My first (planned) major detail of 2018

[Kristian87uk]

Hey all,

 

First off – enjoying this great forum, been lurking around since I introduced myself a while back & soaking up all the info. I had a rough start to the year with a warranty issue that Ford managed to stretch out pretty much from Jan to April. Nothing serious, just a small water leak but Ford being Ford! Anyway, that wait gave me a chance to stock up on a lot of Adams products, quite a bit of which I haven’t used yet, so I’m all excited :D

 

I have my first big meet/event this Saturday & I’ve been itching to give the Mustang some proper TLC. It’s an ambitious plan that will take up most, if not all of Friday for me.

 

I wanted to share this on here, in the hope of some feedback & to (hopefully) show off my results & comment on the products afterwards along with some photos. Any hints & tips, do’s & don’ts or general feedback on my methods and the ordering much appreciated! I thought a lot about this, in particular the order in which to do it;

 

• First up, I’m replacing my number (licence) plates for some nice pressed metal ones (an unusual sight in the UK), so my first task will be whipping those off & pulling the sticky pads/residue off with a non Adams “intensive tar & adhesive remover”. At the same time, I plan to hit parts of my plastic trims with this as I still have some dried on waxy stuff that I’ve been unable to remove so far (since new). Hoping a utility cloth and this stuff will get it off!
• Then it’s on to my normal wash routine; spray down with pressure washer, snow foam with ultra foam, let it sit, then rinse off
• Hit the tires with tire & rubber cleaner and agitate with brush to clean the tires, then rinse off
• I would like to hit the wheel arches at this point, but even though I have the wheel arch brush and some Eco APC, I don’t have much of a gap between the wheels & the arches due to lowering springs, so may skip that step. I do have a trolley jack which could help, but I’m not that fussed. Appreciate any words of wisdom here!
• 2 bucket wash; I like to hit a panel/section at a time, then rinse off as I go round. More time consuming, but super hard water here so I’ve found it to be a necessary step.
• Dry with the ultra plush drying towel.
• Car is pretty clean so I’m not planning to change the water in the wash/rinse buckets, but I may do.
• Hit the wheels; good ol spray of the wheel cleaner, let it soak, then a thorough cleaning with my arsenal of wheel woollies, which includes the angled one for the barrels (ashamed to say, I haven’t done this yet!), rinse off.
• Without drying, I’m going to apply H20 G&G to the wheels – sprayed on to a damp utility/mf towel and wiped in, then buff off with another drying mf I have. Worth mentioning my wheels are a pain in the a$$ to clean, even though they are beautiful (see pic). Many spokes & many small edges – always adds significant time to my routine
• Exhaust tips - hit with some wheel cleaner & then clean with wheel woollies. I have some non Adams metal polish and steel wool too, need to figure out the correct process for this.
• Clay the whole car – got the new visco clay kit, and hoping it will make fast work of my usually slow claying!
• Apply paint sealant as per the website video – I have the mf applicator pads. Buff off with plush mf cloths. Potentially masking off the trim & windows beforehand, depending on time.
• Windows – I have some non Adams glass polish which I used on my daily at the weekend & seemed pretty good. My glass is pretty riddled with water marks (after Ford had it & abused it with their water testing) so hoping this will solve that. Also apply my normal non Adams glass cleaner to remove any polish residue. One day I’ll properly seal the glass.
• Wax; brand new Americana paste wax ready to go! Looking forward to using this :)
• Dress the tires in tire shine, with the tire dressing applicator
• Dress all the plastic trim, inc rubber window surrounds in VRT – apply with dressing applicator block, wipe in with utility towel.
• Interior is pretty clean, but if I have time, I’ll hit it with some interior detail spray.
• Re install my plates! Must not forget this lol
• Remember to stop for food & a couple of beers!

 

So there it is. As I said – an ambitious plan for a single day, but at the moment, the weather & temp is looking perfect so it should be doable. I’ll no doubt be rushing around like a mad man as I normally do, but I’ll enjoy it all the same :)

[mc2hill]

That is a lot of work planned, but since you are not polishing the paint, it should be 'doable'. 

