Dodge Charger, Mazdaspeed3, Hyundai Elantra

[gtrspeed]

Thought I'd share some of the work that I've done so far. Primarily, I got into detailing to take care of my own car, but I found that I enjoyed it enough to start doing a car here and there for friends and family. As most of you know, this stuff is addictive! At this point, I think I've got about $1500 invested in various products, most of which were purchased from AG. Anyway, on to the pictures...

First up is my roommate's 2006 Dodge Charger. This thing was in pretty bad shape - he used to run it through the scratch-o-matic a few times a year, and that's about it. Not only was the car filthy, but it was covered in water spots, and completely swirled out.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9330/before1ee.jpg

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/8435/before2d.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/4598/before3a.jpg

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/9977/before4e.jpg

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/8356/before5.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7554/before6g.jpg

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/2328/before7.jpg

So, while my roommate was out of town one weekend, I decided to wash it for him. After washing, the paint felt like sandpaper, so I broke out the clay, which removed a fair amount of surface-bonded contaminants.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2781/clayp.jpg

Claying revealed the horrendously swirled paint.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4566/swirlsi.jpg

Now, I mentioned that I had originally intended just to wash his car. Well, I certainly couldn't leave it looking like that, could I? Besides, I had been itching to use my DA for more than just spreading wax, so after reading several of Mike's articles on paint correction, I broke out the G110v2 and some Meg's Ultimate Compound, and went to work. Two days and fourteen hours later...

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/2696/swirlsgone1.jpg
(You'll have to excuse my poor photography - I'm working with a point-and-shoot)

http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/648/swirlsgone2.jpg

And the rest of the car:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9516/after1q.jpg

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/155/after2y.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/166/after3.jpg
Still some significant etching on the front bumper, but there's nothing I could do about that.

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/2180/after4k.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9245/after5.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/4034/after6.jpg


Products used:

Body
Hand washed with NXT Car Wash
Clayed with Smooth Surface Clay Kit using Quik Detailer for lube
Paint corrected with Ultimate Compound using G110v2 and SB2.0 polishing pads

Wheels
Tires cleaned with Super Degreaser 4:1
Wheel covers cleaned with All Wheel Cleaner
Wheel wells cleaned with APC+ 4:1
Tires dressed with two coats of Endurance Spray
Wells dressed with Hyper Dressing 4:1

Misc.
Exterior glass cleaned with Glass Cleaner Concentrate 10:1
Side mirrors and windshield trim dressed with Ultimate Protectant

The car was later sealed with NXT2.0, but I didn't get any pictures of that. This best part of this particular job is that after all of that work, when the roomie finally got home, all he said was "thanks for the wash." I had to explain to him exactly how much work had gone into getting his car cleaned up. Amazing how most people really don't know the difference between a wash and a major paint correction.

[gtrspeed]

Next is a co-worker's 2009 Mazdaspeed 3. He recently bought the car used, and after having a horrible first experience attempting to wax it with some variant of Turtle Wax, he brought it to me. The paint was in decent shape, with some minor swirling, and a number of RIDS. Wax residue was prevalent. We agreed on a wash, wax, quick interior cleaning, and a spot correction of a few of the more visible scratches.

Before:

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1184/85160188.jpg

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/7475/70464167.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2872/43855237.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6452/65224792.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2285/98321629.jpg

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8461/63513431.jpg

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5277/57838153.jpg

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/208/08aq.jpg

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1825/88079495.jpg
TOGW

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9089/56186199.jpg
RIDS on the passenger side, highlighted by wax residue

After:

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9810/93504647.jpg
I was able to make those scratches a bit less visible using UC, but they were too deep to remove without wetsanding, which I was not about to try for the first time on a client's car.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/1371/49295288.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/1528/67901201.jpg
I had a real tough time with the wax residue on the front bumper, as you can see.

