Big detail job with some questions.

[GLOCKer]

I've got another car show coming up and I really want my Mustang to pop and shine out there. I had planned on getting up really early on Memorial Day to get started on the car, but I ended up getting called into work for a missing person case, and didn't get home until just before 0400. I got up at 0830, and by the time I got outside to start on the car, it was 0930, and the sun was starting to swing around onto the driveway.

I started by cleaning the wheels with Sonax, and then did my usual two bucket wash, making sure to keep the car wet as worked the panels from the top down. I also got bit on the ankle by some unknown bug and that felt awesome!!! I used an electric leaf blower to dry the car, but by then, the sun was full on the passenger side, heating up the black paint. I wasn't able to avoid getting some water spots on her. Once I dried the car, I wiped down all of the jambs and under the hood and put her in the garage to start cleaning up any issues in the paint. I only managed to reorganize my cleaning stuff before I succumbed to not having enough sleep and I just gave up for the day.

I went out yesterday to the garage (I'm lucky to have the garage as it was pouring!) when I got home from work and managed to clean up a couple of scratches with ScratchX or UC here and there on the car. I also had about an 8" circle of pollen on the hood of the car that I had somehow missed. I hit that with some Quick Detailer before pulling out the DA Power System and getting on polishing the car with UP. I polished the roof, hood, and the whole driver side of the car before my wife came home from work and I went in to spend time with her. Hopefully I can get time to finish polishing the car and get some wax on it before the car show on Saturday!

So before I polish the passenger side with the water spots, am I okay to go over that side of the car with Quick Detailer before I hit it with the UP? What is the best way to get the deepest, shiniest finish with consumer grade products that I can easily get my hands on (store bought is preferable)? Keep in mind all I have is a $19 Walmart orbital buffer and a Meguiar's DA Power System.

Here are some pictures of it going down!

Starting out with a relatively clean car. There was some micro-marring here and there on the car, and a little dust.


I started with some Sonax on the wheels and got the barrels as best I could with a wheel brush.


I then rinsed the car down and began washing from the top down, panel by panel. I had UW on it and I like the beading action.




After the wash, I dried it with an electric leaf blower.


It almost doesn't need a polish and a wax!


I also wiped down all of the jambs and the engine bay in preparation for a really good under-the-hood detailing.


Yesterday after work, I got it in the garage for the polishing.

[The Guz]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

If it doesn't need polishing then just keep it simple and hit with some ultimate quik wax. Not only will it rejuvenate UW but it will add some shine. Another option is to top it with a carnauba like M26 or Gold Class.

[GLOCKer]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

If it doesn't need polishing then just keep it simple and hit with some ultimate quik wax. Not only will it rejuvenate UW but it will add some shine. Another option is to top it with a carnauba like M26 or Gold Class.

I thought about that, but there were some spider webby looking scratches here and there all over the car, and I really want it to pop out there at the car show. Here are some more before pictures of how dirty the car was when I started after I had gotten stuck in a rainstorm when it wasn't supposed to rain! (I tried to add these back to my original post but I can't figure out how to edit.)

[Jarhead0754]

The wheel looks like a crime scene in itself with the sonax on the ground. Looks good so far tho! Also m7 wouldn't b a bad choice just to give it some added shine.

[The Guz]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

^^^ That's another possibility. M7 will fill in some of the minor defects.

How much time are you looking to set aside?

Also have you considered using a pop up tent while you are washing to keep some of the sun off the car.

[davey g-force]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

So before I polish the passenger side with the water spots, am I okay to go over that side of the car with Quick Detailer before I hit it with the UP?

Yes.

What is the best way to get the deepest, shiniest finish with consumer grade products that I can easily get my hands on (store bought is preferable)?

Polish the car with UP, then seal with UW (you were probably already going to do that).

It's looking good so far!

[Eldorado2k]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Quote Originally Posted by GLOCKer View Post
What is the best way to get the deepest, shiniest finish with consumer grade products that I can easily get my hands on (store bought is preferable)?

I see you've tried Megs Quik Detailer.. Have you tried Ultimate Quik Detailer? That might be what you're looking for to add that last minute gloss to your ride.

Check out this dude's video review of UQD. Looks great. [I hope this link works]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ8Z1hkRuQE

BTW, the guy in the video lives in Florida where it's super humid.. He states in the video that he owns Meguiars Quik Detailer, Gold Class Quik Detailer, and now Ultimate Quik Detailer. His reviews speak for themselves

[Top Gear]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Hey GLOCKer. We're in the same part of the world, so the pics look familiar to me (as they have before). Maybe you can help me explain the concept of humidity to these SoCal desert-dwelling detailers

I've also driven (and detailed) a black Mustang like yours, and somehow that paint is very forgiving, compared to mine. The guys who have responded are all right (they've helped me, too), so just wanted to add a couple of thoughts.

First off, the leaf blower trick will get better/quicker as you keep doing it. It's like air sculpting with those beads, and a challenge to dry a car quickly sometimes (water spots). Of course, I try to avoid the Sun, but sometimes I can't. One trick is to work the sunny side, top to bottom and sunny to shady, and allow one of the "downhill" and "shaded" panels to go spotty if it's going to, leaving your wash bucket nearby. As you finish drying the whole car, hopefully the only spots will be on the lower sides of a fender and/or door. So, just do a quickie suds hit and/or a careful water spray on the spotty areas, and re-blow. Also, a tight filter on your water will make a dramatic difference, buying you a lot of time before spotting occurs. I use a 2-micron carbon "whole house" filter, which is also great for plant watering.

