I'm back in college again, and my car just sits under a carport, attracting a crazy amount of dust. In one week, it is literall caked. Must be the area I'm living in.

Anyway, here were some pics 2 or so weeks after I detailed it in the summer. Took me about 1 full month. Here's what I did, and all by hand.

Dawn Wash, Mother's Clay Bar, 3M Fine Cut, DavidB's Touch-up method (wetsanding), Meg's SMR 2.0, Pinnacle PCL, Klasse AOI x 3, SG x 4, Souveran x 1.



I hope to continue my detailing business as a small hobby/side job, but I probably won't get any business until next summer again. School is just too demanding right now.

Enjoy

 

 

 

dayyyyyyyam that's shiny
my car used to be clean when i was live in the house and kept it garaged everyday
now i live in an apartment.....my car is so dirty everyday

 

where do you live.. i'll pay you to make my paint look like that.

 

I would be happy to help all of your, but unfortunately I'm in Davis, almost in the middle of nowhere. Neighboring city is Sac though.

Anyway, all of you can do this! just go to autopia.org, and learn from there All it takes is a lot of dedication for a short time span, and you'll have an easier maintenance car exterior.

 

alright im about to ask some critical questions so forgive me
how is dawn in comparison to palmolive? Before I wax, polish etc ill use dishsoap like palmolive to strip all old wax and crap thats built up on the paint so im starting on a "clean slate" as opposed to ordinary car wash soaps.
ok i get the idea of a clay bar, basically like a paint cleaner right? to remove swirls, oxidation and the like
what exactly is wetsanding..?


since you obviously know what youre doing and do a good job of it, let me know your thoughts/comments on my "method":

What i do/use: Dishsoap (palmolive), then dry (chamois), then Meguiars 3 step - Paint cleaner, then Polish, then Wax all applied and removed/wiped off with clean 100% cotton white t shirts

thanks..
and yes that car looks good, thats exactly the shine i go for, like glass

 

Wow, that's a nice job, pity I live in MI or I'll consider the detailing.

You miss a clean car? I miss my car period ... it's sitting in my friend's garage for the past 2 months, the battery is probably drained and I'm taking the train in Japan every day for the past 2 months ...

Oh how I miss my car

 

hey wassup. you're in japan? business?
heard from a friend that that's a fun place to be.

excluding the prices though.

 

Originally posted by Maximan190

alright im about to ask some critical questions so forgive me

how is dawn in comparison to palmolive? Before I wax, polish etc ill use dishsoap like palmolive to strip all old wax and crap thats built up on the paint so im starting on a "clean slate" as opposed to ordinary car wash soaps.
more and more experimentation shows that any dishwashing soap doesn't work too well to get off wax. A paint cleaner is a much better way. (i.e. Pinnacle Paint Cleansing Lotion, P21S cleaner)


ok i get the idea of a clay bar, basically like a paint cleaner right? to remove swirls, oxidation and the like
[B] Clay bar only removes contaminants, and nothing else. It's the quickest way to be satisfied because you can FEEL a difference.

what exactly is wetsanding..?
The wetsanding process is very dangerous in the hands of a beginner. Especically on our notoriously thin hood paints. I touched up every chip with thin blotches of touch-up (with 8 hour waiting periods between each coat) and then I took Meg's Unigrit Sanding Block 2000 grit to it. With a good buffing of 3M Fine Cut, the imperfections were gone.



since you obviously know what youre doing and do a good job of it, let me know your thoughts/comments on my "method":

What i do/use: Dishsoap (palmolive), then dry (chamois), then Meguiars 3 step - Paint cleaner, then Polish, then Wax all applied and removed/wiped off with clean 100% cotton white t shirts

those step are very typical, and work well. If you want a deeper, long lasting shine, go syntheic. Paint shine systems like Klasse or Zaino are the best. Instead of t-shirts, I recommend you buy microfiber towels from pakshak.com or a site called JT International. I've only heard good things about those two, and use Pakshak towels personally.

thanks..
and yes that car looks good, thats exactly the shine i go for, like glass

need more info? Go to autopia.org. I can't stress that enough...

 

japanese girls are sooooo HOT

 

Hahah! Yell me about it ... the word obese is only used to describe animals at the zoo. Talk about a country with a view

lophix,
Yeah, I'm on a business trip ... just went to Ginza yesterday and checked out the Nissan HQ office building (they've got a showroom on the 1st floor). The cost of living, I'm not too worried about because I'm on business.

 

school sucks.

i miss my car. i've been without it for a week and probably wont see it again until november.

 

School does suck. Hey, gotta make the most out of it though. My friend tells me she's in your ECS 20 class.

 

hmm... who's your friend? i only know a handful of people in that class, and they're all guys.

 

ECS 20... used to be ECS 100, correct?

 

perhaps, it's discrete mathmatics.

 

Haha! It is! Who teaches? The professor that stutters?

 

They are building a golf course behind my house so Black Car+Construction+Colorado Drought=F#cking Dirty car.

 

if you can even call the guy a professor. here's the guy's website:


http://muldoon.cipic.ucdavis.edu/~steoh/

 

 

Man your car, so fresh and clean!!!

 

Looks great, wish mine could look that clean.

 

hey, just wondering the color of your car i love it, Ruby Pearl right?

 

I'm at the UCD comp. lab in Surge II right now. First time I've been here...these Dell flat panels are nifty

And yes, it's Ruby Pearl.

 

hey, quick Q's. at this autopia.org. where can i find information about cleaning and detailing my car? you suggested this site but im not quite sure where to look.. what should i search for specificly? what word/phrases should i use to look for it, thanks

 

Thats just beautiful absolutely perfect.

 

You can search for specifics. If you don't have any, just go to the Autopia University and ask from there.

 

damn your car looks good. im at college now too and between classes, studies and work the most i have time to do is run it to the car wash

 

THe only thing I can do is rinse it at one of those public car wash stations.

 

I am ashamed to admit i only washed my car once since i bought it in the middle of august. I drive a lot so it collects dirt so damn quick..

that is a great job on the paint.. i can never get that result, plus it's too cold up here to stand out and detail your car

 

Sweet looking shine. I can't keep my car clean for more then a few hours because not only I live in house that has 1200ft dirt and rock driveway but there has been construction near my house for months. poor max.

 

dudes, i have a black car.. it hasn't looked as good as that since i drove it off the lot... you look at my car and it gets a swirl mark..i'm planning on getting one of those ferrari paint jobs for about 5 grand in a year or two where they apply that paint that is like bathroom tile thick..you have to put a sledgehammer to it to chip it (I hope). some a$$ whipe friend of mine the knowitall type, helped me detail my MAX last summer and ruined my clear coat.
anyway, it still looks showroom condition when you cruise at night time when you can't see all the imperfections..
what about the guys that put on body kits and drive on the highway and get those annoying chips on the fresh paint.. urghhh