Detailing a Patrol Car

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titan1985

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New member here and newish to detailing. My patrol car needs a detail as is in a wash, clay, polish for light swirls and wax. My hesitation has to do with all the decal designs. My car is 15 charger so I really don't need to screw up the striping. My plan is to use hd speed followed with HD express spray wax. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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Vinyl graphics shouldn't be any problem at all. Polish and wax right over them as if they were paint. Just be careful not to leave wax residue along the outer edges of the graphics! Lol!
 
Mask off the decals, that's what I do for my factory applied graphics
 
titan1985 said:
Masking off all the stripes would be a huge pain

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Click to expand...

There really is no need to mask off the decals so long as you tread lightly across them during the polishing process. I used to mask off vinyl graphics when I first started out and ran into the problem of tape adhesive transfer from the heat generated while polishing. Was a pain in the ass to remove the residue and caused marring on the vinyl so I ended up having to polish the vinyl after all. If your vinyl graphics are in good shape you will not have any problems with polishing right over them. In fact they will look much better from a light polishing!
 
titan1985 said:
New member here and newish to detailing. My patrol car needs a detail as is in a wash, clay, polish for light swirls and wax. My hesitation has to do with all the decal designs. My car is 15 charger so I really don't need to screw up the striping. My plan is to use hd speed followed with HD express spray wax. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Sent from my XT1585 using Autogeekonline mobile app
Click to expand...

Take home squad or used in a fleet?

As long as you keep applying the spray wax every few washes you should be good to go. Get a good wheel brush and cleaner for those wheels. Or are they fancy wheel covers?

Sending you a PM.
 
Graphics, PPF (Paint protection film) etc are fine. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe McKee's actually makes a product specifically for flat colored graphics.
Nice cruiser! Could you please take some nice before, 50/50 and after shots for the Show-N-Shine section with a write-up? Would love to see that.

Good luck!
 
If the graphics are glossy, then buff around them as best as you can and I even will buff on them with an ultra fine cut polish and ultra soft foam pad.

COPO Camaro - Flex vs Rupes - Carbon Fiber Hood Extreme Makeover


watermark.php




Just use a soft touch...

Somewhere around here I have before and after pictures for buffing out an ORIGINAL Screaming Phoenix graphic on an all original 1978 Trans Am, the one that's on the cover of my RUPES how-to book.


:)
 
LEDetailing said:
Take home squad or used in a fleet?

As long as you keep applying the spray wax every few washes you should be good to go. Get a good wheel brush and cleaner for those wheels. Or are they fancy wheel covers?

Sending you a PM.
Click to expand...
Take home car and the wheels are just hubcaps. I really wish we could run them with the black rim under the hubcap.

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paul_g said:
Graphics, PPF (Paint protection film) etc are fine. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe McKee's actually makes a product specifically for flat colored graphics.
Nice cruiser! Could you please take some nice before, 50/50 and after shots for the Show-N-Shine section with a write-up? Would love to see that.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
I will definitely try to get some before after side by side shots up

Sent from my XT1585 using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
That's what I like to see. A person who takes pride in not only their job but what they drive while doing their job. If you patrolled by my house and pulled me over we could forget about the ticket and check for swirls and scratches.
 
I detailed a fully restored crown vic fla state trooper car for there training Academy. The graphics and lettering posed no threat as I skimmed over them with very little heat.With some common sense you will complete that no promblem.
 
Decals are no issue

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HD Speed followed by Poxy is a killer combo that will last longer. Poxy is a dream to work with!
 
I haven't forgot about posting pics. Just started night shift and my body is still adjusting. Hopefully within a week. Thanks everyone for all the advice

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I think you forgot about posting pics.... I'm on the nightshift at my dept as well. It's such a rough adjustment and we don't get take homes :( #smalltownproblems
 
Mike Phillips said:
If the graphics are glossy, then buff around them as best as you can and I even will buff on them with an ultra fine cut polish and ultra soft foam pad.

COPO Camaro - Flex vs Rupes - Carbon Fiber Hood Extreme Makeover


watermark.php




Just use a soft touch...

Somewhere around here I have before and after pictures for buffing out an ORIGINAL Screaming Phoenix graphic on an all original 1978 Trans Am, the one that's on the cover of my RUPES how-to book.


:)
Click to expand...
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/showthread.php?t=90991

Here is Mike restoring the screaming phoenix on the 78 trans am.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
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