Yes, you can (and probably should) re-clean any panels needed with quik wax before compounding or polishing, especially if it's been overnight, etc. It sounds like you're spot compounding?, so do those after the cleaning/claying step and before the polish. UP should make your paint sing. After your polish step it's time to re-wax, always. Fortunately, DA waxing is a payoff after all the other work

Hope that helps!

[davey g-force]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Yes, you can (and probably should) re-clean any panels needed with quik wax before compounding or polishing, especially if it's been overnight, etc.

A quick detailer should be used to do any light cleaning. Strictly speaking, QW's are for clean cars only.

[Top Gear]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Whoops, typo, meant quik detailer

[Don]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

You could pull it into the garage for drying to avoid the water spots ... you'd only get a little water in the floor. Once washed, I would go with a quick hit with Ultimate Polish since you said you have some defects, then seal with Ultimate Wax (then keep a bottle of UQD on hand at the car show).

[GLOCKer]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. When my wife got home yesterday from work, I was sitting on the floor in front of the car after using UP on the front bumper, and apparently she could see I was frustrated. I had gotten out my flashlight to see how good my car was looking in the relatively dim light of the garage and I was surprised to see tons of those micro scratches in the illuminated area. It was really disheartening. I was also getting annoyed with the QD; when I would use it to knock dust off a panel, I would end up having to wipe and wipe to get smudges off. When I get home today, I've got to polish the rear valance, and then wax the whole car. I'm not looking forward to this and I don't have the time to take a step backwards to try to clear up the micro scratches between now and Saturday morning.

I took a couple of pictures trying to capture the scratches but this is the only one that came out.

[Top Gear]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Don, these are hard water spots that happen with or without sunlight. By the time the car is moved, enough beads can dry (and even partially dry under beads, and the areas around the visible beads) to leave rings and spots all over the glass, trim, panels, and that creates much more work. Also, a leaf blower in an enclosed space? That's gonna blow dust and debris everywhere, some sticking to the wet paint, as well as being that much more loud. If drying by wiping, good luck, as it's going to soak and soil many towels to get spot-free, yet introduce swirling, and it will wipe off polish and wax. If it's really muggy, wiping doesn't actually dry all the surfaces, anyway. Also, spraying QW to wipe-dry is a complete waste of QW, time, clean towels, and effort, and the car will need to be washed again to get all the residue and streaks off.

Shade helps, but the spotting is just going to happen unless the surfaces are blown dry thoroughly. With unfiltered city water, spots can happen in 10-20 minutes even in the shade and you still have beads everywhere else. "Flooding" changes nothing, because the non-beaded surfaces are still actually wet. When it's dry out, it's often windy, so spotting can be faster. When it's really muggy, the spotting process takes a lot longer, perhaps hours, but blow drying is the only reliable way to thoroughly dry the surfaces without touching and without leaving wipe streaks or creating swirls.

Trust me, I've tried everything. In hot-n-humid weather, there is only one way to properly dry a car. Have that leaf blower plugged in and ready to go as soon as you put the water hose down. You have 20 minutes or less. Dry the roof, glass, hood, trunk and sunny parts first. Move the blower slowly, don't just wave it around because you're in a hurry. Also dry the wheels and wells. Confine any spotting that's going to happen to a corner or door that's easy to re-wash and re-blow if you have to without wetting a larger area.

Sorry to go on about it, but I've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, thrown the torn t-shirt out, etc, etc...

[Top Gear]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

...I had gotten out my flashlight to see how good my car was looking in the relatively dim light of the garage and I was surprised to see tons of those micro scratches in the illuminated area. It was really disheartening. I was also getting annoyed with the QD; when I would use it to knock dust off a panel, I would end up having to wipe and wipe to get smudges off.

Quik Wax will be your friend for the show, not Quik Detailer. Your paint actually looks pretty good up close, at least in that one shot, so I'd finish the various correcting projects and re-wax - sounds like that's what you're doing. It may rain or get dusty again before the show, so you might have to wash again. Don't drive in the rain. Don't wipe the re-waxed surfaces with anything but QW until the show, ensuring it is buffed out thoroughly (because it can cloud up) and you'll be in very good shape.

Also, do you have a "California" duster? That can, but not always, be a big help.

[The Guz]

Re: Big detail job with some questions.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. When my wife got home yesterday from work, I was sitting on the floor in front of the car after using UP on the front bumper, and apparently she could see I was frustrated. I had gotten out my flashlight to see how good my car was looking in the relatively dim light of the garage and I was surprised to see tons of those micro scratches in the illuminated area. It was really disheartening. I was also getting annoyed with the QD; when I would use it to knock dust off a panel, I would end up having to wipe and wipe to get smudges off. When I get home today, I've got to polish the rear valance, and then wax the whole car. I'm not looking forward to this and I don't have the time to take a step backwards to try to clear up the micro scratches between now and Saturday morning.

I took a couple of pictures trying to capture the scratches but this is the only one that came out.

UP more than likely doesn't have the ability to remove those deeper defects. Might have to step up to something more aggressive like M205 or UC.

What pad are you using?