ok, as much as i'm learning about what's under the hood, i don' t know much about what's on it.
my poor 89 has some teeny lil spots of rust where dings have oxidized, as well as enough scratches in the clearcoat that they don' come out when it's waxed.
I've been washing it w/ mcGuire's gold, & waxing it w/ mcGuire's cleaner wax. (also i've got the platinum/dark grey 2 tone paint job, so i'm not certain of how that should look when waxed, i don' think it does the 'mirror' thing like flat paint jobs) there's about 15 different waxes at o'rielly's, not to mension 'scratch removers' & all that jazz...
How can i best clean up the paint job? What wax will give me the shiniest look?

 

my paint job was very dull when i bought it my car. it was a 93 that had sat for 3 years or so, thus the paint was really dull. i tried this stuff someone suggested to me called 'kit - scratch out' it comes in a yellow bottle and helped my car a lot to bring up the color. i use it now whenever i want to polish my car. im not sure how well it will work in comparison to what u have used already, but with my car i had success using it, give it a shot if u want, its like 5 bucks.

 

something i would suggest with every vehicle is the clay bar. my dad got me into using that once in a while. makes your car feel like it's waxed: take a lot of the imperfections out, even some scratches. then wax after that.

 

The clay bar is the ****! Try using Eagle One's new Nano Wax. Ive heard good things.

 

Wash your car with Dawn to get all the wax, dirt and etc. out. Make sure to give her a really good wash.

Clay bar the body, and clay it good!

Then put your choice of wax/polish on. I use Nu Finish, it's good enough for me. Do a little searching on this subject over at freshalloy.com and you will find what you need.

Moved to style

 

Leave dawn where it belongs... in the kitchen. Just wash it like normal, then clay. Make sure you know the proper procedure for claying....or bad things can happen.

head on over to autopia.org and read up on detailing. Those guys, many of whom are professional detailers, have a lot to share.

good steps to follow for detail:

wash
clay
wash
polish(if needed)
cleaner/sealant
waz

I use Klasse products for paint cleaner/sealant/wax. mothers for clay, meguiars for wash/SMR(swirl mark remover)

 

Hey Dawn isnt bad! It gets bugs and stuff out good. Just wash your car good then wax/clay bar, and you should be set. Turtle Wax is pretty cheap and doesnt do too bad.

 

Yeah, dish soap is ok if you want to remove all the wax and stuff off your car and start over(very strong). If you do that then make sure you finish with the rest of the steps from bimmians post. I have used American Shine products for the last 5 years(I detail and am a distributor). Easiest stuff Ive ever used and BEST results in my opinion. Used on many Porsches and Mercedes when I was in Germany and the owners loved the stuff.

 

Do not use dish soap unless you are using Zaino products. Using dish soap will eat through the clear coat and can damage your paint. Clay Bar will remove any old wax anyways, so it's like starting with a clean slate. For wax, I suggest Poorboys topped with S100 or meguairs #26.

 

Dish soap has done nothing wrong to my sisters car of 5 years.

 

Dawn is the best!!