Detailing My Black Daily Driver (pictorial...56K maybe)

[Lux]

Here's a little pictorial on my now 1 year old daily driver. As with all black cars, swirls will happen no matter how careful you are. The ultimate acid test is under flourescent lighting, direct noon sun, and the flash from a camera.

Here's a before pic. As you can see, under flourescent it isn't too bad. But the flash from the camera shows swirling.


Have no fear. We have the technology to fix things. After washing and claying to remove any surface contaminants, it's time to bust out the hardware.

Shown below is a Porter Cable random orbital polisher...a must have. Coupled to the Porter Cable are various grades of Edge 2000 polishing pads.


Polishes used are Poorboy's Super Swirl Remover 2.5 (with blue Edge 2K pad) and Super Swirl Remover 1 (with white Edge 2K pad). Meguires NXT Tech Wax (my fav wax for black) is hand applied and provides the final topping for protection. Microfiber towels are used to remove polishes and wax.



Here's the results:
1st pic is the "acid test" of flourescent lighting and camera flash.



Here's some pics in direct sunlight...smooth as silk :







If any of you want more info on detailing your car, I highly recommend checking out http://www.autopia.org Those guys live and breathe detailing and there's a lot of great info.

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[phrankandbeanz]

i love a clean black boxster on 18in carreras!

[Brucelee]

Very nice, thanks for sharing pics etc.

My neighbor has been able to avoid swirl marks altogether. On my advice, she used Klasse All in One and Sealant on the first day that she got her car. She has followed up since and upon last look, no swirls to date (after one year!). Hers is a black/grey metallic finish.

Alas, if you have an older car, the above technique is a must!

I would recommend Klasse Sealant as a follow on.

[Adam]

Looks very nice Lux. Just curious how often you wash your car being a daily driver and all? I try not to wash my car real often to minimize swirling and rust. I just live with the bug guts and dust for a month or so and then give it a good bath.

P.S. I think I will try out that Nxt stuff. Are the clay bars any good at places like auto zone? I should clay the car pretty soon too.

[Brucelee]

Mother's clay bar is fine albiet a bit small for the price you pay.

[phrankandbeanz]

i breath ZAINO

[Lux]

Bruce,
I will bet dollars to donuts that your friends car has swirls if you use my "acid test". My car looked immaculate outdoors but the flash from the camera reveals all.

Klasse is an excellent product. I just don't like the plastic, gel candy look that it gives. It's great for light colored cars but I prefer a deep, dark black that traditional carnuba gives. Too bad carnuba melts on a black car sitting in the sun. So using a synthetic sealant is a must. And although NXT is a polymer sealant, it also gives that deep black shine similiar to carnuba. It also has some fillers that will hide minor swirls. I'm a firm believer in NXT. The only downside is that it doesn't protect as long as a traditional sealant (although much longer than carnuba). About 2 months and you need to throw on another layer.

Adam,
I try to wash my car weekly. Letting contaminants sit on your paint and fabric top is not good (e.g. bugs, tree droppings, bird droppings, fuel from trucks' exhausts, etc). I dry the car with a leaf blower. During the week, if I get some crap on the hood or something, I'll use a quick detailer spray and wipe it off with a microfiber towel.

Now wouldn't you know it...rain is forcasted for next week.


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[Brucelee]

I will have to check her car out with the flash.

Re: the Klasse, I actually like the impact on Black when you use BOTH the All in one and the Sealant.

Multiple coats of sealant deepen the finish on Black very nicely I think.

[Adam]

I hate driving in IL during the summer. The bugs are rediculous! I take 2-3 hrs to give my car a full wash and Zaino job and then after only a 1hr drive I have bug **************** all over the front end. It seems futile!!!! My front grill is a grasshopper catcher lol. About once a week I take detailer spray...dump some on a cotton rag and take off all the brake dust that builds on my wheels. The OEM pads seem to give off alot of dust from just regular braking so this helps keep my Carrera wheels looking good between washes. I am tempted to use detailer spray and wipe the guts and stuff off the body but I'm worried that may grind the small bug/dust particles in and I'll end up with more scratches in the long run...so I just leave it alone between baths. On the rare occasion a bird decides to do his buisness on my car though...I wipe that up right away.

