Post your spring detailing process!

Matt S.

Matt S.

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Well, not that anything is stopping us from detailing our cars down here in Florida...;) but for the rest of you guys and gals, what process will you be using when the ice finally thaws and the snow stops falling? :D

This thread should give us all some ideas on what products to use, since most of us will be doing a spring cleaning on our vehicles...and we all know there are SO many good products to choose from!

My car is already swirl free, so sometime before Detail Fest, I'm most likely going to wash, lightly clay with Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay, MAYBE go over the car a one or five times with PO85RD (hey, the finish can only get better and better, right??.....right!?)...for LSP, I'm thinking Fuzion and 1-2 coats of Souveran. But, I'm also testing out a new "prototype" sealant, so I may just use that instead. ;)
 
Clean underside real well. Tires and wheels next, I love clean tires and wheels. Clay and glaze wheels to get all the winter yang off them. Oh and clean engine bay and dress,somehow this gets missed in the winter time. :)
 
  1. FK Decon kit
  2. Clay
  3. Scratch removal with BF Compound
  4. Menz SIP Green pad
  5. FF106 Green pad
  6. BF Gloss Enhancing Polish Black pad
  7. FK 303 Machine Glaze
  8. BFWD Hand apply
  9. Dodo Purple Haze hand apply
  12. I have the Griot V2 6" and 3|" machines
    [email protected] said:
    Well, not that anything is stopping us from detailing our cars down here in Florida...;) but for the rest of you guys and gals, what process will you be using when the ice finally thaws and the snow stops falling? :D
    Click to expand...
[email protected] said:
This thread should give us all some ideas on what products to use, since most of us will be doing a spring cleaning on our vehicles...and we all know there are SO many good products to choose from!

My car is already swirl free, so sometime before Detail Fest, I'm most likely going to wash, lightly clay with Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay, MAYBE go over the car a one or five times with PO85RD (hey, the finish can only get better and better, right??.....right!?)...for LSP, I'm thinking Fuzion and 1-2 coats of Souveran. But, I'm also testing out a new "prototype" sealant, so I may just use that instead. ;)
Click to expand...
 
Well, right before I put mine up for the winter, I used had used the pc and some sonus paintworks cleanser to get the surface defect free. I then wiped it down with alcohol and did 3 coats of Z5 with Z8 in between.

Then I found this site and blew around 500 on wolfgang/ pinnacle/ dp/ and menzerna products.

Once winter is over I plan to take the wheels off and use wolfgang 3.0 on them. I then plan to use megs apc+ to clean the wells and suspension. Then I will use P085RD on the whole car with a 5.5" blue pad. Then I will either go straight to Pinnacle souveran, or I will put one coat of 3.0 on the car and top it with souveran. I am undecided on this just yet.

Then I am using pinnacle leather cleaner and conditioner on my interior.

I am proud to say I have sold all my zaino stuff and will be trying all new products this year.
 
I have sooo much products that I bought during the winter that I didn't used yet! Spring please come faster !!

List of products I have to try:
P085RD
Souveran wax
Wolfgang black diamond tire gel
Wolfgang DGPS
Dodo juice diamond white hard wax
Poorboy's trim restorer
Poorboy’s World White Diamond Show Glaze
P21S Polishing soap for my exhaust tip.
DP Carpet cleaner with my new Bissell little green machine.
Diamondite Headlight Lens/Clear Plastic Restoration kit.
Cobra Blue Micro-Chenille Wash Mitt
 
As of right now my plan is

1. Wash with ONR
2. Clay entire car
3. ColorX
4. NXT 2.0 x2
5. Meguiars UQW
6. Meguiars Hot Shine tire foam

If I had a house and a garage I'd probably go with a much more thorough detailing, but I am doing all my detailing in an apartment parking lot with no shade most of the time.
 
My Plans:

-Polish with 85rd
-Chose a nice beauty wax, probably Lusso Oro, and apply a few layers
-Clean and dress the undercarriage
-Remove wheels and clean/dress the wheel wells
-Remove my custom stainless exhaust and polish it up
-Oil change and new sparkplugs
-
 
EXTERIOR:
I will wash the car thoroughly
clay- megs mild clay
clean engine & dress w/ silicone free dressing
polish w/ white pad & Megs #82
polish w/ blue pad & 85rd
Seal w/ Blackfire Wet Diamond
Top w/ MaxWax
remove each wheel one at a time, clean and seal
Dress tires w/ Megs hotshine
INTERIOR:
shampoo carpet and upholstery w/APC+
dress interior with poorboys leather stuff (I like leather stuff for my interior)

