Detailed, 34Sedan (No Buffer - Hand)

[Allesandro]

After spending the past few days off work due to having my wisdom teeth taken out,I thought it would be a good opportunity to detail the car fully instead of only managing to Do half the job on a Sunday morning, which still at the end of it - feels good but incomplete.

Overall spent a good solid 4 hours or so doing each step by hand ( could have taken much longer but seeming that I had already clay barred the car only a few months ago it didn't need all that much this time over)

From what I can see hardly any swirl marks or deep scratches and the pearl in the paint has so much more depth and gloss since when the 34 was first bought

Reason for the post is to see if there could be any areas i can improve on, or to show others results of a good days work :)Note: didn't manage to take photos of before unfortunately.

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Process/products used:

Wash/dry: Meguiars next gen shampoo, dried off with Meguiars super-glide chamois

Clay bar: Meguiars quick clay kit > wiped down with 100% cotton cloth or supreme shine microfiber cloth.

Cut/polish: Meguiars ultimate compound > again wiped down with 100% cotton cloth or supreme shine microfiber cloth.

Wax: Meguiars next gen liquid wax ( left to sit for an hour to be sure it set, worked on areas listed below) and wiped down with supreme shine microfiber cloth.

* for door trims and seals - Meguiars dash trim and restorer.

* glass/windows - no smear glass cleaner.

* headlights - Meguiars PlastiX.

* tyres/sidewalls - Meguiars xtreme tyre shine.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Allesandro

[Jonno34]

tech wax is definitely a great wax

by far my favourite off the shelf product.

hope you kept washing in between each stage! very important to wash again after clay barring and polishing the car to make sure the cars perfectly clean for the next stage.

what about wheels/tyres! - i found meguiars hot wheels cleaner to be near useless btw, but most of their products are pretty good.

the next steps you can take are to start cleaning up your door jambs, boot jambs, inside the petrol lid with something like a general purpose cleaner and then giving them a coat of quick wax - something like the meguiars spray waxes or spray detailers would be great there.

and engine bay is another area you could work on.

if you want another step up in your detailing get some paintbrushes from bunnings, something like final inspections GPC, and clean every nook and cranny in your interior - especially air vents and around the gearstick boot etc.

and finally paint correction by machine if you're really keen

hope that gives you some ideas, but looks like a job well done!

btw im due for my wisdom teeth too

[Allesandro]

No I didn't wash between each stage! Never seemed to have crossed my mind =o

I generally do clean the rims with acid cleaner(also meguiars) but ran out a few weeks ago so just brushed off as much as I could

I've never thought about the engine bay nor air vents, with the vents Id go over the top with the bristle attachment of the vacuum cleaner lol.Again I've never used buffers or machines. A bit of an eerie thought for me since I wouldn't have that technique on using them properly

Next time I'll definitely work on the engine bay and inside of the petrol lid, cheers Johnno.Have you booked in to get your wisdoms taken out yet? It's been since Wednesday and my face is still swollen chubby haha.

Oh I forgot to ask have you fixed that door/skirt issue?

[Jonno34]

as long as your vents arent too dirty its fine, i get a bit anal and get some water or GPC and a paintbrush and brush around there ..

brushes are also good for getting areas like badges on the outside clean

if you get a DA polisher like the meguiars ones their really safe - but hard to do much paint correction

Random Orbitals are good stuff, especially ones with forced rotation - not really too hard but doesnt look like your paint needs it

nah ill keep procrastinating on the wisdom teeth i think

the door has been fixed! greg at spoiler shop loosened the hinges, jacked the door up, and then tightened it up again and it seems to have fixed the problem, but the skirts are still paintless, need to get em off and repainted - $300