Greetings everyone,
After settling on basic hand washes, liquid waxes and detailing sprays in between washes for the last 10 years and every excuse imaginable not to, a friend of mine got me back into detailing after a long sabbatical. It all started with a conversation about my friend wanting to repaint his 1963 MGB. I explained him he could improve the appearance of his car by polishing, compounding and applying a quality last step product.
So off he went to purchase the products to detail his car while I purchased a FLEX “Beast” and various pads to get the job done. In the meantime, I read postings and watch any video to refresh what I learned from a detailer friend along time ago. I would attach before and after pictures; unfortunately, neither one of us thought of pictures to share. Considering cops would turn around to check the car out, I have to say “we must have done something right”.
Move forwards 2 years and here I am writing my first post seeking for your advice and recommendations on products (i.e. compound, polishing, ceramic, wax, sealant) you believe will provide the best results for the automobiles listed below. I have used Griot’s products over the years with great results; now, I’m ready to try something else. I must admit, I have wondered many times how you, especially Mike Phillips, choose which products to use considering the vast selection available on the market.
Car #1 is a 2001 Lexus RX300 with original White Gold Crystal paint. Since this is my daily driver, my goal is to prepare the paint so that I can apply an LSP that will protect her from the road and weather elements.
Car #2 is a Deep Black Pearl 2017 VW GTI. She’s kept in the garage most of the time except driving her to special events (i.e. date nights, black tie events) weather permitting. The goal here is to make the black metallic paint pop and have depth, my apologies if I don’t use the proper terms. In other words, I want her to stand out.
Car #3 is the Garage Queen, a 1983 Zinc Metallic Porsche 911 that is driven on late summer and fall weekends. Like car #2 the goal is to give her a show room shine that will turn heads around. After all, she is the Garage Queen. J
Ease of maintenance, efficiency and product longevity are important factors considering I would rather spend more time driving these beauties than washing them. My plan is to spread the work over several days, weekends and months to detail the interior, engine, wheels and exterior of each car.
For the exterior, I plan to:
I have been purchasing some tools and products over the years, like the FLEX “Beast”, LC pads (i.e. orange, white, red , black), various MF towels, and cleaning/maintenance products for the interior and wheels. In order to get the cars’ exterior detailed in the coming months, I need to figure out which products and/or system should I use… CARPRO, BF, PBL, Wolfgang the list goes on… oy vey
… how do you choose? In pictures they all look fantastic; however, as a photographer I know a photograph can overstate or understate the results.
Besides which product to use, I’ve also struggled determining how much of a product (i.e. ceramic coating, number of towels) I will need. I know a 30 ml ceramic coating bottle will suffice for the smaller cars, but how much I need to coat the SUV, or I will two 50 ml bottles be enough to coat all three.
Any advice and feedback provided will be greatly appreciated. I know this is a topic that has been discussed in many other postings and I may be asking for directions to the holy grail of detailing; nonetheless, I’m looking for your feedback and advice based on your experience with your product recommendation on the colours/paint quality of the cars I own (btw all cars have the original paint.)
Thank you in advance your feedback and advice; I look forward to reading it.
Cris
PS I will post photos of the vehicles in the coming days.
After settling on basic hand washes, liquid waxes and detailing sprays in between washes for the last 10 years and every excuse imaginable not to, a friend of mine got me back into detailing after a long sabbatical. It all started with a conversation about my friend wanting to repaint his 1963 MGB. I explained him he could improve the appearance of his car by polishing, compounding and applying a quality last step product.
So off he went to purchase the products to detail his car while I purchased a FLEX “Beast” and various pads to get the job done. In the meantime, I read postings and watch any video to refresh what I learned from a detailer friend along time ago. I would attach before and after pictures; unfortunately, neither one of us thought of pictures to share. Considering cops would turn around to check the car out, I have to say “we must have done something right”.
Move forwards 2 years and here I am writing my first post seeking for your advice and recommendations on products (i.e. compound, polishing, ceramic, wax, sealant) you believe will provide the best results for the automobiles listed below. I have used Griot’s products over the years with great results; now, I’m ready to try something else. I must admit, I have wondered many times how you, especially Mike Phillips, choose which products to use considering the vast selection available on the market.
Car #1 is a 2001 Lexus RX300 with original White Gold Crystal paint. Since this is my daily driver, my goal is to prepare the paint so that I can apply an LSP that will protect her from the road and weather elements.
Car #2 is a Deep Black Pearl 2017 VW GTI. She’s kept in the garage most of the time except driving her to special events (i.e. date nights, black tie events) weather permitting. The goal here is to make the black metallic paint pop and have depth, my apologies if I don’t use the proper terms. In other words, I want her to stand out.
Car #3 is the Garage Queen, a 1983 Zinc Metallic Porsche 911 that is driven on late summer and fall weekends. Like car #2 the goal is to give her a show room shine that will turn heads around. After all, she is the Garage Queen. J
Ease of maintenance, efficiency and product longevity are important factors considering I would rather spend more time driving these beauties than washing them. My plan is to spread the work over several days, weekends and months to detail the interior, engine, wheels and exterior of each car.
For the exterior, I plan to:
- Wash (both wheels and body)
- Chemical Decontamination (if needed)
- Mechanical Decontamination (if needed)
- Compound/Polish/Finish (as needed)
- Last Step Product: Coating, Sealant, or Wax (not sure yet)
I have been purchasing some tools and products over the years, like the FLEX “Beast”, LC pads (i.e. orange, white, red , black), various MF towels, and cleaning/maintenance products for the interior and wheels. In order to get the cars’ exterior detailed in the coming months, I need to figure out which products and/or system should I use… CARPRO, BF, PBL, Wolfgang the list goes on… oy vey
… how do you choose? In pictures they all look fantastic; however, as a photographer I know a photograph can overstate or understate the results. Besides which product to use, I’ve also struggled determining how much of a product (i.e. ceramic coating, number of towels) I will need. I know a 30 ml ceramic coating bottle will suffice for the smaller cars, but how much I need to coat the SUV, or I will two 50 ml bottles be enough to coat all three.
Any advice and feedback provided will be greatly appreciated. I know this is a topic that has been discussed in many other postings and I may be asking for directions to the holy grail of detailing; nonetheless, I’m looking for your feedback and advice based on your experience with your product recommendation on the colours/paint quality of the cars I own (btw all cars have the original paint.)
Thank you in advance your feedback and advice; I look forward to reading it.
Cris
PS I will post photos of the vehicles in the coming days.