So I set off on Saturday to get this thing cleaned and ready for the summer. My wife thought I was nuts last year for spending 12 hours on it. My goal this year was to make her think I need committed. So on Saturday I grabbed three buckets all with grit guards in them and set out to clean her. (the car... Not the wife)
I only have two Adams buckets so I found a an old wide bottomed bucket where the grit guard went nearly to the bottom. 2 were filled with straight water and one with Dawn and water. They were also dumped out mid wash and refilled.
I also used my foam applicator filled with Dawn and water.
This car was VERY dirty. It hadn't been hand washed since 11/06/09. I did however take it through touchless washes that blow dry so NO hands had touched the paint other than a rogue accidental brush against it here and there. Remember... This is my DD so it's not perfect.
So I washed it (took about 2 hours) using a new jumbo wash pad, wheel well brush, bores hair wheel brush, and A LOT of water. Then I dried it using a great white drying towel and some DS. The results were amazing... From afar... Up close it's a disaster.
The paint is actually pretty decent but there are some very slight scratches in the top surfaces with some longer scratches which I assume came from rogue rocks and salt.
So I set out with my 3M adhesive remover and a cheap MF towel to remove ALL the tar and oil from behind the wheels and sides of the car. This is MUCH better than making the clay do it all for you.
After removing the tar I set off with a hunk of Adams clay and a bottle of DS. It took a whole bottle of DS to get it done but it came out VERY nice IMO. The pics you'll see below have the DS dried on the car. No big deal... I PC through it.
So now for the "fun" stuff...
I grabbed the PC a white pad and tried out some FMP on the hood... Nope... Going to need the orange pad. I stuffed the white pad into a ziplock to keep it fresh and went to work. After a couple hours on the hood I think I have it.
Went to the top of the car... DANG! It was BAD up there... 3 hours and bam! Done...
Trunk and C pillars... 3 hours... Bam... Done.
Now ALL I have is the sides, back and nose of the car. The nose has a clear bra so I intend to just use clear polish and an MF applicator on it.
The sides of the car are pretty bad so it will take me at least the rest of this week to complete it.
So I am driving the truck this week... The car is parked in the middle of the garage.
Cheers all and sorry for the LONG post.
Chris
Photos are in order... All pre-clean and the last one are the buckets set and ready...
Question
Chewy
Ok all,
So I set off on Saturday to get this thing cleaned and ready for the summer. My wife thought I was nuts last year for spending 12 hours on it. My goal this year was to make her think I need committed. So on Saturday I grabbed three buckets all with grit guards in them and set out to clean her. (the car... Not the wife)
I only have two Adams buckets so I found a an old wide bottomed bucket where the grit guard went nearly to the bottom. 2 were filled with straight water and one with Dawn and water. They were also dumped out mid wash and refilled.
I also used my foam applicator filled with Dawn and water.
This car was VERY dirty. It hadn't been hand washed since 11/06/09. I did however take it through touchless washes that blow dry so NO hands had touched the paint other than a rogue accidental brush against it here and there. Remember... This is my DD so it's not perfect.
So I washed it (took about 2 hours) using a new jumbo wash pad, wheel well brush, bores hair wheel brush, and A LOT of water. Then I dried it using a great white drying towel and some DS. The results were amazing... From afar... Up close it's a disaster.
The paint is actually pretty decent but there are some very slight scratches in the top surfaces with some longer scratches which I assume came from rogue rocks and salt.
So I set out with my 3M adhesive remover and a cheap MF towel to remove ALL the tar and oil from behind the wheels and sides of the car. This is MUCH better than making the clay do it all for you.
After removing the tar I set off with a hunk of Adams clay and a bottle of DS. It took a whole bottle of DS to get it done but it came out VERY nice IMO. The pics you'll see below have the DS dried on the car. No big deal... I PC through it.
So now for the "fun" stuff...
I grabbed the PC a white pad and tried out some FMP on the hood... Nope... Going to need the orange pad. I stuffed the white pad into a ziplock to keep it fresh and went to work. After a couple hours on the hood I think I have it.
Went to the top of the car... DANG! It was BAD up there... 3 hours and bam! Done...
Trunk and C pillars... 3 hours... Bam... Done.
Now ALL I have is the sides, back and nose of the car. The nose has a clear bra so I intend to just use clear polish and an MF applicator on it.
The sides of the car are pretty bad so it will take me at least the rest of this week to complete it.
So I am driving the truck this week...
The car is parked in the middle of the garage.
Cheers all and sorry for the LONG post.
Chris
Photos are in order... All pre-clean and the last one are the buckets set and ready...
More to come in a second
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