waxing a car

A belt sander w/320 g, is good on road tar and bugs

Probably have better luck over in one of the rec.autos.* groups. Also, Google is your friend- do a search for 'car waxing' or 'mcquires (sp?)', making sure to click the 'groups' box, and I'm sure you will find countless threads on the subject. Gearheads love to talk about the care and feeding of their mechanical babies.

aem sends....

thanks a ton :-)

Only if you go with the grain.

Take a look at Autopia:

In short, use the scratch-X (or a similar product from 3M called Swirl Mark Remover, or SMR) first, then use the Gold. Always polish before waxing, not the other way around.

Scratch-X is not meant to remove bugs or tar. It's meant to correct minor scratches. If you want to remove bugs or tar, use a product designed for the task.

Scratch-X works reasonably well to remove minor scratches. It will _not_ remove larger scratches or paint chips (nor will any other scratch- removing product). Larger problems like that may have to be corrected using some touch-up paint, which is probably a job better left to a professional detailer if you don't know what you're doing.

Go to the Autopia forums and do some serious reading. Everything you could possibly want to know about auto detailing can be found on that site and on the forums. I also recommend purchasing the Autopia E-Book

Regards,

George Wenzel

Yep. Visit the detailing forum. You can buy whatever you need at

Go with the 3M. Read the instructions, spend some time doing it.

Skip the old hat wax - buy some Klasse. Do the SMR, then do the car with the Klasse All-in-1. Buy the "glaze" if you decide you want to be a fanatic. If you spend the time to do the SMR and then the Klasse, your car will look better than when you bought it. As a bonus, the Klasse lasts a very long time and is the easiest "wax" you will every apply.

Actually, I must STRONGLY concur with this recommendation. Klasse is AMAZING stuff.

Buy it even if you don't want to be a fanatic. :-) The stuff works remarkably well.

Indeed, except the Klasse Sealant Glaze is somewhat hard to remove if you apply too much. The trick to using Klasse is to use as little as possible - the thinner the coat, the better.

I have a coat of Klasse on my car that was applied in September. It's still there now, despite the car having been driven through snowy, salty, and sandy roads for three months. After a wash, the car still beads water and has that 'silky smooth' feel to it. :-)

Regards,

George Wenzel

Last year, after SMRing and then Klassing my car, a guy said to me "Is that a 2002 ?". I said "Nope, 1997".

Yup, it's amazing how much benefit can be had with minimal effort. If you do it right, with the right products, your car will look _better_ than it did the day it was driven off the lot.

Regards,

George Wenzel