Well let preface this thread with, I have received a lot of great info here from EVERYONE and there were some products and methods that I have been wanting to try lately that are directly related to a few forum members here ~ namely Dust2Glory, D&D Auto Detailing, MotorCityHonda, and Sparkie.
One of my co-workers that lives in my developement had me do his wife's car. Well his daughter just passed her nursing boards and is on the way to buy a new Altima Coupe on Monday and wanted her Toyota detailed for more trade in value. She stopped by the house yesterday afternoon and asked if I would be able to do it for her spur of the moment. I told her to leave it and I would jump on it then since I knew she was pressed for time. I didn't have a ton of time so no before pics as I forgot to take them.
Well the car had been somewhat neglected as she told me "I hate to clean a car". After looking at it I said "Ya Think!" Well the car looked like a drab greenish gray. Paint looked really flat and interior was just dirty. I thought well here is the perfect chance to use some products I have recently purchased and have not tried. A lot of my customers are pretty adament about which products they want since they came to me because of another car I have done that they have seen and they want "The SAME thing you did to his/hers". I asked her what she wanted and she said I don't care as long as it looks awesome.
Well here's what I did and I'll give props along the way to the above mentioned members at the appropriate steps:
Wheels:
1. I cleaned the wheels and tires with DP Gel Wheel Cleaner.
2. I cleaned the wells with Megs APC undiluted.
3. Dressed the wheels with RL Tire and Trim dressing (Dust2Glory). It looks really good but not sure about the durability as compared to say DP Gloss Tire Gel as I haven't seen it on anything for more than a couple of days.
4. Sprayed the hubcaps with DG 921 QDer (method-Dust2Glory product-Sparkie). This works great at giving a good shine with minimal effort.
Wash:
1. Cleaned bugs on the grill and tar on the lower panels with Stoners Tarminator (Dust2Glory) and Pinnacle Safe Scrub bug and tar pad. This was the first time I had used Tarminator and it worked really well. Couple this with the very best product ever - Pinnacle bug and tar pad and it's an unbeatable combo.
2. Washed with AG foam gun and DP Xtreme Foam shampoo and white/yellow Schmitt.
Clay: I didn't have time to do the whole car but after exchanging some PM's with D&D Auto Detailing I wanted to try my hand again at claying to see if it would work better for me. I only did the hood and both front quarter panels but it came out great. Thanks D&D your method worked to a T! I resprayed the hood and front quarter panels with my foam gun and used CM blue clay only because it was available locally. Man were those sections slick! I then rinsed the panels off and proceeded to dry with the leaf blower and Guzzler.
Engine: Sprayed with Megs APC undiluted, worked in with a soft brush, hosed off and after it dried I sprayed with Stoners More Shine.
Interior:
1. Cleaned with DP Total Interior Cleaner and protected with DP Interior Surface Protectant.
2. Cleaned mats with Megs APC diluted @ 10:1 and my PC with a green aqua brush and all the stains came out.
3. Cleaned the door jambs with DG #921 QDer (method and product Sparkie) I have always used DP Waterless Car Wash for this but wanted to try this method and product and I must say it worked great. Probably worked better than the DP Waterless because it left a much shinier surface.
Glass: Cleaned with Stoners Invisible Glass and WW MF.
Polish: Polished with DG #501 Marine and RV Polish (Sparkie). This stuff was just as awesome as Sparkie said it was. I put it on with the PC and a LC white pad. When I wiped it off with a Cobra MF guess what I saw ~ METAL FLAKE! I had no idea the paint had flake. The paint was also as slick as eel snot! This is a great product.
LSP: This was probably the most satisfying part of the detail. I had done a sample trade with MotorCityHonda and he had sent me a sample of Optimum Car Wax. He said that he thought I would really like the shine. All I can say is
he was right. I figured this was a good test vehicle since if the shine wasn't great I could just top with another of my waxes but man did the paint pop after I used it. I have loved my Souveran Spray Wax but I save that for my vehicles. Since I only have a sample of the OCW and I loved it so much I will be adding a gallon of it to my next order from AG!
Customer was really happy and I told her to tell the dealership that she didn't want them "detailing" her new car but she wanted me to do it and maybe she could talk them into knocking off some of the price to pay for her real detail. I have received a ton of great info here both methods and products and just thought after yesterday's detail that I should thank some of these guys in uuhh person
. Well here are some after pics and I'm off to put OCW on my Stealth!
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