Deep Crystal System Advice

[areaseven]

Today, I splurged on Meguiar's products at AutoZone and PepBoys Auto. I purchased ColorX, Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner, Deep Crystal System Paint Cleaner and Deep Crystal System Polish. This July, when my Mustang turns one year old, I will use a claybar kit and the DCS products to polish it up. Since this will be my first time in using these products, are there any tips to take note of?

BTW, the ColorX is not for the Mustang. I'll be using it on my cousin's Miata.

[Murr1525]

ColorX is good for any car, dont worry. It has some mild abrasives in it, so if you have any small swirls, etc, you can use it on the Mustang to try and remove them if you dont want to use ScratchX.

Just remember the DC#1 and DC#2 dont need to dry before removing, so just do like a panel at a time.

Your wax of choice and ColorX need to dry befroe removing.

ColorX topped with Nxt/#21 is a great combo, and a nice quick combo for daily drivers.

[areaseven]

Thanks for the tips. If I decide to use ColorX, should I use it between DC1 and DC2, or should I just drop one of them from the process?

[Erik Mejia]

You can drop DC1 since ColorX is also a paint cleaner, I would still use the polish, IMHO you will achieve better results with it in your plan of attack.

[areaseven]

Well, I guess I'll just return the DC1, then.

[the3dwizard]

The real question is what conditon the paint is in? If you are free of swirls I would recommend DC1, DC2 and then a wax. I now prefer #21 but NXT is good as well. This is the procedure that I use on my wife's car (a daily driver) and everyone tells her how good it looks.

[areaseven]

Originally posted by the3dwizard
The real question is what conditon the paint is in? If you are free of swirls I would recommend DC1, DC2 and then a wax. I now prefer #21 but NXT is good as well. This is the procedure that I use on my wife's car (a daily driver) and everyone tells her how good it looks.

Yes, the Mustang has some swirls that are visible only under bright light. The right fender has a couple of dings that have been patched up with touch-up paint. Once I learn more about wet-sanding and polishing, I'll fix that section up.

The hood has a hairline scratch on the clearcoat that goes from the left windshield washer to a couple of inches near the front end. It's only visible if you lean your head near the hood. Don't know how many hours of ScratchX rubbing I'll need to clear this out.

[areaseven]

Earlier tonight, I spent two hours on my Mustang. After using NXT Car Wash, I claybarred the hood. Then I followed it up with one coat of ColorX throughout the entire body. As I waited for it to dry, I polished the headlights with PlastX and applied GC Endurance High Gloss Gel on the tires. Once the ColorX dried, I wiped it out and applied DC2 on the hood, followed by one coat of NXT from top to bottom.

Tomorrow, I'll post some pics over at the Show Off section.

[F-150]

Originally posted by areaseven
Yes, the Mustang has some swirls that are visible only under bright light. The right fender has a couple of dings that have been patched up with touch-up paint. Once I learn more about wet-sanding and polishing, I'll fix that section up.

The hood has a hairline scratch on the clearcoat that goes from the left windshield washer to a couple of inches near the front end. It's only visible if you lean your head near the hood. Don't know how many hours of ScratchX rubbing I'll need to clear this out.

I tried #80 by hand to remove a key mark that someone put on my dad's car and it got it out in seconds. I was planning on using the G100 but just wanted to see if it works well by hand too and it does. But there's no harm in trying scratch x to get that scratch out, depending on how deep it is, it will only take a few minutes with a lot of effort if it's removable by hand.