[Lux]

Yeah, unless you own a garage queen scratches will be unavoidable. That's what the Porter Cable is for! Since you use Zaino, your car should be ultra slick. Just spray the bugs with some quick detailer and let it sit for a minute or two. It should come off with minimal (or no) scratches.

Also, I forgot to mention that I did the RaggTopp treatment. Used the cleaner to clean the top and sprayed 3 coats of the protectant. I like it.


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[Perfectlap]

a big factor in reducing swirling is what towels you use to wash your car and what towels are used to dry it.

I have completely stopped drying with any towel that has split threading(this means no more microfiber on paint, interior only). From now on its Only tufted loop ends like on my Sonus waffle weave towels and the Councourse Buffing towel sold by Autopia car care.


As far as washing I don't use any of those washing mits found in most auto stores. I was using a Chenille sponge but I found that even after a couple of machine washes I can still find small traces of debris. If its good at trapping the dirt its also good at holding it. This may sound nuts but I wouldn't use one of those $3 sponges more than once. I've been using some neutral colored waffle weave towel for washing and never touch the dirty paint unless its first been lubricated with soapy water.

This basically means never going to any kind of public drive thru car wash. You shouldn't be going there anyways as soap should never see your soft top. The towels at public car washes are usually terry cloth wich will swirl your paint no matter how soft. its not the thread but the actual threading process that make terry cloth swirl paint. The wash mits used are also usually filthy from the previous car and I wouldn't wash my bicycle with those towels.


When washing you should be using two buckets. Once the soapy towel has made the first pass (down and away, NEVER sideways,back and forth) it should go directly into the second bucket of clean water. Similarly waxes should never be applied or removed in the Karate kid wax on wax off method. I think Mr. Miyagi's paints were much tougher than these soft German paints whcih are illegal here in America.

The washing mit and drying cloth can probably account for nearly all of the swriling on your paint. The other big part is buffing with a towel that should only be used to remove polishes and waxes. Use a dedicated Councours towel for final buffing and use speed and never pressure.


p.s. those of you with open wheels I picked this up recently and its the exact length for cleaning the barrel of the Carrera 5 spoke wheel. $6 at PepBoys

this is another great product for washing, one for each bucket.
http://www.autobarn.net/rodi/gritguard.html

[Perfectlap]

by the way Lux,
you said you prefer Carnauba to Klasse, which I agree is two different looks.
But I actually use both, first the Klasse Sealant glaze and S100 as a topper. Someone from Autopia trademarked this process as the "the perfect shine".
Here's Klasse with P21s on my old whip.

[Adam]

You guys use towels to dry off the car? I use a 100% deer skin chamois to dry and have used it with great success. Towels don't ring out water like a chamois and stay wet which would mean you would have to use several towels to dry off the car right? I do also use a wash mit and it seems better than sponges...at least for me. I do use cotton towels(from walmart no less) to wipe off the Zaino. I cut off the edges on the towels which could be hard on the paint. I ordered some detailing towels last year and they seem quite a bit rougher than the the bath towels so I just use those for rags lol.

[Lux]

That Miata looks great. S100 is good stuff. The guys over on Autopia are suggesting Souveran over NXT for a "dark" shine. I'm gonna have to give it a whirl.

As for drying, I use a friggen leaf blower! My microfibers are only to "touch up" some areas that are still a little wet. I like the leaf blower. Not only does it help keep off the swirls...but it's also way faster than drying by hand.

But alas, it's still a daily driver and will get its share of swirls and rock chips. But hell, I think half the fun is getting rid of the swirls.


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[Adam]

LOL, a leaf blower..that is great. I bet you get some funny looks from the neighbors huh?

[Perfectlap]

that's not a bad idea. I looked into a motorcyle dryer to end all towel drying copletely and unfortunately those dryers are very expensive, a leaf blower is probably 1/4 of the price. I'll have to go down to Wall Mart and check it out.

[KRZTACO]

Lux, good call on the professional grade products.

Its amazing how much better you can clean your car with the professional grade stuff the pros use.

FYI: Just got a 20 pack of Microfiber Auto detailing cloths from Costco for 9 bucks!!!

I get my product from an auto detailing shop in Costa mesa.

KRZ

[Rail26]

Perfectlap...if you don't use the Mr. Miagi special...how do you wax your car? Do you go in straight lines up and down?