Witness Detailed (Well.. kind of)

[witness]

So we had a nice day yesterday and decided to get a few things together and test a few products out. Since joining the forum we've been introduced to products we never knew existed and just had to try them before business season opened.

We've decided to go with poorboys products through and through, just because of their superior performance in our opinions. But we did have a few products we needed to exhaust before placing our order.

We stopped by a local autozone just to see what they carried and we were surprised at the new addition of several items to their car care isles.. They seem to carry megs gold class in high volumes, and also their prices on stoner products were pretty decent. theyve also introduced the high class megs line, zymol line, and a few others. We picked up a few gallons of gold class, some engine brite, and some cd2 to test the claims everyones been making. We also did a test detail so I could familiarize myself with the pc 7424 and we could get a decent time measurement for future reference. When I say this is a witness detail.. kind of.. I say that because the vehicle we did was one of our cars (06 nissan altima) and because we didn't go all out on it. On a customers car we'd be more thorough in a few areas, but due to time constraint, lighting being non existent as yesterday was the cloudiest bleakest detailing day ever, and because rain was scheduled for late evening, we just wanted to do a decent quick run through. (quick in this case being almost 6 hours)

pics and details

process

wash- megs gold class
chenille mitt (utilizing two bucket wash method)
assortment of mf towels and brushed for wheels and wells
dried with waffle weave towel

prep- clayed with megs smooth surface kit (megs quick detailer as lube)
cleaned with chem guys paint cleaner/swirl remover
orange pad and pc 7424 (spread at 1, worked in at 5)

finish- chem guys pro polish
megs #7 glaze
followed by quick detailer for a little protection
stoners ig for all glass

wheels- were not dirty at all so we just did a wash with gold class
wells sprayed with armorall water based extreme shine
wheels sprayed with titanium tire wet

engine- pre treated with engine bright
spray rinse
cd2 applied, allowed to sit for 25 mins then excess wiped
(i apologize in advance for the pics. we just got our new canon rebel t1i and I'm still working with it, also we didn't have any sun and time was against us as we just wanted to get done before the rain)

after claying the car we were very shocked to find the amount of imperfections present on the vehicle. The xp2 did an amazing job in removing most of them, but we need a heavier abrasive to cut through the remaining ones. The stuff we used did do a good job in polishing the headlights and tail lights though.

overall we were very pleased with the performance and price of the megs gc. stoners was amazing as well. as far as the engine bright and cd2 i think i'll have to test the applications on some dirtier engine bays to really see the difference. We also can't wait to get our hands on some PB's ssr2 and 2/5 as well as some pro polish to get rid of the remaining swirls and imperfections in the altima's paint.

pics of the process. all comments welcome (and before anyone says anything. i didn't get the last few shots due to it being dark, cold, and us being hungry, But the wheel wells were done, and the exhaust tips were polished before we set out. )


BEFORE

DURING (sorry for no washing pics)

IMPERFECTIONS

HERES A 50/50 SHOT (These results were typical throughout the car)

AFTER

 

[Beemerboy]

Nice work your well on the way, can you tell me why why you taped off so much of the car?

 

[witness]

As I mentioned it was first go with the porter. We wanted to be extra safe. The altima had several dips on the body as well as side moldings. We were concerned about polish getting in between all the cracks and having to be toothpicked out. I was amazed at the simplicity, effectiveness, and manueverability of this machine though. We quickly began to remove the tape after finding that it was easy to get into the places we wanted to, and to stay away from the ones we didn't. I know it was overkill. But for the first time it was better safe than sorry. We'd rather learn a lesson that allows us to be more relaxed the next time, than one that causes an extra hour or two of work

 

[atkinsonair]

Looks good .....Keep on buffing dude.

 

[cwcad]

Sounds like a nice process. Love the color of the car. The last shot at night is good. Always want to leave the masses looking good. I think the shot in the dark is a good look.

Six hours spent doing what you have described is fair if my judgement has any merit. I know I would be happy with that amount of time spent on a detail with similar results.

