Newb detailing advice

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wrz0170

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First timer here and to finer detailing, so hello to all! I have a ‘13, 2dr, Jeep JK Sahara. It’s never been waxed per se, other than car washes. Yes, even the brush ones. Never had any professional work done. It has swirls, some scratching , etc. I plan on private selling it at the turn of the year. I know I could probably have it detailed and be done with it for far less than the the time an money in invested equipment and product. But there is a method to my madness. I have plenty of time (and a garage) because I’m retired. OCD. I plan on a new vehicle in which I want to detail myself to include possible DIY ceramic coat. Finally, the satisfaction that I did and can do it myself. With that said, I want to make Jeep really shine again and beg a buyer to take it home with them. The inside is in pretty good shape.

I’ve done a little homework. Good wash (foam/two bucket), ironX for contaminants, clay bar, polishing (swirl and light scratch removal), some type of wax.
*hopefully the above is correct in sequence and hopefully that simplistic :)
** Hopefully not a tall order in what I want to achieve myself.

In that spirit. How would YOU approach my Jeep? What products from start to finish would you recommend/use? What would you use for the bumpers and black trim like door handles, mirrors and runner boards? I probably would invest in a decent polisher as well. So any recommendations in the “enthusiast” level would be most welcome.

Thanks a million,

William

View attachment 68346View attachment 68345
 
Good polisher... if I had to do over right now the G-9 from griots if not wanting to spend to much, a long throw, 15mm if don’t mind spending more on a good machine. Again I’d recommend griots g15. It’s what I use along with a dedicated 3” and love it.

Whatever you do invest in good pads and polish. Thin is usually what most recommend and after trying thick and thin I agree. Lake country thin pros are real popular and I like the griots Boss pads. Whatever you choose I’d recommend at least 4 of each with I think 6 being the sweet spot. Can’t have too many.

Guessing with years on it and care you’ll need to correct and polish. So definitely some orange and maybe micro fiber pads for corrections. I used griots yellow for polishing will have to figure out which color from different brand. If not to worried about perfection maybe an AIO.

Your routine seems good, I’d recommend a synthetic clay product. Nanoskin griots and PBMG make good ones.

I’d recommend a sio2 sealant instead of wax as you can use as a topper if you coat your next vehicle. The brand I use is not sold here but it does a great job on black trim and I’d guess most sio2 sealants will work great. If trim is bad I’ve heard great things on Mckees trim restorer.

My biggest recommendation though is if your going to be polishing a lot go with a long throw 15mm polisher. Nothing to be scared off (I’m a newbie too and my 1st polish went swell). It works faster, and mor efficiently.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Nice Jeep!

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wrz0170 said:
First timer here and to finer detailing, so hello to all!
Click to expand...

Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:



wrz0170 said:
In that spirit. How would YOU approach my Jeep?
Click to expand...

I would keep it simple simon, get a GREAT one-step AIO for the paint. It's fast, it's easy and the results are amazing.

What products from start to finish would you recommend/use?

What would you use for the bumpers and black trim like door handles, mirrors and runner boards?

I probably would invest in a decent polisher as well.

So any recommendations in the “enthusiast” level would be most welcome.

Thanks a million,

William


[/QUOTE]

Here's my suggestions, again, keeping it simple. If you think after flipping this Jeep you're going to do this again, then start out with a quality tool. A lot of experts on Facebook will tell you to get the Harbor Freight polisher fo cheap but you get what you pay for, it's a piece of crap as far as quality goes and I'm always surprised how many people recommend this tool to others.


Get one of these, either way, get a 5" backing plate so you can turn and churn smaller, 5.5" pads as these fit your Jeep panels better and actually work better on almost all new cars better.

Polisher
Griot?s Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher
Griots Garage 6 Inch Heavy Duty Random Orbital Polisher


Best AIO on the market in my experience. Get the quart, it's available in a 16 ounce bottle but you'll end up using all of it once you find out how great it is and the quart is a much better deal dollar/per ounce.
BLACKFIRE One Step, BLACKFIRE Total Polish & Seal, polish and wax, cleaner wax, car polish


For all the black plastic trim - this works amazing well and lasts a long time.
Pinnacle Black Label Ceramic Trim Restorer


The Buff and Shine Uro-Tech pads in 6" will perfectly fit a 5" backing plate. Both of the tools I linked to above love these pads. For use with the BF AIO you can get away with the YELLOW pads. Get the maroon pads if you want more cut and then re-polish with the yellow to insure no micro-marring from the aggressive texture of the maroon pads. Don't get the blue pads, for some reason, they don't like heat and bowl-in with use.

