No Garage, What To Do?

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DMiller

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Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I hate having a dirty car, and really want to assemble a kit and start maintaining a stunning vehicle. I've read enough that I think I know which products to go with, proper technique, etc.

However, I don't really have anywhere to detail and was hoping for advice/tricks in this regard? I take all my washing supplies to a local carwash that doesn't require too many quarters to start up, use the power washer to prep the car, fill up my buckets, etc then proceed to hand wash it. However, it's not really feasible to sit in the wash bay for the 2-20+ hours it will require to do my first full detail on the car.

I live near a large run-down military installation with plenty of open parking lots, but no real shade or access to power (still contemplating springing for a machine polisher!). Can you guys think of anything for my predicament?
 
What about one of those canopies that go over the driveway? One of my neighbors has one and it even looks good.
 
You can do your car in sections, finish just the drivers door for example all the way through from polish to wax. Next session to the rear drivers side door and so on. Park the car so the area your working on is shaded. You could do it just about anywhere. When it's all done, wax again to even it out.

During the process it will make for a nice conversation piece, seeing the difference of before and after side by side.

Spring for a polisher, even an old used original PC. It's worth it.
 
A4 1.8tqm said:
You can do your car in sections, finish just the drivers door for example all the way through from polish to wax. Next session to the rear drivers side door and so on. Park the car so the area your working on is shaded. You could do it just about anywhere. When it's all done, wax again to even it out.

During the process it will make for a nice conversation piece, seeing the difference of before and after side by side.

Spring for a polisher, even an old used original PC. It's worth it.
Click to expand...

Great advice... :xyxthumbs:


Try to find shade cast off the side of a building and work only a section at a time in the shade.

When it comes to clear coats, working by machine is always faster with better results and millions of cars have been buffed out using the first gen PC Polishers...

:)
 
I appreciate the advice guys, especially from none other than THE Mike Phillips! ;)

I had the opportunity to attend Ferrarri Days today at Leguna Seca, and seeing all those amazing cars is really pushing me over the edge towards purchasing a Porter Cable. We'll see what happens...

Thanks again.
 
DMiller;471203 I had the opportunity to attend Ferrarri Days today at Leguna Seca said:
This article talks about a lot of other things besides the drive mechanism of the PC and how it's incredibly safe for anyone new to machine polishing.

The Free Floating Spindle Assembly - The Story Behind The Story...


It also has this cool picture of my son using a G110 when he was 9 years old...


Excerpt...

Yesterday's Trend... Today's Norm...
Today, DA Polishers are the most popular tool among do-it-yourselfers crossing over from working by hand to working by machine. Many Professional Detailers also use the DA Polisher for their follow-up polishing steps after using a rotary buffer to do the major correction work. These tools are the easiest tools to learn how to use and so safe that even my son Rand is able to operate one safely on Nate Truman's 1966 Batmobile Recreation.

Photo courtesy of LacViet Photography
RandBuffingBatmobile1.jpg



So if you're still working by hand... check out the dual action polisher and see if you're ready to move up to machine polishing.



Definitely worth looking into for anyone working on removing swirls and scratches out of modern clear coat paints...

You can do all the steps by hand... but it will take longer. You can get great results by hand... but boy it's a lot more work and requires a lot more time...

Man versus Machine


Fact is, it takes more skill to get great results by hand than it does by machine...




:xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...
 
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