Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

  • Thread starter Thread starter walletless
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Good stuff man. I'm going to have to go through this with my own car as soon as my AG package arrives.

Bought mine on 4/17, while it's not nearly as bad, it has swirls from the dealership that need removed. Just way too noticeable on black.

Good job though, hopefully my first job with the 7424 will be as successful.
 
Nice job OP. I had an 07 Altima SEV6 at one point, also in black, also a DD. A black DD, I will never do again, esp since I also had a black civic DD I just sold. Silver or white from now on :) as evidenced by my new silver dd.

But great save, great correction, and I can see you're a Meg's fan.

p.s. put some tire gel on those tires!!! :)
 
walletless said:
Thanks Mustang81. This was my first time, so I took plenty of time and did things very slowly. Washing/drying and claying took about an hour each........Compound an polishing took about 2-3 hours each!!!........... I am sure things will be faster when I do this next time, but I wanted to be as careful as I can for the first time. Waxing........took about 15-20 minutes to put on, another 15 minutes to take off..
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First off, great job. The car looks beautiful and you're results are much better than the results I got the first time I ever did paint correction. This is a great thread and I like the way you have the pics laid out for the products that you used in each step. Very informative for other first-timers to know what products they'll need for each step.

I don't think that your times are particularly slow. On a filthy car, I can spend an hr washing and drying. Concerning claying, if a car has a lot of bonded surface contaminants and you clay every little corner (door handles, etc...) and you're really working to get 100% clean, an hr isn't bad. I usually aim for 90% contaminant removal and can get every panel done in 15-30 min, but I just did my mom's car, and because I love her, I detailed it as if it was a $100,000 show car, getting 100% maximum results in every step. I spent 1.5 hrs claying her midsized SUV. You're compounding and polishing isn't slow at all! It can easily take 4-6 hrs to compound a car, esp if you're hitting all the small spots by hand (where the machine won't fit). Polishing is usually a faster process, but still 3 hrs, give or take an hr. Waxing times seem right on. I've only done paint correction on about 10 cars or so, so I'm no expert by any means. I'm sure there are others here who are longtime pros and can get it done a lot faster than me, but the times I quoted are normal for me, keeping in mind that I really work to hit every square inch of paint. If the machine won't fit, it gets done by hand.

GOOD JOB!!!
 
Nice job!

Looks like you're a Megs fan haha. Keep up with proper washing and waxing so you don't have to do this again.
 
brentech said:
Good stuff man. I'm going to have to go through this with my own car as soon as my AG package arrives.

Bought mine on 4/17, while it's not nearly as bad, it has swirls from the dealership that need removed. Just way too noticeable on black.

Good job though, hopefully my first job with the 7424 will be as successful.
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Ya.. honestly, the dealership installed swirls and scratches were not THAT many. After the glaze removed, I can see some on hood, on back door, trunk door, and near the gas tank door.. Most of the other ones were installed by me in my pre-autogeek incarnation :-)
Good luck with your detail. You'll do good - post up questions on AGO - there are lots of very knowledgeable and helpful folks here.

sportscarhiatus said:
Nice job OP. I had an 07 Altima SEV6 at one point, also in black, also a DD. A black DD, I will never do again, esp since I also had a black civic DD I just sold. Silver or white from now on :) as evidenced by my new silver dd.

But great save, great correction, and I can see you're a Meg's fan.

p.s. put some tire gel on those tires!!! :)
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Agreed.. never buying a black car again.. my next one will almost certainly be white or silver as well :-)
I hear silver is less forgiving when you use touch-up paint.. so may be white.

davidc11291 said:
First off, great job. The car looks beautiful and you're results are much better than the results I got the first time I ever did paint correction. This is a great thread and I like the way you have the pics laid out for the products that you used in each step. Very informative for other first-timers to know what products they'll need for each step.

I don't think that your times are particularly slow. On a filthy car, I can spend an hr washing and drying. Concerning claying, if a car has a lot of bonded surface contaminants and you clay every little corner (door handles, etc...) and you're really working to get 100% clean, an hr isn't bad. I usually aim for 90% contaminant removal and can get every panel done in 15-30 min, but I just did my mom's car, and because I love her, I detailed it as if it was a $100,000 show car, getting 100% maximum results in every step. I spent 1.5 hrs claying her midsized SUV. You're compounding and polishing isn't slow at all! It can easily take 4-6 hrs to compound a car, esp if you're hitting all the small spots by hand (where the machine won't fit). Polishing is usually a faster process, but still 3 hrs, give or take an hr. Waxing times seem right on. I've only done paint correction on about 10 cars or so, so I'm no expert by any means. I'm sure there are others here who are longtime pros and can get it done a lot faster than me, but the times I quoted are normal for me, keeping in mind that I really work to hit every square inch of paint. If the machine won't fit, it gets done by hand.