 

[CharlesW]

finish- chem guys pro polish
megs #7 glaze
followed by quick detailer for a little protection
stoners ig for all glass

The vehicle turned out quite good, but.......
You don't seem to have used a LSP.
Right now you have a well prepped finish, but it really doesn't have any protection, does it?

Maybe you skipped that step because you were planning to do some more polishing.

Anyway, it looks great right now. :bigups

 

[Gus-Gus]

Looks good to me..

One thing i used to do when i detailed my Altima and on my wife's Maxima is the rain channels on the roof.. it doesnt look like you could get wax or polish on the plastic running down them.. but it can happen so i always make sure to tape those off! Just a little wisdom i picked up

 

[witness]

The vehicle turned out quite good, but.......
You don't seem to have used a LSP.
Right now you have a well prepped finish, but it really doesn't have any protection, does it?

Maybe you skipped that step because you were planning to do some more polishing.

Anyway, it looks great right now. :bigups

Correct. I just wanted to wait the rain out before using an lsp. The weathe is super sketchy right now. But we have three good days lined up. My wife is on her way home with the car as I'm posting. It's going to receive a quick waterless wash to touch it up, then I'm going to put a coat of megs color x on. And tomorrow I'll do a QD just to enhance a bit.

Another reason for waiting until today is that it may pick up some potential clients. The women my wife works with seem very interested in our business and I'm hoping that her pulling into work with a spotless vehicle despite the previous days of rain will seal the deal for at least one of them.

 

[Mr. Clean]

The vehicle turned out quite good, but.......
You don't seem to have used a LSP.
Right now you have a well prepped finish, but it really doesn't have any protection, does it?

Maybe you skipped that step because you were planning to do some more polishing.

Anyway, it looks great right now. :bigups

That was one of the 2 things that jumped out at me when I read the post. But I see you addressed that in part. As you add to your arsenal of products you might consider adding a spray wax/sealant just for occasions such as this.

The second item that caught my eye was the choice of Meg's #7 Show Car Glaze. Now that's going old school If you mastered that product on your first go 'round with little effort, you'll find many of the other products to have a very short learning curve. With the impending weather I'm guessing the humidity level was fairly high so that likely added to the degree of difficulty removing the #7. You didn't mention any smearing at all which would have been easily (and quickly) noticeable with that black paint. I didn't see your mention of the toweling used for product removal. MF or cotton?

It looks like you and your Wife may prove to be quite the team. Did ya'll split up the vehicle by interior/exterior or application/removal or some other combination?

 

[witness]

The megs was a little rough to work off. I used a cotton applicator pad to apply. I worked it in one panel. Then moved to another. I actually did stick to doing about a 2x2 section at a time. By the time I had applied it to the second section I went back for removal on the first. For removal I used an mf followed by a polishing cloth that had been gently misted with deionizer water and then again with an mf. The process was quick and I expected smearing problems especially on the hood and roof. But I had no problem. Today I followed the same pattern with the color x. I did a quick waterless wash. Then applied the color x. Mf off followed by a polishing cloth. But this time the cloth was misted with mEgs quick detailer. This was especially helpful since the car wasn't completely cool. I only had an hour to work on it before she headed out again. But the reults were pretty stunning. I'm at work right now but I'll post the follow up shots I got today when I get in tomorrow.


As far as my wife and I and how we work. Yesterday applying the glaze And paint cleaner we got two coats on fairly quickly. I worked in the polish/cleaner with the Porter xp and an orange pad. I applied, worked it in, then buffed out with an mf. She followed two panels back applying the megs. When finished we both applied the #7 to the rest of the car. On a normal basis this is normally how it would go. I'd do the engine bay if requested while she begins interior vacuuming brushing and pretreating. Then thecar would be washed. All doors open. I would begin the drying process as she brushes the pretreated spots and Heats the extractor. I'd finish drying and the carpets would be extracted. We'd both finsh up the interior, trunk, and dress the engine. Then I'd begin with the pc for either a one step while she dressed the wheels tires and wells. Or I'd being the paint correction process with her buffing it out right behind.