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Child Item

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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Ded_Zebra

Curran wrote: »

Armor All or similar?

That he uses? Not sure, but it's a fooking disaster! I tell him all the but he likes it :P I always manage to rub my trouser leg off it anyway whenever I'm near one of his cars :rolleyes:

Curran

He must have nice wheels! :P If you are getting THAT up close and personal with them

Noccy_Mondy

Ill give the meguiars a go so. Love a nice shiny look on a tyre, especially with a black car, discoloured tyres make a car look unfinished.

Ded_Zebra

Oh. In other news. Wheel woolies are the absolute job!! It's a lot of money to spend on wheel brushes IMO and quite hard to justify. I sat on the fence for ages about getting them but I don't think I'll ever look back now! Hope that helps someone else trying to justify pulling the trigger

vectra

Wolfs Blackout.

[Deleted User]

Curran wrote: »

Anything that you apply with an applicator verus a spray will always last longer...and obviously not get all over you wheels. Over spray can make the alloys greasy and attract dirt too....but sprays are quick and handy!

*Cough* 50 Cal Cammo *Cough*

It's good but the overspray left a film on the panels surrounding each of my wheels

Curran wrote: »

But then there are times when its handy just to be able to give a few quick squirts and walk away!

That's what she said last night :pac:

Slattsy

Another vote for Megs Endurance gel.

After I've done all the tyres I go round them with a dry cloth just to ensure I didn't over apply.

[Deleted User]

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

It's all about tyres so shiny that you could be blinded by them on a sunny day :P

I dunno about that, to be fair.

AutoGlym's Instant Tyre Shine and OAC's Glitz both left me with shiny tyres that I was relatively happy with.

However, I have come across a couple of cars parked on the town, in car parks, etc. around the place and they had very obviously just been detailed.

Something they had in common, particularly a red Golf I seen parked up before, was that the tyres had been dressed to death. Looked like someone used a full bottle of tyre dressing on each tyre.

The result was that they didn't look natural at all. They looked like Fisher Price tyres. Really cheap and plastic-y in appearance. I'm glad I've managed to avoid that, so far.

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

*Cough* 50 Cal Cammo *Cough*

That's what she said last night :pac:

Has she got no manners?
was she never told to Not speak when her mouth is full? LOL

RobTheLad

Got this small order from Detailing Shed yesterday, will get using it this weekend. Just a quick question on it though, can either be diluted?

Curran

Perfection as the product is intended to be used; no....but if you wanted to use it as a very light quick detailer, you probably could, but Ive never done it.

Auto Wheel; no

RobTheLad

Curran wrote: »

Perfection as the product is intended to be used; no....but if you wanted to use it as a very light quick detailer, you probably could, but Ive never done it.

Auto Wheel; no

thanks, and also, should I leave the perfection to dwell at all, or spray and buff off straight away?

Curran

Very lightly mist the panel with 2 or 3 little sprays...try swipe across an area as you do it.
Buff in straight away until it disappears. As the microfiber gets more damp, the product might streak a little, have a 2nd microfibre cloth to give it a final rub. But only use the 2nd MF for this final buff. The more damp the first MF becomes the less you spray on the panels. Remember Perfection can go everywhere; paint, glass, trin, etc

Those Crazy Pile cloths are big, so can be cut in two and will do this job for you perfectly.

[Deleted User]

With perfection, remove excess water from the panel, give 2 or 3 sprays on the panel and wipe it over.

RobTheLad

thanks guys, I'll be sure to post some pictures here when I've it done

Noccy_Mondy

Went to town on the Peugeot a few weeks back, getting it ready for it's sale. Just a few snaps of my novice work! Happy with how it turned out though. Dare I say, a mini detail? :P (Sorry for the abundance of pics!)

Started off with a de-tar. Badly needed, doubt it ever seen one.

Then a wax

Then the arches and wheels were tackled. Also de-tarred the arches.

Interior was next. Mats need a wash I'd say.

And a few finished pics. It would look so much better if it didn't need to have a front reg plate affixed.

[Deleted User]

Also tackled my Peugeot today.. Could've started a Peugeot Detailer's club if you weren't selling yours

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The process was fairly straight forward, but relatively thorough.

Yesterday It got snowfoamed and rinsed. Then it was left alone cos I got an unexpected call that pulled me away from it. But the pressure washer did lift some of the dust and dirt off it. It had that horrible 'smeary' kind of look to it though, that I hate.

So today it got a more thorough clean. The wheels got doused in AG's Wheel Clean (not a bad product. First time using it). I used a detailing brush (of sorts) to agitate this and rinsed it off with water, then sprayed a load of Wheel Clean on the wheel again and went at it a second time. Did this for each wheel.

Then the whole car (minus the wheels) got snowfoam (well, a very watery one... I'd like to get a proper lance again, but the last one I had makes me very apprehensive about splashing out again). Either way, it gave a nice gloss. Then it got another watery snow foam.

