ive decied to do a complete detail of my 95 pearl white max in the upcoming weeks, i havent detailed the car yet and im sure the previous owner didnt touch it. What steps should i follow to make it shine? I have a good amount of swirl marks on the car nothing too bad and there are a few paint marks on the doors from other cars. What products would get those out? There is also a big gray mark on the front bumper from the previous owner rubbing against something how should i get that out?

Im just looking for some tips for someone doing his first detail, maybe a breif outline of what steps to take to make my car shine again

thanks

 

Well, here's what I would do for your case:

a) Go over the car with a good tar remover to get rid of that rubber scuff mark
b) Wash car with dawn to strip off old layers of wax
c) Clay the paint to remove any embedded contaminants
d) Pick up some Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner Polish and a Porter Cable Orbital Polisher. You might have to start out with the yellow cutting pad but I am thinking that the white pad may be appropriate.
e) You can either top with a nice carnuba such as S100, Pinnacle Paste Glaz, Liquid Souveran or top with a polymer like Zaino, Blackfire, or Klasse.

 

would that polish work well if applied by hand, a little short on the funds so a polisher is kinda out of the question or is there another polish youd recommend
thanks for the answer by the way

 

oh yea and any brand that you would recommend for a tar remover and where to find it?

 

Good old Turtle Wax tar remover in a can works for me.... 3M makes one too and I think that's more widely available in the US.

Sure, you could use the polish Prinz mentioned by hand. Use a (good quality) folded terry towel or a sponge applicator if it's strong enough. You should probably have a swirl remover handy too, just in case DACP (which is a "moderate" strength product) leaves any hazing behind.

Be sure to budget lots of time, don't rush through things, and bring Gatorade as this will be a lot of work. Good luck (if you haven't begun already ).