Repaint works do have a variety of prices, so my recommendation is shop around. My own car repainter is based in Setapak, so not sure if that's convenient for u. I also know of one at Taman Wahyu, but only heard ppl say that he's good but personally never tried.

I suggest u ask among your friends and family on car repainters as they are ppl u can trust to give u good recommendations also.


Yes, given half the chance I would parallel import many of Meguiars professional line stuff then buy here cuz Hypercoat Malaysia prices can be abit often ridiculous.

Only major problem is when it comes to chemicals, it can get abit troublesome with frieght forwarders and customs as they may not ship or charge very high just to ship them. If u got any suggestions on shipping in chemicals please do share. Thanks.

Not sure where u can find a set, but I know that u can use camera tripods to mount that floodlight. U will just need to find the right sized nut and bolt and washer, cuz those spotlights have the D handle with some holes that u can use to fit and lock it down. U will need to remove the existing screw from the camera tripod top.

The floodlight u can go to either CIMA lighting or any lighting shop and they should carry. For the tripod, try buying from lelong or lazada, cheap ones should work just fine.

In terms of wattage, my past experience we used 30w works just fine, but u need to place it in an angle and also polish in an angle as u dont want to have the light reflect back to your eyes and damage them. Generally the recommended colour temp is around sunlight range, which is slightly warm white between 4300-4700k, but experiences may vary depending on paint colour also.

Personally I dont use quick detailer sprays. I own Meguiars Last Touch and also ONR, but I use Last Touch diluted as clay lube, and ONR I use it as actual rinseless wash.

If u are looking for budget solution to quick detailer sprays, then I think ONR should fit the bill just fine, and its available from a seller in this forum itself. Just search for him in the trade section.

Hmm, how bad is your level of oxidized paint? Is clearcoat peeling? Depending on the severity of your defect, u may need to have a small selection of 1500-3000 grit sandpaper as well for wetsanding.

My personal go-to has always been Meguiars M105/M205 combo with microfiber pads for cutting and black foam pads for polishing/finishing. However, I use DA polisher machines, and M105 isnt as friendly with rotary because of its quick drying issue.

As I see u seem to be a Menzerna fan, I think nothing wrong with ur purchase list, just as douglas_tong mentioned u will need some pads, wool for heavy cut, foam cut, foam polish and foam finish pads. I would suggest for the foam pads is to buy 2 of each, because halfway through your machine cycle u may need to change the pad to give it a chance to get cleaned and rest.

Can u share what sealant u used and how u applied it?

I used to hate M105 too due to quick flashing and drying up too soon, especially with rotary. However, after starting to use Kevin Brown's method of spraying abit of water to wet it, it seems much more manageable now.

I also have M100 and M101, but I keep that only for situations of more serious defect removal. I feel their cutting power abit strong for even doing medium level compounding.

Perhaps I can suggest trying it again when the car is dry instead of spraying when wet? The results may improve.

To be fair, the rainy season has been abit sporadic, so after days of sun and dust, the rain brings the dust in the air down and sticks on our cars.

While in some ways I agree with VeeJay that during rainy season we should wash more regularly, you could still do some additional experiments. One experiment that I can think of is to clay your car before applying your sealant the next round. See if that helps in improving the performance of your sealant.

Mmm, thats a hard question to answer as everyone would have a different view on what is best. From a durability standpoint, Fusso Coat seems to be a reasonably clear winner.

If u are talking about what those roadside car wash use to clean hard dirt and oil stains, if not mistaken they use diesel. However to a professional detailer and also most enthusiasts, that is a big no-no. For oil stain removal u could start with most typical APC, and if needed move to degreasers. For stubborn dirt streaks, commonly ppl use cleaner wax to remove them.

For rims there are specific products called wheel cleaners, usually either acid or alkaline based, or some are even neutral based. Not sure what shops tend to use, but personally I have used Meguiars Wheel Cleaner (acid based) before during my shop days, and nowadays I use Cartec Wheel Cleaner (alkaline based). But I should set the expectation straight first, as while demonstrations show that u spray on the chemical, let it sit 1-3 mins, then hose off with waterjet and it looks clean, but in reality I find that sometimes some dirt still requires abit of scrubbing.

Well, to be honest I dont fancy the idea of using multiple different types and brands of products, as I may end up confused when facing different cars. Now that I only detail my home cars and no longer doing detailing biz, I prefer to stick to only few products from same brand and change technique to reduce my own confusion.

Thanks for sharing anyway, I may consider other products if the need arises later on. Much appreciated.

Agreed, in fact I'm on my last diluted spray bottle of Cartec Wheel Cleaner, just need to be more hard working when it comes to cleaning rims, results still as clean and good.

