I have a black 71 chevelle and am going to get it back from the body shop this week. i know it is going to scratch easily and get very dirty. I don't know anything about waxing or anything i need some help. what are some good waxes. how do you use them. or just car care products in general. anything will help but keep in mind i am new to this so dont get to technical.

First off. Any car that I paint and restore never sees a water hose again. So being new paint. I use a spray water bottle and a terry or cotton towel to clean the paint.
I wait approx 2 months before I use wax or detailers. Giving the paint full time to cure.
At that point the wax and detailer I like the best now is the new Turtle Wax..
If you get alot of dust on it. Get a california duster and wipe it first.

Good luck. I hope the paint turns out flawless.

RandyB..
painter for 22 yrs.
71 chevelle 454 with N20/ almost complete. Orange w/ white stripes
67 RS/SS up for resto this winter. 355 Dart heads and 4spd.

I use miguires car wax. It works really well? Randy, why don't you use a water hose?

Rather than applying and removing wax in circles, I use a cross hatch method. This is supposed to minimize swirl marks.

My painter said not to wax the car for 30 days, but I could wash it anytime I wanted to or needed to.

First off. Any car that I paint and restore never sees a water hose again. So being new paint. I use a spray water bottle and a terry or cotton towel to clean the paint.
I wait approx 2 months before I use wax or detailers. Giving the paint full time to cure.
At that point the wax and detailer I like the best now is the new Turtle Wax..
If you get alot of dust on it. Get a california duster and wipe it first.

How the heck is that possible!!! LOL. Well, i drive mine everyday and it sees rain, mud, dirt, everything!! So, does anyone have an idea on what i should do!? LOL, not to take away from the thread starter or anything!

Me and all of my friends don't wash our cars with water hoses. We don't drive them in such a situation that they have to be spray cleaned. We pamper the hell out of the car bodys and hit on our motors hard. After restoring several cars and seeing the results of water, salt and the other elements we take the best care of them that we can. They are not our everyday drivers.

thanks for the help everyone i also will be driving my car regularly but i will try the spray bottle i just may have to more often.

To reduce swirls when waxing, I go with the air flow over the car...straight lines. I use a carnoba wax like P21S and micro fiber clothes.

I just got a fresh paint job on a '72, cranberry red with silver flake racing stripes, and man what a head turner it is! In any case, my painter told me not to use wax for at least 6 months, and basically tried to sway me away from wax altogether and only use car polish, there is one made by 3M he specifically recommended, but I don't have the product number with me at this time. It's kind of a dark peach color. Also, use only 100% cotton terry cloth, or better yet, flannel cloth to rub with. You will be surprised how delicate that fresh paint will be, showing significant micro scrathes from even light rubbing witht he wrong kind of cloth. My car too has yet to see a hose, but it never gets very dirty. I just dampen a super soft towel, and dust it off that way, but I wouldn't hesitate to use a hose if it ever really needs it. It's the rubbing that can hurt it. Well anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. I just spent a significant piece of change on paint, and it's being very well taken car of.