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Detailing 8th Gen Maxima, 2015 Murano, C6 Corvette Z06
Greetings - just thought I'd include a few observations after being face-to-face with my Pearl White Platinum, my Wife’s 2015 Gunmetal Murano Platinum, and a friend’s Silver 2008 Corvette Z06 for the last month. Yes I'm unemployed right now
The Maxima and Murano were purchased in July and have approximately 3500 miles. The Corvette has 73,000 miles and has NEVER been waxed or detailed. I spent 100 hours on this car. About 36 hours each on the Maxima and Murano.
Notes: I don’t work for nor officially endorse Chemical Guys but I do like their products. Their workflow and product progression has really worked out for me on paint correction and paint waxing/sealing jobs. They do a much better job of enthusiast outreach and education than Meguiars, Adams, etc. Chemical Guys have over 350 “how to” videos on YouTube, many of which I reference quite often. I’m just starting to use their interior products so still in a long term road test mode.
Unlike the two 2009 Infinitis (M and G models) I owned which had the self (hating) correcting paint, I found the clear coat on the new Nissans to be fairly hard. Then again the Nissan's didn't need anything close to a correction. The Corvette was more labor intensive.
GM switched to a softer clear coat in the late 2008 model year run. The Corvette I worked on has an early production date and thus a harder clear coat. My friend is much more the racer than a waxer. The Corvette has NEVER been sealed/waxed detailed, etc. Its garaged and is hand washed using pretty decent products. Even upon close inspection with a Flo light I could not find one swirl mark. Incredible.
I used a TORQ 10 DA polisher and foam hex pads for all 3 cars. I used blue clay bars and Black/Red hex pad progression on the Nissan's. Used heavy black clay and a progression of orange (medium cut)/white/black hex pads on the Corvette.
Couple of questions: After using Mequiars Quik interior on my Maxima, I’ve noticed “whitening” on the passenger side door panels. The C6 Corvette enthusiast forums mention the same issue. Any one else seeing this with their 8th Gen yet?
One really obvious fit and finish “bug” on the Maxima: The hood/fender reveal drops in on the driver side. Its correct on the pass side. Any one else noticed panel fit issues?
The following provide details on my general methods and products used to detail the newer cars and a few pics of the cars.
1. Engine bay: used compressed air to remove loose dust/debris. Wiped down under-hood paint/hinges and any reachable cover or component w/wet, clean MF towel with a drop of car wash soap. Let air dry or wipe down with dry MF towel. Applied Chemical Guys Hybrid V07 spray sealant to painted surfaces (strut towers, under-hood paint, hinges and any other painted metal). Apply Chemical Guys G6 Hypercoat dressing on plastic/vinyl/rubber covers, hoses, cowl and all surfaces (G6 is water based, dry to the touch, and leaves a nice "non-greasy" shine). I've used Megs vinyl/rubber #40 for years now but am going to road test the G6 for a while.
2. Wheels/Tires - removed wheels from vehicle (one at a time). Used Black Magic (formerly known as Wesley’s) Bleche-wite. There’s been some criticism of Bleche-wite since Black Magic took over from Wesley’s. Black Magic claims to have recently adjusted their formula. To me it’s still a really effective and low cost tire cleaner. Sprayed liberally on a dry tire and let sit for 2 minutes then agitated with a paint-safe wheel well brush. Sprayed off Bleche-wite and applied Griot’s wheel cleaner. Follow their directions to a T which is to say don’t let it dry on the wheel surface. Using a clean MF wash mitt and bucket of Mr Pink car wash suds, removed the wheel cleaner and dirt from wheels. It’s so nice to be able to completely access/clean the barrel of the wheels! Used combination of compressed air/clean MF towel to dry wheels. Applied Chemical Guys Wheel Guard Rim & Wheel Sealant to clean, polish, shine & protect rims. Applied Hybrid V07 as top layer. Instead of using my go-to Stoner More Shine, used the Chemical Guys G6 hypercoat as a tire dressing. Really like it as it leaves a deep shine with absolutely ZERO sling. Again, it’s so nice to have access to the barrel/inside sidewall. Inside sidewall got a coat of G6 too! Check out the before/after shots of the Z06 rims. Corrected the best I could by using EasyOff Over Cleaner, Griot's wheel cleaner and 0000 steel wool. If the barrels had clear coat from the factory it wasn't apparent. Any one have the Green Caps on their Maxima? Mine was apparently factory filled w/Nitrogen. Two months later notiuced that I lost one of the caps. Went to the Nissan dealer to see if I could "borrow" one. Walked around the lot looking for a replacement cap and there wasn't one Nissan model - including a 8-9 Maximas - that the Nitrogen caps.
