So im thinking of detailing my truck with megs. I'm thinking 1st clay, 2nd scratchx, 3rd pure polish, 4th nxt, 5th pure carnuba. What do you meguiars fans think about this set up, am i missing a step or what. Also this is going to be by hand, (not yet brave enough for the orbital buffer on my black truck.)

 

The orbital buffers really are easy to use, but if you insist on going by hand, i think you're on the right track.

Make sure you wash it really well before you clay, or the clay will fill up with stuff that should have been washed off. And i don't know if you're familiar with claying, but if you drop the clay its toast. What i recommend doing is splitting it into two pieces before you begin, so if you drop one your not screwed. Also makesure the sheet metal is cool, or you will end up with a mess.

The scratch-x should be ffective if your applying by hand, and i would follow it up with a pure polish like #7 if you can get your hands on it. As for the NXT topped with carnuba, it looks great on darker colors. Just make sure you wait a few hours in between coats. I would apply 2 coats of NXT and then 1 of carnuba. I personally like to top it with #26. But i'm sure mothers makes a decent carnuba product as well.

It sounds like you hae everything figured out, good luck.

 

Good plan. Go slowly. Your paint may have a lot of bonded contamination pending it hasn't been worked on since you purchased it (if that's the case). When the clay bar starts looking dingy, discard and/or use the second half of your bar (that means, chop the bar into two pieces before starting). If you drop one half, trash it.

Going to be a booger by hand. Plus, S-X isn't a very good product on any electric product (rotary, orbital, DA, etc). It gums up bad. For this reason, I may suggest only using the S-X on 'spots' that are bad and substituting an abrasive polish that you could use by hand (since you're bufferphobic).

Don't go to this step until you get the swirls out and feel comfortable making the paint 'pop'. Remember, once you go to 'popping', blemishes show up and are amplified. Hence, my recommendation to not proceed until you have it in good shape.

Good plan. Apply with a foam applicator. Remove with a plush microfiber -- no el-cheapo towels here!

Go with a pure 'natural' wax (like carnauba). Many 'carnauba-based waxes) have a cleaning component that would be adverse to the NXT. Also, wait until you do this step - about 8 to 16 hours.


To reiterate what 06Red said, a buffer (orbital or DA) are pretty safe machines and can dramatically decrease time and effort. One of the best deals on the web from a detailing equipment standpoint is from [url=www.autodetailingsolutions.com]ADS[/quote]. You can snare a DA, chemicals, pads, and a few other goodies for a very reasonable price. Again, it's a VERY safe machine and we can walk you through more of the specifics if you're interested in going that route.

Hope that helps a bit.

RP