Shane731
New member
Actually completed this car on October 9, so this writeup is a bit delayed for Autopia (already posted to Autogeek). Sorry 'bout that. :redface:
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." -Chinese proverb
I have a friend named Lee who just recently purchased a 2006 Mazda Miata with about 15,000 miles on it. He is the third owner and he bought it from an older gentleman who always kept it garaged, but was apparently uninformed on its proper care. This is Lee's sixth car, and while he has always clayed and waxed his cars in the past, he wanted to know more about "real detailing". He knew I was into detailing and had been asking me a lot of questions, so following Mike Phillip's motto of "each one teach one", I invited him to bring his car over for some one-on-one instruction. This was really my first time showing somebody else how to detail, so I was nervous as well. I'm not a pro by any means, but I was more than willing to share what I did know. Unfortunately, we had to split up this session over two Sundays, as my G110v2 died about halfway through polishing, so I ordered a Griot's Garage DA over the week and we completed the car the following Sunday. I found this paint to be rather on the finicky side, but after some testing we found that D300 on a microfiber cutting pad was providing the best correction, leaving only the RIDS and deeper defects. He understood what the swirl marks were, but I did have to explain what RIDS were and let him know that they were probably best left alone in order to remove as little paint as possible. This also made the most sense considering this car is white and a daily driver. I borrowed him Mike Phillip's Principles of Machine Polishing DVD beforehand so he could see what machine polishing entailed, but he admitted that actually getting the machine in your hands and physically doing it is a whole different ballgame. I also explained the two bucket method and using two mitts (one for the top of the car and one for the bottom), as well as properly measuring out your soap instead of just pouring it in. I tried to answer his questions to the best of my ability - I can only hope my answers stuck. Anyway, here was the general process:
Wash and decon
2BM with two mitts, CGCW
P21S TAW on lower panels
Iron X
claying was not needed as he had recently done it
Wheels and tires
Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel cleaner
Meguiar's Super Degreaser
various brushes
wheels waxed with Collinite 476S
tires dressed with Optimum Opti-Bond
wheel wells got Sonus Motor and Trim Kote
Convertible top
RaggTopp Fabric/Vinyl Cleaner
RaggTopp Vinyl Protectant (2 coats)
Glass
Meguiar's Detailer glass cleaner on the inside
Diamondite Poli-Shield on the outside
Paint
Meguiar's D300 on 5" and 3" microfiber cutting pad
DP Waterless wash to remove light compounding dust
IPA wipedown
Wolfgang Fuzion
Headlights and taillights
Meguiar's D300 on 3" microfiber cutting pad
Wolfgang Plastik Surface Sealant
Trim and exhaust tips
Klasse AIO on emblems
Ultima Tire and Trim Guard Plus on plastic trim
Chemical Guys Black on Black on honeycomb grille
P21S metal polishing soap and Optimum Metal Polish (old formula) with #0000 steel wool on exhaust tips
Interior
vacuum
DP Interior Cleaner on plastics
DP Interior Protectant
Meguiar's M39 and M40 on rubber seals
On to the pics!
GG Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner working
eeewwwwwww!
wheels all clean!
swirls before
Lee attempting a test spot with WG TSR on LC 5.5 inch CCS orange pad
trunk lid after test spot
using the microfiber system on the passenger door with G110v2
using the microfiber system on the hood with Griot's Garage DA
after 1 coat of RaggTopp vinyl protectant
after 2 coats of RaggTopp vinyl protectant
After pics
Fuzion hazing
no more swirls!
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." -Chinese proverb
I have a friend named Lee who just recently purchased a 2006 Mazda Miata with about 15,000 miles on it. He is the third owner and he bought it from an older gentleman who always kept it garaged, but was apparently uninformed on its proper care. This is Lee's sixth car, and while he has always clayed and waxed his cars in the past, he wanted to know more about "real detailing". He knew I was into detailing and had been asking me a lot of questions, so following Mike Phillip's motto of "each one teach one", I invited him to bring his car over for some one-on-one instruction. This was really my first time showing somebody else how to detail, so I was nervous as well. I'm not a pro by any means, but I was more than willing to share what I did know. Unfortunately, we had to split up this session over two Sundays, as my G110v2 died about halfway through polishing, so I ordered a Griot's Garage DA over the week and we completed the car the following Sunday. I found this paint to be rather on the finicky side, but after some testing we found that D300 on a microfiber cutting pad was providing the best correction, leaving only the RIDS and deeper defects. He understood what the swirl marks were, but I did have to explain what RIDS were and let him know that they were probably best left alone in order to remove as little paint as possible. This also made the most sense considering this car is white and a daily driver. I borrowed him Mike Phillip's Principles of Machine Polishing DVD beforehand so he could see what machine polishing entailed, but he admitted that actually getting the machine in your hands and physically doing it is a whole different ballgame. I also explained the two bucket method and using two mitts (one for the top of the car and one for the bottom), as well as properly measuring out your soap instead of just pouring it in. I tried to answer his questions to the best of my ability - I can only hope my answers stuck. Anyway, here was the general process:
Wash and decon
2BM with two mitts, CGCW
P21S TAW on lower panels
Iron X
claying was not needed as he had recently done it
Wheels and tires
Griot's Garage Heavy Duty Wheel cleaner
Meguiar's Super Degreaser
various brushes
wheels waxed with Collinite 476S
tires dressed with Optimum Opti-Bond
wheel wells got Sonus Motor and Trim Kote
Convertible top
RaggTopp Fabric/Vinyl Cleaner
RaggTopp Vinyl Protectant (2 coats)
Glass
Meguiar's Detailer glass cleaner on the inside
Diamondite Poli-Shield on the outside
Paint
Meguiar's D300 on 5" and 3" microfiber cutting pad
DP Waterless wash to remove light compounding dust
IPA wipedown
Wolfgang Fuzion
Headlights and taillights
Meguiar's D300 on 3" microfiber cutting pad
Wolfgang Plastik Surface Sealant
Trim and exhaust tips
Klasse AIO on emblems
Ultima Tire and Trim Guard Plus on plastic trim
Chemical Guys Black on Black on honeycomb grille
P21S metal polishing soap and Optimum Metal Polish (old formula) with #0000 steel wool on exhaust tips
Interior
vacuum
DP Interior Cleaner on plastics
DP Interior Protectant
Meguiar's M39 and M40 on rubber seals
On to the pics!
GG Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner working
eeewwwwwww!
wheels all clean!
swirls before
Lee attempting a test spot with WG TSR on LC 5.5 inch CCS orange pad
trunk lid after test spot
using the microfiber system on the passenger door with G110v2
using the microfiber system on the hood with Griot's Garage DA
after 1 coat of RaggTopp vinyl protectant
after 2 coats of RaggTopp vinyl protectant
After pics
Fuzion hazing
no more swirls!