6 Inch Buff & Shine Uro-Tec Foam Pads



Best 5" backing plate on the market today
https://www.autogeek.net/griots-5-inch-vented-backing-plate.html


This stuff is way too expensive for a car wash but worth every penny. Best way to buy it is when Autogeek runs some kind of 25% and I've even seen 30% off sales with some kind of good deal on shipping. Then get the GALLON.

https://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-uber-sio2-coating-wash.html


For the tires, I'm a fan of tire coatings and I'm teaching a class on this topic at Mobile Tech Expo in a few months. But to keep it simple, get a great tire cleaner and 303 Aerospace protectant.

https://www.autogeek.net/tuf-shine-tire-cleaner.html

https://www.autogeek.net/303-automotive-protectant.html




:)
 
The above was taken from the pictures I shared to document how hands-on my classes are.

Here's the write-up for JUST one car and it also shows you what BLACKFIRE One Step can do.

Here’s the power of teamwork and BLACKFIRE One Step!

Freaking amazing results and some of the people that worked on this car had NEVER used a machine to polish before.




BEFORE


Click here to view the original image of 1024x768px.
902382be954a9ca72afbfff24601b628.jpg





AFTER


Click here to view the original image of 1024x699px.
71ee4b7b5b53a37b333cb3e7da35b193.jpg


:)
 
Mike, what pad is being used on the Flex by the guy doing the tires (or make a recommendation) ?
 
What Mike said. The Blackfire AIO, when paired with the right pads, is an amazing one step product. The cost, plus just how effective it is, make it hard to beat.
 
howardm4 said:
Mike, what pad is being used on the Flex by the guy doing the tires (or make a recommendation) ?
Click to expand...


Here's a write-up I did on how I machine scrub tires. It's the only way to go if you can afford the tool, which is around $500.00 - it's the cordless FLEX PE14. Not only does it have the POWER but because it's cordless I don't get shocked when working in a wet environment.

See Post #8 in this write-up

How long does the battery last? 40 minutes - Cordless FLEX XC 3401 aka the CBEAST

FLEX_Tire_Scubber_01.JPG


FLEX_Tire_Scubber_08.JPG


FLEX_Tire_Scubber_17.JPG


FLEX_Tire_Scubber_18.JPG





And here's where to get the stuff I shared....

FLEX_Tire_Scubber_19.JPG




On Autogeek.com

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Long Bristles <-- For tire scrubbing this works best

Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Short Bristles

Wheel Woolies Boar’s Hair Wheel Brush

TUF SHINE Tire Cleaner 22 ounce

SONAX Wheel Cleaner Full Effect

FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher



And yeah... that old 2-door relic from the past came out fairly good...

1971Char_RT_031.JPG



:)
 
Welcome to AGO, William! :)

My wife has a JK Wrangler Sahara. (2-door as well).

In addition to the awesome advice from Mike and others, I would strongly suggest a 3" backing plate and pads to go with the 5" set up.

Wranglers have a ton of little "nooks & crannies" where the 3" set up is a must IMO.
 
Wow! What great advice and suggestions. Thank you!

To summarize with some questions:

It would appear that a G9 would be a great start with 3” & 5” backing plates.
6” Yellow Buff and Shine pads.

Regarding the BlackFire One Step with yellow pad. Will I need to do or use anything further than this AIO?

Re: the Jeep itself. My fenders and front grill are plastic. I can treat the light scratches and swirls as I would on the metal?

The “Wrangler” “Sahara” decals on the side. Do I protect them with some type of tape? Since the pads can be somewhat abrasive...

Based on advice, suggestions and wanting to adhere to KISS principal

>Rinse
>Wash using Wolfgang Uber or equivalent using two bucket and/or foam cannon.
>Dry
>Sonax Fallout or equivalent
>Claybar (haven’t researched which product or like a mitt or bar system)
>Blackfire One Step AIO using 6” Yellow pad and maybe 3” for hard to reach
>Pinnacle Black or equivalent for my black plastic bumpers, door handles, mirrors etc.
>Tire cleaner/Protectant.
>Sit back and admire with an adult beverage, preferably Bourbon.

