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Today I did some detailing...

randy hickey

We have the "Today I Did Something To My Car" thread out in the main forum, and a lot of the posts on it pertain to detailing.
I thought it would be a good idea to give our various detailing activities a thread in their proper home.

I'll get the ball rolling.

Today ( ahem, last night really!), I snow foamed the car
Wasn't able to follow through and wash it properly as my back went, but couldn't believe how well it looked this morning!
In fairness I have a fair bit of LSP on it, but there was ten days worth of road film and tree sap on it.

Well impressed.

Over to you!

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Curran

Is just the bonnet or are the tops of the wings or the roof the same?

bbari

Curran wrote: »

Is just the bonnet or are the tops of the wings or the roof the same?

HI Curran, the top of the wings are ok, you can see it in the picture too. Its mainly the bonnet which is dull / hazy.

Curran

I'm mean the 1" or 2" of the wing that would be on the same level as the bonnet. ...if that makes sense

bbari

Curran wrote: »

I'm mean the 1" or 2" of the wing that would be on the same level as the bonnet. ...if that makes sense

I know what you mean, I think that part is ok but I'll double check later on.

vintagevrs

I might be wrong but what I think Curran is asking is are the parts of the wing close to the bonnet and therefore exposed to similar elements the same, or is there a noticeable difference in that the wings are much better? If so maybe the paint has been used on your bonnet in the past.

bbari

vintagevrs wrote:

I might be wrong but what I think Curran is asking is are the parts of the wing close to the bonnet and therefore exposed to similar elements the same, or is there a noticeable difference in that the wings are much better? If so maybe the paint has been used on your bonnet in the past.

Yeh i get that. I bought the car new 2 years ago so it's definitely not painted.

Curran

Reason I ask is two fold - perhaps you are getting contamination settling on the car; say if you parked it under a tree often; maybe in your driveway or in work. Or as vintagevrs says, its had some paint, that perhaps wasnt the best job. I'd imagine its the aforementioned, give that you would have noticed previously!

bbari

The top edge of wings is ok so it's mainly the bonnet which is a bit dull. What can i do to bring it to the same level as the rest of the car?

Curran

I'd assume that a quick routine will bring it up - wash, de-iron, clay, wash, dry, a bit of a hand polish (not sure if SRP will be effective enough, but try it) and then re-seal it.

bbari

Curran wrote: »

I'd assume that a quick routine will bring it up - wash, de-iron, clay, wash, dry, a bit of a hand polish (not sure if SRP will be effective enough, but try it) and then re-seal it.

Thanks Curran. I will give it a go. is Korrosol (the one used for alloys) is a de-ironing product ?

Curran

Yes Korrosol is Bilt Hamber's dedicated fallout remover - Auto Wheel is the one targeted more towards wheels (surprisingly), due to the added de-greasers to help cut through the contamination wheels suffer.

vectra

I wonder would it need a bit of Machine polishing?

Curran

Perhaps, but no harm attempting the lesser invasive option!

bbari

vectra wrote:

I wonder would it need a bit of Machine polishing?

It probably does but as i don't have access to one i will give hand polishing a go 1st.

tossy

Gave the engine bay a bit of a tidy up using meguiars APC, tomorrow i hope to tackle the outside.

before.

after.

ianobrien

Just did a quick wash on my car and Da's car. Two bucket wash with AG shampoo, Bilt-Hamber Autowheels and Wheel Woolies, dry with a Dry-me-Crazy and finish with a wash of the door shuts. No pics as its not really a detail.

I was going to do the tyres and glass, but "someone" has a flat tyre that needs sorting. I'll do the interiors tomorrow.......

Foxhole Norman

Ceramic Coated my buddies E46 over the weekend. I normally take care of it so it wasn't too bad, some hazing but other than that all that was really on it is scratches from his jerk of a cat :pac:

The finished product:

Very happy with it!

[Deleted User]

Blaming the cat again because you couldn't hold back with the Brillo pad?!

Foxhole Norman

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Blaming the cat again because you couldn't hold back with the Brillo pad?!

I need to sneak in my signature somehow :pac:

shietpilot

Looks amazing! The detailing work really makes black cars shine

YbFocus

Is that Steve hiding away in the reflection

Foxhole Norman

YbFocus wrote: »

Is that Steve hiding away in the reflection

Yep :pac: he's back from Poland now to terrorise us

sebastianlieken

That E46 paintwork looks the biz!

With this ceramic coating, do you have to machine polish the paintwork before (or after) the ceramic application step? or does the liquid ceramic fill in all the swirls and light scratches anyway?

