It's hard to say how long it could take you without fully knowing much details about the current condition of the paint. Is it heavily swirled, badly oxidized... what color too? If its been sitting outside neglected for a good bit of time you may need to hand glaze it too. This will re-nourish the paint before doing any extensive compounding otherwise the paint may just suck up any oils in the compound or polish and be a major pita to fully work with to achieve full correction and to wipe off. How many other vehicles have you detailed?
I detail professionally and did about 30 cars as a one man show last week. Time wise for me as a pro I'd estimate about 10-12 hours overall (break down below). For you as a novice and not having a routine and knowing your dance steps around the vehicle I'd say 20- 25 hours. If you are new to compounds & polishes and need to still experiment with products and pad combinations then it could be 25-28 hrs or so.
A few tips:
1) After the initial wash to save time you dont really have to worry about drying. The claying will remove any contaminants from the water and the compound/polish will remove any water spots. Just be sure to blow out any water from the crevices.
2) Dress the trim after you wash & before compounding; anything that gets on the trim will be easier to wipe off.
3) Don't wash the windows or chrome until after you are done with the polishing; otherwise you may have to keep re-cleaning to remove polish splatter.
4) If you're just opening the doors to aid in reaching high areas it may be best to wait until near the end to detail interior so as to avoid getting it dirty again from your feet shuffling around (shoe covers used in medical industry or at paint stores are nice to have to prevent ruining a nicely detailed interior)
5) After polishing don't forget to pop open the hood and trunk to remove the polish dust from the hood & trunk rails
Time broken down:
Full scale traditional wash with windows in & out, vacuum interior, tires cleaned and dressed- about 1.5 hrs
(Rinseless wash- 45 min- 1 hr)
Clay- 45-60 minutes
Taping: If your going that intense I would highly recommend taping off the trim and other pieces you dont want stained from polish & wax. This takes me about 30-45 min.
Hand Glaze- 1 hr- 1.5 hr
Compounding: 3-4 hrs
If the paint is easy to work with & not too damaged I can do the sides, top, and rear in about 1 hr & the hood & front in about 30 min. If its heavily damaged then there's no easy way to really say how long it could take to fully correct until a test spot is done. By doing just a small spot at first this will help you dial in the correct pad, and compound choice before going over the entire vehicle only to realize later on that you could have finished quicker via a different method. For a true level finish prior to opticoating Id probably say about 3-4 hrs+ would suffice considering how easy the paint on these vehicles is to work with.
Light Polish step- 45 min
2nd Wash- 30- 45 min
IPA- 15- 20 min
Interior detailed with steam cleaner & carpets shampoo- 1.5 hr
Reg Wax ( Applied & wiped): Hand 45 min Machine 30 min
Never used opticoat so dont know how long it takes to apply Maybe 1 hr 1.5 hr? I do know its a bit more involved than regular wax.
Good luck!
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