Detailing piece by piece?

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vleong2332

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Hello AGO community,

I recently joined this forum because I recently purchased my first "new" (certified used) car. I want to keep the car condition as nice as possible internally (engine) and externally (paint, trims, etc.) I live in an apartment that has a space to wash cars where I can hand wash my baby. But they don't have electrical outlet nearby.

After reading Mike Phillip's post: Man vs. Machine, I decided that I'm gonna have to spend time detailing by hand. I know it's going to take a looooong time to detail the whole car. My question: is it possible to detail (wash, clay, compound, polish, sealant, wax) my car by hand panel by panel? For example: this Saturday I'm gonna do full detail cycle on the hood, next Saturday full cycle on the front bumper, next Saturday the fender, next the doors, next, rear bumper, etc. I realize it may take 4/5 weekends to fully detail the car.

Has anyone done this? Any tips? Or any other alternative?
 
I'd just wait to get a polisher, but thats just me. It can be done but don't expect to use your arms for a month! :-)
 
I don't see why you cant just make sure after the compounding/polishing step be sure to protect your hard work by putting a sealant or wax, and removing any bird dropping as soon as possible
 
Depending on your environment, it will save more time over the long run to wash and decon (clay, IX, etc) the entire vehicle - paint, glass, wheels - in one go, then step through your compounding/polishing steps when you can.

Protect your surfaces with a sealant or wax in the mean time.

Don't worry that the LSP will effect your polishing - if compounds can cut through clear coat, a few mm of sealant will not be any extra effort.

You know then that your whole vehicle is clean, decontaminated, and ready for the next step.

If you live in a nice area or keep the car garaged, you may only need to do a waterless wash or rinseless wash then on the areas you're looking to compound.

But even if you do have to wash the entire vehicle, it'll be a quick wash, as you've already done the majority of the grunt work on the first detailing decon wash.

I used to do my 'paint correction' similar to this way, prior to machine polishing.

jamesboyy said:
I don't see why you cant just make sure after the compounding/polishing step be sure to protect your hard work by putting a sealant or wax, and removing any bird dropping as soon as possible
Click to expand...

what he said.
 
so let me get this... Based on what you guys said, I have this progression:

Day 1: wash, clay, seal/wax
Day 2: quick wash, compound/polish one panel, re-seal/wax that one panel
Day 3: quick wash, compound/polish another panel, re-seal/wax that one panel.
Repeat on each panel until the whole car is cleaned, decon-ed, and protected.

Is that about the idea?
 
vleong2332 said:
so let me get this... Based on what you guys said, I have this progression:

Day 1: wash, clay, seal/wax
Day 2: quick wash, compound/polish one panel, re-seal/wax that one panel
Day 3: quick wash, compound/polish another panel, re-seal/wax that one panel.
Repeat on each panel until the whole car is cleaned, decon-ed, and protected.

Is that about the idea?
Click to expand...

A good idea would be not compounding and polishing at all by hand and for now using a paint cleaner or an all in one like Meguiars White Wax. You could do the entire car in one day, clean, and wax with the Meguiars.
 
Sure you can do it by hand.
Yes it will take longer but you can make a big impact.

Take your time working only a 16x16 area at a time.

Products that would work for you.

Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Meguiar's 205 fine polish.

Focus on one panel at at time, don't rush it and you'll be fine:)

Good Luck!


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using AG Online
 
I did my detailing by hand for a long time. I'll never do it again.

Why not just go buy a polisher and be done with it? If money is an issue you could grab Harbor Freight's DA (I have it and it's great). For less than $100 you could have the DA, a good backing plate (factory one sucks) and some pads.
 
1. Work a few hour of overtime

2. Buy a DA at Harbor Freight

3. Do one detail for a friend ($75)

4. Buy a used PC7424
 
Eric said:
I did my detailing by hand for a long time. I'll never do it again.

Why not just go buy a polisher and be done with it? If money is an issue you could grab Harbor Freight's DA (I have it and it's great). For less than $100 you could have the DA, a good backing plate (factory one sucks) and some pads.
Click to expand...
He stated no electrical outlet nearby.