How long will the ceramic last, and can it be machine polished when swirls begin to show ... or is the point of ceramic that it's such a bad-ass coating that it essentially doesn't swirl or scratch and therefore negates the need for polishing?

sorry, ceramic coatings are all new to me. I'll go google the rest of the questions I have

vectra

With this ceramic coating, do you have to machine polish the paintwork before (or after) the ceramic application step? or does the liquid ceramic fill in all the swirls and light scratches anyway?

Machine polish prior to application to ensure best possible finish.

How long will the ceramic last, and can it be machine polished when swirls begin to show ... or is the point of ceramic that it's such a bad-ass coating that it essentially doesn't swirl or scratch and therefore negates the need for polishing?

I have a coating on my car with almost 11 months now and it is still holding up as good as day one.

I believe nothing will prevent swirls if you have a bad wash routine.

On saying that I do not believe it is possible to keep a car 100% swirl free.
Only last week I inspected my car under lighting and I could possibly count the amount of ( extremely light ) swilrs on 10 fingers.
I was pleasently surprised.
This week I must do a maintanence wash.

There is no need to be polished / waxed as long as it is effective.

There are maintanence sprays to "Top up " the caoting which is basically a misting of product and wipe of every so often.

It has made my life so much easier.
On another note the only way I can describe it is Live it it give the car a "slippery surface" and ther dirt literally runs off the car in the rain.

Whereas wax is like a " grease" that attracts dirt and dust which sticks to the surface and come wash time "could" get caught in the wash mitt and get dragged across the paintwork

sorry, ceramic coatings are all new to me. I'll go google the rest of the questions I have

I know of a guy in Melbourne that does detailing and as far as I am aware supplies ceramic coatings, You could paybe contact him?

Hope this helps.

Curran

Vectra has pretty much covered the questions asked.

You want the paintwork in a condition that you are satisfied with before applying, because if you see something afterwards, the only way to address it, is to machine polish the coating off the paintwork before you can get to the defect in the paint. Therefore, a machine polish, even a very light one, is advised....then a good wipedown to ensure a good surface for the coating to adhere to.

The coating will do a certain amount of filling of defects, but definitely wouldnt rely on it doing so, as if it doesnt, you're screwed for the reason outlined above!

They are durable for well over 12 months, some for 24 months, and other claim longer. They do offer resistance to swirling but if the wash technique is poor, then it will suffer the same as paintwork, just not to the same degree. Yes, it can be polished, as effectively the coating is like another layer of harder lacquer, but it would be advised to apply another layer of the coating on top, as you may have comprised the coating by polishing.

leupold90

Car recently cleaned with ODK Jet shampoo and finished off with ODK entourage - both sample sizes. Particularly impressed with the entourage, it goes on and buffs really easy and gives great beading.

Noccy_Mondy

Was eager to try out the polisher on the worst area of the focus. Something rubbed off it, combined with swirl marks (previous owner probably washed it with a brush), gave it a nasty look. Just prepped that area, will do the rest later. Still some marks left, but the results speak for themselves. Chuffed for a first attempt.

And yeah, thats the car whoms paintwork was "detailed" last summer.......

ronnie3585

I spent this afternoon cleaning the car. It was my first time using Iron X and clay, I'm extremely impressed with them both.

I treated the wheels with Iron X first, the effects were immediate with huge purple streaks running off them. Some light agitation and blast of the hose left them clean as a whistle. I washed, rinsed and dried the car. Then I de-ironed it, followed by another rinse.

Then came time for my first venture into the world of clay. After doing some research I decided to use a G3 clay mitt. I let is soak in a bucket of warm water and AG shampoo while I filled a spray bottle with a similar mixture but with a higher ratio of shampoo to use as lubricant. I started with the bonnet which was pretty bad. Seven or eight passes with the mitt, applying light pressure, had the paint smooth as glass. The car's 5 years old and I doubt the previous owner ever took more than a dirty sponge to it, so it took over 40mins to clay the whole car. The roof was particularly bad. The car is black so it's hard to see the contamination, but I was genuinely surprised with how much was on it. Thankfully it's silky smooth now:)

Another wash, rinse and dry and I was done. The car's going in for a paint correction and wheel refurb on Monday so no polishing or waxing to be done by me today. Even without any, it's looking really good. I can't wait to get it back and see it sparkle once I've a couple of coats of HD wax on it.

GustavoFring

Down to FN this morning for a wash. Got it home and applied some reload and hydro2 to finish it. The ceramic coating really is making it a doddle to keep, very little sticks to it.

shietpilot