the whole detailing thing

[djomlas]

so i was telling my friend how now im hooked to damn autopia forum and whatnot and showed him some before and afters (some crazy stuff you will see that people do to their cars), so he was very impressed.
he has a black BMW (it wasnt his choice of color especially since he kinda doesnt care and washes a car once every 2 months in seems), so he asked me how much to detail his car.
c'mon now, im not gonna charge him to clean his car, so i said to him get some detailing products, stick around, and ill do it for you.
so off to autogeek, and we ordered:
SSR1, SSR2,SSR2.5, nattys paste wax blue for dark cars,some mf towels,2 LC orange pads, 2 LC white pads, 1 blue LC pad,and then some leather cleaner (not sure what he ordered inregards to that), and i opted to not use any sealant, and well use the meguiars claybar from a local autozone....
so...well this will give me some good practice, i will have some pads, and some products leftover, and keep the friend

i would still like to try out the meguiars #80 and #83, but i will hold on that till i see the results with poorboys.
he has some good spiderwebbing, swirlmarks, and an angry girl that did a number on his hood and trunk w her purse...
so once all this stuff comes in well do it, and you know me by now, ther will be lots of before and after pics
i also got the halogen lamp stand tripod thingy as well for the polishing job (didnt even know they were only 30 bux at good ol wallmart, so thats a good buy)

just outta curiosity, since i havent done a full detail, how long do the pads last?
and i will also be doing a wetsanding job on my car (PO did some damage wher the hardtop goes it, missed it and hit the paint, so for now its touched up but i want it perfect of course)

anyways, sorry for long post, but this whole detailing stuff is kinda neat.

[Perfectlap]

1-don't do any wet sanding until you have exhausted every method possible with the PC orbital and a pro detailer can't do the job with a metabo rotary. The margin of error is slim to none. Given your unique color, I would not try anything you hadn't done before.

2-I'd a gone with Menzerma Intensive Polish for deswirling a black car. Optimum's line is also good with the PC. Poorboys is great but you'll have to work allot more to get the same results for the 1st time deswirling. Maintenace is no problem for the SSR's.

The misus is the only car I will do for free and even then I make here help me wash, clay, polish, seal, etc. That way she will see its allot of work and take better care of the car. Most women I know never care for their cars, very sloppy.
I'd do the same with your pal, make him help you if not he should fill your tank!
Deswirling is mucho work because you have to move slow, very slow with the buffer to get out swirls.

Funny how people who never wash their cars always want black cars. My friend who has had some of the most heinous looking cars ever, toxic waste sites really bought his first nice car. Acura TL what color? Black. oh dear...

p.s.
Tell your buddy to try Optimum No Rinse. I think its the way to go when washing a black car that is probably washed 300% more during its lifetime more than a car in a lighter color. More washing = more swirling.

[unklekraker]

P/L..got question for you...
Which brand and where to get a foam gun to wash my car? What i meant was instead of using bucket of soap, I want to use the one the squirt foam...does it make sense? And what's that Optimum no rinse?

[Perfectlap]

Optimum No Rinse is something in between a full bucket and hose wash and a quick detail with a cleaning spray and towel. You add one or two ounces to a warm bucket of water and with a sponge (after wetting down the car first) you can clean the paint when its too dirty to quick detail. Dry it with a waffle weave towel. You don't have to rinse it with a hose. Before drying off the No Rinse I spray the car with a cleaning quick detailer too lubricate the drying and clean any spots I might have missed. I like FK1 146 or 425 for post No Rinse drying.

You can reuse the dirty water still in the bucket to wash your wheels using a wheel face brush like the Meguiar's Gold Class. I can do the whole No Rinse in 15 minutes without having to get out the hose and I don't get all wet. You can also dilute the No Rinse in a spray bottle and use it as a quick detailer. Last summer I only did a real car soap wash once. And of course I stay away from hand car washes.

I think I saw a foam gun on detailcity.com
I'm considering one myself but with a silver car it rarely looks too dirty. Maybe if I had more than one car like an SUV I would get the foam gun.

