that's right... this weekend i'm gonna wax and polish my truck... the poor college boy way. here's my arsenal: meguiars deep crystal polish($5), meguiars carnauba wax($5), a walmart MVP random orbital polisher($15), and a few extra bonnets($10). now i dare say that i'll have my truck looking almost or just as good as Mr. Tando's award winning 4Runner. i'll be sure to post before and after pics.

i've been tempted the past few days to give in and get a porter cable (or a corey cable as it's more commonly known here) and some Griots stuff, but a guy like me just can't afford that right now. maybe one day. :rolleyes:

the only thing i'm not sure about is the two different kinds of applicators that came with the polisher. one is terry cloth and the other is fake wool. i know the terry cloth is for the wax but what's the wool for? the polish? or should i not use it at all?

one last thing... i'm debating whether or not to use a clay bar. the only one i could find in my local stores was the Mother's brand clay bar and the liquid spray applicator to use with it. is it really worth it to use the bar?

 

It is most worth it to clay your rig.
It preps the surface and gets rid of micro size bumps that you can not see.
Wax will go into the paint better on a clayed surface.

I am not familiar with the size of the Mother's bar, but Griot's bar is king size and easy to work with.

Meguair's bar on the other hand is a joke.
When we did Todd's rig last spring, he took the Meguiar's one out and it reminded me of those puny hotel soaps

We used the Griot's one instead, and man did his rig get my bar dirty.

I would not use that wool pad.
Wool pads can introduce swirl marks.
Foam pads are best like I use, but I don't think you can attach one too yours or not.

If you have an auto body/paint supply house in town, they often stock the ones like I use from Griot's, only they are more like the ones that Meguair's sells, a little taller.

Maybe they can find out how to attach it to your buffer.

Now I want you to get your rig to shine like this old white junk.

 

Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

 

Clay bar = good, definitely. I have the Mother's one as well. The clay bar is tiny though. Not impossible to work with, but I'd prefer an adult-sized one for future use.

 

*hides behind a turned over table and shouts "come on guys..there must be some other way to settle this. * hehe...did anyone else hear dueling banjos when they first read the post?

 

I heard dueling Porter Cables.

 

why, yes indeed i will.

if only i had a porter cable. :cry:

i'll definitely look for an auto body shop like your recommended. but i haven't lived down here in hattiesburg long so i might not find one.

one more question about the clay bar. i'm gonna have to go with the Mothers one even though apparently it's pretty small. my question is do i need to turn it over whenever it gets too dirty or reshape it to where the dirty part is on the inside or what?

 

I have not seen the Mother's one so I don't know how hard it is.
The Meguiar's one is hard.

The Griot's one is soft, and when it gets dirty you can flip it over, or turn it inside out like Silly Putty.

They will last a few times.
If I had not done Todd's rig, I'd still be on my first bar.
But I bought a new one as his rig really darkened it.

First time it had been done I bet, plus his rig is gray, and was oxidized some.

 

hahaahahaha...that's priceless!

 

well i lucked out and found some foam applicators to fit my buffer today. my only question is how do i clean them once i'm done? just throw em in the washer and let them hang dry?

 

Get some Dawn dish washing liquid soap. It is a high alkaline based detergent and dissolves waxes and polishes easily. Just let them soak for an hour in a bucket of hot water with lots of Dawn. Then rinse them and air dry.

You should wash your Rig with Dawn before claying and again if you use Swirl Mark Remover. It gets rid of any old wax and oil residue before the final waxing.

 

Ummm, so my method of once a year, or so, dousing the entire truck in Simple Green and then driving to the car wash just isn't up to snuff around here huh?

 

Works for me

 

Me too!

 

same here, i swear by that stuff. works a wonder on your wheels

 

You guys actually wash your rigs???? I just wait for the rain. If I wanted a slick shiny ride, I would have bought a Porsche.

Also, the reason the backseat in the second gen is so small is because it was designed for lab retrievers.

 

well i finally got the rig waxed. here are a few pics:

before -



after the wash -



the final result -



gotta have a poser -



i think it came out pretty good considering that my total cost for the whole thing was around $75, which includes all supplies needed... even the buffer. what impressed me the most was how smooth the paint felt after i used the clay bar. i have no doubt in my mind that claying the paint was the best thing i could have done. the bar was so dirty afterwards i had to throw it away. i have never felt such a smooth surface on an automobile. it was like looking in a mirror after the whole process:



i also stumbled upon something else that i don't know if anyone else has tried or not. i've been using blue magic polish on my wheels since i got them, and haven't been too convinced with the outcome b/c the wheel would still look sort of cloudy. so i figured since i had a buffer this time, that i'd try it out on the wheel and see what happened. so what i did was, i applied the blue magic and wiped it off with a terry cloth and got the same cloudy look i've been getting. well then i used a terry bonnet on the buffer and went at it on the wheel. all i can say is... WOW! they look better than they did when i bought them (i got them used)! so if you haven't tried a buffer on your wheels... do it.

so what do you guys think? not bad for a poor college guy, huh?

 

Oops :eek:

I forgot to buy you a new bar:rolleyes: :pat:

Did a great job Churnd. Great picture of your reflection

 

Churnd, it looks really good.
You see, the clay really does work it's magic

You can see a big diff just by your pics.

No worries yet on the bar Todd.
Hey, your rig is about due again pretty soon.
Mine too

 

Hey Corey,
I'm borrowing my dads F#rd R#anger turbo diesel PU while I'm waiting for settlement on my crash. Want the ultimate challenge of spiffing up it's oxidized red paint? I want to do something for it as I've had it almost a month now. Good news too, all the people in the other car are now consious. Hopefully they fes up to what happened. I've heard several different versions of what they said happened (from people that know them).