question about fresh paint

[KingTitan]

Hey everybody, first time poster on the forums but I’ve been using Adams products for about a year. I’ve atill got A LOT to learn. 

 

I currently own an all black 2014 RAM 1500, unfortunately back in April I had a bit of an incident with the back of a semi and had pretty extensive damage to the front of my truck. Thankfully it wasn’t totaled. Pretty much the whole front end, from the two front doors to the nose of the truck, has new paint and clear coat. The body shop informed me to NOT use any waxes or sealants for 90 days. 

 

Now that those 90 days have passed, what would you guys suggest the best products to use during my first official detail since the accident? I personally don’t own any swirl killers but I do have easy access to them and the polishing compounds. I haven’t used it at all yet but I would really like to use the H2O guard and gloss on my truck since it is outside 100% of the time because I don’t have a garage. If I do go ahead and try it out, should the guard and gloss be the very last step in my detailing process? 

 

Apologies for the lengthy write up. 

Thanks in advance! 

[shane@detailedreflections]

You aren’t really clear in what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you trying to polish your paint?  Or are you just trying to protect the paint?  

 

As for protection, you can use any products you’d like. The paint is cured and good to go. 

 

If you want to polish on fresh paint, it shouldn’t need more than a finishing polish most likely. Then finish with whatever process you’d like. 

[KingTitan]

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, I would like to protect the paint as best I can. The new paint does have some very minor swirling in the clear coat so I had already planned on possibly using the correction compound or just the one step. 

 

After that, would it be best to hit it with the paint sealant or a coat of the buttery wax? 

[shane@detailedreflections]

One step products never do either of their functions as well as a stand-alone. They’re usually aimed at people detailing for dollars. It sounds like correcting compound is WAY too aggressive for new paint with minor defects. Think more finishing polish. You’ll be amazed at what it can do. Compound will take away clear coat needlessly. 

 

I would using finishing polish. And then sealant. Then wax. That’s a lasting finish done correctly.