Detailing my car in several days. How to split the job?

Linneo

Linneo

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Hello!
I have been preparing for my first "serious" detailing. In both learning the theory and getting the needed stuff.

My big doubt now is how to divide the job, since there is no way I can make time to work on my car for more than a few hours on Saturday and Sunday.

A little bit about what I will be doing:
My first car will be my newest. A black BMW 335i that has had some hand polishing and almost always been hand washed and waxed. So the paint is in a quite good condition, only medium to light swirls, I would say moderate imperfections.
I will be using a Porter Cable 7424XP.
Some products that I will be using are chosen more upon availability on my country than personal preference.
First will clay with 3D HD Touch and 3D professional grade clay bar, then two steps with 3D HD Addapt. First one with orange light cutting Lake Country pad, second one with white polishing pad.
After that I will prepare the paint with Sonax Profiline Paint Prepare using grey pad and seal with Sonax Nano Lack Protect.

That sounds like a lot of work. Will need probably 2 or more weekends, since like I've said, I will only have a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

So I need help on:

1) How should I split the job? By steps? Or by car panels?

2) I can leave the car garaged and unused. Should I use a car cover?

3) How can I prevent myself from making new swirls to an already polished but not yet sealed paint when washing or cleaning it the next weekend to finish the job?

Thank you!
 
I would do one panel start to finish if it were me, though I don't think it makes that big of a deal. Every time you want to polish though, you're obviously going to have to wash and dry thoroughly.

Wash it and clay it on one day. The next time you work on it, do a panel start to finish. Wash it again, compound/polish, IPA wipe, wax/seal. If you have time, do another panel. I think for a beginner this is the way to go.

Also, make sure to do a test spot and check your work using an IPA before performing the whole process on the entire car. Take your time.
 
Hello there, welcome to the world of detailing. :)
What I did was I washed and clayed whole car day 1. (If only had 3 hours to spare). Day 2 I will light polish whole car. If no time just try and finish whole polishing process and continue the next day because IMO the polishing oil acts as a thin temporary barrier to protect the paint. Next day then spray down the car with ipa removing polishing oil and wax it. :)
 
Thank you all for your help! :xyxthumbs:
I'm starting to feel more confident already.

I think I will thoroughly wash/dry and clay the whole car on first day, as StuDLei and John_Jethro both advice, since that won't take too long and it won't be so hard.

After that, I need to make a choice between going for one panel at a time or making the whole car for each step.
I think I like the idea of polishing the whole car and leaving the paint "uncleaned" after the first step, like John_Jethro says : "because IMO the polishing oil acts as a thin temporary barrier to protect the paint".
I would like to know what Mike thinks about it.

One big question I have about doing one panel at a time is: How to avoid touching the sealed panel when polishing the one next to it! Can I use painters tape over sealant?
 
Start with the panels that face the sky: hood, roof, trunk lid. You may have to lean on the fenders, doors, rear quarter panels, etc to do them, it only make sense to do them start to finish and not correct panels that you might damage while correcting other panels.

Compound, polish, seal. Then do the next.

After that, you can pretty much tackle any part next: front, rear, or sides. Use natural seams or breaks in the panels to know where to stop, and more importantly, where to start up again next week.

Do all three steps on one panel and move to the next. If you have to drive the car anywhere, you have to clean whatever panels you plan on working on next. If you use natural panel breaks, you shouldn't have much overlap, but if you do, try to keep the compounding overlap to a minimum, polish a little further past that, and then wax or sealant can be overlapped as much as you want.
 
Thank you aim4squirrels!
I started yesterday.
After a thorough wash, inspecting the roof I found at least 3 of this spots, what are they?
It looks like they might be type II bird drops, but they are really tiny, you can tell the size of one of them next to my finger:
View attachment 35267

This is a closer picture of the same spot:

View attachment 35268

Is this a Fractured/Wrinkled etching?
 
Cut down on the steps, no need for two applications of Adapt.

I did this 435i with HD Speed, Orange LC Pad and Poxy, white LC Pad, 5 hours total including washing.

I would recommend complete each step first, then if you can't go to the next step you start there when you can.



 
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