FTO Cut/Polish...

[Cohn]

Sup lads!

My black baby has been looking kind of dull lately, so i've decided to give her a nice new shiny look. However, i don't seem to know how to go about it (kinda new to the whole car dating game... )

I've been giving her a product called... "turtle wax HARD WAX" (once a week or so). But the shine doesn't really last and generally i'm not to pleased with the results.

I wanted to know what products you believe i should use for a black fto. And do i need to cut and polish it?, what is the whole deal with the process, what is involved to really get it to shine (not going overboard ofcourse with buffing and sh*t and spending $100+...)? What's an easy solution?

Hope you can help, the two of us are getting kinda desperate (and embarrased about our look) .

Cohn

[FOULZ]

hey cohn,
i use all mequires products coz they work, a little more expensive but its worth it, any of there car wash products are good. then get a thing called final inspection, its a spray n wipe thing that leaves your car looking like glass.

FOULZ

[GPXXX]

i love my baby too much to do it myself, so i get the car detailed... $150 all up - which usually lasts for about 4-6 mths!

[EURO]

i use the turltle wax, cut n polish, and it has been awesome for my car, took out every scratch and totally cleaned up the surface, so maybe try that instead of "hard wax", by the way, if it is a hard wax you shouldnt be using it every week!! you may have cut some of the paint work back and thus lost the shine in your paint work!! if its just a cutting compound it ll make it look dull, and you really need to get some good polish to restore the shine. Only use a "hard wax" if you have paint or a significant stain on a car, that is reasonably old, as once you cut back you cant go half way@

[G1]

Yeah you really need to polish it first to hide all the scratches and bring out the colour. Then protect it using wax. check out

http://www.meguiars.com.au/Products_Retail_PC_PP.htm
http://www.meguiars.com.au/Products_Retail_PC_M.htm

I do the following once every couple of months:

1. Wash the car (make sure you spray and soak the car first to release loose dirt) Rinse your sponge regularly in the bucket to get rid of dirt on the sponge that could make swirl marks (I used Gold Class wash)
2. Use a good quality Chamois to dry the car
3. Use a soft non abrasive cloth and turpentine and go over the whole car to get rid of the grime that has adhered to your car over the years/months which a simple wash will not get off! believe me the car looks clean but after doing this you'll see more black grime come off your car! pay attention to bug and tar the turps will dissolve these with ease (turps works fine but if you have the funds try Meguiars Paint Cleaner, I personally think turps does the job fine but then again you can tell me how good it is...)
4. Polish (I used Deep Chrystal Polish)
5. Wax (I used Deep Chrystal Wax)

Try Scratch X I heard it does wonders for scratches and swirls
http://www.meguiars.com.au/Products_Retail_PC_SP.htm

Of course theres your wheels/tyres too (I use their tyre protecant gel and the non acid wheel cleaner)
http://www.meguiars.com.au/Products_Retail_TW.htm

Now enjoy your shine and watch how easy it is to maintain the shine for the next couple of months (just wash every week or 2 and watch how easy the dirt comes off the polished/waxed surface)

Come on we love our cars so let's keep it clean and shiny, it can only be good for the overall FTO reputation and resale price.

[EURO]

Sorry dude, im a bit confused, why would you polish the car and then cut it back???? the wax is used to take off a small layer of paint (in strong examples) to rid of swirl marks, take out scratches. Then you put the polish on to coat over teh area you have just worked on. It fills divets etc and gives the paintwork a protective shine (water beads off etc). if you put polish on and then wax, the wax would just cut teh polish straight off...

[MintFTO]

If you do a wash with ordinary dishwashing detergent first it will help remove all of the old wax that has built up on the car, then wash it with nomal carwash and give it a bit of cut and polish.

Dishwashing detergent has a similar effect to a degreaser, it is designed to remove oil, grease etc and it will certainly bring your car back down to its original paintwork.

I wash my car with detergent first every so often because the dirt sticks to the wax, and you find that inbetween every layer of wax you get a build up of dirt. Maybe this is why your car is looking dull??

By the way my car is also black

[G1]

Sorry about the confusion. My recommendations probably apply directly to the Meguiars products I am using (namely Deep Chrystal Polish). The "polish" used there helps to bring out the colour and give it shine. Then followed by their Deep Chrustal Wax leaving a protective layer to protect that shine.

Generally speaking, "polish" and "wax" are the same thing, it just depends on which product from which comapany (and my example above being an exception obviously), they have very small abrasive elements and cleaning agents to get rid of light scratches and oxidation etc. and also contain wax and lubricants which provides the layer of protection.

There are stronger cutting/polishing compounds used for the bigger scratches and oxidation, this needs to be followed up with waxing (like carnauba wax). But there are also products that do both steps in one go. And this is where the confusion kicks in.

So it's probably best to just refer to a Product name rather than use the polish/wax terms as it gets too confusing these days! Turtlewax have some nice products too but it's hard to compare product for product between the 2 companies, so I think just stick to one and read up on the product before using it!

Now IM CONFUSED! Im just gonna stick with my Meguiars stuff