BryanH
New member
- Jan 9, 2013
- 152
- 0
Hello AG forum members, I'm new here. There's so much information out there, it almost seems overwhelming! But, better to be armed with information than go in flying blind. :xyxthumbs:
A quick background:
I've detailed a few cars in the past, by hand, using off the shelf products that I bought in 2005.
Probably my best result was an '85 Corolla GT-S with single stage paint that went from Super Dull Pink back to Super Red. Before | After
However, it's time for me to update my detailing arsenal with new knowledge and tools. I've learned a lot in the last couple weeks from this site! I'm still in the research phase and am slowly adding products to my Wish List for later. Chief among them is a Porter Cable (or similar) kit.
And what great timing - I have a new project car that is crying out for some proper care!
(Is that just repulsive or what?
)
After a thorough wash, it's a solid 50-footer from some angles:
The Cherry Red Pearl clearcoat on this 1991 300ZX has seen much better days. Given the lack of sun damage to the interior and to the exterior rubber trim, my guess is this car was used as garage shelving for a while. It did sit for several years before I purchased it (it's done 3,000 miles since 2004!).
Now basically I'm trying to wrap my head around a new process - and what order to do everything in. See if I'm on the right track...
1. Wash with dish soap
2. Clay
3. Polish
4. Alcohol wipe down
5. DrColorChip
(wait a week)
6. Wash
7. Very lightly polish areas that were repaired by DrColorChip
8. Alcohol wipe down again
9. Seal
10. Wax
Of course that's just for the paint - there are hard water stains on the glass, too.
Clay bar should work for the paint, but what works well for glass?
I'm unsure about whether the paint on the hood is too bad to repair. It won't stop me from trying though!
In the meantime while I've been working on the mechanicals I couldn't resist doing some basic clean up and little things.
Engine cleaning Stage 2 on the right, Stage 3 on the left. Stage 3 this time was No Touch tire dressing... not ideal, but I never did find a good replacement for CD-2 Engine Detailer. However, my local Autozone has it again! I stocked up.
I used Meguiars Ultimate Black trim restorer on this door handle. I didn't like the results from this product when I tried it on the exterior trim of another car (I much prefer Gold Class Trim Detailer), however it seems to have done pretty well with faded interior plastic! Overall the interior is pretty good and will only need a few more little things like this to look great.
Anyway, this has gotten long enough. I'm interested to hear what revisions you all might suggest for me in my plan of attack. I haven't narrowed down many specific products yet either (I'm tempted to try some Klasse simply because of my German heritage, but that's kind of a silly reason isn't it!).
This will be an 'outdoors' car, driven daily, so longer term protection is probably a bit more important than the ultimate deepest shine. I still want it to look presentable though.
Happy driving,
-Bryan
A quick background:
I've detailed a few cars in the past, by hand, using off the shelf products that I bought in 2005.
Probably my best result was an '85 Corolla GT-S with single stage paint that went from Super Dull Pink back to Super Red. Before | After
However, it's time for me to update my detailing arsenal with new knowledge and tools. I've learned a lot in the last couple weeks from this site! I'm still in the research phase and am slowly adding products to my Wish List for later. Chief among them is a Porter Cable (or similar) kit.
And what great timing - I have a new project car that is crying out for some proper care!
(Is that just repulsive or what?
)After a thorough wash, it's a solid 50-footer from some angles:
The Cherry Red Pearl clearcoat on this 1991 300ZX has seen much better days. Given the lack of sun damage to the interior and to the exterior rubber trim, my guess is this car was used as garage shelving for a while. It did sit for several years before I purchased it (it's done 3,000 miles since 2004!).
Now basically I'm trying to wrap my head around a new process - and what order to do everything in. See if I'm on the right track...
1. Wash with dish soap
2. Clay
3. Polish
4. Alcohol wipe down
5. DrColorChip
(wait a week)
6. Wash
7. Very lightly polish areas that were repaired by DrColorChip
8. Alcohol wipe down again
9. Seal
10. Wax
Of course that's just for the paint - there are hard water stains on the glass, too.
Clay bar should work for the paint, but what works well for glass?
I'm unsure about whether the paint on the hood is too bad to repair. It won't stop me from trying though!
In the meantime while I've been working on the mechanicals I couldn't resist doing some basic clean up and little things.
Engine cleaning Stage 2 on the right, Stage 3 on the left. Stage 3 this time was No Touch tire dressing... not ideal, but I never did find a good replacement for CD-2 Engine Detailer. However, my local Autozone has it again! I stocked up.
I used Meguiars Ultimate Black trim restorer on this door handle. I didn't like the results from this product when I tried it on the exterior trim of another car (I much prefer Gold Class Trim Detailer), however it seems to have done pretty well with faded interior plastic! Overall the interior is pretty good and will only need a few more little things like this to look great.
Anyway, this has gotten long enough. I'm interested to hear what revisions you all might suggest for me in my plan of attack. I haven't narrowed down many specific products yet either (I'm tempted to try some Klasse simply because of my German heritage, but that's kind of a silly reason isn't it!).
This will be an 'outdoors' car, driven daily, so longer term protection is probably a bit more important than the ultimate deepest shine. I still want it to look presentable though.
Happy driving,
-Bryan
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