7

I am looking to do a cut and polish on my Australian made Holden Calais VT commodore (98 model).

I am very new to doing cut and polishes and was hoping someone could point me out to what products what suit my scenario the best keeping in mind that I am a beginner.

I have a fair few scratches/small stone chips on my front bonnet and wheel guards which I think could be cut and polished out. But I am not sure what strength cut and polish I should use and also what finishing sealant (i.e. wax or polish) that I should use.

My car is a Raven Pearl color which resembles dark blue. I do have a powered buffer. In Australia where I live Meguiars products are readily available and which i believe are good quality so perhaps it makes sense to recommend products from their range. The only other product I've seen that looked appealing was a t-cut 365 brilliant blue pack which was appealing bc it was specific to blue.

I've attached some photos.

enter image description here

enter image description here

thanks

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

tl;dr: if you are new to cut and polishes, I would recommend starting with mild cleaner wax by hand.

From looking at your pictures, you don't have major paint damage. More importantly, I don't think anything in those pictures is something that will polish out as such.

My recommendation if you are super new to this is to start small and easy. Many vendors make nice cleaner waxes that are useful for exactly this sort of situation. Those incorporate a mild polish with the waxing and, as a result, will smooth out any sharp edges in swirls and chips. Even better, the wax will fill those small swirls and, optically, will make them disappear.

The chips are a different problem. In that case, paint is gone and you probably need to replace it. For those, touch up paint that matches your original color is important. Little dabs only, though. You don't want to overfill the chip.

So, my recommended plan is a bottle of cleaner wax and some nice, all cotton cloths. Apply by hand to a small clean area with swirls. Allow to haze and then remove. I think you'll be impressed. Apply touch up paint to those chips that still bother you.

Once you identify some products that you really like, then you can think about the powered buffer. Don't go there first, though. That way ends in tears.

Improve this answer
6
  • 1
    Good microfiber cloths are all the vogue right now ... works really well for polishing/buffing the wax haze off of vehicles.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Feb 20, 2016 at 19:54
  • Excellent help. Thanks. As mentioned in another answer should I touch up the stone chips first? If not, after I apply touch up to stone chip areas do I need to so n w thing to those areas like polish again?
    – Richie
    Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 4:57
  • @Richie, the order is up to you. The rock chips, if unrepaired, will tend to retain some of the wax. I find that to be useful: if I see a spot, I know there's a chip that I might not have seen otherwise. I have a collection of little picks and similar tools that allow me to remove that blob of wax and replace it with paint. You can also do it the other way around but be ready to see those extra little spots. There's always a chip that you'd otherwise miss....
    – Bob Cross ♦
    Commented Feb 21, 2016 at 22:13
  • Thanks again for your advice. I went to the store for advice and all they told me was that I need to get the bonnet resprayed bc the chips are down to the primer.
    – Richie
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 0:41
  • The dealership should be able to sell you some touch up.
    – Tobin S
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 18:20
1

I think maguires has a clay bar too. Wash the car with a little dish soap, to help remove a lot of oil and wax build up, then use the clay bar. Repair your rock chips first.

Improve this answer
2

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .