1st Detail - Wife's CRV

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HiSurfTension

New member
Howdy DCers's,

Just had a great weekend in the 70's with sun :jump (Really...that's exciting in Pittsburgh). So I got a chance to break out lots of toys that I blame all of you for! :lol
Plus I got to use the wife's 2 month old Gold metallic Honda CRV as a training ground. I just really wanted to protect it early...something I haven't been very good about in the past.

Now that I've stuck my big toe into the waters, I have a few questions. But first, here's what I did:

Wheels - (surprising amount of caked on junk after 2 months) -P21S Wheel Cleaner
Wash - P21S Shampoo - 2 bucket method - Dried WW MF
Clay - actually had some tar spatters or undercarriage overspray - came right off.
PwC - PC on 4, Edge Blue Pad
EX - by hand - allowed to sit for 16 hours - buffed off with MF
Trim & Tires - 303 Aero Protectant
Interior - 303 Cleaner (30/1) & Protectant
Glass - Eagle One 20/20 with MF

2nd attempt at attaching a picture:
 
The white-ish "specks" you see are really the metallic.
What I wasn't able to capture in this lighting (need to become an amatuer photographer to keep up with you folks) is the incredible amount of orange peel. Even found a couple of embedded "chunks" below the clearcoat AND the paint. Found a couple of "dealer installed swirls" (loved that post) as well.

OH, I forgot. I did half the hood in Klasse AIO/SG for kicks (had small samples).

Any comments on what I did would be great.

As I said, I have some questions too.

1) Why mask off trim? Is it to keep the plastic/rubber from getting into the pad and marring the paint? Or is it to protect the trim? (I did mask, but I also read that none my chemicals "stain" trim).
2) How to deal with the ridges on the roof when running a PC? I followed the recommended application patterns so one direction was perpendicular to the ridges. Do I have to be concerned about wearing thinner layers of clearcoat off while doing that (especially since this paint job is one big lesson in "orange peel").
3) How wet do you have to get the MF to spread EX thin enough. Had some difficulty there. But even though I got it on way too thick in some places, it removed very easily...easier than my much thinner SG.
4) Is Poorboy's Spray & Wipe OK for an interior cleaner? Haven't read many folks using that.
5) I got the message LOUD and CLEAR about using too much product. How do you know if you don't have enough? Question is for both PwC on the PC and EX by hand (not seeing enough lead me to get too much EX on).

Sorry for the major Newbie questions, but Thanks MUCH TO ALL :bow for all of the great insights and instructions.

I want to learn a bit more before I jump into my black 1995 Toyota T100. Love the truck...but I've already told you that today was my first detail :beat
 
As I said, I have some questions too.

1) Why mask off trim? Is it to keep the plastic/rubber from getting into the pad and marring the paint? Or is it to protect the trim? (I did mask, but I also read that none my chemicals "stain" trim).

masking is a precaution not always needed especially if you are careful and use products that don't stain

2) How to deal with the ridges on the roof when running a PC? I followed the recommended application patterns so one direction was perpendicular to the ridges. Do I have to be concerned about wearing thinner layers of clearcoat off while doing that (especially since this paint job is one big lesson in "orange peel").

some things do have to be done by hand:dunno
no need to worry:D

3) How wet do you have to get the MF to spread EX thin enough. Had some difficulty there. But even though I got it on way too thick in some places, it removed very easily...easier than my much thinner SG.

you should be applying EX with either a damp pva sponge, applicator mf sponge , or finishing pad with a pc

4) Is Poorboy's Spray & Wipe OK for an interior cleaner? Haven't read many folks using that.

yes it is safe on all materials except cloth...many people use it on the plastic and plastic coated trim on interiors

5) I got the message LOUD and CLEAR about using too much product. How do you know if you don't have enough? Question is for both PwC on the PC and EX by hand (not seeing enough lead me to get too much EX on).

that's why many people do a second coat, not that they are building up product but getting better coverage over-all by going over it again...some time we all miss spots:rolleyes:

Sorry for the major Newbie questions, but Thanks MUCH TO ALL :bow for all of the great insights and instructions.