3. Wheel wells – while the wheel is off, used a soft wheel well brush/MF towel with CG’s Mr Pink Suds to wash the fender well and the struts/springs. Being that the car is new, and that I want to maintain the factory appearance as long as possible, did not want to use any type of industrial cleaners as in my experience Nissan’s plastics (9th Nissan product since 2006) tend to discolor if you use any type or strength cleaners. Dried and finished the plastic w/ CG’s G6. On the carpeted rear wells, wetted surface and then sprayed 303 multi-purpose cleaner and agitated with a soft brush (complete carpet cleaning guide passed on by a pro carpet cleaner and cay guy Step 7) and rinsed and let air dry.
When the wheels are off, you can reach quite a few of the painted suspension and frame components. I washed them down with suds and then dried off with a clean MF towel. For a super shine wipe them down with a quick detailer. Neighbors will think you’re weird
4. Paint / Glass Prep1. Wash using clean MF wash mitt with Mr Pink Suds and two bucket system. I use the Pinnacle Safe Scrub Bug & Tar Pad which for $8 may be the best detailer tool to come out in a while. The honeycomb block is completely clear coat safe. It will take any bug and tar goo off using wash suds as “lube.” Outstanding product. Completely dry the car. I used Chemical Guys Blue Clay bar and their Clay lube to decontaminate paint, glass, chrome and plastic, keeping the clay and the surface nice and lubricated. Wash and dry car again.
5. Glaze/Seal/Wax1.For the Maxima, machine applied CG’s White Light gloss enhancer/sealer followed by CG’s White Wax using DA polisher. Used CG’s Black hex pads to apply White Light, used CG red hex pad for White Wax. Applied Hybrid V07 as top coat. If you like Chemical Guys products would recommend Glaze Mirror Finish > Jet Seal > Butter wax. If you have a Super or Bordeaux black car would recommend Black light > Jet Seal > Pete’s 53 or Lava. If you have a silver car would recommend White light > Extreme Top Coat Sealant 3x Carnauba. For the Z06, which was really a paint correction job, I used a heavy clay bar (black) and CG’s line of optical compounds V36 and V38 and a medium cut hex pad. Then followed up with Jet Seal and Extreme Top Coat Sealant 3x Carnauba. The author at work...
6. Glass, Head/tail lights, side mirrors1.Throw your Rain-X away. Clean glass. Apply a thin coat of CG’s Jet Seal using a machine or by hand. Let dry/bond to surface for 30 minutes. Wipe off with a clean MF towel. Do not get glass wet for 6-12 hours as it takes that long to fully cure. Enjoy the shine and water beads (I used it on my shower enclosure!)
7. Floor Mats/Carpet (process passed on by a professional carpet cleaner and car guy)
This method is likely overkill for newer cars but it’s incredibly effective for dirtier, older carpet and mats (see pic of finished corvette carpet.
1.Remove floor mats from car. Place mats in a large plastic tub and submerge them with a mixture of 303 Fabric and Vinyl Cleaner and warm/hot water (I use 4 oz of cleaner for every gallon of water). Note: the reason to use this product specifically, is that is cleans without the use of detergents - you do NOT want to leave detergent residues in the carpet or it will attract new soils (the carpet will be dirty again in a few weeks). 2.After the floor mat's are completely saturated, begin agitating the entire mat with a soft-bristle brush (if you use a hard-bristle brush you will "scratch" the fibers - fibers are made of Nylon and nylon is plastic). I use a horse hair brush. 3.Remove the mats from the tub and rinse them off - you can use a hose, pressure washer, or just dump a bucket of water over each of them - this will remove all imbedded soils. If you want more info on how to remove specific and common types of stains feel free to contact me. 4.Apply a SOLVENT-based protectant such as 303 High-Tech Fabric Guard. Note: Do NOT use Scotchgard - it only protects against dirt and debris - does NOTHING for actual stains such as drinks, food, oil, grease, etc.5.For actual carpet the only difference is that instead of the immersion bath process listed above, you would use the same products - just you would work from a small 2 gallon bucket or spray bottle. After cleaning carpet suck excess water out of the vehicle's carpet with a wet/dry vac and then allow to air dry. Do NOT soak the carpet - use only the amount necessary to achieving cleanliness, otherwise it will take about 5 hours for the carpet to dry.
8. Interior
Put my Maguire’s Quick detailer on the shelf and gave CG’s Innerclean quick interior detailer a try. Used it on the plastic and non-leather surfaces. On the Maxima's leather pieces – the dash section over the gauge cluster, most of door panels, and of course the seats – used Griots leather cleaner and CG’s leather conditioner. I’ve used Pinnacle, Lexol, Griots and other conditioners but the ease of use and results of the CG conditioner worked out best for me. On the Corvette, I used Griot's cleaner and leather conditioner which really made the two tone seats pop!
10-26-2015, 05:55 PM
