Jumbo's exterior care
- Thread starter jumbosrule
- Start date
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
Let's do it, brother! Weekends are good but if you really want to learn, then come to the party with a fully washed and clayed car. We will polish and wax which will take three or four hours. The improvement is unbelievable.
I've washed my Silver FX a few times since purchase but this past weekend I stepped it up just a bit. After the wash, I went over the whole car with Griot's garage prewax cleaner - a citrus based product that removes any previously bonded waxes. This allows the new wax to bond more effectively. Then using my porter cable 7424, I applied Collinite 845 to each panel before letting it dry and removing it by hand.
Mother's back to black on exterior black trim, Meguire's ultimate tire gel on the rubber, Optimum metal polish on the 20" stockers. Making the car look this good totally adds to the enjoyment of driving it. Photos to follow soon!
tennesseefin
Member
Man that's a ton of goodies! I need to get my plastic out and make a few purchases 
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
All my pads are Lake Country (LC)
But I have three different types. There is the CCS (Closed cell system), the flat pad and the hydro tech pad. Each type of pad has a range of choices for softness/agression. I have yellow, orange, white, red & blue pads in all three types.
Each pad has both a thickness and a diameter than can effect how it works. Smaller and thinner pads tend to be more agressive while thick and large diameter pads tend to be less agressive (relative to the same color smaller pad).
I recommend getting six pads to start - three with medium agression (orange for Lake Country) and three with little to no agression (red or blue pads for lake country). For the FX35, you will use one pad for two to three panels of the car before you need a fresh pad. You can periodically clean the pad during polishing to keep using it but it's just a ton easier to use a fresh pad and then wash them all out after you are done, rather than try to make one pad last for the whole car.
Medium agression pads are more than enough to remove swirls - especially when coupled with the right polishing product. The red/blue polishing pads are best for waxes and sealants - if you plan to apply by machine. There's nothing wrong with applying the wax layer by hand with a hand applicator instead of the machine but for paint correction - reducing swirls or light scratches - you need a pad/product with some cut to it.
But I have three different types. There is the CCS (Closed cell system), the flat pad and the hydro tech pad. Each type of pad has a range of choices for softness/agression. I have yellow, orange, white, red & blue pads in all three types.
Each pad has both a thickness and a diameter than can effect how it works. Smaller and thinner pads tend to be more agressive while thick and large diameter pads tend to be less agressive (relative to the same color smaller pad).
I recommend getting six pads to start - three with medium agression (orange for Lake Country) and three with little to no agression (red or blue pads for lake country). For the FX35, you will use one pad for two to three panels of the car before you need a fresh pad. You can periodically clean the pad during polishing to keep using it but it's just a ton easier to use a fresh pad and then wash them all out after you are done, rather than try to make one pad last for the whole car.
Medium agression pads are more than enough to remove swirls - especially when coupled with the right polishing product. The red/blue polishing pads are best for waxes and sealants - if you plan to apply by machine. There's nothing wrong with applying the wax layer by hand with a hand applicator instead of the machine but for paint correction - reducing swirls or light scratches - you need a pad/product with some cut to it.
Last edited:
- Car
- 2003 FX35T
- Name
- Brad
Man that's a ton of goodies! I need to get my plastic out and make a few purchases
I didn't mean to start collecting cleaning supplies but I have two of my own cars plus my wife's car... all with different types of paint. I've found both pads and products that work better on one car than the other. When products are between 8 and 15 dollars, it's easy to collect them over a couple years.
Rained yesterday - took a shot of the beading.
