My first weekend warrior "ghetto detail''

[ShinyThings]

Took a stab at actual detailing last week. Vehicle is the Mrs. commuter car we are going to sell. Wish I would have taken before pics but didn't since I wasn't planning anything other than getting a car clean and shiny to attract a buyer.

Vehicle is a 2009 Chevy Malibu Hybrid that I am pretty sure was a fleet or rental vehicle before being purchased by the Mrs. a couple years ago. It has never seen indoors, wax, polish, and lived next to sprinklers since she got it. The majority of washing was the local tunnel type.

Anyways like I said earlier I just wanted to clean this thing up and maybe learn something along the way. I figured I couldn't make it any worse (hopefully). Most products were already in my stash of stuff picked up along the way over the years except for my new fancy wannabe Flex that came from harbor freight. I ordered a PC but it wasn't here yet and I wanted somewhat of a comparison starting from the bottom and progressing into better machines down the line.

Plan of attack was....crap there is no plan!!! It's a tuesday and I'm gonna fling some wax n stuff in the garage.

Step 1. Wash the car...well crap it's 44° outside time to hit the local tunnel up the street. (Don't crucify me remember this car is thrashed and not going to get much worse)

Step 2- Bust out the Meg's clay I've had forever and clean the paint. Spray, clay, remold clay repeat, this sucks!!! Wait!! I picked up the Surf City Garage Clayzilla at Wal-Mart a while back. It was much faster and I could feel it working. Thier Zillajuice sprayer was not that awesome so I grabbed some Barrett Jackson Quick Detailer I picked up for $2 at PepBoys last time I was in California. Sprayer was a better pattern and it felt like it lubricated much better.

Step 2- Get out the Harbor Freight DA, attach their orange pad and some Griot's Ultimate Compound. Worked a small area at a time with various lights, looking at various angles etc. it seems to be working pretty good. It looks and feels like things are happening

Step 3- Umm I dunno what to grab from here then I came across an old bottle of Meg's cleaner wax. It's half full looks and smells fine so I slapped a harbor freight medium pad and let it rip. Seems to be doing a good job but I'm also staring at the hazy, water spotted windows and horrid headlights thinking what's the worst that can happen..... I hit all the glass and headlights with the Clayzilla the go over all with my already wet pad skipping the front window since it's getting replaced.

Step 4- Crap it looks good how to I preserve some of this? I don't have any sealant, it's late, cold I'm 4-5 beers into this deal. I go digging and come across some Meg's Paint Protect I also picked up at PepBoy's for $2. I wasn't expecting this to be a super sealant but figured it would probably make the car easier to wash and detail spray quickly if someone comes to take a look.

I think only one pic is right after this little journey while in the garage the rest are outside 2 days later with rain and driving it a little bit in the lovely red lava rock cinders they use for traction. I am more than happy with the results, learned alot and already purchased better pads, products, and look forward to trying the PC on our Denali and boat. I will be sure to document and post along the way.

[fly07sti]

That's good stuff right there. Jump right in and figure it out. Right on man!

[ShinyThings]

That's good stuff right there. Jump right in and figure it out. Right on man!

Thanks!! I'm sure it's far from pro results especially with the over the counter consumer products I tried with my first DA application. I stopped at a detail supply shop yesterday in Salem and bought a bunch if various quality pads and have some Collinite cleaner, 845, Black fire AIO, and other various things on order from AG. Hopefully it only gets better from here

[briarpatch]

Welcome to the obsession

[Android]

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step .
All I am is a weekend warrior , and my vehicles out shine anyone that I know , but this site is a place to learn so much .
Wish some of these professionals would do my cars .
Your pics look pretty good , nice reflective shine .

[Cleankat]

Looks good.... Cleaner wax is so underrated I think it does a pretty great job. I use the mirror glaze cleaner wax quite often as a prep before I lay down my wolfgang sealant.

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[Don M]

Don't be so hard on the OTC stuff, it's all I use except for the Meguiar's D151 Paint Reconditioning Cream from their detailer line (a better cutting/polishing cleaner wax than the Maroon Bottle), and it comes in a gallon, which can last a long time.

[Mike Phillips]

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Ghetto Detail - love it....


My favorite type of work is...

Beater Detail...

[FUNX650]

Re: ..."ghetto detail''

Took a stab at actual detailing last week.

I am more than happy with the results,

Bob

[ShinyThings]

Haha I used the term ghetto because this was all on a whim with whatever I had stashed in the garage. I should have taken more pics, given it another wipe down to remove more oils I can still see but it's all good. A quick hose down and detail spray will suffice potential buyers and I guarantee it's the best looking late model Malibu around at the moment. New window was installed Monday, I'm going to clean the wheels, tires, and trim then hit it with some of the Meg's Paint Protect since there is plenty left. Interior has been treated rather harshly by a 65 pound pit/boxer mix, that's going to fun getting all the slobber stains out but that's another day