How far is your apartment from where you park? Long extension cord may work.
 
Since you have no electricity the following equation.


Meguiar's DA Power System + Cordless Drill = Dual action polisher....

autogeek_2270_111568735


Believe it or not this combination does a decent job for what it is and it's offered by one of the oldest names in the car care business.......Meguiar's
 
Great idea, only thing he'd need a few batteries but yes it would work. :dblthumb2:





QUOTE=BobbyG;1064681]Since you have no electricity the following equation.


Meguiar's DA Power System + Cordless Drill = Dual action polisher....

autogeek_2270_111568735


Believe it or not this combination does a decent job for what it is and it's offered by one of the oldest names in the car care business.......Meguiar's[/QUOTE]
 
vleong2332 said:
After reading Mike Phillip's post: Man vs. Machine, I decided that I'm gonna have to spend time detailing by hand.
Click to expand...

This is an article I wrote after just starting my run with Autogeek. I had always wanted to time myself to see what the difference was between working by hand versus working by machine. Big difference.

Here's the article...

Man versus Machine

The human hand versus Meguiar's G110!



vleong2332 said:
My question: is it possible to detail (wash, clay, compound, polish, sealant, wax) my car by hand panel by panel?
Click to expand...


Yes.

I actually recommend this approach for our more seasoned members of society when working by machine in my how-to book so they don't kill themselves trying to undo years of neglected to their car in a single day.

The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine on the Apple iBookstore

The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine - Paperback

On pages 117 and 118 you'll find the recommendation and then I list 4 different reasons why to take this approach.

As mentioned already and as explained in my article Man versus Machine, when working on clearcoats by hand you have to reduce the size of our work area to a very small size. At least for the first step as the goal of the first step is to remove the majority of swirls and scratches and this means removing paint.

To remove paint by hand you have to,

  • Push an applicator FAST over the surface.
  • Push an applicator HARD over the surface, as in FIRM downward pressure.


This action of pushing fast and hard will wear you out and for this reason you'll become less effective the longer you work.


Be sure to overlap a little into the previous section when moving onto new territory.


:)
 
BobbyG said:
Since you have no electricity the following equation.


Meguiar's DA Power System + Cordless Drill = Dual action polisher....

autogeek_2270_111568735


Believe it or not this combination does a decent job for what it is and it's offered by one of the oldest names in the car care business.......Meguiar's
Click to expand...

I thought you needed a corded drill for that system or you could burn your cordless out? If not, it's a great option and Megs UC/UP are very user-friendly.
 
CDot said:
I thought you needed a corded drill for that system or you could burn your cordless out? If not, it's a great option and Megs UC/UP are very user-friendly.
Click to expand...

I've had negative experiences with this system and a cordless drill/driver (Dewalt 18v).

There's not enough power behind the pad with a cordless system. most of the drill's power is sucked up rotating the attachment and pad; when put to paint it really bogs down.

I cannot speak to the DA system and a corded drill.
 
Becciasm said:
I've had negative experiences with this system and a cordless drill/driver (Dewalt 18v).

There's not enough power behind the pad with a cordless system. most of the drill's power is sucked up rotating the attachment and pad; when put to paint it really bogs down.

I cannot speak to the DA system and a corded drill.
Click to expand...

Ok, that's what I figured--good note for the OP
 
No power no problem.
When I was in the Army I always vacuumed my car and I had no power nearby.
You have two options:
1: A power inverter
2: Small generator

Both can be bought for less than $100 from HF, and their DA can be bought for about $60 with a coupon. With the time you'll save detail another car or two and get your money back and some!!!
 
Thanks for y'all's input! I really do appreciate it.

Money is not the main problem, but the electric outlet is. I don't want to buy a DA polisher without having a place to plug it in. I have to scout the area more and see if long extension cable might be an option.
As I'm typing these, I remember that there is a Dirt Cheap nearby that might have a corded/cordless drill for cheap that I can combine with the DA power system. For now, I'm going to have to stick by hand (already spent more than what I wanted for car products this month).

A question about Man versus Machine post by Mike: why do you use the flat side of the pad to apply product on paint and not the side with holes/bumps?
 
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