Here is a write up a friend of mine did for the alfa list.  I followed  it
for my karmann ghia and it came out spiffy.

hth
rob infante
boonton nj
87 syncro westy

This is neither here nor  there. Wax ! I'm goin' to tell you what you what
you want to do. Waxing a car  right is an all day affair, but by the time you're
done you'll have a finish  that you can keep around for a number of years
without having to do it again.  For a good condition finish (which is what I
assume that you have) you'll need  three products. First you need to get a purpose
made car wash for a cleaner. I  used to use ivory
liquid, and I'll tell ya' that stuff tears hell out of your  paint and it
strips wax. The purpose made car cleaners are designed to leave the  wax in place
and just remove grit. I use Zymol car cleaner, but I have also used  Armor
All car cleaner. Both were good, and I think that any of them will serve  you
well. Then get Meguiar's car polish. Meguiar's is a liquid wax system that  is
meant to be used in stages. The polish is the best thing since sliced bread.
The car cleaner I have found to be kind of useless. The wax is OK, but there
are  better. Then buy "Mother's Own Carnuba Wax". This shit is tremendous.
Mother's  puts the hardest
protective surface on a car that I know. There are two kinds  of Mother's: a
Cleaner wax and just straight wax. If you are using the Meguiar's  polish then
you shouldn't need to use Cleaner wax. A lot of guys will tell you  that
Cleaner waxs are useless, but this is not so. It is a much cheesier way of  waxing
your car in one step instead of two. The reason that you should use two
steps is that the car will have the "wet" look of
I pristinely new paint job.  For more stubborn stains or paint damage then
there is Turtle wax polish and  compound. These are found in a green and red
plastic drum respectively. Do NOT  mess around with these unless you know a lot
about waxing cars. They can very  quickly ruin a paint job leaving swirls that
will never come out or dull the  finish right down.  They do have  there
place, but it's best not to play with them in the beginning. Do not use  Turtle wax
polish to polish a car either as you will have to use Meguiar's to  get all
of the swirls out anyway. All washing, waxing, and polishing should be  done
out of direct sunlight. If
the wax bakes into the finish then the paint  will be permanently glazed and
foggy, and there is no way to fix it short of  repainting. All this said, this
is how I would wax your car for an unbeatable  shine.

PREFACE - all waxing should be done between 68 and 82 degrees  Fahrenheit out
of direct sun to avoid permanant damage to the  finish.

FIRST - wash the wheels and tires to remove brake dust with  "Simple Green"
wheel cleaner. The stuff works great on all wheels including  alloys. Spray it
on; let sit for a minute; sponge off with fresh water;
then  hose off clean.

SECOND -  wash the car with the auto cleaner like Zymol or Armor all washing
the wheels  again. Use a big sponge or something which is soft and won't
scratch the  surface. I like big sponges.

THIRD - dry the car with a clean terry cloth  towels that are soft. If they
aren't soft then they will scratch the paint  surface. The average bath towel
is what I use, and it's a great excuse to get  rid of worn or thread bare
towels since these work very nicely. If you don't dry  the car then you will get
water spots that are very VERY hard to compound  out.  They wear off OK, but if
you're preparing for a show, you're screwed. You
don't have to get it totally  dry. It's just to keep little pools of water
from drying onto the  finish.

FOURTH - Let dry so no water is left at all. It's a good time for  lunch or
to check on the laundry. This shouldn't take very long as you've dried  it with
a towel. Also this is a good time to apply "STP Son of a Gun" to the  tires
for that temporary wet look, and it makes the tires look truly black for  some
time after instead of a grey colour.

FIFTH - If the car needs  compounding then this is the time to do it (don't
do this unless you are  familiar with waxing because permanent damage to a
finish can be very easily  accomplished.)

SIXTH - Polish the car with "Meguiar's" polish. This  should remove all
swirling from the finish as well as oxidation and other   factors that can dull a
finish as well as the old wax which can trap dirt on to  the paint.
You do this by applying a small ammount of product onto a soft  wetted rag
(again I use old soft terry cloth towels cut into rags for this) and  rub the
product onto the finish in lateral and semi-chaotic  non-patterns.
Just rub the hell out of it, but don't apply too much pressure  as again this
can lead to scratching. Then rub off with a clean dry towel. Do  NOT let the
product dry to a dull haze as with wax. It isn't necessary to  be
too anal about removing the polish, but it's a rub on rub right off kind  of
thing. Work in small areas and work it until the paint looks good. I usually
take on a panel at a time, but depending on the temperature the
areas that  you work will be larger or smaller. When it gets really hot out
you have to move  fast and small.

SEVENTH - Wax the car. (this is all that you really  wanted to do anyway
right?) Using another wetted terry cloth rag, rub firmly  into the "Mother's Own
Carnuba Wax" without cleaner (this is a big red can with  a yellow paste
inside. the pink paste has cleaner in it), and then rub that on  to the car in
circular motion. Circular motion in the application makes the  dried wax alot
easier to rub off laterally. Again working in
about a panel at  a time depending on temperature, let the wax dry to a dull
haze, but don't  let it sit too long or else irrevocable damage may result.
(this really means  don't try to do too much at once or else the
paint will permanantly haze. If  hazing starts to occur then try immediately
rewaxing and if that doesn't get it  out then try polishing it out. This
usually will fix the problem if done  quickly.) Wax in circles and then rub the wax
off when dried to a dull haze. Wax  actually does nothing to clean, brighten
or polish a car. The polish does that.  Wax is to protect the finish from rain
sun and oxidation which is why Mother's  does such a great job because it is
a very hard finish. If you polish the car  without waxing then the finish will
be damaged very quickly because there will  be no wax to protect it at all.
Oh yeah - when waxing, ANY  amount of wax that contacts rubber or plastic
will permanantly discolor
the  rubber or plastic. If you get any on there it has to come right off.
Try to be careful when cutting  in.

Now Drink alot of iced tea 'cause this usually knocks me right out.

The interior is a completely different day and bundle of wax. (so to  speak)

This is probably more than you ever wanted to know about waxing  cars, but
it does turn out nicely if you use this method. Hope all is good -  H