scanning through the detailing threads i noticed collinite 845 was being suggested A LOT. i love this stuff.. and so does my truck.. i wash with armor all's protectant soap ( white and smells like pineapple ) then clay bar. then 1 coat of meguiar's next gen tech wax.. ( by hand ) then collinite 845 ( again by hand ).. my truck has the original paint and 254,300 miles.. and it shines so good i had a few random teenagers fixing their hair ( using the truck as a mirror ) and telling their girlfriends that they had a nice **** by the reflection anyway.. great wax ( or carbonara wax )
and on my friend's 1998 Oldsmobile

 

Great job on the truck. Looks better than new with what dealers do to the paint.
- Washed with the same wash mitt the dealer has had ( and dropped many times per day ) since the Reagan administration.

Myself, I would not bother with the Meguiar next gen tech wax step in your process.

Go right for 2 coats of 845.

Another option with a bit more life than 845 is Menzerna Power Lock.
It is a sealant, so it will not quite have the same shine as 2 coats of 845.
- Might look about the same as the process you have now.

 

thank you, and alright cool haha. i just use the tech wax as a backup for when the collinite wears off ( or if it would ever wear off before i have time to redo it )

 

I'd also recommend skipping the Meg's nxt tech wax. That stuff just doesn't hold up at all.

Either 2 coats of 845 or, I like putting 845 on top of liquid glass. LG is extremely durable and 845 on top just brings out even more shine. I personally love that combo.

 

i really just use it as a backup really. thanks for the advice too. looks good

 

I recently started using Collinite 845 as well based on everything I was reading on all the F150 forums. Great stuff, couldn't be happier!

 

that is how i found it too

 

Collinite is made in my area... lol I got tons of that stuff.

Utica, NY has made some interesting stuff over the past decade.

 

Coli 845 is inexpensive, has a bright shine and lasts better than many others..
(It makes a great "winter" wax) Not my first choice for dark colors.
...but it does sparkle and looks great on light/white paint.

 

huh. i'm going to have to try it on my mom's office's new work truck ( 2015 F150 Lariat in Oxford white ) I ran out of collinite though. ( mostly by the cap breaking on the bottle and it dumping and spilling like 60% of it :glare: I started off with meguiar's carnauba but the hood on the 03 kept rejecting it. ( not beading ) is it the aluminum? Or the heat from the motor? Idk. Anyway. That is why I am hesitant to try just carnauba wax on the truck instead of the tech wax then collinite. ( I don't want the truck to have no protection from the sun Beacause the original owner did and the paint is done for. So I'm trying to keep it from getting worse )

 

Dumb question time from me.

Have you tried polishing the hood after clay and before LSP ?

The paint does look a little strange, but it still has shine to it.

The pictures up the thread, it is hard to tell what it really looks like.
Shade pictures. Picture at dusk ( or dawn ) when dew looks to be setting on the hood ( white dodge looks to have dew on the windshield ).
The front low picture with the wheels hard left, the fender to hood there is a difference.

It could be the clear coat is trashed, very hard to tell with the pictures.

Maybe try a test area on the front ( by the passenger headlamp ) and use polish on a blue pad for 2 rounds to see what happens ?

The SIL's previous mustang appeared to be a repaint in single stage, and had a similar issue paint wise.
I went at it with ProPolish on blue / black pads to get the shine up and then applied OptiCoat over it.
- PP on a Blue pad is a follow up polish combo, with very little correcting ability to it. I did this just to get shine to the paint. the OC I used to try to lock in the shine and protect it.

Maybe something you want to think about doing. You might get the hood to look good without needing to mess with it too much.

This is all a SWAG just from looking at the pictures and reading the description on the hood paint issues.
- This opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it, nothing

 

I've used rubbing compound on the entire truck twice. But it's checked ( clear coat cracking ) and has a bunch of rock chips ( they are down to the aluminum ) the clear cracking and the rubbing compound just really made the checks more visible then before ( due to the clear being removed ) hopefully after I replace the rockers and can corners I'm going to have the entire truck re painted.

 

Rubbing Compound is something you should be very, very careful about using on just about anything. It's just too aggressive for most correction work. And the resulting finish will need more correction with a finer polish before it will look even half way decent.

 

it didn't do much honestly. Haha. It just made the scratches less noticeable. ( Went off road and the truck slid into some trees and left scratches all down the right side )

 

Rubbing compound

Are you talking about something like Turtle Wax Rubbing compound ?



I am sure it made the scratches less noticeable with new somewhat smaller scratches.
- This is not the same thing as Optimum Poly Tech Hyper Compound.

As 2stroked posted, this is something you should be very careful with, and will require another round ( or two or three ) of defect removal with polish.

Is this what your clear coat looks like ?