Wow! Eye-blinding shine! Great work!

Mmm, as far as I know sealants and waxes have no cut whatsoever. Polish is commonly the last cut u will get before applying sealants or waxes. Unless u are talking about AIO polish creams.

Assuming the key word the shop used is "BURN CLEARCOAT", then the shop obviously doesnt have the right skills and tools to do paint correction work. With the right technique and most importantly patience, u can get swirl free correction without burning the paint. If these guys are burning clearcoat when doing paint correction, then they are buffing the same spot for too long, which is a noob mistake and shouldnt happen in shops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHEpqYGuUHI

So happen Larry AMMONYC was just talking about wetsanding/compounding/polishing topic and using a paint depth gauge to measure. At the late part of the video it shows u how much clearcoat he removed to get a swirl-free shine, and it didnt burn through any clearcoat.


Hmm, as I know claying generally does remove sealant and wax protections. Unless there are very strong sealants now that are resistant to claying, which I wouldnt know.

Well, since the 1980s, most cars already started to have the additional clear-coated. However, one way to tell if a car has clearcoat or not is to do a spot polish. If no clearcoat, then whatever the car colour will transfer onto the pad. The fair guess is most cars today with factory paint have clearcoat, but resprays need to test and confirm. Generally I see taxis dont have clearcoat as they save the cost when the car is resprayed, thats why their paint tend to dull quicker than others.

https://www.best-auto-detailing-tips.com/car-clear-coat.html

If u are picking up a DA to try out machine polishing, may I suggest u also get polish and finishing pads. Considering u mentioned your car is Honda, their clearcoat is abit softer, so sometimes a finishing pad helps to get the swirl free results. Just my 2 sen.

This post has been edited by blurcase: May 5 2018, 12:48 AM

Personally I like Claber, because the head has a variety of fittings u can choose from. The aqua stop system is convenient for connecting and disconnecting hose. They also sell entire sets with it.

that is one option. alternatively if u live in klang valley area u can head to either midvalley or ikano power center, ace hardware carries a bigger range of their products.

Abit off-topic as I have neither used hydro2 not reset or ironx snow. However, I have used ironx and Reload and these are my opinions:

1) IronX - not worth using, nothing to should about and doesnt save your time claying. Better to just clay your car as u get much better results.
2) Reload - good stuff, easy to apply sealant, quite cost effective and fast wipe-on-wipe-off product. Great to use if u are lazy to apply wax.

Feel free to search back my post history as I wrote more extensively on both these products.

I use microfiber cutting pad from Meguiars, aggressive, but very good in leveling paint. Downside is need to clean more regularly than foam pad during detailing session.

Mmm, there's a difference between regular wax and cleaner wax. Basically, cleaner wax has very mild abrasives (like polish) meant to remove very very light defects (like your dark stains), and protect it with wax at the same time. Regular wax does not have any abrasives, and serves purely as protection only.

Dont really know WaxCo brand much, apart from seeing it in Jusco. Maybe if u read their product description it may give u a better idea on what u are using.

U can try to touchup the paint, but I will be honest first that since rust has started to grow, it will only get worse over time even though the area has been covered with touchup paint. From personal experience, rust can still grow underneath paint once it starts forming. The best action u can do is to send for respray, as the respray shop usually will sand down the rust spots off first before respraying. Just my 2 sen.

Well, as I said, based on my personal experience. Probably I'm not aware that new technologies have developed for the antirust primer coats, but I've seen enough cars that grow rust veins underneath the paint due to rust from paint chips. Of course touchup paint is the budget way to try, and by all means if tried and the rust doesnt come back then good. However, if it does come back, then its still back to the body shop for repaint.

I have randomly watched both videos before. Sorry to say but I dont agree with either methods. The idea from first video of squirting a random blob of polish and vigorously rubbing with a cloth like no tomorrow may remove or reduce the rust spot but at the same time create defect at the area surrounding it.

For the second video, as u say small fix no need big multiple step, and the second video is a big multiple step. I would only recommend that to those either dont care about colour outcome or is good with a spraycan.

Like I said in the initial post, he can use touchup paint, but I just share risks that come with it since rust has already formed.

Try Sierra Glow in USJ? Or Glamour Surface in Sri Rampai? These are the 2 that I know apart from those like Regal Valet.

Never used a carpet and upholstery vacuum cleaner before, but before u invest, may I suggest maybe a budget way for interior cleaning? From experience, APC and a few brushes can do wonders to clean the entire interior, just more elbow grease required. Else, an entry level Karcher steam cleaner can also work wonders already.

Just sharing cheaper alternatives, unless u intend to have heavy use of the upholstery vacuum cleaner.