BrightonRT
New member
- Mar 29, 2012
- 70
- 0
Previously on Chronicles of An Amateur Detailer
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/53385-chronicles-amateur-detailer-project.html
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/53462-coaad-introducing-patient-1-let-s-talk-about-order.html
"Note: These posts are meant to explore the steps in detail, so there are going to be lots of pictures and some steps that may seem mundane to you might be a detail someone else overlooks"
So today I started the process and got the few things out of the way that needed to be done while the car is able to move, after this I should be able to park it for the remainder of the detail.
Working clean
Ok, so to make sure things come out as best as possible we need to make sure the working environment is as clean as possible. So let's see what we got...
Yikes, that's a lot of dirt on the floor in the corners, we can't have that, time to break out the broom...
That's better for the garage but what about outside where we're going to be washing? A quick once over with the trusty leaf blower takes this:
To this:
Ok, so we got the work space clean, let's look at one other thing before we get going.
The Outfit: Dress to Protect
Through my day job I have had the opportunity to spend some time in automotive assembly plants and there hasn't been a single one I have been to that hasn't required you to wear a belt buckle cover, a wristband over your watch and a elastic band over any rings. All of this is done in the name of protecting the paint of the cars in the plant. I tend to think the same so I usually take my rings off (permission from the other half of course).
I also try to wear gym shorts of some kind, no rivets, buttons, or belt required.
The Detailer's MRI: The Dawn Dish Soap Wash
So to remove one nook and cranny for water to hide (and to save photoshop work, I removed the license plate, showing some marring underneath to address later.
And one more thing, because I've NEVER made this mistake before:
Ok, we've gotten the prep out of the way, so let's get this party going with my hard-water special, LSP stripping wash solution. To do this I use my super high tech measuring a device.
The mark in the cup corresponds to 4 fluid ounces and there's a corresponding mark in the bucket. Special thanks to Mr. Phillips for this tip. I then am able to approximate from that mark 2 or 1 ounces for the mixture.
I have never done a LSP removing wash before and after reading through a couple suggestions here decided to come up with my own special home brew. The mixture consists of 4 gallons of water, 4 ounces of Dawn dish soap to strip the LSP, 2 ounces of Meguiar's Gold Class to add lubricity, and 1 oz of ONR to condition my particularly hard well water. Pour in, mix well, add a quick blast from the hose to make some suds and viola (Note the Grit Guard in the bottom of the rinse bucket, there's one in the wash bucket as well)...
A quick spray down of the car with the hose shows the current LSP still holding up well, and it's time to soap this thing up using my trusty Microfiber wash mitt
After picking up some soap solution I do half of the upper half of the car, which is mostly glass.
I put the mitt in the rinse bucket, rub it against the grit guard to loosen up the grime and back to the wash bucket while I rinse the panel off with the hose. I then go back to the wash bucket and do the next panel.
I then proceed around the car, one panel at a time, starting with the passenger side rear, the door, front quarter panel and then half of the hood. Rinsing both the mitt and the panel after each.
A quick look, at the hood shows a difference in the water beading from the fresh side and the side already washed.
Progress!
I proceeded around the rest of the car the same way. And it was time to give the car a final rinse. When I do this I almost always go back to a tip I found on MOL where you remove the hose nozzle and let sheeting action from the flow of water from the hose end take the water and sheet it right off the car.
The results weren't quite as dramatic since a lot of the LSP had been stripped off, but it still took this:
To this:
To dry I use 2 waffle weave towels, in this case a Sonus Waffle Weave and a Meguiar's Water Magnet. I use one first to soak up most of the water and then another to get the rest.
The first big thing I noticed is that the towels were grabbing a lot more than usual, I guess the home brew worked.
Couple of places to make sure you hit with the drying towel:
The Gas Cap
The Trunk Lid
Under the hood
Speaking of under the hood weren't you going to...
Ah Crap! That's right! I was going to...
Cleaning the Engine Compartment
First things first, any boat owner can tell you that water and electricity usually don't play nice together so let's cover that alternator.
I then took some Megs APC to the compartment and agitated with a soft nylon bristle brush that I have. This was followed with a very light rinse from the hose.
