Help with sealant

[justcallmeblade]

Quick question. I've been using Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection for as long as I can remember. For the last 15 years I've been caring for silver cars and I'm in my first dark car, Daytona Grey Pearl. I'm just about done with my bottle of 4*UPP and I need something else. I see 4* is still sold, but I have to think there is something better out there.

In my garage left from for the silver cars I have the Griots 6" random orbital, black pads, and sf4500. I was going to see what the sf4500 would do before I jumped into anything more aggressive. The car is in pretty decent shape, just poor wash practices by the original owner.


Thanks.

[pdqgp]

In my garage left from for the silver cars I have the Griots 6" random orbital, black pads, and sf4500. I was going to see what the sf4500 would do before I jumped into anything more aggressive. The car is in pretty decent shape, just poor wash practices by the original owner.

4500 is great stuff. Black pads don't have any correction capability though so no need to use them if correction is your goal. That combo would make for a nice jeweling polish if you're just removing road grime and tackling a mid-summer clean up and refining of an existing polish.

Switch to white pads and even then realize SF4500 aka 3800 now is made for removing fine haze vs swirls. Not much correction in terms of addressing poor washing technique. Switch to SF 4000 if you have some or the newer version of it, 3500.

[justcallmeblade]

4500 is great stuff. Black pads don't have any correction capability though so no need to use them if correction is your goal. That combo would make for a nice jeweling polish if you're just removing road grime and tackling a mid-summer clean up and refining of an existing polish.

Switch to white pads and even then realize SF4500 aka 3800 now is made for removing fine haze vs swirls. Not much correction in terms of addressing poor washing technique. Switch to SF 4000 if you have some or the newer version of it, 3500.

Edit: it is the sf4000 I have. How about sealant suggestions?

[pdqgp]

Edit: it is the sf4000 I have. How about sealant suggestions?

SF-4000 is good stuff. It's just one generation older than the 3500 that replaced it. 3500 suposidly dusts less and cuts faster. I still have SF4000 in my cabinet and use it so I've not yet compared the two personally.

Sealant wise there are dozens of great options depending on your needs and desires. I personally have moved to coatings vs sealants. Once you use a coating and watch the candy like effect it has to the paint you will be hard pressed to go back to traditional sealants. They are easy to apply, lower in price than they used to be, last longer and gloss better. McKee's 37 Paint coating with Car Pro's Essence as a base gloss enhancing polish vs using Menzerna's SF4000. Not trying to get you to buy more stuff but those two combined are by far awesome. I'm biased as I have both my black vehicles done with them.

Essence exhibits a finer polish thus higher gloss. I've compared the two and it's splitting hairs IMO but the Sio2 Quartz protection incorporated into Essence forms a tight bond the the existing clear coat and is an excellent base for Ceramic Nano Coatings of all kinds. Essence is an All in One that is one of the few that is formulated to be used as a stand alone or as a base for ceramic coatings. Essence not only finishes better but it WILL cut the defects you mentioned when using a white pad and cut nicely. Thus it will serve the purpose you initially asked about.

Coating wise, I like McKee's 37 vs others that I've used for the simply fact that I do tend to "touch" aka polish or wipe my cars like they are my second wives That said, if at anytime you will be correcting or re polishing imperfections you will subsequently need to reapply the coating as abrasive polishing removes them. It's really the only means of removing a coating. McKee's is excellent in quality, easy to use even for a novice and price wise the best out there. Wolfgang and Pinnacle also make simliar nano coatings that are cost effective. The pricier longer lasting ones are great too but wasted on an daily driver IMO. Summer only cars they are great but anyone exposing their car to winter, rain or anything like that will need to redo their cars eventually thus nullifying the longevity and extra cost associated with those products.

If you choose to go traditional sealant vs a coating here's what I would suggest. Being you are in CT I can absolutely relate to the impact of winter. I'm in Ohio and drive all over the 5 surrounding states in the muck of winter. Collinite 476 is among the very best products to use longevity and winter protection wise. Collinite 845 is a close second but has 1/3 less the lasting power. It is a little easier to apply but that's about it. Both are best applied by machine as the key to them is to apply them very very thin. Doing otherwise will make them a bit harder to remove. You can do them by hand though, just be mindful of going thin. Both are hybrid synthetic products and last and last.

I hope the above helps.

[justcallmeblade]

McKee's 37 is on the list, thanks for the info!

[justcallmeblade]

SF-4000 is good stuff. It's just one generation older than the 3500 that replaced it. 3500 suposidly dusts less and cuts faster. I still have SF4000 in my cabinet and use it so I've not yet compared the two personally.

Sealant wise there are dozens of great options depending on your needs and desires. I personally have moved to coatings vs sealants. Once you use a coating and watch the candy like effect it has to the paint you will be hard pressed to go back to traditional sealants. They are easy to apply, lower in price than they used to be, last longer and gloss better. McKee's 37 Paint coating with Car Pro's Essence as a base gloss enhancing polish vs using Menzerna's SF4000. Not trying to get you to buy more stuff but those two combined are by far awesome. I'm biased as I have both my black vehicles done with them.

Essence exhibits a finer polish thus higher gloss. I've compared the two and it's splitting hairs IMO but the Sio2 Quartz protection incorporated into Essence forms a tight bond the the existing clear coat and is an excellent base for Ceramic Nano Coatings of all kinds. Essence is an All in One that is one of the few that is formulated to be used as a stand alone or as a base for ceramic coatings. Essence not only finishes better but it WILL cut the defects you mentioned when using a white pad and cut nicely. Thus it will serve the purpose you initially asked about.

I hope the above helps.

OK, so I used SF4000 and white pads which of course remedied the holograms and some swirls - as well as awakened the paint. In the right light I still see some fine scratches, should I step to an Orange pad and maybe a more aggressive compound/polish? Any suggestions? Thanks.