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3008/92306116.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9176/68468838.jpg

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9435/66738514.jpg

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6725/66572684.jpg

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2402/35811806.jpg

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/4743/47580028.jpg

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/1244/79705246.jpg

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5697/08bi.jpg


Products used:

Body
Hand washed with Hyper Wash
Tar treated with Body Solvent (not happy at all with this stuff on old tar)
Door jambs cleaned with APC+ 4:1
RIDS spot corrected by Ultimate Compound with G110v2 and SB2.0 polishing pads
Paint sealed with NXT2.0 Liquid Wax with G110v2 and SB2.0 finishing pads

Wheels
Tires cleaned with Super Degreaser 4:1
Wheels cleaned with Hyper Wash and All Wheel Cleaner
Wheel wells cleaned with APC+ 4:1
Tires dressed with Endurance Spray (three coats)
Wheels sealed with Cleaner Wax

Misc.
Interior/exterior glass cleaned with Glass Cleaner Concentrate 10:1
Interior wiped down with Quik Interior Detailer
Carpet and mats vacuumed

[gtrspeed]

Finally, my car, a 2012 Hyundai Elantra. This car gets washed at least once a week, and waxed at least monthly. These photos were taken after a maintenance wash in July. I don't have any before pics (it never gets all that dirty, anyway).

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/9930/img0584ua.jpg

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/5369/img0585m.jpg

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/6443/img0586in.jpg

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1916/img0587wt.jpg

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/4351/img0588lu.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/6172/img0589ns.jpg

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/2829/img0591i.jpg

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/2458/img0592cw.jpg

http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/8183/img0593c.jpg

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1044/img0595vv.jpg

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/7128/img0597b.jpg


Products used:

Body
Hand washed with Ultimate Wash & Wax
Paint wiped down with Ultimate Quik Wax
(Car already had two coats of NXT2.0 at the time)

Wheels
Tires cleaned with Super Degreaser 4:1
Wheels cleaned with Hyper Wash
Wheel wells cleaned with APC+ 4:1
Tires dressed with two coats of Endurance Spray
Wheels sealed with Ultimate Liquid Wax
Wells dressed with Hyper Dressing 4:1

Misc.
Exterior glass cleaned with Glass Cleaner Concentrate 10:1


That wraps it up for now. Thanks for looking.

[DetailedByPrecision]

keep it up and keep on extending your clientele list further.

[alko]

VERY NICE job on all the cars!!!

[timaishu]

Looks good!

I like the look of tha endurance spray.

Gonna pick some up once my current tire shine runs out.

[gtrspeed]

I like the look of tha endurance spray.
I'm a big fan of that particular dressing - it's long-lasting, and starts to fade to a nice satin black after a week or so. I find that the trigger spray version is much easier to apply evenly than the gel, especially if your tires have grooves like mine do.

I think I'm going to try some M40 after my next wash, though, as I'm still trying to decide if I want high-gloss or more of a satin appearance.

[slickooz]

Nice write up! I'm sure they were all happy with the results. And words of mouth spread very fast. :)

[big tyme]

Cars look nice! Great turnaround on that Charger, those water runoff stains can be a bear to remove. I must say that the new Hyundai's are starting to look very nice. :props:

[LuxuryMobile]

Nice work. Always kind of liked the Mazda 3 Hatchbacks.

Word of mouth is the best advertising, hopefully your roommate and coworker can send you a few more clients.

[VISITOR]

your elantra would look even cleaner if you de-badged the elantra emblem and threw some tint on it as well. nice ride btw...

[timaishu]

I'm a big fan of that particular dressing - it's long-lasting, and starts to fade to a nice satin black after a week or so. I find that the trigger spray version is much easier to apply evenly than the gel, especially if your tires have grooves like mine do.

I think I'm going to try some M40 after my next wash, though, as I'm still trying to decide if I want high-gloss or more of a satin appearance.

I prefer sprays as well. I have a foam applicator. Spray on then wipe.

Never was a fan of gels. Too messy.

[gtrspeed]

your elantra would look even cleaner if you de-badged the elantra emblem and threw some tint on it as well. nice ride btw...
I will be getting the windows tinted at some point, but other than that I'll be leaving the car as is.

[dougaross]

Cars look nice! Great turnaround on that Charger, those water runoff stains can be a bear to remove. I must say that the new Hyundai's are starting to look very nice. :props:
I've had good luck with opc