Pre Show Steps?

atticus1398

atticus1398

One Trick Pony
Well, I entered my first show. Its Saturday morning and starts at 9am. Need some last minute advice. Tonight and Friday nights are my only free nights. Tonight will be a full detail with the PC(my first). Question is what steps should I take Fri day night?. Then Sat morning I have to drive to the show, which is about 45 min away. What steps should I take upon arrival in Lexington(about 1 hour prior to start of show)?

Thanks,
Shane
 
When I do shows, I will do a three step I have been using Mothers with great results. I use Power Polish, Reflections Wax and Refelections Top Coat. I always clean the tires with tire and rubber cleaner to remove all old dressing. the The rims get clean and polished and the wheel wells get dressing. The intereior gets vac, leather cleaned and everything gets dressing. On Friday I would do another Top Coat and redress the tires. When you get to the show use your Cal Duster then a QD and redress the tires. If your out doors you'll want to Cal Dust every so often, if your inside you should be good. The only other problem is depending on the amount of spectators that touch your car you might wan to have a "Do Not Touch " sign.
 
I haven't showed my car in a long time, but if I were to show it again I'd do this:

Give your car the full once over. In my case, I would use a Polish and then finish with a paste wax (or sealant). I would clean the tires well, but I wouldnt dress them until you arrive at the show. It's quicker to just dress the tires there then to worry about finding every drop of tire dressing that is now all over your paint. Since you have a day between your two prep days, and I assume the car is your daily ride, I would do as much as you can tonight and then use S&W or another full wash on Thursday night. After you S&W or wash, I would apply another coat of the wax/sealant. I would definitely bring S&W and a good QD as well as a few MF's to detail the car after the drive to the show.
 
Don't forget the engine! I've seen many cars at shows that look great on the exterior but the engines are filthy! That engine must be immaculate, top and bottom. Don't forget hoses and hardware in places you can't see, the judges may look.

One thing about wheels, I usually don't do anything to my wheels and tires until I get to the show. Putting on tire shine before the show runs the danger of slinging the shine onto the car while driving. it only takes a little while to spray some window cleaner on the rims to dust them off and sponge some tire dressing on. Also give the wheel wells (clean I hope!) a spray of tire shine.

Also, check if the judges require safety equipement such as first aid kit, fire extinguisher, spare and jack, and original owner's manual. Many shows deduct points if you don't have these items.

Remember, clean in places you didn't know you had places and you'll do fine.
 
Thanks for the tips, guys.
So this will be my plan of attack.
Today:
Wash & Wax
AIO w/ PC
Wolfgang Seal w/ PC
Nattys Paste

Friday:
Wash
More Nattys

Saturday Morning:
Dusting and QD
Dress tires

Does this sound right? Fridays plan doesnt seem correct to me. Shouldnt I skip the Nattys tonight, and then do another WG seal and then wax on Friday? Ive read that WG needs curing time before wax.

I'll have to post pics later, my engine bay is immaculate. I'm wierd like that, lol.
 
I have a show on Saturday afternoon as well. My plan is this...

I haven't really done anything to get ready for it yet. I want the car to look fresh the day of the show, so I am taking a half day from work on Friday so I can get started. I plan to clay the whole car and polish off the sealant and minor swirls with SSR1. I want the car looking perfect, so you can bet that I'll be paying very close attention to make sure they are gone. I've got a couple 500watt halogen lamps that I use to spot swirls and I am sure they will get a workout.

Once the swirls are gone I will use Wolfgang pre-wax polish enhancer and then a coat of the sealant. I'll wait as long as I can to put another coat on, but I'll likely put another coat on Saturday before the show. Nothing looks better to me than a fresh coat of Wolfgang.

I'll focus on the paint and the engine on Friday. The order I work in will likely be clay first and then engine. That way any degreaser or anything will not get on my nicely polished paint. After the engine is done then I'll get to work polishing the paint. If there is still time then I'll do the interior on Friday night as well. I've got a couple friends coming over who are in the show too and space and tools will need to be shared in my garage. We'll see what can be accomplished.

On Saturday morning I am taking the wheels off to detail the wheel wells, touch up the paint on my calipers, and clean the inside of the wheels and reseal them. That usually takes a couple hours to do. Then I will apply another coat of Wolfgang and clean all the glass and lenses. Likely I won't wash it again since it won't be dusty. If it is dusty then I'll just use a damp towel to wipe it off. I don't want to wash it the day of the show so that I don't have water drips to deal with. I'll also reinspect the interior and make sure I haven't missed a spot. The engine will need to be inspected as well. I use CD2 Engine Detailer to shine up the plastic and it usually looks better if you can buff it down a bit after several hours.

