Autopia: My first 30 days

G

guy1138

New member
First, I want to thank everybody who posts here, I've learned so much! I came here because I wanted to save a couple bucks by detailing my wife's car while she was gone (so she would no longer want to sell it) and so I could take care of my (first) brand-new car. I'm coming away with a very real understanding of what this detailng thing is all about.



I remember the first time I realized that there was a little something to this car washing business, I was 16, and I had just washed our van down at the spray carwash. When I got home, I noticed the wheels were filthy, and I thought to myself "huh, I know I hit them with the pressure washer". From that point on it was like an epiphany, and I got a lot more detailed about my car washing. Well, coming here was like that feeling x10.



I think the most important thing I've learned here is that the products *are* very different, it's not all marketing hype. I picked up some NXT wax after seeing it mentioned here, and it is awsome on my new car's Artic Silver metallic paint. I've waxed it twice already, but tonight was my first wash with the NXT soap on top of the NXT wax. Wow, easiest car wash ever, and I had a lot of filth from a muddy drive yesterday. Seriously once I finished I just kinda stood there confused because it seemed like it should have taken longer. Back to Black is another GREAT product that I never would have found if it hadn't been for this site. I'm also getting better at experimenting with new products on my own, and have found a couple that I really like. Also, I could never understand how someone could spend nearly $1k on a vacuum cleaner, but this Kirby that the former occupant left at my place is freaking awsome. I will never use a coin-op vacuum again.



Thanks to many of you folks here, my wife's car came out great too. It was so bad, covered with Hawaiian red dirt and agricultural chemicals. Parked outside, taken to the beach, with nothing more than a gas station auto wash in the last year, at least. I hand polished, taking it real slow since it was my first time. I probably went a bit too slow, as the total detail took me 40+ hours, but it was worth it, I learned a lot, and I don't think I'm done yet. I still need to polish the glass, and I'm going to try to dremel some corrosion off of the wheels and slap some touch up paint on them to see if I can keep it from spreading.

Before:





During:





After:









So, thanks folks!
 
pogo123 said:
Nice job guy1138! That during picture says it all without having to say a word. :xyxthumbs
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Oh yea it does! Nice job. The effort and the time you took is apparent. Great job. What did your wife say when you showed her the end result?
 
The dirt in paint is really something to see when cleaning the paint of a white car. I thought my wifes car was a cream kinda white, until i used #83 on it lol.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys. The wife hasn't seen it yet, she comes back on Saturday. I can't wait until she does. I also fixed a rattle in the sunroof, fixed a stereo issue and replaced 4 worn-out/blown speakers. I swear, I haven't done so much work for female affection since high school.



JBM, yeah, if I hadn't seen this car new, I would not have suspected the color. Over on the T-bird forum, a guy said he was surprised it was bright white, from the before pictures he thought it was pearl white under there!
 
very nice job guy - you learn very quick ! I'm sure your wifey will " show you some love ! " when she gets back .

List what you used though please

P.S. Kirbys cost lots of $ , but usually people get talked into buying them by door to door salesman and pay for them on a monthly basis so not so much really . Like $60 a month or so if I remeber right . I bought one is why I know !
 
papi_jay said:
very nice job guy - you learn very quick ! I'm sure your wifey will " show you some love ! " when she gets back
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That's the plan, at least. As far as what I used, that's a pretty long list, as this was my first real hardcore detail, I switched products 1/2 way through a lot, I've been thinking of doing an extreme detail thread for it, but I may not have good enough befrore pics.....



Let's see, I started out with Armor All car wash and a bug scrubbing sponge (nylon net over a regular sponge). Then, when that wouldn't get the red dirt off, I upgraded to turtle wax polishing compound (in the green can) applied it 100% by hand (had access to a Craftsman buffer, but was scared of it). The polishing definitely took the most time, I have never, ever encountered anything like that dirt before. I really wanted to try some of the Megs polish, but I couldn't find it at the auto parts stores locally. I used the same Turtle wax with some soapy water on the plastic headlights to remove the glazed over layer, and followed up with Megs plastic detailer. Again, couldn't find the Megs plastic polish locally.



