Silver Paint

[Bowtie383]

Just a quick question guys,what polish do you recommend for clear over base silver?

Regards Tony.

[Murr1525]

Re: Silver Paint

#205/Ult Polish would be the general choices....

[The Guz]

Re: Silver Paint

Those are the two I use on my silver car.

[davey g-force]

Re: Silver Paint

Are you trying to do any correction? What is the condition of the paint?

[Bowtie383]

Re: Silver Paint

Gary no correction on the paint as the paint is about 4 months old,it is for a friend of mine and I would like to keep on top of it for her.most of the colours I have been working with are dark colours so I wasn't shore what would be the best for silver,also guys thanks for the advice.

Regards Tony.

[ffboy]

Re: Silver Paint

Before you go all out on pure or mild cleaner polish, you might want to try it on a small area first. On some silver paint, the difference is very small or too small that it would almost be a wasted step. Having said that, on my silver car, I've used M07 quite successfully. It added a different depth (almost 3D like) look to the paint.

Compare a panel, before waxing, apply a polish to 1 side. If there is a big enough difference to the polished/waxed side and if the difference is bog enough for you, then go ahead, polish first. That's the thing with silver paint. Easy to maintain and look "nice" but very hard if not impossible to get that amazing depth found on dark/warm colors.

For silver paint, try NXT 2.0, works real well on silver or bright colors. But on well prepped or on decent paint, even Ultimate Wax will work well with Ultimate Wax adding the crisp reflection and give better durability.

[cvalley]

Re: Silver Paint

I brought this thread up because I'm evaluating possible final coat or protectant "polish" and mostly for a silver Mercedes. I recently acquired it, a 2006 with factory paint, and aftermarket paint on one door, and fender. It had overspray on the hood. You could see where they masked about 14 inches near the fender with paper and tape. Most people would not notice it because the silver hides everything. You could feel it though and see it if you looked in the right light and just the right angle. Other than this, the aftermarket paint matched the factory very well. They have equal orange peel and swirl marks.

I haven't had anything close to a nicely painted car for a long time so I took out my old Meguiars products and started with Fine Cut Cleaner and Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner. I used Meguiars clay lubricated with Quick Detailer to remove the overspray. The overspray came off very easily with the clay and the hood is very slick now. After the mild compounding, the clay slid easily on the rest of the car and not much attention was required. But of course optically it's not very flat.

For prep I have since acquired and used 105/205 on another car and I would use those rather than the older products I used. However, I would still use clay for above-the-surface contaminants like the overspray.

I am reluctant to wet-sand, 105, and 205 on the silver paint because the potential improvement is so subtle due to the way the bright metallic base tends to hide imperfections in the clear coat. But I would not hesitate to make sure the paint is clean by using clay and a light compound/cleaner before waxing/sealing.

I used the last of my old bottle of NXT 1.0 on the car for now. I don't want to bother with a traditional carnauba wax on this car because it's just not going to be an attention-magnet. It's just a daily-driver kind of car although it will probably only see 5000 miles a year. I'm wondering what to choose between NXT 2.0, UW, and Synthetic Sealant 2.0. If I get the SS2.0 by the gallon, it's the best value.

[Murr1525]

Re: Silver Paint

Well, ult wax would be most durable.

[The Guz]

Re: Silver Paint

I used the last of my old bottle of NXT 1.0 on the car for now. I don't want to bother with a traditional carnauba wax on this car because it's just not going to be an attention-magnet. It's just a daily-driver kind of car although it will probably only see 5000 miles a year. I'm wondering what to choose between NXT 2.0, UW, and Synthetic Sealant 2.0. If I get the SS2.0 by the gallon, it's the best value.

I never got around to using NXT 2.0. I ended up going with UW after I used up all of my NXT 1.0 and gace my 2.0 to my brother. UW looks great on silver. I just got around to using M21 on two of my familie's cars. It works good as well. UW is of course the longest lasting wax currently offered. Even the 16 oz bottle of each will last you awhile. In my opinon you can go wrong with either one. Why not get them all and try them out .

[Bowtie383]

Re: Silver Paint

Again guys thankyou all for your time to give advice on what works best with silver.

Regards Tony.

[mis3]

Re: Silver Paint

Silver is probably the easiest color to maintain.

I drive a silver Mercedes and the car is almost 10 years old. I tried almost all Meguiars waxes and they all look nice and shiny on my car. I wax about once a month in summer months so durability is not an issue for me. I do use #16 before the winter.

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, the results of a simple wash/wax and the full 5 step ritual (Wash-Clay-Clean-Polish-Wax) are almost the same. In fact, I did not clay for 2 years and my car surface is still super smooth.

[ffboy]

Re: Silver Paint

Silver is probably the easiest color to maintain.

I drive a silver Mercedes and the car is almost 10 years old. I tried almost all Meguiars waxes and they all look nice and shiny on my car. I wax about once a month in summer months so durability is not an issue for me. I do use #16 before the winter.

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, the results of a simple wash/wax and the full 5 step ritual (Wash-Clay-Clean-Polish-Wax) are almost the same. In fact, I did not clay for 2 years and my car surface is still super smooth.

Yes, Silver is very easy to maintain. Since you wax once a month, it could be the reason why your paint is in no real need for claying and the reason why you get similar results with a simple wash/wax and Wash-Clay-Clean-Polish-Wax. You give no opportunities for any contaminants to cause problems on your paint.

[mis3]

Re: Silver Paint

Yes, Silver is very easy to maintain. Since you wax once a month, it could be the reason why your paint is in no real need for claying and the reason why you get similar results with a simple wash/wax and Wash-Clay-Clean-Polish-Wax. You give no opportunities for any contaminants to cause problems on your paint.

Yes, I also wash once every 1-2 weeks, followed by UQW. For a silver car, there is no depth or warmth to speak of. All we do is to keep it clean, smooth and shiny. Surface preparation is still important so the paint can bond with the surface properly. Last time I clayed was more than 2 years ago when I had to remove tree saps from my car.

I was kind of disappointed at first that after the full 5-step detailing cycle (5-6 hours of hard labour), the end result was not better by any significant margin.

[mis3]

Re: Silver Paint

I agree to ffboy. The polish step does not hurt but will not help in the overall appearance too much in a well-maintained silver car.

What I do now is to alternate cleaner Wax and Ultimate Liquid Wax (or NXT 2.0) when I wax my car. Cleaner Wax is an AIO product which contains cleaning agents and polising oil. Keep in mind that this works for me because I wash and wax often.

[ffboy]

Re: Silver Paint

Little "issues" with owning a silver car. Not the most spectacular color, but very easy to maintain and you have to look at it in a different way. I want the clean, crisp and bright look. Even if a pure polish won't make any significant difference, I still use it sometimes and it just feels incomplete when I don't apply a pure polish or a glaze before waxing.