To dry I used an old Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfiber and got as much water as I could out
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/53385-chronicles-amateur-detailer-project.html
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/53462-coaad-introducing-patient-1-let-s-talk-about-order.html
"Note: These posts are meant to explore the steps in detail, so there are going to be lots of pictures and some steps that may seem mundane to you might be a detail someone else overlooks"
So today I started the process and got the few things out of the way that needed to be done while the car is able to move, after this I should be able to park it for the remainder of the detail.
Working clean
Ok, so to make sure things come out as best as possible we need to make sure the working environment is as clean as possible. So let's see what we got...
Yikes, that's a lot of dirt on the floor in the corners, we can't have that, time to break out the broom...
That's better for the garage but what about outside where we're going to be washing? A quick once over with the trusty leaf blower takes this:
To this:
Ok, so we got the work space clean, let's look at one other thing before we get going.
The Outfit: Dress to Protect
Through my day job I have had the opportunity to spend some time in automotive assembly plants and there hasn't been a single one I have been to that hasn't required you to wear a belt buckle cover, a wristband over your watch and a elastic band over any rings. All of this is done in the name of protecting the paint of the cars in the plant. I tend to think the same so I usually take my rings off (permission from the other half of course).
I also try to wear gym shorts of some kind, no rivets, buttons, or belt required.
The Detailer's MRI: The Dawn Dish Soap Wash
So to remove one nook and cranny for water to hide (and to save photoshop work, I removed the license plate, showing some marring underneath to address later.
And one more thing, because I've NEVER made this mistake before:
Ok, we've gotten the prep out of the way, so let's get this party going with my hard-water special, LSP stripping wash solution. To do this I use my super high tech measuring a device.
The mark in the cup corresponds to 4 fluid ounces and there's a corresponding mark in the bucket. Special thanks to Mr. Phillips for this tip. I then am able to approximate from that mark 2 or 1 ounces for the mixture.
I have never done a LSP removing wash before and after reading through a couple suggestions here decided to come up with my own special home brew. The mixture consists of 4 gallons of water, 4 ounces of Dawn dish soap to strip the LSP, 2 ounces of Meguiar's Gold Class to add lubricity, and 1 oz of ONR to condition my particularly hard well water. Pour in, mix well, add a quick blast from the hose to make some suds and viola (Note the Grit Guard in the bottom of the rinse bucket, there's one in the wash bucket as well)...
A quick spray down of the car with the hose shows the current LSP still holding up well, and it's time to soap this thing up using my trusty Microfiber wash mitt
After picking up some soap solution I do half of the upper half of the car, which is mostly glass.
I put the mitt in the rinse bucket, rub it against the grit guard to loosen up the grime and back to the wash bucket while I rinse the panel off with the hose. I then go back to the wash bucket and do the next panel.
I then proceed around the car, one panel at a time, starting with the passenger side rear, the door, front quarter panel and then half of the hood. Rinsing both the mitt and the panel after each.
A quick look, at the hood shows a difference in the water beading from the fresh side and the side already washed.
Progress!
I proceeded around the rest of the car the same way. And it was time to give the car a final rinse. When I do this I almost always go back to a tip I found on MOL where you remove the hose nozzle and let sheeting action from the flow of water from the hose end take the water and sheet it right off the car.
The results weren't quite as dramatic since a lot of the LSP had been stripped off, but it still took this:
To this:
To dry I use 2 waffle weave towels, in this case a Sonus Waffle Weave and a Meguiar's Water Magnet. I use one first to soak up most of the water and then another to get the rest.
The first big thing I noticed is that the towels were grabbing a lot more than usual, I guess the home brew worked.
Couple of places to make sure you hit with the drying towel:
The Gas Cap
The Trunk Lid
Under the hood
Speaking of under the hood weren't you going to...
Ah Crap! That's right! I was going to...
Cleaning the Engine Compartment
First things first, any boat owner can tell you that water and electricity usually don't play nice together so let's cover that alternator.
I then took some Megs APC to the compartment and agitated with a soft nylon bristle brush that I have. This was followed with a very light rinse from the hose.
To dry I used an old Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfiber and got as much water as I could out
rops:
