Detailing this weekend:

[Swirly_McDoordings]

It looks like there will be about 2 weeks of 70+ degree weather up here in Portland Oregon. You know what that means...

 

Yes, it's time to detail. This will be my first attempt at using a PC to polish my paint. I'm confident, but I do have a few concerns/questions. Allow me to breakdown my process and plans for this weekend, just so we are on the same page.

 

Exterior:

 

1. Rinse/wash/dry

2. Clay

3. Polish

BONUS STEP: Dr. Colorchip

5. Sealant

6. Clean equipment

 

24 hours later...

 

6. Glaze

7. Wax

8. Clean equipment

 

Interior:

 

1. Plastics, dash, etc.

2. Leather treatment

3. Carpet cleaning

 

I'll probably clean under the hood at a different time later in the week. Now, in the past I'd clean the wheels during my wash, or just after. I'd then dress the trim and tires last. Is there an optimal time to do this during my detail?

 

Detail spray. I have about a half gallon of Meguiar's "Last Touch" detail spray remaining. Would this be the perfect time to use a monsoon of the stuff during the clay bar process so as to limit my use of Adam's Detail Spray?

 

Wish me luck!

[ChargerMatt]

If you find the Meg's to do the trick, I'd use it up. There's no sense in wasting anything.

[Culedood47]

I actually did the same thing with some leftover off-brand detail spray during my last correction. All the work you do after the clay will be what counts in terms of shiny.

 

Do your wheels first in terms of cleaning. Then wash the car, etc.

[mc2hill]

I do the tires last too. That gives them lots of time to dry. Now I have a SideKick dryer it is not such a big deal, but might as well wait until you are applying glaze and wax.

[GaryW]

Do not forget to post some photos..

[Doug123]

I would not put sealant over freshly fixed paint chips. Let them breathe (out gas) for a few weeks.

[Marylander]

I would not put sealant over freshly fixed paint chips. Let them breathe (out gas) for a few weeks.

 

I agree -- probably a good idea.

[Swirly_McDoordings]

I would not put sealant over freshly fixed paint chips. Let them breathe (out gas) for a few weeks.

 

What if I do a complete detail, and fill in the paint chips at a later date?

[Swirly_McDoordings]

Hey guys.

 

I'm about to call it a day in a couple of hours. I spent a ton of extra time doing the tedious stuff, such as cleaning out pollen and other debris from inside the trunk and other areas that required special attention. Needless to say, I am going to call it a day after I finish claying and I will pick up where I left off tomorrow. Here is my little dilemma. I know that the car is going to collect some dust/hair etc. overnight while in the garage. I figure I'll use the waterless wash to remove whatever collects overnight before I move onto the machine polishing phase tomorrow morning. Is this the ideal or correct procedure?

[Cjbarton]

Yes. You can use waterless wash before moving onto the polishing process or detail spray, its preference.

 

Quick tip: remember to do a test area when you polish your car.

[Chobbs]

I covered my car with some sheets then woke up the next morning pulled the sheets off pulled the car out of my tiny garage and began polishing, straight away!

 

 

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[Swirly_McDoordings]

Alright guys, I need a few pointers after a marginally successful weekend. I had no real idea how long it was going to take to do a full machine detail from start to finish, but I figured I could handle it if given one full weekend. Turns out I will need double that and then some. That means more time to get familiar with everything. Saturday I washed, cleaned up the trim and wheels, as well as the trunk interior and several other tedious details.

 

I couldn't get the fat grin off my face when I saw how well the Green Wheel Cleaner worked. It was able to remove some stains that I had never been able to remove with any other product. The All-Purpose Cleaner is palpably good. I found more uses for it than I can count. The VRT is to die for, and In N Out spray was an unbelievable time saver. I love all of this stuff. The microfibers ROCK.

 

Now, I finished up some more things yesterday, and tried out my PC for the first time. I was only able to test an area on the hood before I had to wrap up. I tried the Swirl and Haze remover and then fine machine polish. I worked at a speed setting of 5 only, and was not able to remove what I considered to be light to moderate swirls and haze from my paint. I completed two passes with each solution. I would say the swirls were reduced by about 40-50%, and the haziness even more so.

 

This is where I need some advice. At first I was pushing too hard on the machine, which slowed it down some, and created some unpleasant dusting in my work area. Once I got the hang of things, I realized how little physical pressure I need to keep the pad fixed to the surface (like doing it one handed as The Junkman has demonstrated). That seemed to prevent further dusting, but I'm not certain.

 

Here are my questions and concerns so far:

 

1. When I use the plastic bag trick for claying, I noticed that I can feel plenty of paint imperfections no matter how much I clay an area. I clayed an area until there was no visible dirt or debris in the clay's surface, and yet I could still feel an assortment of texture with the bag afterwards. It felt like glass otherwise.

 

2. How many PC passes with swirl and haze remover are generally needed on a finish that doesn't have visible swirls (or scratches for that matter) when standing 5-10 feet from the vehicle? I also had a hard time knowing when the polish was "flashing," but i assumed it was once the polish had that slightly milky, wiggly transparent "heat-wave" effect going on. Is this correct?

 

3. Since I was unable to move beyond the clay bar process, I am not sure what I need to do so that I can pick up where I left off this next weekend. My gut says to wash and quickly clay the car once more before I move onto polishing. It's not going to rain, so I might be able to waterless wash the vehicle instead, yeah?

 

4. How does one polish and seal the really narrow areas on the bodywork? My front fender has painted areas as narrow as 1". I planned on trying the 4" pads over these areas, but I am worried about them flying off and hitting my cat.

 

Thanks for any and all help guys. This is great community.

[Chobbs]

Are you going to be driving the car before you finish? Is it sitting in a garage? If your gonna drive it, you will want to apply some protection to the paint. Is sounds like your entire care is stripped to bare paint, correct?

 

As far as pressure of the PC goes, I have heard several ways to describe it...15lbs of pressure, just enough so you see and hear the machine slow down but not stop rotating etc...

 

The videos from adams and the Junkmans cover this.

 

If, using the correct pressure, you haven't seen great improvement after two passes of each SHR and FMP. then it may mean you'll have to step it up to SSHR. Keep working a test area till you get the paint looking how you want!

 

 

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[Adroc33]

Cory welcome to the forum I didn't realize you where from the 503.

 

WW will be fine since we will be having a nice week coming up although since I am OCD I tend to like to wash the car if its going to be more than a day before I can get back to it.

 

For the narrow areas if your concerned about the 4" pads or your cat you can just do a hand polish.

[Swirly_McDoordings]

Cory welcome to the forum I didn't realize you where from the 503.

 

WW will be fine since we will be having a nice week coming up although since I am OCD I tend to like to wash the car if its going to be more than a day before I can get back to it.

 

For the narrow areas if your concerned about the 4" pads or your cat you can just do a hand polish.

 

I will be washing the car, and quickly claying again in case of some freak brake dust or something. I'm actually not concerned about them flying off to be honest. I was just wondering if anyone had used them on a narrow panel that is a 1/4th the width of the 4" pad? Or rather, can I get proper results with the machine on a narrow area like that?