just bought 07 ss , was wonder what wax is best? are those spray waxs any good?

 

i use meguiars nxt wax, its a luquid wax...you put in on a foam applicator then onto the car...you will get a better finish with the liquid or paste wax then the spray wax, but the spray wax is much faster and less annoying..lol...both will give you good finishes though...but i use meguiars nxt wax (bluey green bottle)

 

First and foremost, before you go waxing the car you should inspect it for any scratches, swirls or other problems with the paint. This, of course, should be done after the car is freshly washed. If none exist, great, move to the next step. Get a plastic grocery bag and put your hand in it and run your hand over the surface of the paint, see if it feels grainy. If it doesn't, you are free and clear to seal and/or wax as you wish. I would suggest a sealer topped with a Carnauba wax, this will add depth as well as provide more protection. For a pure sealer you can get OTC, Mothers Reflections Top Coat is hard to beat. I would suggest that be applied first and then topped off with another product that you can get OTC that is exceptional, S100 Carnauba paste wax. The S100 can be found at your local Harley Davidson shop or online. P21S is identical to it but they charge twice as much for that even though it's the same exact product. Gotta love marketing!!!

But if the paint did feel grainy then you should do a little prep work before sealing/waxing. If it's grainy, it's because there are contaminants in the paint, the only way to get them out is to clay the car. Any clay kit you can get OTC will do the trick, I've used Clay Magic, Meguiars and Mothers and didn't notice a difference between the abilites of either. So clay the whole car and then wash it again. Inspect the paint again for any swirls or scratches, there shouldn't be any if there weren't any to begin with but better to be safe than sorry. If none exist then you can proceed to seal and wax as outlined above.

Some excellent boutique products to accomplish this are

Pure Sealants
Menzerna Full Molecular Jacket
Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze
Jeffs Werkstatt Acrylic Jett
Optimum Opti-Seal
Wolfgang Deep Gloss paint Sealant
Blackfire Deep Gloss paint Sealant
Poorboys EX-P

Carnauba waxes
ClearKote Carnauba Moose Wax
Natty's Paste Wax
Chemical Guys 50/50 paste wax
Pinnacle Souveran paste wax

Once you get the car treated, make sure you have a nice QD (quick detailer) spray on hand to take care of any quick clean ups you may have to do, like birdbombs, etc. My favorite for this, due to cost, ease of use and durability, is Long Haul Truck Gloss. I've only been able to find it at Big Lots! If you can't find it, some other good one's are:

ClearKote QuikShine (one of the best ever!!)
DuraGloss Fast Clean and Shine
Meguiars Quik Detailer

Good luck with it and have fun!!

 

Not necessary to wash again after claying...

 

It's necessary if you're trying to inspect the paint for any marring after washing and claying in order to decide if you need to polish or go straight to sealing/waxing. The only real way to avoid having to wash it again is to hit each panel with some QD and buff out with a microfiber towel as you go.

 

how do you get rid of swirls and lines in the clear coat??? is that a polishing i would need to do before waxing??? black is terrible for showing lines and swirls

 

Yeah, to remove swirls you'd have to polish. You'll always get better results doing it by machine than you will by hand, but if the corrections that are needed are very minor, it's very possible that you can do them by hand. It all just depends on the condition of the paint and the severity of the corrections needed. Also, make sure to use a true polish, something that doesn't contain fillers or the swirls will just be filled in, not removed, and will show up again after a couple washes.

My last car was black and it definitely was a PITA, especially for someone so **** about the look of the paint as I am.

 

yah, one of these days i'm gonna have to polish the whole car...we have a good 3m polish @ my work i will probably use...should work pretty good...its what the body shops in my town use to polish the cars

 

I use Meguiars for all interior and exterior work.

Here is a great link on waxing and exterior work: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-wax.html

 

Smart man, that stuff you can find pretty much wherever they sell car care products.