William
 
wrz0170 said:
Wow! What great advice and suggestions. Thank you!

To summarize with some questions:

It would appear that a G9 would be a great start with 3” & 5” backing plates.
6” Yellow Buff and Shine pads.

Regarding the BlackFire One Step with yellow pad. Will I need to do or use anything further than this AIO?

Re: the Jeep itself. My fenders and front grill are plastic. I can treat the light scratches and swirls as I would on the metal?

The “Wrangler” “Sahara” decals on the side. Do I protect them with some type of tape? Since the pads can be somewhat abrasive...

Based on advice, suggestions and wanting to adhere to KISS principal

>Rinse
>Wash using Wolfgang Uber or equivalent using two bucket and/or foam cannon.
>Dry
>Sonax Fallout or equivalent
>Claybar (haven’t researched which product or like a mitt or bar system)
>Blackfire One Step AIO using 6” Yellow pad and maybe 3” for hard to reach
>Pinnacle Black or equivalent for my black plastic bumpers, door handles, mirrors etc.
>Tire cleaner/Protectant.
>Sit back and admire with an adult beverage, preferably Bourbon.

William
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great plan!

When you are polishing painted plastic panels it's the heat build up that you need to be carefull with. Either polishing in smaller sections and varies the place where you do next section so you don't do it the next beside it. Know that the painted plastic fenders and bumpers can be on the thicker side. So usually it's not a problem. Feel the paint from time to time during the polishing passes. Sometimes you can polishing on larger sections to keep the heat build up lower. It depends much on how the panels and the polish and pads and polisher is acting. It's when you do a lot of passes per section and use a polish that don't have a long working time aka so it don't dries while you are polishing. The Blackfire One Step Finish is knowned for it's long working time and should help with holding down the temperature. So with what you are planning on to use I don't think you will have any problems with the heat build up and can treat it like the paint on the other panels. Just feel the paint so you are certain that's it's not going up to much. And what is too much? Hard to say exactly but if you would notice the BF AIO dries when you are polishing these panels it's definitely building up the heat. Do 1-2 lesser passes per sections if that's happens and maybe come back and do an extra section passes on it if you don't get the correction you wanted. It's going to be warm but you don't want it hot if that makes sense.

Fun times a head :)

/ Tony
 
wrz0170 said:
Regarding the BlackFire One Step with yellow pad.

Will I need to do or use anything further than this AIO?
Click to expand...


It's generally accepted that most one-step cleaner/waxes, or cleaner/sealants also called AIOs, protect or "last" for about 3 months on a daily driver parked outside.

The benefits are,

Ease of use - the BF One Step wipes off super easy.
Excellent correction and finishing ability
Dramaticallly less time needed - One step isn't just less time buffing but it's less time wiping.

But the drawbacks are, longevity. At least with most products. How long anything lasts ALWAYS depends on how the finish is "touched" after application. Park the car in a garage and leave it sit there and the product will last a long time. Wash your car with a brick and nothing is going to last. It's all about the word "touch".

What I do I apply a dedicated sealant over the paint after wiping off the BF One Step. A week ago, I used the new BLACKFIRE BlackIce Hybrid Liquid Wax.

Lots of options for a long lasting topper.

Or - once in a while, simply buzz over the major panels with the One Step again. It's about as fast and easy as it can get.

d18dc36148a691f2f3282ef1b11343d4.jpg


b446ad901e76d6c52e8df086967e3b2c.jpg




:)
 
Great stuff! One other question re the factory decals. On the side panel where it has “Sahara” “Wrangler”. Will I need to protect them somehow or is it ok to gently go over them with the polisher/pad? Thank you!

William
 
wrz0170 said:
Great stuff! One other question re the factory decals. On the side panel where it has “Sahara” “Wrangler”. Will I need to protect them somehow or is it ok to gently go over them with the polisher/pad? Thank you!

William
Click to expand...

Probably wouldn’t hurt them with a light touch. I buff over glossy graphics all the time.

It’s the “tips” of any graphic or lettering that you have to be careful of - once the lift - its game-over. They will never lay down flat again.

I have an article on this somewhere.


:)
 
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