Car Detailing

[.bishop]

I do that myself.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by .bishop

I do that myself.

Good man.

 

[Huntsman]

Anyone have recommendations for a glass polish? Need to get rid of 10 year's worth of water spots.

 

[HRoi]

i didn't realize we had this thread. i've started detailing my cars again after about a year of just washing/shampoo/drying and occasionally waxing.

it was a pain ********** because i have 3 black cars (one of them is a big SUV) and a white car, but after 3 weekends i'm finally done. just in time for the rains

anyway, here's my regimen:

wash/DP shampoo
Pinnacle clay
Pinnacle advanced swirl remover (if necessary/usually not)
Pinnacle polish
Klasse AIO
Klasse Sealant Glaze
top off with P21S carnauba wax to add a deeper shine

DP wheel cleaner and glaze for the wheels (brush tires but no treatments - i hate shiny tires)
Zymol leather cleaner and conditioner
quick vacuum


here's some results on one of the black cars:

and a photo of the white one:

 

[GreenFrog]



and a photo of the white one:

i like your 'white car'



is that a gt3 rs?

 

[Huntsman]

^ White car, sick.

I have to say, doing detailing when you've got a lift is sweeeeeet, especially when polishing the wheels.

Suggest to me the best serious cutting polish I should get for an '07 BMW -- my first detail job last year just didn't get all the swirls/scratches out and I feel like I should be able to do better. Megs 105?

~ H

 

[HRoi]

Thanks for all the compliments. The white car is a 997 GT3, non RS.

As far as "cutting" polish, the most abrasive stuff I would use is 3M imperial hand glaze or maybe Pinnacle swirl remover. My rubbing compound/Meguiar's #4/2000 grit wet sand days are far behind me. If imperial hand glaze doesn't get the problem out with a normal pass, then I just sit the Porter cable down on the area until it does

 

[Beckwith]

Good looking shine. I recently did my family hauler by hand with a similar process:

Zaino Wash
p21S Tire Gel
Griots Clay
Griots Speed Shine
Zaino Z5
Collinite 845

The collinite really locks in the color and shine and is known for durability, we shall see how good it works on the daily driver. I also put the collinite on the wheels, my car produces a exorbitant amount of brake dust.

 

[HRoi]

I'll also add to my earlier comment that I wouldn't buff a small area by machine for an exorbitantly long period of time, else you'll burn thru the paint. There is a huge margin of error - a PC with swirl remover or hand glaze will take a shitload of time before it burns through a factory finish - but it's been known to happen. If a scratch is too deep, then you'll burn through the paint before you fix it. But for stuff like surface contaminants and orange peel, clay + hand glaze works wonders IME

 

[Huntsman]

Well, I started to detail a black car ('01 Z3M Roadster), got frustrated, broke down and bought a Porter-Cable. I had been using (I swear) a Black and Decker random orbital, which was $40. It worked fine, really, for five cars, but I think it is starting to die now, and it's shaking my wrists up. I wasn't sure it was doing a good enough job. The PC is heavy, vibrates more than I thought it would, and is loud as well. But man is it fast! Especially cranked up with the finer polishes.

The PC, Lake Country pads, and Megs 105 then 205 seems a great regimen. I have a Megs glaze that I am going to follow the 205 with, just before a coat of P21s wax. I also bought that infomercial-esque Mother's Power Cone and it is excellent! I use it with Megs "Ultimate Compound" on wheels and challenging areas around the front and rear bumpers. The Ultimate is supposedly a one-grit-and-you're-done product, so it works well on areas that need a polish but where I don't want to do the full three-step affair, and I also use it anywhere I have to hand-polish. Plus, if I only use that polish on the Cone, I won't have to worry about having more than one of this $25 dollar hunk of foam.

I have a question though: What are the limits of paint correction? The Roadster still has scratches that don't catch a fingernail, but that I still can't get out. Do I just pray the wax fills it in?

~ H

 

[Beckwith]

How is the p21S wax? Which one are you using? I have read it is great on silver cars. I want to try it.

 

[HRoi]



What are the limits of paint correction? The Roadster still has scratches that don't catch a fingernail, but that I still can't get out. Do I just pray the wax fills it in?

~ H

If you go too far with a machine, you'll burn the paint right off. And IME, I can't really tell while i'm working when that point of no return is reached...so I tend to be very conservative when going to town with a PC. But I've seen people hit a scratch with 2000 grit sandpaper, heavy compound, medium compound and polish and the damn thing disappears completely. But I guess you really need to know what you're doing to attempt that. R: P21S wax, I like it a lot on my black cars but have no experience with a silver car. It doesn't last as long as I would like, however, which is why I put a coat of Klasse sealant glaze underneath it

 

[zerostyle]

I did a lot of research on this recently, and came up with these products/actions for the best/cheapest solution:

Option 1: Quick way

1. Hose off car
2. Clean tires (I like to do these first because they can get splatter all over)
3. Wash car from top to bottom with a wash mitt. Use 2 buckets. Rinse off in "dirty" bucket and reapply soap in clean one
4. Use clay bar to get out impurities (optional)
5. Hose off car again
6. Dry car with microfiber towel
7. Clean windows while car dries
8. When car is dry, apply wax or sealant of your choice
9. Wait 30 min, remove wax with buffer

Option 2: With a full polish ( I do this about 1-2x a year )
1. Hose off car
2. Clean tires (I like to do these first because they can get splatter all over)
3. Wash car from top to bottom with a wash mitt. Use 2 buckets. Rinse off in "dirty" bucket and reapply soap in clean one
4. Use clay bar to get out impurities
5. Hose off car again
6. Use a random orbital polisher (such as the Porter Cable 7424) to apply first polish ( medium grit )
7. Use a random orbital polisher (such as the Porter Cable 7424) to apply second polish ( fine grit ) ( optional - can use a single polish instead )
8. Dry car with microfiber towel
9. Clean windows while car dries
10. When car is dry, apply wax or sealant of your choice
11. Wait 30 min, remove wax with buffer

My recommended products. I searched around for what I considered to have the highest quality/price ratio:

Exterior:
Car wash - Meguiar's Deep Crystal wash is cheap and good
Polish - Menzerna PO203s (though this is expensive it's a nice one-step polish instead of a rough+fine)
Wax/Sealant - Duragloss 105 ( for winter you may want something heavier though )

Interior:
Leather cleaner - Lexol
Leather conditioner - Lexol
Vinyl cleaner / protectant - 303 Aerospace Protectant

 

[dragon8]

^^^Are you supposed to wait that long to buff out the wax?

 

[dragon8]



i didn't realize we had this thread. i've started detailing my cars again after about a year of just washing/shampoo/drying and occasionally waxing.

it was a pain ********** because i have 3 black cars (one of them is a big SUV) and a white car, but after 3 weekends i'm finally done. just in time for the rains

anyway, here's my regimen:

wash/DP shampoo
Pinnacle clay
Pinnacle advanced swirl remover (if necessary/usually not)
Pinnacle polish
Klasse AIO
Klasse Sealant Glaze
top off with P21S carnauba wax to add a deeper shine

DP wheel cleaner and glaze for the wheels (brush tires but no treatments - i hate shiny tires)
Zymol leather cleaner and conditioner
quick vacuum


here's some results on one of the black cars:

and a photo of the white one:

Very nice on both cars!!!