[unklekraker]

Thaks P/L for the response one more question, So the Optimum No Rinse is a product?

[Perfectlap]

yeah its the most popular of the waterless washes at the momemment

http://detailcity.com/optimum-no-rinse-wash-shine-32-ounce.html

here's an interesting deal on pads (mix and match)
http://detailcity.com/lake-country-6-5-inch-da-foam-pads-custom-4-pack.html

[unklekraker]

thanks, dude! that's a great web site...Im going to try it out as soon as I finish all my Meguiars product or probably not going to wait at all

but definitely will going to get this one:
http://detailcity.com/foamaster-foam-gun-quart.html

[Perfectlap]

get one of these if you are going to order. Its the best thing for cleaning the top with Raggtopp.
http://detailcity.com/oxo-good-grips-small-car-wash-brush.html

[unklekraker]

yap...saw that on your other post

[SC986]

I agree on the wetsand, I wouldn't do it DJ.

The SSR's are great, but you do have to work them more. I haven't had luck with the Menzerna. I tried their final polish on a burgandy and it just didn't look right. I ended up re-doing it with SSR1.

How long your pads last will depend on how much product you cake in them and how well you get them clean.

You can't mix them, but Autogeek has six pads for $39.99

http://www.autogeek.net/vcpad.html

The no rinse is interesting being my black does not get to dirty, mostly dust. A little skeptical though.

[Perfectlap]

I can't speak for the final polish. Just the Intensive Polish I and II and the Optimum's. Seem to be the go to choices for the pros, I only note it because time is money to those guys. I've spent hours and hours trying to bust out swirls on black cars with SSR and and the over the counters.
Man there was thread somewhere where a Turbo 993 was restored from oblivion using Menzerna IP, I'll see if I can dig it up. The pics were amazing because the after shots were taken directly under the sun with not a cloud in the sky. I couldnot see one swirl.

As for the NoRinse, that and FK 425 I would say are the two products that have no equal. The differences in waxes and dressing are marginal between brands but these two really are their own category for the purposes they serve.
Using the NoRInse takes some getting use to. At first I didn't trust it and I would put in way way more than the two ounces they claim. But some pro detailers told me its the only thing they use now not only on mobile detailing but at their own shop as well. They don't even use two buckets, just one with the grit guard.
These are high end cars too.

[djomlas]

for the scratch that i have, its really not a scratch, it has like al iter of touchup in there how bad it is, so im sure it will come out good once done right. but i think that it will have to be wetsanded.
my dad has a LOT of touchup paint on his car, along the whole left side when he sideswiped our house, lol, so i will practice on that before i even dare touch the porsche.

and yes, my friend will be doing a LOT of work, meaning washing the car, claying, drying, and ill have him clean the hell outta his own interior while i do the polishing...should be fun at least

[cfos]

dj--

Not sure if this was you, but I thought your car has those red stickers above your tail lights. What do you do when detailing around the stickers (if it was you/or you still have them)? I'm just curious cuz my wife drive a Mini and she has bonnett (sp?) stripes on her hood and I've been wondering what to do should I get around to waxing, etc., her car.

[Perfectlap]

oh you don't want to bring up that subject cfos....

as for the "hood stripes" the correct thing to do is to get out the blue painter's tape and tape the edge of the stripes. Keeps the wax from getting under the edge of the vinyl. You really should do it for gaps between body panels.. well at least when you are using a buffer.

[cfos]

Oh. Oops. Not tryin' to cause no trouble. Thanks for the tip with the tape.

[SC986]

Good info Perfect Lap. I am about to order the FK425. I had been using the Fourstar and recently switched to Clearkotes quick shine which I like much better.

I'd love to see the pics. I have alot to get out and it will be my first detail on this one. Just waiting for the pollen season to be over with.

I'll consider the I and II. Do you need a final polish with these as a SSR1 before the sealant and wax?

[djomlas]

hes right, correct way to do this is to use blue painters tape and mask it off....
as for the red stripes, well somehow they lifted part of my clearcoat off the back and now it looks like ^*^&)(*(* lol
so thats to be addressed sometime soon