Here are some examples of what I cover before doing what I call a
"Complete". When I used to detail cars full time, if I had to start with the compounding process, then I would call the job a "Complete", because I had to start with the hardest and most time consuming process, (removing serious defect with a rotary buffer and a compound), and work my way through multiple steps until I had achieved a show car finish, in other words, I had to
completely go over the car finish with all the steps required for a show car finish.
In order to prevent splatter on wheels and tires, you can purchase wheel covers and any good PBE store or just use what you already have,
newspaper and tape
After covering the wheels and tires, start taping-off everything you don't' want to
detail later, (Here the word detail means,
get the wax out of the cracks, or anything you don't want to get excess product, (splatter), into, such as under grills where the area under the grill is not readily accessible, or you don't want to run the buffer over, like high points, edges and body seams, or even known thin areas.
Tape off small trim areas
Sometimes I cut pieces with scissors to make for a neater taping
Window gaskets and trim around side mirror taped-off
Windshield wash water squirter taped-off
This particular car was being prepped for the 2002 Bimmerfest, it was a
side-by-side, before & after demonstration. This is why you'll see the car taped-off down the middle.
The first time we taped off one half,
After the show the car was brought back and we taped-off the finished side so we wouldn't splatter it with product while buffing out the un-buffed side.
Here you can see we have taped-off the gasket and trim around the window and also a
sticker in the lower right hand corner to protect it from splatter that would later need to be removed. (Just an extra safety precaution)
Normal kitchen
tin foil can come in handy for wrapping around some items like windshield wiper arms because you can shape it and it will keep its hold.
Here's a picture of the
felt surrounding the sun roof to prevent it from product splatter. It's very difficult to clean this type of material so it's always better to tape it off.
Before
(Kind of hurts your eyes to look at)
Feather Sanding
After Drivers side only
Meguiar's Booth at the 2002 Bimmerfest in Santa Barbara, California
You can't see it because it's cloudy out at the time of this picture, but as you see the hood open, only one side of the swirls have been removed.
IMG]http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/2BimmerFestBooth1a.jpg[/IMG]
Back for the other side after the show...
Completely Finished
Taping-off is an important part of the process and the overall quality of the end results.
