Tackling my first detail project, follow along...

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Withoutink

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I have decided to finally take on detailing my vehicles. Four vehicles will eventually be detailed during the project.

Jeep Wrangler TJ
Honda CR-V
Harley Davidson Nightster
VW GTI Mk7

First vehicle to tackle is the Jeep Wrangler. I started it Friday (the Jeep is rarely driven and is garaged).

I had to buy a ton of stuff initially so, some products will eventually be swapped out when I can afford nicer stuff.

A couple before shots of some problem areas. Not sure what caused the white marks on the bumper... The vertical marring on the rear fender is from my son opening my wife's car door into it. >.<

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1. I borrowed a pressure washer, since mine is broken atm. I used the two bucket method, and I used Meguiars Gold Class car wash 1oz to a gallon.

I would eventually like to get a foam cannon.

After washing....

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2. I then brought the car in the garage, made sure she was all dry. Then started using a griots yellow clay bar I had and some Meguiars Quick detail spray. I ran into a huge problem. The griots clay bar turned into this insane sticky goo. It got everywhere. My hands looked like they were plasti-dipped. It took forever to get off. Eventually Joe's hand cleaner got it off my hands.

So when we were out at dinner, I stopped at autozone and picked up a Meguiars Clay Kit. I spent about two hours clay barring the jeep I got about 90% done.

This morning I finished the clay bar, and I have to say it fells really nice. There are some parts that still feel a tiny bit funny with the baggy test, I ran over them again but still feel funny. Maybe I need more aggressive clay. But for the most part I'm very happy with the outcome so far....

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You can still see some defect in the rear fender where the door hit it repeatedly. But the white on the passenger side front turn signal came out perfectly.





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years ago a colleague of mine had all Griot's stuff. the yellow clay was exactly as you describe. so annoying.

for an OTC product, the Meguiar's kit isn't bad. yes, it's mild, but it's good stuff. i like regular old Pinnacle poly clay and the OPT aggressive block for those tough areas. there are so many options out there.

good luck with your projects.
 
I received the griots 6" da yesterday in the mail. Monday will be an epic mail call from autogeek... I have the following things on the way...

2 Qty Grit Guard Insert

16.9 oz. SONAX Wheel Cleaner

Meguiar's Self Cleaning Dispenser Bottle

16.9 oz. Sonus Acrylic Spritz

10 oz. Klasse ALL-IN-ONE Polish

16.9 oz. Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze

32 oz. Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine

8 oz. Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #205

5 Inch Lake Country D.A. Hook & Loop Flexible Backing

6 Qty 5 ½ x 7/8 Inch Lake Country Flats

2 Qty CCS Red Wax/Sealant Applicator Pads

I was going to get some Meguiars 105 too, but opted for Ultimate Compound to start, as lots of people said it was user friendly.

So the Jeep will stay in the garage until Monday, and in the evening I'll do a quick clean with detail spray, then clay bar any last min spots.

After that start with the da and the ultimate compound. I'll use the tangerine flat pad with the UC.



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builthatch said:
years ago a colleague of mine had all Griot's stuff. the yellow clay was exactly as you describe. so annoying.

for an OTC product, the Meguiar's kit isn't bad. yes, it's mild, but it's good stuff. i like regular old Pinnacle poly clay and the OPT aggressive block for those tough areas. there are so many options out there.
Click to expand...


I think I may upgrade to a nanoskin pad for the da when I do my wife's honda. Or find a more aggressive clay. The Meguiars worked well, but it seemed to take awhile. Could be that the jeep is 12 years old and never been clay bared before.

I would never recommend that griots bar to anyone. They should take it off the market, as far as I'm concerned. It took 30 mins to get it off my hands. :(

Anyway, thanks for the reply.


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builthatch said:
years ago a colleague of mine had all Griot's stuff. the yellow clay was exactly as you describe. so annoying.

for an OTC product, the Meguiar's kit isn't bad. yes, it's mild, but it's good stuff. i like regular old Pinnacle poly clay and the OPT aggressive block for those tough areas. there are so many options out there.
Click to expand...


What's opt? Optimum?


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I used a nanoskin on the wife's CRV. Worked awesome. Took no time and cane out great.

Oh and I found the Honda paint much easier to work than the VW paint. Be patient on the VW.
 
Ebg18t said:
I used a nanoskin on the wife's CRV. Worked awesome. Took no time and cane out great.

Oh and I found the Honda paint much easier to work than the VW paint. Be patient on the VW.
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Awesome to know. Do you use the fine or medium nanoskin? I was thinking of going with medium an then the ultimate compound and m205 after.

Thanks for the heads up on the paint. We don't own the gti yet. Going to sell the Harley and Jeep before we get it. I heard someone say the vw paint is very hard.


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So I have some plastic parts, that were black at some point. Are there any real products that can actually restore the black look, for a few months etc? Or is it all just a 1-2 week "restore" at a time?

This is the black part near the a pillar...

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The foot steps look bad, and the rear bumper caps are sad too.

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I bought the fine nano. I use regular clay for areas needing more attention. As for the black plastic I just coated the plastic parts of the CRV in dLux from Carpro. I was using Perl with good results (couple months on plastic) but dLux is the coating so it should last upward of a year. I used the Ultima Trim & Tire Guard (UTTG) on the VW with good results for several months on the black plastic. But the VW will get dLux when I use up the rest of the UTTG.
 
If you would like to buy a foam cannon or foam gun LMK I am over mine LOL. I think they are cool to use but dont really do much.

Keep up the good work on those cars man!!
 
Withoutink said:
So I have some plastic parts, that were black at some point. Are there any real products that can actually restore the black look, for a few months etc? Or is it all just a 1-2 week "restore" at a time?

This is the black part near the a pillar...

8e8b13518f766fd7290084cb9ad38df4.jpg


The foot steps look bad, and the rear bumper caps are sad too.

c5a490841fff0c78eda070c71035109c.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Solution Finish.
 
4 cars and full details on all of them? Man do you have your work cut out for you. Don't get discouraged though THIS is the hard part, upkeep is usually pretty easy.

PS: Teach you young'uns how to open a car door, took me a while with mine :laughing: They're in their 20s now and I still have to remind them once in a while.
 
Ebg18t said:
I bought the fine nano. I use regular clay for areas needing more attention. As for the black plastic I just coated the plastic parts of the CRV in dLux from Carpro. I was using Perl with good results (couple months on plastic) but dLux is the coating so it should last upward of a year. I used the Ultima Trim & Tire Guard (UTTG) on the VW with good results for several months on the black plastic. But the VW will get dLux when I use up the rest of the UTTG.
Click to expand...


Thanks again. I'll look up some of these products. I like the idea of a coating. Especially for the vehicles we are keeping. I'll check out some reviews on YT.


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dcjredline said:
If you would like to buy a foam cannon or foam gun LMK I am over mine LOL. I think they are cool to use but dont really do much.

Keep up the good work on those cars man!!
Click to expand...


Thanks for the feedback on the cannon. I can see where marketing and 'neat' factor into the sales. It just seems like the soap would stick around longer, instead of just washing with the two bucket method.

Thanks for the feedback as well :-)


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AnthonyGXP said:
Ahhh.....yeah.....I don't think he's done any work on it yet.
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Ya not really, just the wash and clay bar. I have to say that the clear bar alone made a huge visual enhancement to the overall look. I can't wait to see the next steps as I proceed.


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