Longest detail I've ever done. Help!!

R

RustyBumper

New member
The other day was a very nice day here. The sun wasn't out and it wasn't too hot, so I decided to wash my truck. Because my truck was pretty dirty and had some caliche and lots of road tar on it, I decided to try some of the new things I've learned here. I got out my new buckets, two for rinsing my sponge and one for soap, and filled them first. I then applied my soap and agitated it by hand. Since I don't have a foam gun or pw, the best I could do to loosen the dirt was just to wet it down with the garden hose (which left some really nice hard water stains). After washing the truck I dried it with my synthetic material chamois that I purchased at my local WMart. After drying, I looked at the paint on my hood and noticed that it was pretty bad. From here, to save everyone time, I"ll begin to list what I did. Sorry, but I'm long winded at times.



1. Wash using 3 bucket method. I used Meg's Deep Crystal Car Wash.

2. Dried vehicle using synthetic material towel. Looked like the Soaker I used to have.

3. Used Malco clay bar on entire vehicle and Malco Showroom Shine as a lubricant. Did the entire truck, including bed cover, this way.

4. After making sure I didn't miss any spots I then applied Meg's Gold Class by hand. I don't have a machine yet, but hopefully soon I will.

I did the truck in small sections because the sun was starting to come out a little bit. After applying and letting it rest a few I then removed it with some Malco microfiber towels.

5. I then applied Malco tire gel after I finished with the wax.



All in all, it took me about eight hours to do this. I know, sounds crazy. I'm sure it would have gone alot faster if I would have had a machine.



What I would like to know is what steps I missed and also what do you think about the quality of the products that I used? I really want to learn as much as I can and value everyone's input.



Thanks for reading this and also for your advice.



-Rusty
 
Hey man it looks like you did alright to me :)



I'm not sure how big your truck is but eight hours is a LONG time for a wash, clay and wax.



But then again if it's a HUGE truck and it was really really dirty I don't know... maybe ;)



If you didn't do the wheel wells, that's one thing you could do.



I always use a tire foam like NoTouch or Armor All has basically the same thing.



Spray that into your wells and just let it do it's thing. If it's really dirty you may have to get in there with a towel by hand, but it does a good job of cleaning and shining.



Also, the engine bay is usually neglected by most people. I actually really enjoy doing my engine bay, but I'm probably in the minority heh.



You can use all kinds of cleaners for the bay. I usually just use the same wash soap with a dedicated engine mitt. I never spray the engine with a hose or anything... do everything by hand.



Then you can use Armor All for a good OTC for the rubber. I like to use Poorboy's Trim Restore because it doesn't wash off as easily as Armor All, but pick your poison.



Wash the door jambs too... you'd be surprised how much nicer the truck will look with clean jambs.



Also... Q Tips are WONDERFUL. I use them for all kinds of things. Detailing around emblems, engine cleaning, etc.



Show us some pics now ;)
 
Could you post up some pictures of your truck? If you really took your time, 8 hours isn't all that bad, especially if it's big like Imatk said. Once you you get a machine and start compounding and polishing, you'll see the time it takes to clean the exterior jump into the double digits.
 
Imatk said:
..I'm not sure how big your truck is but eight hours is a LONG time for a wash, clay and wax.



But then again if it's a HUGE truck...
Click to expand...



I dunno..it takes me over three hours to just wash the YukonXL :think: Yeah, I spend time on the undercarriage/etc. and the final drying takes a long, long time (drips, etc.) but if I were gonnna wash/clay/wax it I wouldn't be surprised if it took me eight hours.



I dunno if waxing by machine would really speed things up or not. Yeah, I often *prefer* to wax on/off by machine, but it might not really be *faster*. Where machines speed things up is when you're polishing.
 
Accumulator said:
I dunno..it takes me over three hours to just wash the YukonXL :think: Yeah, I spend time on the undercarriage/etc. and the final drying takes a long, long time (drips, etc.) but if I were gonnna wash/clay/wax it I wouldn't be surprised if it took me eight hours.



I dunno if waxing by machine would really speed things up or not. Yeah, I often *prefer* to wax on/off by machine, but it might not really be *faster*. Where machines speed things up is when you're polishing.
Click to expand...



Geez, and to think I was the only nut in the neighborhood to pull out the creeper and soap up the undercarriage...only to have passerby's stare at me like I have three eyes and a hole in my head...lol (not to mention the look and head shakes I get from my wife) :werd:
 
Street5927 said:
Geez, and to think I was the only nut in the neighborhood to pull out the creeper and soap up the undercarriage...
Click to expand...



Yeah, I'm a fanatic about my undercarriages. Can't count all the times that such work has uncovered some tiny leak/etc. that I was able to deal with before it became a big deal. And my mechanics love working on my vehicles ;)



Heh heh, my wife actually appreciates such stuff..probably because her car is often the one that benefits from the early discovery of some problem (it's at the dealership right now over a tiny leak that woulda become a big issue).
 
8hours... doesn't seem bad, maybe in a professional since but not for some enthusiast spending a saturday with his vehicle. I do that all the time, no better way to past the time on a nice day.
 
FordFan2009 said:
8hours... doesn't seem bad, maybe in a professional since but not for some enthusiast spending a saturday with his vehicle. I do that all the time, no better way to past the time on a nice day.
Click to expand...

I didn't mind spending the day working on my truck. It gives me something to do on my days off. It was actually pretty good that I took the time to detail my truck. I discovered that I need to get my Snugtop lid repainted. It has a couple of spots in the paint that I don't think can be worked out. The paint has started to crack and it looks like a tiny dart board.



Speaking of cleaning, I've got a couple of questions for you guys. What products do you suggest for cleaning the wheel wells and rims? I've got Boss rims in black chrome and I know that they're somewhat delicate. I don't want to ruin the finish by using a harsh cleaner. Are there any products that will clean the wheel well and leave it sparkling?
 
8 hours...that's it?



I've done an 8 hour a day for 5 straight days detail before. I was so dead tired after it was all done.
 
The only thing I can think of to speed up what you did would be to get a powerwasher. Other than that everything else you did would've had to be done by hand anyways so no machines to save you time. I wouldn't worry to much about the time as you are about the quality. If the job was done right "time" is the last thing of concern. The more you do it the faster you'll get.
 
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