Memorial Day Weekend Detaling Plans--Critique

L

lutzms

New member
It's finally nice out, and I'll have a nice three day weekend to work, so I want to try my first detail and do my black 2001 PT Cruiser that I got on the car auction in October. I listed below what I'm thinking about. The car has heavy swirling, and a lot of rock chips. If anything doesn't sound like it will be effective, or another product would make my job easier, let me know so I can get it before the weekend :-) Also, the bumpers on my car are "faded" where they taped them off while spraying (a problem for all the 01 and 02 PTs). Is there any dressing you can recommend, or a wipe on dye that could correct this? I'm not brave enough to try spraying the bumpers like others have suggested, so I'm looking for other solutions. Here's my process:



Friday Night:

**Wash with dawn

**Clay entire car

**Clean with Meg's Deep Crystal paint cleaner

**Touch up chips



Saturday:

**Touch up chips again, and let dry (do this twice if needed)

**Try to level chips with Langka, and if it doesn't work level with 2000grit wet sand

**Wash with Meg's Gold car wash---really focus on getting the wheel wells (I'll take the pressure washer to the wells)

**Polish with Meg's 83 and heavy cutting pad to work on the deep swirls and the surface scratches with PC on 6000

**Polish with Meg's 80 and med. cutting pad on 6000, doing two passes if necessary

**NOT SURE ABOUT THIS---SUGGESTIONS PLEASE: hand application of Meg's #7

**Two applications of NXT

**Buff out with MF on PC at 3000



Sunday:

**Gently clean headliner using diluted woolite (it was a HEAVY smoker's car). Hopefully I can get some of the smell and grime out of it

**Wipe all surfaces with diluted APC and MF

**There is heavy wax buildup on the the interior door sills and rubber trim from the previous owner, so clean those with APC and a lot of elbow grease

**Take interior out of car. Clean and condition leather seats with Sonus leather cleaner kit

**Vacuum interior and spot treat stains with resolve

**Steam clean entire interior

**Let dry overnight



Monday:

**Apply Meg's interior detailer spray to all plastic surfaces with MF

**Thoroughly clean all glass

**Clean and polish rims

**Apply dressing to wheel wells

**Back to black on rubber trim

**HOPEFULLY APPLY SOMETHING TO BUMPERS

**Reinstall interior
 
Haha....there should be plenty of burgers and beer all weekend long. My brother-in-law is coming up with my sister, so there should be a few extra helpers (and possibly cars to work on). They're both crazy about anything car related, so it should be a good time.
 
since NXT is a cleaner wax, i'm not sure how effective it will be to layer it on top of #7



also, i applied #7 with my pc via a lake county grey pad. just make sure to do one panel at a time and apply it thinly. also, don't let it dry, or else you're gonna be very sorry
 
WHAT NO BEER



Just had to.



My suggestion would be to switch your apps of #7 and NXT. Use the NXT then put the #7 on top. Then if you're really bored grab a can of #16 (if you can find it) and go to town.



Just curious, how much for a PT at auction? Also mileage and general condition.



Before and After pics would be great. :getdown :woot2:
 
2001 PT Cruiser Limited Edition. Great overall shape...just the usual little dings here and there. 80,000 miles, moon roof, leather, upgraded trim package (which is basically just the rims and a few chrome accessories) and an extended warranty (which was 200, but has already paid off since it needed a new rack). I paid 4,700 with the warranty, so it was a pretty good deal.



I actually think I have some #16...I'm going to double check on that. Have they stopped making it or something?
 
Well, I didn't have any #16, but I found it at my local paint & body store. I got it for $6 too, so I thought that was a good deal. They have about 15 of them there, so if I like it I'll go pick up a few more if it starts to become hard to find. I also snapped some before pictures last night, so hopefully I can get the detail done so I can post some afters. :)
 
Getting #16 for six bucks is a great deal. Since Meguiar's pulled the plug on it, some of those stores that had some on the shelves are closing it out. If you like it, go grab some more.



Another tip for the weekend - when you do burgers, mix a packet of onion soup mix in with the ground beef. But don't work the ground beef too hard. If you pound the ground beef into submission, the burgers will be on the tough side.



If you have the setup for it, try smoking them instead of direct grilling them. I throw a handful of hickory chips soaked in water on some foil, make a packet out of it, punch some holes in the foil to let out the smoke, and throw that on top of the charcoal, on one side of my Weber, with the burgers on the other side, over a pan of water.



I tried that three years ago, and never went back. It takes about an hour, but I can continue to detail while cooking, because you don't have to watch the fire every second.



Good eating and detailing to you this weekend!
 
Well, the detail didn't go as good as I had hoped. The sides and roof look great, but the hood and tailgate are looking really bad. I need some help here, so I might need to start another thread.



Basically, I got to the point of cleaning up where I wet sanded, and it didn't work at all. I knocked down the touchups with 800, then 2000. Maybe I didn't do enough passes with the 2000, but there are scratches "under" what is cleaned up with the #83 (I did about 5 passes with the 2000 over the 800). I working the areas with 15 pounds of pressure with a Sonus yellow pad until the compound was fully broken down. That didn't work, so I tried the 83 with a burgundy megs pad, and I still couldn't get them out. I tried all manners of compound amounts too. First I was using it sparingly, then I moved up to VERY generous amounts (I have about a 1/4 bottle left, and this is only the 3rd car I've detailed---ya, so I've probably been really dumb with the amound I've used). Suggestions on the amount to use on each area would be great. The area with the scratches are about 11 inches in total lenth, and 1-2 inches wide. There are about 4 areas like this.



The scratches are definitley from where I made passes with the paper, but I don't know how to get them out. Help would be appreciated. I forgot my camera, so I hope my descriptions are enough to go on. I won't be able to work on the car again for over a week (it's in the garage), so I can order some different products if need be. I want to get a new pad set for when I finally try my Mustang (my previous cars have been test cars to learn on, although the PT is my daily driver :(). I can also order different polishes/compounds, so if SSR 2.5 or 3 is suggested, I will get it. I was also looking at the swirl buster pad, which would be a great benefit for my severly swirled stang if it works.



I brought my pads back to photograph, so I'll post those to see if they're spent, or if I might be able to correct the PT with them.



On a positive note, those burgers were great! :)
 
Why would you wash your car with dawn if you're going to clay AND use a paint cleaner? Not only is it a rediculous step but potentially harmful to your paint. I don't care what Zaino says... I personally, will NEVER let dawn touch my car.
 
I've used Dawn once on each of three new cars over the years, and I must say it takes the wax right off, but yet it's kind to your hands.



I find it hard to believe a single wash with a household detergent could cause much harm to automotive paint.
 
I took before pictures, so I'll post those when I'm at home. The buildup on this car was so bad that I figured dawn couldn't hurt it too much. The cleaning process was wash once with dawn in the sprayer soap attachment to knock the first layer off. Then it was a Meg's wash by hand to get it down to where I could clay. After 2 passes with clay, the car was still VERY rough, so I needed the added paint cleaner to get it to where I could work with it. From doing one side panel as a test a few weeks ago, I knew it was going to take that much just to get it where I could work with it.



My main concern is still the scratched area---the rest of the car is looking good. Any suggestions would be great. :)
 
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