer, you could see a noticable difference between the colour on one side to the other.

A lot of people hate Zaino. You will read a lot of really stupid stuff about it that, if you do your homework, you will know is rubbish. For instance, many detailers get really upset by the idea you finish with a "polish" because, in their minds, a polish has to be abrasive. However, its called a polish because that is what Mr Zaino decided to call it. He could have called in margarine!

I suspect that another reason why professionals don't like it is that it lasts and lasts plus it takes no time at all to apply. Not really what you want when you rely on repeat business!

Finally, just to add I have no affiliation in any way. I used to be a die hard "traditionalist" and it took a lot of convincing, plus me setting aside my prejudices. However, I will never go back.

Hope this helps