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[timot_one]

Thanks Misha and Greg for your help.  For the color, it's going to remain the factory Satin Silver Metallic.  I was going to do a color change to Starlight Black Pearl, but decided against it because of the work involved in a color change, and the maintenance involved with a black car.  I trust the shop because the painter is my friend.  The shop he works out of has a heated paint booth, so I am positive it will be baked after it is painted.  I will take whatever advice my friend gives for prep before the paint and maintenance after the paint is dry.  I am just unsure if I should seal it as soon as possible, or if it will need any wet sanding or polishing first.  Considering that I will have new paint, which pads would be recommended?  I have a lot of products that I'm actually looking to phase out and replace with something new, specifically polish and wax.

[Mike]

When I had 48% of my car resprayed last year they "color sanded" and buffed it.

[DetailedImage.com]

Thanks Misha and Greg for your help.  For the color, it's going to remain the factory Satin Silver Metallic.  I was going to do a color change to Starlight Black Pearl, but decided against it because of the work involved in a color change, and the maintenance involved with a black car.  I trust the shop because the painter is my friend.  The shop he works out of has a heated paint booth, so I am positive it will be baked after it is painted.  I will take whatever advice my friend gives for prep before the paint and maintenance after the paint is dry.  I am just unsure if I should seal it as soon as possible, or if it will need any wet sanding or polishing first.  Considering that I will have new paint, which pads would be recommended?  I have a lot of products that I'm actually looking to phase out and replace with something new, specifically polish and wax.

For silver paint the P21S Carnauba Wax is a nice choice!  My other favorites are Dodo Juice Light Fantastic or the Dodo Juice Diamond White!  All of these are great on silver and will provide solid protection.  After it's repainted it shouldn't need any wet sanding if the shop does great work.  It's possible you may need to polish it if you want perfection, but again this just depends on what the shop does.  If it needs to be polished I'd highly recommend looking at the Menzerna or Meguiar's line of polishes.  If the paint is being baked dry I would definitely apply the sealant within a week to the paint.  It should be a major help in protecting the finish.  After that you can apply the wax of your choice as well.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

[timot_one]

Thanks Greg.  I have some Meguiars polish and glaze, but I have been wanting to try the Menzerna polishes.  Which Menzerna polishes would you recommend using?  I have wanted to get the Dodo Juice Light Fantastic and Diamond White.  From what I've read, whether I choose the hard or soft wax, it's all about personal preference.  Which sealant would you recommend?  You recommended the Menzerna Power Lock previously.  

I will be helping out with a lot of the prep work, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to talk to my painter about when the best time to polish, seal, and wax will be.  It seems that the best course of action will be to wait until the paint has cured fully, then polish, seal, and wax.

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

if you want paint perfect after then you will have to wetsand it. i dont think its possible not to have orange peel after painting, even high end cars go through factory wetsanding to get mirror finish without orange peel. unfortunatly i seen pics of lambos and aston martins after their factory wetsanding,  they dont do good job of polishing after that.

get menzerna 203(powerfinish), meguairs 105 (compound) and either menz 85rd or menz 106 (difference between 106 and 85rd is that 106 has more cut(2.5) but same finishing gloss like 85rd which has cut of 1) so those 3 should be great combo, i love 105. 106 will be good later on to do maitanace polishing, still havent tried megs 205.

i want to try powerlock soon but we have 2 full bottles of BFWD

me and Nick gona be placing order with DI pretty soon, probably after weekends

[DetailedImage.com]

Thanks Greg.  I have some Meguiars polish and glaze, but I have been wanting to try the Menzerna polishes.  Which Menzerna polishes would you recommend using?  I have wanted to get the Dodo Juice Light Fantastic and Diamond White.  From what I've read, whether I choose the hard or soft wax, it's all about personal preference.  Which sealant would you recommend?  You recommended the Menzerna Power Lock previously.  

I will be helping out with a lot of the prep work, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to talk to my painter about when the best time to polish, seal, and wax will be.  It seems that the best course of action will be to wait until the paint has cured fully, then polish, seal, and wax.

I really love the Megs M105 and M205 combo, from Menzerna I most commonly use the PO83 and then follow up with the PO106FA, but you can also use a combination of the PO203S and PO85RD.  If you check out the Menzerna Polishing Chart (http://www.detailedimage.com/Menzerna-Polishing-Chart/) that should help you pick them out.  