For the dried 'stuff' consider Qtips for the tight spaces.  You could use craft sticks around a MF towel (popsicle sticks for us, choc-ice sticks for you) too.  

I would recommend removing the wheels at some point for a full cleaning, and that would give you access to the wheel arches.  The car is so low most people will not see in there, but we are not most people!

And I think you will enjoy the Americana wax - it works soooo smoothly.  

[Firebuff17]

Sounds ambitious but definitely doable. 

Your order looks good but need to move a few steps around. 

Most would do a full detail of the tires, rims and wheel arches first. Follow that with the 2 bucket wash. 

After the rinse you have 2 options. Just depends on how fast you work. Skip the dry step and just go straight to clay. I would keep it wet and also use detail spray with the clay bar. Or you could do a quick dry and just use detail spray as you clay. 

Then apply paint sealant. 

Then H2OGG. 

Then the wax. 

Then dress tires and trim. 

Then do the windows. 

[ZMAN024]

Hi Kristian, after you clay the car, be sure to rinse and dry the car completely, and follow that with an IPA or Coating Prep wipe down prior to applying the Paint Sealant.  That way you're sure to get a good bond with the naked paint.

 

You should also move the VRT step up in your order of application. If you  "Dress all the plastic trim, inc rubber window surrounds in VRT – apply with dressing applicator block, wipe in with utility towel." prior to applying the Paint Sealant, the VRT layer will help you remove any errant residue from those areas.  You can always go back over any trim areas with VRT for a quick touch up afterwards.

[Kristian87uk]

Thanks for the input...

 

I had actually considered doing the wheels separately, and there may be a window of opportunity this evening so I am tempted to do that now, would certainly save me a lot of time on Friday. What I don't like about that idea is then doing my normal wash around the wheels and trying not to splash with water/soap, because I'll be sat there afterwards rubbing off all the spots! I guess I could always try to cover the wheels with some plastic sheets/bin bags? More questions from the neighbors lol

 

Skipping the drying step makes sense too, although I'll probably do it anyway so I can try out the new drying towel

 

Re trim - certainly may move that up the list, would save me having to tape the trim off if it's well protected

[Kristian87uk]

Well, i actually did it. Remind me not to attempt that again lol

 

pretty much a 12 hour session if i include set up and clear up time, stops to eat etc. Absolutely exhausted, but glad I did it. A clay and a protection was long overdue so that in itself was worth it.

 

i have a few more comments and some photos but for now, i’ll just say i absolutely loved the drying towel - pure magic, and the american wax was indeed beautiful.

 

@Kristian_s550 if any of you are on instagram, few photos on there.

 

for now, i need to hit the hay - 6am i’ll be on the road!

[Kristian87uk]

What a weekend...my efforts were spoiled in less than an hour on the road! Wiped out a pheasant on the motorway @ 70mph. Absolutely gutted after my Friday session. Crack in the bumper and some light scratches. Could have been worse but now I'll need to get it repaired  see very last pic below.

 

Anyway,  the session on Friday...

 

As always, it took me far longer than I would have liked but it was well worth the effort. Even on Saturday when I got to this event at a race circuit - which was dusty/muddy! It really stood out. The finish was like a mirror and close up, with the sun overhead, there was not a swirl in sight. A few people made that comment

 

First time using the visco clay bar and impression tool, i found it a little awkward but it did the job well. The paint sealant and wax went on really nice - not at all chalky as I've had with previous waxes - even ones at a similar price point to the Americana. Wheels really do need removing and a clay/polish but did get a thorough clean, really stood out once the guard & gloss was added - which was a bit fiddly. Can't say I saw any major benefit with the VRT as of yet, my trim is relatively new & clean anyway so I wasn't expecting much. The tar & adhesive remover did seem to clear up the marks I had on it though so that was good. My non adams glass polish was horrible, even if did clear the windows fairly well. The glass was warm when I applied it and there was white chalk/dust everywhere! Won't be using that again in a hurry. Glad I left the clay/sealant & wax until the end.

 

I'll say it again - the ultra plush drying towel was like nothing I have used before, well worth the investment! Did a superb job & I know it will save me time & effort going forwards.

 

Few pics that I feel show off the results quite well.

 

Thanks for the input