This is for my DD 04 Honda Accord, Gold paint
 
The 18+ inches of snow we got in the past 2 days makes me want spring to come even more

i hate seeing my car covered in salt

ive gotten a few new things im excited to try out

wash with Megs Gold or maybe ONR if im feeling lazy that day lol
clay with my new Clay Magic kit
Meg's UC and HT Tangerine
Meg's SwirlX and HT Cyan (I might try my new Optimum Finish Polish)
IPA wipedown
Optimum PS with GG Red 6.5" pad
Optimum OS
Impatiently wait till the next day...
MaxWax (really curious to see how this makes the flake in my paint pop)
Restore my headlights
Remove each wheel and clean the hell outta them
0000 grade steel wool my exhaust tips and then seal em

this is gonna be done to my DD 02 Altima 3.5SE M/T in Velvet Beige
 
1. Wash (TC Citrus pre-wash, opt car wash regular wash)
2. Tire/Wheels (Diablo for wheels, p21s taw for tires)
3. Clay (Riccardo)
4. Polish (SIP,uber yellow; Power Finish, uber green/3m uk yellow; Scholl S40, 3m UK Blue)
5. Pre-Wax (SV Cleaner Fluid)
6. Wax (SV Insignis 2x coats 24 hrs apart)
7. Tire Dressing (TC White Pearl)
8. Trim Dressing (BlackWoW)
9. Glass (Polish with 1z Glas Polish, seal with 2x coats of Opti-Seal)
10. Metal (Opt Metal Polish w/ #0000 wool)

11. Leather (LM trio)
12. Vinyl (HD Protect)
13. Rubber Seals (1z Gummi)
14. Glass (1z Glass Cleaner)

Im the MAN:buffing:Im the MAN
 
bill6639 said:
The 18+ inches of snow we got in the past 2 days makes me want spring to come even more

i hate seeing my car covered in salt

ive gotten a few new things im excited to try out

wash with Megs Gold or maybe ONR if im feeling lazy that day lol
clay with my new Clay Magic kit
Meg's UC and HT Tangerine
Meg's SwirlX and HT Cyan (I might try my new Optimum Finish Polish)
IPA wipedown
Optimum PS with GG Red 6.5" pad
Optimum OS
Impatiently wait till the next day...
MaxWax (really curious to see how this makes the flake in my paint pop)
Restore my headlights
Remove each wheel and clean the hell outta them
0000 grade steel wool my exhaust tips and then seal em

this is gonna be done to my DD 02 Altima 3.5SE M/T in Velvet Beige
Click to expand...

Hey man I think you have the HT pads backwards. Cyan is the cut and Tangerine is the polish pad. You may have just miss typed here but just wanted to give you the heads up.:xyxthumbs:
 
  • Wash with Meguiar's Gold Class
  • Clay with Meguiar's Mild Clay
  • Touch up all trim with various brushes and APC
  • IPA wipe down
  • Meguiar's M105 via rotary and 3M Wool pad (only on hood scoop for water spots)
  • Meguiar's M205 via rotary either on Orange or White Kompressor. Depends on how light the scratches are.
  • 3M Ultrafina via rotary on 6" Blue Kompressor
  • IPA wipe down
  • 2 coats of Blackfire Wet Diamond
  • Tires dressed with Meguiar's Hyper Dressing
  • Wheels dressed with Wheel Wax
  • Engine done with Simple Green and Eagle F21
  • Dash dressed with DP Surface Protectant
  • Seats cleaned 1Z Leather Treatment
  • Carpet cleaned with APC+ and Bissell Little Green Proheat

I think that about covers it.
 
  1. Get the car up on stands. Remove wheels. Soak with D103 @ 4:1 and scrub everything in sight.
  2. More D103 @ 4:1 on wheels/tires. Dry and seal with 2 coats of Opti-Seal. Opti-Bond on tires.
  3. Foam car with CG CW&C @ paint prep ratio.
  4. 2BM wash with more CG CW&C.
  5. Clay.
  6. Tape.
  7. Inspect. Judging from what it looks like right now, single step with 106FA.
  8. Clean/protect trim with Optimum Leather Protectant. (For the love of god, change the name OPT. Optimum Holy S*** This Stuff Works On Everything would be better.)
  9. IPA wipedown.
  10. Polish exhaust tips with 3M metal polish.
  11. 2 coats of Opti-Seal.
  12. 2 coats of Supernatural.
  13. Final wipedown with FK 425
Interior is really pretty clean as is. Probably a simple vacuum will do. I'll end up hitting everything with Optimum Leather Protectant anyway though. Not nearly time for Leatherique.