The Dodo Juice Light Fantastic and Diamond White are both outstanding and very similar.  One is a sot wax and the other is a hard wax which still only produces minimal differences.  Check out our Dodo Juice informational page if you'd like to read more (http://www.detailedimage.com/Dodo-Juice-Pick-Wax/).  For lighter colors they looks amazing and Dodo Juice makes some of the most durable waxes I have tested.

For sealants my two favorites are the Blackfire Wet Diamond and Menzerna Power Lock.  Both of them are outstanding in both their durability, shine and ease of use.  You can't go wrong with either one!

Good luck with the re-paint and I can't wait to see the final product!  If you can take some pictures along the way that'd be awesome as well.

[ikethegreat]

The Dodo Juice Light Fantastic and Diamond White are both outstanding and very similar.  One is a sot wax and the other is a hard wax which still only produces minimal differences.  Check out our Dodo Juice informational page if you'd like to read more (http://www.detailedimage.com/Dodo-Juice-Pick-Wax/).  For lighter colors they looks amazing and Dodo Juice makes some of the most durable waxes I have tested.

I've used the Diamond White on my Mom's white charger and my Dad's silver tundra.  Both turned out great.  It's expensive stuff but does a great job.  The Purple Haze is what I use on my graphite pearl accord and it looks beautiful.

[Jeff Likes Bagels]

What's the best way to get rid of the white wax residue out of the cracks between panels and other various places? Should I just use a soft toothbrush or something? Thanks.

[DetailedImage.com]

What's the best way to get rid of the white wax residue out of the cracks between panels and other various places? Should I just use a soft toothbrush or something? Thanks.

A toothbrush can potentially leave ultra fine scratches on the surface so don't use that unless it's absolutely necessary.  I usually spray a light degreaser (P21S Total Auto Wash) or something similar on a microfiber towel.  I open the doors, etc. to expose the cracks and remove as much as possible by agitating the surface.  If you have any on the rubber, vinyl or plastic trim I really like the Poorboy's World Trim Restorer.  It helps clean and protect the trim so it looks more like new again.  If you can remove the white marks as soon as possible in the future as they become more challenging to remove when the sun bakes them in.  If you have any questions please let me know.

[Jeff Likes Bagels]

Well, the problem is, using a regular towel doesn't reach to all the small places. Areas like the rear corner panels, around the taillights, and around the weather strips on the roof are extremely hard to get to with a towel. Is there anything else I can use together into those small cracks?

[DetailedImage.com]

Well, the problem is, using a regular towel doesn't reach to all the small places. Areas like the rear corner panels, around the taillights, and around the weather strips on the roof are extremely hard to get to with a towel. Is there anything else I can use together into those small cracks?

Sometimes wrapping the microfiber towel on the end of something long and thin (not to sharp though) helps force the towel in to tight spaces.  For rubber and vinyl trim you can hit them with a brush but you definitely do not want to use that brush near the paint.  Another option is to tape off the paint (i.e. Meguiar's Masking Tape) and then use a brush so you can get closer to the edge.  Hopefully some combination of these options will help.

[Mike]

Well, the problem is, using a regular towel doesn't reach to all the small places. Areas like the rear corner panels, around the taillights, and around the weather strips on the roof are extremely hard to get to with a towel. Is there anything else I can use together into those small cracks?

Sometimes I use a Q-Tip probably not the best advice but, I have had good results.

[wtcii]

So, I was bringing my grandparents dogs home, two maltese, and they both had diarrhea all over the passenger. Luckily I decided to not take mine. The car, LS460, I was in though has perforated seats for the cool seat function. There is a bunch of shit in the perforations, how should I go about getting that out. I tried turning the seats on high, no luck. I am afraid if the heated seats are used it will create a horrible smell and I really just don't want dog excrement on the seat. Thanks!

[AV6NHBP6SPD]

hmm, im sure its leather sets. did you try leather brush and leather cleaner?
if you can try steamer through microfiber towel or maybe get extractor?

maybe Greg has better suggestion

[timot_one]

Dude, I'd shoot the dogs and then get that fancy shcmancy extractor thing Misha talked about.