GOOD JOB!!!
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Thanks! Wow, you seem to have done a heck of a job on your moms car.. I am sure she is proud of you. Do post some pics - I would love to see your work.

wgilles said:
Nice job!

Looks like you're a Megs fan haha. Keep up with proper washing and waxing so you don't have to do this again.
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Thanks wgilles. Yes, megs fan for sure. The SMAT products are so easy to use, even a caveman can use it :-)
Yes, the plan is regular ONR washes and Megs Quik Wax.
 
Walletless, well done:applause: You make us newbies proud! :cheers: I'm even more psyched to get going on my clay-polish-coating project than ever. Thanks for the tangible inspiration!Jim B
 
Jim B said:
Walletless, well done:applause: You make us newbies proud! :cheers: I'm even more psyched to get going on my clay-polish-coating project than ever. Thanks for the tangible inspiration!Jim B
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Thanks Jim. Go for it!
 
Just thought I will update with a beading shot. We had some rain here in the valley today, and I happened to take a pic.
WP_000433.jpg
 
Excellent turnaround...like everyone else I had to do a double check on the age of the car. That was crazy bad shape for a new car.
 
Klasse Act said:
That's a 4 month old car:eek:

You did a great job on the car for sure but where in the heck did you find the Big White hi-temp wax, that belongs in the thread I started about old waxes, never even heard of it and it looks real old, maybe its only available on Amity Island during the 4th of July weekend, ask the counter guy for it, I think his name is Quint but he's been gone for a while they say, something about a permanent vacation!

Seeing that its black, I'd add another coat of something on there to protect it but whatever you do, don't let it get that bad again, ok:nomore:
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That stuff does look old. I have a tin of blue coral that is 35 years old
 
Klasse Act said:
Like Mequiars, huh:buffing:
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Yup.. I love most good products that area easy to acquire w/o needing to pay hefty shipping.
Most of the products in that pic can be acquired at walmart/autozone/oreilly easily.
In fact, I detailed that entire car with Mothers clay, UC & UP.. and plan to maintain the car using Megs Quick wax - all of them easy to obtain locally.

The only things I found somewhat difficult to obtain locally are pads, grit guard, soft MF towels, & ONR. For that, I went to AGO and Amazon. Collinite 845 can be easily obtained on fleabay with no shipping charges.
 
I am going to be doing the same thing to my wife's 2010 Toyota Camry SE, I will be taking some photos and keeping a record of how things are going. I always keep the cars clean and waxed, but I have finally taken the next step and purchased a PC polisher and some products from AG. After seeing the great job Nicholas did on his Altima I am even more anxious to get to work on my TOY. Nicholas you did an amazing job on your vehicle. My next project is my 2009 Maroon Dodge 1500 Ram Sport, my baby, is she ever going to shine when I am done,woo hoo. Wait a minute is that a bad sign when you get excited to polish vehicles, I know you guys will let me know and offer some support.:buffing:



:dblthumb2: For your work Nicholas.
 
dennis5_0 said:
I am going to be doing the same thing to my wife's 2010 Toyota Camry SE, I will be taking some photos and keeping a record of how things are going. I always keep the cars clean and waxed, but I have finally taken the next step and purchased a PC polisher and some products from AG. After seeing the great job Nicholas did on his Altima I am even more anxious to get to work on my TOY. Nicholas you did an amazing job on your vehicle. My next project is my 2009 Maroon Dodge 1500 Ram Sport, my baby, is she ever going to shine when I am done,woo hoo. Wait a minute is that a bad sign when you get excited to polish vehicles, I know you guys will let me know and offer some support.:buffing:



:dblthumb2: For your work Nicholas.
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Thanks!! Go for it - PC is a pretty good machine for beginners like you and me.

[p.s. my name is not Nicholas :-)]
 
OOOOOOOOOPSSSSSSSS sorry walletless, my bad. But I still think you did a great job on your car.


:dblthumb2: from your embarassed buddy, Dennis.
 
Looks Good! :thumbsup: I'm about to attempt my first detail aswell. I might go with the ultimate compound too.
 
Hack3rx said:
Looks Good! :thumbsup: I'm about to attempt my first detail aswell. I might go with the ultimate compound too.
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Do a test spot - don't pre-determine UC.. it may work, it may not work - based on the condition of the paint, hardness of the paint, technique, pressure, etc.
 
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