cwp2016nd

How well the sealant or the car will do in the snow? Lol. 

Just did a small winter prep on my Mazda Miata this past weekend. 
 
I plan on ceramic coating my winter wheels before I put them on to experiment with different coatings. For now, I just did the paint/body work. 
 
My process was this - 
 
Wheels done with wheel cleaner & soap/water mixture
Tires scrubbed with degreaser
Fender wells sprayed with degreaser
Tires dressed with Tire Shine 
 
Paint pre-rinsed to get heavier dirt off
Paint then pre-soaked with degreaser diluted 5:1 to break down any remaining wax/traffic film
Wash car with a rinseless wash and use a paint prep as a "drying aid" to ensure a clean panel 
Apply paint sealant - buff off after 30 minutes of sitting. 
Windows cleaned with rinseless wash/glass cleaner/paint prep
Rain-X applied to windshield - Paint sealant applied to side windows and rear window.
Plastic trim dressed with trim dressing
 
Come Spring time I plan on applying ceramic coating to the entire vehicle including the plastic trim. I've seen a lot of people say it is hard to get a white care to "pop" or "glow" but as long as your paint is clean and flat, you will have some nice shine & gloss. I maintain my car all year long and do not let it get bad. It gets clayed twice a year and iron remover 3-4 times a year (I live 50 feet from a set of train tracks). Here's a few pictures.




 
Don't mind that sticker on the windshield, I scraped that and cleaned/sealed that area after I took those pictures. 

Went grocery shopping the other night and it was lightly raining outside. The beads looked so cool on the hood of my little Miata. Very tight and uniform. 
 

Im a little late to the party but wow this truck turned out spectacular!! Way to go Ian!

Since the truck is white, the difference isn’t as dramatic in pictures as it truly is in person. I restored shine and gloss back to the paint as well as cleaned up all the baked on pollen stains. 
 
Before pictures, iron decontamination, bumper polisher, trim restorer and after pictures in that order. 
























 

Went grocery shopping the other night and it was lightly raining outside. The beads looked so cool on the hood of my little Miata. Very tight and uniform. 
 

Here are a few before interior shots as well as after exterior pictures - no after interior shots yet. I'll grab some of those today on lunch break. 
 

It should be on a speed just fast enough to keep the pad rotating. I use the swirl killer mini to apply it. Even though its only a 4" pad, since your're applying by machine it goes very quickly and keeps the heat down. I had it on speed 3 and the pad spun just fine and was a breeze to wipe off. 
 
Keep heat low, lay it down thin and work out of direct sunlight if possible. 

How did you apply the paint sealant? From what you wrote it appears you use a swirl killer with a grey pad, correct? 
 
I just applied paint sealant to a big truck yesterday and it wiped off like butter. Granted it is non Adam's brand, but I own and have used Adam's paint sealant before and the wipe off is extremely similar. If you apply it nice and thin the wipe off couldn't be more simple/easy. 

I've been using Adams Paint Sealant for years and it always leaves a haze.  The current Paint Sealant is much better than the last version at least.  I always follow up with brilliant glaze to remove it.  And if there's a few really stubborn ones, they usually come off with the first wash.
 
Also, I would recommend coating prep between polishing and sealing.  And last, I don't bother drying the car before claying but I work in a garage.

I agree on ozone being the absolute best way to eliminate odors. Ozone is the only true way to break it down at the molecular level. Not that odors can’t be eliminated using other means, but ozone is the fastest way. 
 
We haven’t made the investment to ozone yet, but it’s coming. We simply haven’t found the best need for it to help offset the cost. 
 
@pirahnah3 actually knows quite a bit about ozone machines. Maybe he can share some knowledge with us?
 
@cwp2016nd I don’t feel that ozone machines are absolutely required in any way. Like I said, we don’t have one...yet. It’s only a matter of time before we do make the purchase. But when talking odors, they are worth mentioning. From a business standpoint we can charge good money with little overhead to ozone odors. Put the machine in, turn it on. Make money. A bigger unit goes for under $400 (good for homes and cars).They make smaller ones as well. But it doesn’t take much before that unit pays for itself and is straight money!  Not to mention, the service is another thing to set one detailer apart from others. 

@shane@detailedreflections Thanks! 
 
Ozone is great, you can really get a lot of uses out of it, and its not as harmful to the environment as other options. 
 
Ozone itself is 03 (its also sometimes called trioxygen) which makes is a radical ion, the bond does not like to stick around and it reacts very easily with other items reducing to o2 AKA Dioxygen which is a much more stable but still reactable molecule. There are some warnings with O3 in large quantities and it can be harmful including deadly. I agree that it is a great way to get rid of odors with no adverse effects to the initial source (Typically). You just need to watch out when you go to open up the area after so as to not be overly exposed to any remaining gas. 

OK great, that’s simple enough! Thanks for sharing ??!

Looks great! Very Organized just the way i like it !

While this isn't a "cabinet" per say, it is what I have to work with. We built the shelving in this closet specifically for my detailing stuff. Not sure what I'll do when more stuff comes but it looks like I have to use a lot of product up to condense my area! Its a work in progress like everything else in life. I just tidied it up last night to prepare for an upcoming job this Saturday. 
 

I wish I had that much room! I do like that set up a lot. I only have a 1 car garage so I'm very limited on space for detailing stuff

I just tried brilliant glaze on my commuter pickup last week, made a huge difference lol

Looks great, everything’s organized and easy to find!!

The customer just stopped by my day job and asked me "what did you use on the glass for my truck? It's UNBELIEVABLE how clear it is". I chuckled and asked him if hes specifically talking about the windshield and he replies "Yeah man, it looks like you scraped a layer off of it. Its so damn clear now". 
 
I told him about the brilliant glaze trick and how effective it is. Its cool that people notice the small things you do. The glaze really does work well inside the windshield. 

Nothing more than you're blowing onto the car with the sidekick. Even though a leafblower isn't filtered its not like you're holding it in a pile of dust and blowing it on the car. Mine never goes near the floor and wouldn't have a chance to suck up big particles like that anyway. 
 
Either the leafblower or the sidekick will still blow dust onto the car inadvertently because there is dust floating in the air and you're blowing that dust onto the car. Either works fine though  
 
EDIT: As mentioned below, please have a leaf blower dedicated to drying cars. Don't use your dirt, grass/leaf filled lawn blower and dry your car with that. 

Check out the Worx WG520. It is "only" 110mph but also has 600cfm of output. Works great for me in my world. For $50 shipped on amazon you can't go wrong 

I think you completely misunderstood my previous post. I didn’t try to convince you that you HAD to have an ozone generator in your arsenal. I was merely explaining the benifits and advantages to having one. I use mine for my limited customer base and I find it a cheap and well appreciated freebie. Keep on keeping on. 

That is a good point, I didn't think of that. My electric blower is car drying only and is stored indoors so I don't worry about that. 

Nothing more than you're blowing onto the car with the sidekick. Even though a leafblower isn't filtered its not like you're holding it in a pile of dust and blowing it on the car. Mine never goes near the floor and wouldn't have a chance to suck up big particles like that anyway. 
 
Either the leafblower or the sidekick will still blow dust onto the car inadvertently because there is dust floating in the air and you're blowing that dust onto the car. Either works fine though  
 
EDIT: As mentioned below, please have a leaf blower dedicated to drying cars. Don't use your dirt, grass/leaf filled lawn blower and dry your car with that. 

That is a good point, I didn't think of that. My electric blower is car drying only and is stored indoors so I don't worry about that.