I can't wait. Im the MAN
 
1. Wash with ONR
2. Inspect
3. If needed apply Dodo Lime Prime
4. Ultima Paint Guard Plus
5. Vacuum
6. Steam
7. HD Protect
8. Dress the outside with Meg's ASD or 1Z-Einzett Vinyl-Rubber
 
i like this thread, especially since i have another 2 feet of snow out side, i cant wait for spring.
anyways:
wash and clay
megs 105
megs 205
menz. 85rd
Wolfgang 3.0
pinnacle liquid souveran

cant wait. car looks like hell.
 
Some good responses so far, let's keep it going!
 
I'm an old Meg's user.....

Wash: GC car wash
Clay: Meg's Clay kit - LT for lube
Inspect - obvious swirls - rough winter
M105 - M205 - M80 - Not in order but test spotting
M66 for final polishing stage.....
Wax: M26 paste or Do Do Juice Banana Armour (tough stuff that Do Do Juice is! lasted through the winter).

Wheels: WB, and either ASD or Hot Shine on tires.

Wheel Wells: ASD or M40

Interior: Good vacuum, APC+ to clean, M40 on plastics and vinyl and rubber

Windows: Meg's D120 Glass Cleaner.

Engine bay: Good cleaning and spraying with APC/Super Degreaser as needed and M40 as a dressing.

I can't wait! It's been a long wet, snowy, rainy, frozen winter up here and my cars look terrible! and the interiors! OOOYYY!
 
Can't wait 'til that spring detail!

Clean tires and wells with Meg's Super Degreaser
Wash (haven't decided which shampoo to use)
Clay with Meg's blue clay and Final Inspection or Last Touch 1:1
Wash again
M105 on Meg's cutting pad with G110v2
M205 on Meg's polishing pad with G110v2
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0
1 or 2 coats of Souveran
tires get Meg's Endurance tire gel
wheel wells will get something, but I don't know what yet
muffler and exhaust tip cleaned and polished
engine wiped down and dressed
interior plastics wiped down with Meg's APC, dressed with Supreme Shine
carpets and seats cleaned
interior glass cleaned
trunk wiped down and vacuumed
etc., etc., etc.

That's the basic plan. I'll get exact process and products used figured out when I actually get to the detail. :xyxthumbs:
 
3 vehicles to maintain...pretty well all get the same treatment though - just the 2 DD's are lots dirtier.

For the 1971 Orange GMC AKA Garage Queen. (sits in the garage 98% of the year).
ExtSmall.jpg

•Sit it on stands and remove wheels and clean insides and fender wells/springs/shocks/a-arms, etc. with APC+. Seal wheels with Wheel Wax.
•Standard wash with Meg's Shampoo Plus or ONR wash (if I get antsy).
•Thorough clay.
•Machine polish (hasn't been done in a few years). Probably 105 (as needed)/205.
•Top with Dodo Orange Crush (never used it before, looking forward to seeing it on this).
•Wipe down interior with whatever it needs...Meg's leather wipes, DP TIP, wax interior metal with Dodo OC. Haven't given it a good cleaning in a couple of years...
IntSmall.jpg

•Wipe down engine with whatever it needs (had a coolant line pop a hole on me...got to clean it up. This is a previously pretty clean pic of it state 99% of the time).
EngSmall.jpg

•Dress it out with whatever I feel like at the time, and put it back in its garage bay to sit until the next show or when I want to feel the speed (or suck the gas).

The other 2 vehicles aren't nearly as interesting...just the daily drivers for the wife and myself.
They'll get pretty much the same treatment as above though. The engines stay clean, and the wheels get removed 2x a year, so they aren't too bad. The wife's car is black though, so it needs full polishing once a year pretty much. My white daily driver truck needs claying every couple of months since I work in the center of an industrial area beside a rail road track.

DLB
 
Wheels cleaned with Turtle Wax Foaming Wheel Cleaner
Wash with Meg's NXT
Clay with Smooth Surface Clay Kit
SwirlX or #82, depending on how bad it is on 6.5 CCS White on Griot's ROP
IPA Wipedown
If I can find it, Gold Class Plus topped with NXT 2.0
Tires cleaned with APC+ and Mother's tire brush
Tires dressed with High Endurance Gloss Gel
Wheel wells dressed with Wet n Black Tire Foam
Exhaust tips polished with Turtle Wax Chrome Polish

A good vacuuming, cleaning spots with Tuff Stuff
Dash treated with Meg's Natural Shine
Seats cleaned with Meg's Professional Leather Cleaner and Conditional
Windows cleaned with Stoner's IG
Engine cleaned with brushes and APC+ and dressed with Wet n Black Tire Foam

I hate the snow. It nice for no school, but it also means no washing or anything fun.
 
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