I from there on out I washed with Megs Deep Crystal (this process was a couple weeks long; many evenings then all of 4th of July weekend, so I re-washed a lot). Then a layer of NXT liquid wax, applied with the buffer; then a layer of Hawaiian shine 100% caranuba. I still am not satisfied with the paint on the front and rear bumpers, but it's that impact plastic stuff, and since the paint is "soft" I'm afraid to get too aggressive with it, as per the Autopia guide, I could strip off the clear real good before I got that original shine back.



I used Megs back to black on the exterior trim and rubber pieces. What an awsome product. I did have a little run-off with it: black smudges running down the paint after some rain, but I attribue that more to the fact that I put 3 coats of it on since the trim was in such bad condition. I've since used it on my new car with a light coat and had no runing issues



I used some aerosol carpet cleaner on the interior carpet (Woolite High Traffic, and BlueMagic Stain remover). I sprayed down and SCRUBBED the plastic/vinyl interior parts with Fantasic with OxyClean to strip the sweat and grime off. I love that cleaner, I use it all over and can't say enough good things about it. It took the shoe scuff marks right off of the beige plasic door sills and seat trim. I treated the interior with Turtlewax 2001 protectorant or ArmorAll, and really cound't discern a difference between the products. Both seemed to work fine. I used some rubber cement to re-secure some cloth trim that had come loose, and then got a little carried away and made her a seashell cigarette lighter. She'll dig it.



I also replaced all 4 speakers in the car with some 4x6 pioneer 2 ways. It was the first time I took the door skins off on a car, and it was surprisingly easy, and I'm glad I didn't pay a stereo shop to do it for me.



I tried both the Gaurdian Leather care system and the Megs Gold Clas leather cleaner/conditioner on the seats. Neither was able to restore the leather, but both did a find job cleaning. and treating. I gues not all abuse can be undone.



I used Hawaiian shine glass polish (VERY abrasive)on the windshield and windows, and applied with the buffer. It did remove a lot of the glass contamination, but the windsheild was still pretty etched. I tried the same product by hand on my new car, and it worked incredible, so I have two thoguhts: Either it needs a lot of pressure to work and the buffer didn't get it done, or the glass is permanently etched. I'm hoping to get around trying a hand application on my wife's car romorrow. I treated the windsheild with Rain-X and waxed the side windows & moonroof.



I used Turtle Wax 2001 Wheel cleaner and Armor All Extreme Tire shine. I'm not too thrilled with either of these products, and will experiment with new products when these run out, especially with the tire treatment, since I don't know what all this silicone controversy is about. However, I do know that the tire treatment applicators I bought are wonderful I don't know the brand, but they're essentially a stiff foam applicator with a semi-circle cut out of it. By spraying the dressing on the sponge then wiping it on the tire, the application is very even, and it eliminates overspray onto the wheel or fender, and all but eliminates slinging of the treatment. I also end up using a lot less treatment.



The engine... had never been cleaned since she bought the car in 2000. I used clean water, soapy water, Simple green, Fast Orange surface cleaner and carb cleaner. I actually like the Fast Orange aerosol cleaner quite a bit. It is good on grease and not too streaky, but mainly, it doesn't pool up and threaten electronic components like soap and water does. Even Simple Green is a little too watery for my taste, I mainly used it on the fenders. I used some Mother's metal polish on the aluminum throttle body, but I just wasn't making any progress working by hand. I'm very tempted to get my dremel out there.



There's still a bit of noticable raised contaminents ont he car, I think a clay would do it good, but that's a new thing for me to learn, maybe if I can get up early enough tomorrow.



So what do you guys think does this qualify as an extreme detail? I really don't know, some of those cars up there have some pretty incredible results.
 
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