NO PROBLEM:bigups

I want to learn a bit more before I jump into my black 1995 Toyota T100. Love the truck...but I've already told you that today was my first detail

smart idea:D
 
So you saved me time by nixing the masking, but added back in by making me do the roof by hand? Just kidding :roflol I get "ToolTime" crazy about power tools...and I'm basically lazy (really bad combo)

S&W for my interior now. It took bugs right off the windshield and grill this afternoon after a drive. Great stuff.

I'm saving my "Natty's Wax" (Bohemian Rhapsody) for when I get the Black T100 in shape.

Thanks, Steve. You're a patient man.
 
HiSurf, The only suggestion I can make from the pic you posted is you might want to dress the tire wells. You might have done this step but from the overall pic of the vehicle it looks like they are dull compared to the rest of the car.
 
Looking good!

Regarding your roof ridges from a fellow Tim Allen (power tool fanatic who is basically lazy) I've used a flexible urethane backing pad on my PC. I would expect it to work well on your ridges. I got mine from CMA but top of the line and I suspect autogeek carries them as well. I'd try autogeek and use your discount coupon detailcity if you want to try one.

I too am new at this game and have struggled mightly with the thin coats issue. I found that the surbuf pads from PAC on my PC at 2.5 to 3 worked great. Keep them clean though, dirty pads = blotchy applications. I have washed them in the washer on delicate cycle a couple of times without obvious failures. I'll keep you posted when if that changes.

Good luck and congrats on your 1st detail.
 
It looks very nice. Reall good and that second picture is so cool. The metallic really does sparkle! Very nice work. :)
 
Great work and thanks for sharing your results. The pics you posted really capture the results one can achieve with a solid detail process. :bigups
 
Has your wife been allowed to drive it since this is your first you may have wanted to admire a job well done for a while?
 
Hehe. I'm beaming :smile Thanks for all of the encouragement. I've been lurking for a while and learning from you on the sly. Thanks for sharing your experiences...extremely helpful.

57chevy, :imfao you made my wife laugh. She did think that. But about 2 hours after I finished, we had a 2 hour drive to a family outing. EVERY bug in western PA came out to introduce themselves to front end! JUICY! Even grossed out my 4yr old boy. I whipped out the S&W and made quick work of it. So I try not to be too panicky on our daily driver.

Hey keeotee, the metallic does look cool when dressed up. But it really does hide lots of defects (which I learned all about by reading way too many things on DC!...guess I should stop reading! :nono

Dalmore, thanks for the tip on the flexible backing. I assume it isn't too "floppy" to make you nervous? This paint job is major Orange Peel, so I was just wondering if I had to worry about thin coatings on high points. I'm going to check the sites after this.

Gentletouch, good point. I wasn't sure what to do with them. I don't yet have a sacrificial brush to go after the wells. How do all of you dress the wells? :dunno I'm sure it is somewhere on the site so I'll have to search.

Thanks again to all. This is a fun community of folks that probably do need JimS's help! :lol But what fun. It's nice to have a hobby that competes with the wife's for both time and money! This and beer :beer
 
HiSurfTension said:
... Dalmore, thanks for the tip on the flexible backing. I assume it isn't too "floppy" to make you nervous? ...
Click to expand...

It's semi rigid - not that flexible. But along with the pad, it flexes enough to conform to the ridges on the hood of my z3.
 
Wow, do you make house calls to AZ - looked @ your photos, and it was just like mine!
Idon't understand all the abbreviations used in these posts - is there a "detailing for dummies" section?
 
Thanks Dalmore.

NorahCRV. Thanks for the compliment, but this is my first one and on a new CRV....not much of a challenge to most here. There are some very experienced and talented people here to learn from. Lurk around here for a while, search on specific subjects like "detailing plan", and just read the current postings in the front page to get a feel for it (Plus you get to ogle "The Fuzz" too). There is a thread on abbreviations (search on that). Also ask questions. This is a ridiculously friendly crowd that loves to help and teach. The process is fun.
And that is the only detailing advice I'm qualified to give right now. :beer

Now Tempe would be nice especially in January. Used to live in Phoenix. Happy lurking
 
Buy a bug/chemical sprayer at walmart or some place like that and put a cheap dressing in it. You can usually find a gallon of cheap dressing from a supplier in your area. Pour in the gallon and when you are ready to dress wheel wells, just put the sprayer wand inside the wheel weels and spray. It does not give you the overspray you get from the conventional way of spraying dressing from a bottle in the wells.
 
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