Need some advice, PLEASE!

B

bojangleS_8686

New member
So I was talking with my dad about car detailing this morning. I told him how much I would like to pursue detailing and how it is one of my goals after college to get a detailing business going. I was talking about my need for a PC when my dad made me an offer. He said that if I can make his 1995 Ford Taurus look better than it is he will buy me the PC and some stuff that is needed for it. This is where I need you all here! I need your guys advice on what to get as far as swirl removers/polishes etc...... I am trying to find a combination that saves me a lot of money since Im not trying to break my dads wallet..



Here is what I am thinking:

PC 7424 from ebay, they have good NIB deals

LC Pad kit from autogeek

Sonus Block clay bar (in the black case)

Poorboys HC, SSR2 and SSR1

? Polish/cleaner

NXT Wax

? Interior Cleaners (I have a bottle of 303 Protectant for vinyl)



Most of the front of the car is like this, hardly any shine left and very dirty with bird droppings that have been on there for more than a year :( a lot of swirls too

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This part is completley faded.. (inside door panel)

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Again any advice would be very much appreciated!!!
 
Holy cow, that is terrible!! Heck, just washing and claybar will make a huge difference. I bet even the crappiest polish and wax would make it look impressive compared to what it is now. Good luck! :waxing:
 
Clay bar? Needs buffing. Once again everyone wants to clay everything. You have a project ahead of you. You need some good exposure to technique and a material list, to get that back to what it should be. List real long for me to explain.



Good luck.
 
You may want to consider optimum compound and polish rather than SSR. I started with SSR 2.5 and 1, but moved on to optimum. SSR dusts a lot leving much to clean up. Optimum also offers twice as much product for the same price.



303 protectant is the only product that I have tried so far that has turned my brown rubber trim black again.



Tuff stuff is a good and cheap product for carpets and upholestry.



I still have a lot of waxes to try, but I did like NXT a lot. Good luck on the hours of work ahead!
 
Grimm said:
Of course it needs buffing, I just meant that a basic cleanup will make it look much better.
Click to expand...





I agree......





since the car is white I will tell you a little trick for you to do to your dad....





-Clean the interior properly (shampoo all stains and suck them up with a wet/dry Vac)



-Wash the car with Dawn



-Clay the car



-Wash and dry it





THATS IT!!





When your dad comes out to look at the car he'll think that you will have waxed it allready.... I'll explain...



White is usually a detailers dream because once you pull all the impurities out of it the car (almost) looks done..... usually an LSP is all thats needed (though with that car you'd have to buff)......... after your dad goes back inside then finish it up and get him to see the car again........



I guarantee you he will not believe his own eyes.... good luck and keep us posted
 
I would suggest using Meguiar's ColorX on the paint. You can use it by hand and it will chemically clean the paint. Without at least a PC, you probably cannot do much else. So, wash it, clay it, ColorX it and then wax it. Plus, you can get ColorX locally.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys! I am going to talk to my dad to see what he is willing to buy then I will buy everthing else needed. Where is a good place to get a wet/dry vac? I wont have much money after I buy everything else so I might just have to use spray cleaners and a vaccuum to get the interior as good as possible.
 
Home Depot also carries a nice line of Rigid Shop Vacs. I think I picked up the 12 gallon 5 hp model on sale for $30 or $40, and I've been impressed with the suction it has.
 
autoprecise1 said:
Clay bar? Needs buffing.
Click to expand...

I vote clay bar too, especially if he doesn't have access to a PC or rotary. The paint on my old car looked kinda like that when i tackled it last winter and clay made all the difference in the world. I didn't have my PC yet, so buffing wasn't an option.



From this (this is after a thorough wash)

IMG_1170.jpg




To this

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Yes, I slapped a layer of NXT on before the second shot, but I can honestly say it made very little difference in appearance compared to what it looked like after the clay. It did take me 2-3 hours to finish claying, but it was a dramatic difference.
 
velobard said:
I vote clay bar too, especially if he doesn't have access to a PC or rotary. The paint on my old car looked kinda like that when i tackled it last winter and clay made all the difference in the world. I didn't have my PC yet, so buffing wasn't an option.



From this (this is after a thorough wash)

IMG_1170.jpg




To this

IMG_1177_resize.jpg




Yes, I slapped a layer of NXT on before the second shot, but I can honestly say it made very little difference in appearance compared to what it looked like after the clay. It did take me 2-3 hours to finish claying, but it was a dramatic difference.
Click to expand...



Which clay did you use? I have the Megs Clay kit from Autozone.
 
Well after looking at velobard's results, I decided to go do the half-hood cleaning. This was my process....



Wash w Megs Gold Class

Megs Clay

Wash again

ColorX

NXT Paste X2



The results were as expected.... there are still a lot of greasy fingerprints on the end of the hood from mechanics in the past.



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I cleaned the left side. It looks like a lot of dull spots up towards the windshield but that is actually reflection. It does have a little bit of shine to it, compared to the extremely dull right side. Hopuflly a good clay and strong compound will take care of the contaminents on the paint.
 
I used the Megs clay, just like you have. Most clays are pretty comperable. These days I usually buy the Clay Magic kit at Autozone for $10.99.



Like I said, I put a lot of elbow grease into it. It took about 3 hours to clay my car. Even if you don't get the final results you desire, you car will be better off for your efforts.
 
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