Thanks for making this a sticky...I'm glad this thread has gotten such a great response and the board is learning from it.

Your paint must have been pretty bad to go through one bar of clay. Just wait til you polish. Feel a panel you haven't polished and then feel a panel you have...the results will shock you.

Moe- Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I just picked up an 06 midnight blue cab and there is a lot of orange peel on the paint, particularly on the poly bumpers.

What's the best way to get the paint to a mirror finish? Obviously this will require a professional to do the work (beyond my skills) but I'd like to obtain some knowledge before speaking with detail shops.

Also looking for a good hand wax that does not leave hologramming / haziness behind and lasts through several washings (I wash the car 2x-3x / week). What do you think of the Rejex product?

TIA-

Congrats on the new P-car. Unfortunately, orange peel is something that cannot be remedied by just polishing or waxing. This is the texture of the paint, not imperfections in the clear coat such as swirls that need polishing to be removed.

To truly remove the orange peel, it needs to be wetsanded. I personally don't recommend this because it's not mean for production cars. Wetsanding is great if the manufacturer does it, but if the paint wasn't meant to be sanded, it should be left alone. There are many technical reason why it should not be wetsanded as well, but that's another topic.

You can however achieve a mirror finish without removing all the orange peel; we do it all the time on porsches. Just make sure you tell the detailer you want the paint corrected legitimately of imperfections such as swirls, scratches, etchings, etc. The work can be checked simply by wiping the finish with isopropyl alcohol. Once the best finish is achieved via polishing, you can then apply the wax of your choice.

Depending on the look you're after, you can go with a synthetic for more shine and gloss, I think einszett Glanz is the best value. If it's more depth and richness you're after, go with a natural carnauba to give a more warm glow instead of an electrified glosss. I'd recommend either zymol Titanium or Concours. Both these waxes will help achieve gretaer longecity than what you're seeing right now. Expect the wax to last 3-6 month depending on which wax you use and how you maintain. Hope this helps.

Thanks Moe- I figured some sort of color sanding or wet sanding would be needed, I was not aware it is not a good idea on a pcar. So, short of that, would they use a light buffing compound like from 3m or something?

The alcohol check is interesting- how do I use it to check the work and what would I be looking for? all new to me at your level of detailing knowledge. Thanks.
BTW the finish is in nice shape, just some surface swirls here and there and a bit of roughness (fallout in the paint, obviously).

The polishes I'm very fond of that produce legitimate results are Menzerna. If you post a picture of the car, mainly the paint, I can better diagnose what polish/pad combo you should go with. I've found, SIP and Nano polish to remedy 80%+ of imperfections on most makes and models. Using Lake Country Orange and White CCS pads would be the correct choice for the Menzerna polishes mentioned above. You can actually do this yourself and get excellent results. You would just need a good polisher like the Flex.

After polishing a panel, you simply spray a solution of 8 parts, 70% or greater, isopropyl alcohol and 2 parts water. This removes the oil in the polish to give you a true gauge of the work you have done. You don't want to see any swirls, light scratches, buffer marks, haziness, etc.

Based on what you described as the condition of the finish, you will need to clay as well.

I don't have any pics close-up enough to show paint condition, I'll try and snap one tomorrow. For this first round, I'm going to leave that up to a pro- I just don't have the time or facility to do it and I'd like to make sure it is done right by an experienced hand. On that note, still looking into somewhere to take it here in West LA. I appreciate your sharing of knowledge as it will help me during the "interview" process at potential detail shops.

I'll definitely pick up some product from you for regular maintenance. I like wax that gives a good deep gloss and allows the metallic to pop- but of course something that lasts and holds up good to the crappy fallout in the air here and water stains, and buffs out well by hand. The morning dew here is enough to mess up any paint job over time since it is mixed with God-knows-what from the air. I regularly go over the car with Adams or McGuires techwax detail spray and good microfiber cloths.

Cool...

Glad I was able to help :)

good work

Thanks. Glad you took the time to read it and I hope it came in handy.

moemistry you the man, this is kick ass

My car also needs professional attention due to swirl marks, spider webs and light scratches. The good news is they all seem like on the clear coat. I have tried to get rid of them and fix the look myself with variety of different products with no luck. I don’t know what my options are at this point but is it a good idea to get the clear coat water sanded and get it clear coated again. Is this even an option? Who in the Orange County area does it? How much does it cost? I just want my paint job to look as good as new and thick without spending arm and a leg for it.

You're in my neck of the woods. Chances are no wetsanding is necessary, as this is a last resort. Reversing years of improper care and/or imperfections in the paint is not synonymous with cheap. If done correctly, this will take a full day, maybe even two days, to restore the exterior and interior to a condition that is like-new, or if in the right hands, better than new. Please don't hesitate to PM me if interested.

Here's a link to our service page:

http://www.glisteningperfection.com/services.php

Great Write Up

Thanks...hope you took some good info away. :)