Fully Detailing One part at a Time?

[BimmerFerret]

Hey all,

If possible, I would like to work on the car throughout the week versus dedicating an entire day during the weekend.

Would it be okay to do one panel at a time? For example, the trunk one day, the hood another, and so on.

Thoughts? Or should I just focus on carving a day out to do this?


PS. I tried searching and I couldn't find anything.

[Rhudeboye]

Are you talking paint correction? if so, I have done something similar. I spent 2 days getting my hood right. Day 3 on the right side and top, day 4 left side and trunk day 5 seal & wax

Complete wash and clay on day 1 is a must.

[Crazy Amos]

I think it would take less time in the long run to do it in one day. Everytime you want to polish you will need to wash, unless you can get by with waterless. But you gotta do what you gotta do. As far as it being WRONG to do it this way you are good to go. Nothing wrong with doing it sections at a time as long as it's prepped properly.

[Spicy McHaggis]

Only problem I see is if you overlap panels by accident. Your perfectly polished fender may get ruined when you are compounding you door for example.

[BimmerFerret]

Are you talking paint correction? if so, I have done something similar. I spent 2 days getting my hood right. Day 3 on the right side and top, day 4 left side and trunk day 5 seal & wax

Complete wash and clay on day 1 is a must.
Thanks for the fast responses. I'm just talking about swirl removal and then 1 coat of wax when finished.

[LuxuryMobile]

You should be fine. Go for it!

[Flash Gordon]

Hey all,

If possible, I would like to work on the car throughout the week versus dedicating an entire day during the weekend.

Would it be okay to do one panel at a time? For example, the trunk one day, the hood another, and so on.

Thoughts? Or should I just focus on carving a day out to do this?


PS. I tried searching and I couldn't find anything.

Sure you can do a correction like this. As long as the car is garaged and not being driven you will expierence no problems at all. If anything you'll achieve better results then trying to jam it all in, in 1 day

I love seeing threads like this :props:

[Setec Astronomy]

Sure you can do a correction like this. As long as the car is garaged and not being driven you will expierence no problems at all. If anything you'll achieve better results then trying to jam it all in, in 1 day

:iagree: Even if it's not garaged, as long as you can clean the panel you're working on before you polish, you should be good to go.

[BimmerFerret]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm looking forward to doing this. I've been dragging my feet a little too long.

[SeaJay's]

I've done it with my gf's car. I did have to use a waterless wash in between getting it done, but I also have a garage that I left it in when she didn't need to use it. I corrected the full SUV over 4 days. So, it's definitely doable.

[BimmerFerret]

I'd definitely be doing waterless, as it is about 30 degrees here in KY!

[Southern Stang]

Go for it bud! I ended up doing my truck this way as I was only able to do about one section at a time. Worked great for me.

[Edrod13]

Just started detailing my own cars and I had to do it this way. My truck had horrible swirls and scratches from years of neglect and car washes. I decided to buy a PC and some poorboys SSR's. I clayed the drivers side one day and went at it with the SSR's, glazed and waxed. Next morning I went out and did the passenger side with the same steps. The last day, I did the tailgate and hood. I worked about half a day for each side since I was a newbie and didn't really know what to expect. A day or two later washed the entire truck again and it topped her off with some spray and gloss. I just made sure the paint was protected by the time the day ended. I hated what my truck looked like in the sun because its a blue flake metallic, and now people ask me if I just had her painted. love it!

[BobbyG]

It's sort of ironic finding this thread started because this is exactly what I spent the last 3 hours doing! :props:

I was working on my wife's Toyota Camry in the garage. I used DP Rinseless Wash & Gloss to wash the roof, windows, and the entire nose of the car. I used Cobra's Waffle Weave drying towels and I've got to say they work well.

I taped off the headlights and hood seams and covered the front tires just to keep today's work to a minimum. I clayed each panel thoroughly then wiped each down with an extra squirt of detail spray.

Today I used Klasse All-In-One cleaner. Klasse All In One Polish will remove oxidation, minor swirls, old wax, and other surface blemishes; leaving a beautiful and deep acrylic shine.

The finish is in great shape so I polished the panels using my Porter Cable 7424 with a Lake Country 5 1/2 inch diameter flat pad. Using a standard criss-cross pattern nn no time these panels so glossy they looked wet. I let this sit for 30 minutes or so then buffed it to a nice shine.

Klasse has a great shine by itself but I added a coat of Pinnacle XMT-180 for more gloss and additional protection.

The glass got a good cleaning both inside and out. I used Meguiar's glass cleaner and a Microfiber towel to leave a crystal clear streak-free shine.

I also used DP Glass Restorer today and did all the windows on my wife's Toyota Camry. I applied it using my Porter Cable 7424 polisher and a white pad. The product goes on easy this way and the dual action of the polisher really works in onto the surface thus cleaning and polishing the glass surface.

Wipe the left over haze with a clean Microfiber towel and you're good to go!

This now was a perfect opportunity to apply Aquapel Glass Treatment.

Aquapel Glass Treatment goes on easily with the supplied applicator that contains the solution. It has a pretty acetic acid smell so don't inhale this stuff. Wipe on as directed then buff to a crystal clear appearance.

What I did came out great and mama was pretty pleased how great things looked. Some night this week or next weekend I'll do a little more until I've finished all the panels.

Do them one at a time, do it in sections, or the entire car. Once it's done it's done until the next time! :props:

[Wendell Jarvis]

I'd definitely be doing waterless, as it is about 30 degrees here in KY!

Good to see another fellow Kentuckian on board !!