With me to the show I'll take some QD, tire shine and swipes (so I can shine the entire tire with tread), Invisible Glass, several microfibers, and Meguiar's Interior Detailer. Those tools should take care of any dust, bugs, or anything else that happens between my house and the show. I'll QD any mysterious drips or fingerprints and then sit back and enjoy it. :) I'll put in 8 to 10 hours of detailing before the show and the car will look showroom fresh. There are areas like the door jambs that I have neglected since I bought the car, and while I doubt those areas are going to be inspected, I want them clean. If someone does open the door then I don't want anything to make them think I am less than totally obsessed about car care. After all, what kind of sponsor would I be if I showed up to my own car show in a car with dirt on it? ;)
 
With Wolfgang I have honestly felt that wax takes away from the beauty of the product. I've topped WG with Souveran, Paste Glaze, S100/P21S, Trade Secret, Signature, Zymol Vintage, and even Blitz without seeing any benefit to any of them. Wolfgang looks best all by itself to me. The only thing I like on top of Wolfgang is more Wolfgang. :) Just to give you an example....

This is one coat of WG.

SunShot.jpg



This one is a bit different angle, but it is also 3 coats of WG. There is more difference in appearance than just angle. Both are taken at similar times of the day.

DSC01888.jpg


I would prefer to have the time to start working on the car tomorrow so I could get three coats on before the show, but 2 will have to do. 3 is the pinnacle of perfection for Wolfgang in my view. 4 looks good, but it isn't much of a difference beyond 3. Again, just my own thoughts based on the cars I've used it. I'm not trying to say there is no better product, but based on what I have available to me I choose WG for shows. :)
 
Geez, that blue looks like I could put my hand in it. Beautiful. I want my yellow to hurt the judges eyes, lol. I will definately do 2 coats of WG tonight and a third on Friday. Do you use the PC or do you apply the WG by hand?
 
Here are some Wolfgang on yellow pictures for you.

Viper1.jpg


Viper2.jpg


I love Wolfgang on yellow. It was the first color I tested it on and I have been sold ever since. I've got a few more pictures of that viper in better light on OCDetails.com in the products page spotlighting Wolfgang, of course. ;)

I apply it with a PC just because it is faster and I am able to spread it around better. I haven't found any appearance benefits to applying a wax or sealant by hand or machine. It's just time and enegry that I am trying to save. Try to get at least 12 hours between coats. There is a chemical process taking place on your paint. You really should let it cure for awhile before adding a second coat. One coat a day is all I would recommend for best results.
 
It looks like you have some real advantages with that color. Is the engine bay and underside of the hood clear coated? Kind of shines like it is. My Integra was clear coated there and it was always a big attention getter. I'm like you and love having a clean engine. It is probably better maintained than the rest of my paint is. Popping the hood and having the paint under there shine like nothing else is a big point winner.
 
Thanks,
what sort of advantages do you mean?
yes, my girlfriend makes fun of me for waxing the exposed areas on the underside of the hood and the firewall.
 
It just makes your engine look better. I could clean the engine in my Legacy just as thoroughly as I did in the Integra and the Integra would be more impressive looking simply because it was clear coated. It looks glossier and much better than non clear coated engines. People who don't realize the difference in paint just assume that your engine was detailed better. Case in point...

Underhood.jpg


I didn't do anything different other than wax under the hood. You should see the reaction when a mechanic pops the hood or it is inspected at a show. Having clear coat under the hood and in the engine bay is a real eye popper if you wax it.
 
For show purposes I think it would look good. My car didn't have anything under there to begin with, but I would have removed it knowing how good it looked without. I'm just struggling trying to decide how I want to display my Legacy engine at the show on Saturday. There is a big plastic cover over the engine that would either look really good shined up, or really good not being on the car at all and showing off the Boxer engine. I've got one of those black insulation things on the hood too that I don't know if I want to remove. Probably not since the hood isn't clear coated under there. What do you think about the engine cover? Leave it on or take it off?

Engine.jpg
 
Depends.Hmmm. Is that a Legacy 2.5 GT(turbo)? Does it have a top mount intercooler under there? If so, I would definately remove the cover. Actually, I would remove it period. I really like the look of those Subie boxers. Assuming its just as clean under there :whistling
 
yup, its the Legacy GT. That silver thing there at the top is the intercooler. Why would you remove the cover? I kind of like it there. I had a 2.5i without the turbo as a loaner car for a couple days and it just didn't look the same under the hood without the cover or the intercooler.
 
If you look at my sig, I have a huge front mount intercooler in my lower bumper. I was running without the black grill insert. All you saw was polished aluminum. I had polished the heck out of the intercooler. It looked pretty sick. I think polished aluminum looks awesome. But I have these tabs at each corner of the opening that are there to hold in the black mesh insert. Which kind of bugged me. And I didnt want to cut them out. So I threw the insert back in for the show.
 
There isn't much being concealed by my top mount intercooler, so taking the cover off wouldn't really show much. I'll have to snap a picture after I get it detailed tomorrow night and get some opinions on with and without the cover. I'd love to get a nice big FMIC behind the bumper, but I think the hood scoop on a Legacy GT pretty much tells the story about what it is there for. Or I can let people find out the hard way. ;)
 
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