Hey Merlin,
Although many will think I"m a detailing guru, I'm a novice in comparison to your expertise! I've got a black '99 Lightning I'm cleaning up for a flip, and the paint needs some TLC. When I got the truck it was literally FLAT black. It's been at least 2 years since it was washed, and who knows how long since it was waxed. Here's what I did so far....
1. Dawn Wash
2. Zaino Claybar
3. Meguiars Ultimate Compound w/ yellow pad on the DA on speed 6
4. Meguiars Ultimate Polish w/ a yellow pad on the DA on speed 5
5. Meguiars Ultimate Wax w/ a tan pad on the DA on speed 5
It's actually looking VERY good, it's 1,000 times better than it was when I started, it's now a deep shiny gloss black! BUT....there's still a lot of swirls and scuffs that were deeper than what my DA with a yellow pad and the Meg products could remove. Since I'm listing this truck up for sale, I don't want to spend endless hours or huge bucks for a perfect flawless finish, it's just not going to happen, but I do want to make it look as mint as possible for the next owner without going crazy. If it were a regular f150 I'd be perfectly happy where it's at now to sell. Since it's a Lightning, I want to go that little extra step.
I guess long story short basically I need some tips and advice for the starting point products for paint correction. Compounds/polishes and pads/speeds. I've got a good assortment of end stage products from the full zaino arsenal, the full meguiars ultimate collection, and black fire wet diamond and midnight sun. Again since it's a flip I wasn't planning on using BFWD on it, but I do want to fix the deeper paint swirls and marks.
I only have tan and yellow meguiars pads. If there was 1 more pad to get to start with, what should I get? And what product should I use to start? Meguiars ultimate compound or polish with a more aggressive pad? Or a more aggressive compound with the same yellow pads? More aggressive compound and more aggressive pad? So many combos my head spins lol.
I also have the Meguiars Microfiber Detail Correction system, and a gallon jug of Meguiars swirl remover (I forget the product # I can look tonight)
Sooooooo, the million dollar question, can you tailor me a "recipe" for using the most of what I already have (whenever possible), and filling in the few blanks with some reasonable recommendations? I don't mind buying a couple new pads or a new bottle or two of product, I just don't want to have to buy another entire cabinet for detailing supplies by the time I'm done shopping LOL