Then it got a 4BM wash.. that's my fancy way of saying I gave it a 2BM wash, then I pressure washed/rinsed it, and then gave it a second 2BM wash to go over it again. Then I let it dry itself off a little bit, and I gave the lower half of the car a spraying with OAC's Tar Cleanse. While letting that sit, I used OAC's Iron Cleanse on the alloys. left it for a few minutes and rinsed the whole car (wheels included).

Used OAC's all purpose cleaner to quickly go over the tyres, which then got a good hiding with a scrubbing brush, and the wheel wells (which were then pressure washed to clean them up a tiny bit).

AG's "Instant" tyre shine was up next, on the tyres and the plastic mudflaps. After one application, I let the car roll forward a bit and gave the tyres a second coating for the areas I'd have otherwise missed.

Then circled the car with AG's Rapid Detailer to finish it off (as I knew i wouldn't have had the time to do a proper polish or wax on it).

I have to say, it actually really is a great looking car. After having the Rav4 for so long, I didn't really think I'd take to a saloon car too well, but I think the 407, despite all it's flaws (and there's no shortage of them), is a really well designed car, aesthetically.

There's a steel bar travelling down each side of the car. A 'frame' of sorts. It serves a useful purpose, as I think the 407's factory suspension is a tad lower than most cars? (I'm fairly careful, and even I've managed to scrape it a few times). This is not at all noticeable in real life, but in the photos there it stands out like a sore thumb.

Mechanic will have the car on a ramp next week when servicing it. So I'm gonna pull all the wheels off it while it's ramped up and do them inside and out. Was wondering if anyone had any tips or thoughts on anything I could do to that steel bar? Or is it just a black aerosol paint can job?

This one's for you, Noccy... Hope you get another Peugeot and we can realise our dreams... together. We'll detail the world, man. One Peugeot at a time... :pac:

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I call this 'badge selfie'. I'm hoping it will be the next Facebook craze, and people can donate €1 to me for every badge selfie they take. I'll put the money to good use...

Curran

The 2 Pug's are looking well lads. ..good work!

[Deleted User]

2 great looking french fries lads!

Noccy - I'm surprised that the black trim along the doors came out so well and not white. Are they lacquered or something??

advertsfox

That 407 looks the business, what a class reg plate as well - great job (on both cars) but I love the 407 styling with it's big grin grill

Noccy_Mondy

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

2 great looking french fries lads!

Noccy - I'm surprised that the black trim along the doors came out so well and not white. Are they lacquered or something??

Thanks. Ya I'm nearly sure they are, they took the wax well, they have a shiny and smooth feel/appearance. The only part that didn't turn out as well is the part that the drivers mirror is attached to (can see in pic 3). Kind of stayed white, got it to a very pale black, but cant get it back to jet black, any ideas?

[Deleted User]

The only thing I know that will make that the way it should be is Gtechniq C4 permanent trim restorer.

MuppetCheck

Right, my car hasn't been cleaned outside in months - basically the whole summer and there's thousands of dead flies stick to the front.

Plan on doing it on Thursday as I'm off, what's the best plan of attack for these things? They are well caked in. There was a fresh coat of wax on it prior to this.

punisher5112

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Right, my car hasn't been cleaned outside in months - basically the whole summer and there's thousands of dead flies stick to the front.

Plan on doing it on Thursday as I'm off, what's the best plan of attack for these things? They are well caked in. There was a fresh coat of wax on it prior to this.

I find tar remover works well as they are very difficult to remove.

Ded_Zebra

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Right, my car hasn't been cleaned outside in months - basically the whole summer and there's thousands of dead flies stick to the front.

Plan on doing it on Thursday as I'm off, what's the best plan of attack for these things? They are well caked in. There was a fresh coat of wax on it prior to this.

I think it was MM that gave me a good tip once about cleaning off insects in a non aggressive way. Pressure washing them followed by snow foam does a lot to remove them. Then what he recommended was a few soaking wet MF towels hung on the bumper covering them. This softens them up. leave the towels there while you 2BM the rest of the car. Then lift off the towels and 2BM the front and they should all come off without the need for harsh chemicals or scrubbing.:)

It might be better again if the towels are soaked with car wash solution rather than just pain water.

vectra

Yes,
As above.
A couple of saturated Towels laid on them will soften them up.

[Deleted User]

Fair play DZ! I'm glad someone here listens to me

MuppetCheck

I'll give that a go do lads, thanks. It's quite bad, to the point where it was even tough making out the number plate until I cleaned the heavy bits off...

ianobrien

I was at it again! I did my cars yesterday and today and have discovered nothing "glows" like a properly detailed black car (see post #2353 for the cack-handed work on a black car)

First up, my daily driver, wash (2BM), detar, wash, clay (it was amazing the dirt that claying took off a new car), polish, buff, seal with Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection and buff again. Oh, I did the wheels and glass this time....

It was covered in flies before I started.

The Escort was finished today. It was washed about two week ago and the roof was done then (a right job I'm told because of the dimpling effect - I didn't do it naturally). It was pushed into the garage then and was finally finished today.

MuppetCheck

I was wondering who bough the silver one, I bought their demo before that one:pac:

Lovely Escort btw.