I have questions about detailing certain areas.

[Cubed]

1. The front bumper, this is some sort of hard plastic but it is painted. Wax or no wax in this area?

2. Rear bumper, same as above painted plastic...

3. The wheel wells, I have not seen a good idea to clean this area. What product to use from the consumer line or OTC? What about westley's bleech white or Meg's all wheel cleaner and a little brush action? I think once it is clean I will throw some High endurence gloss or something similar on there to make it shine

4. B post location, this is a product called "black tape", I am not sure exactly what it is. It is not just like black electrical tape but I understand it is very durable. I am thinking I might try some NXT Tech protect or maybe some tire shine.

Anyway give me your recommendations for the above mentioned areas. The below is not my car but I do have a Sonata, I work at the plant where they make the car. Thanks

[Murr1525]

1. You are treating the paint, not the plastic. You can clean/polish/wax as usual.

2. Yup.

3. I really like the All-Purpose Cleaner applied with a foaming head sprayer, then agitated with a soft brush. You could use the Safe Degreaser as well.

For dressing, I would pick the Hyper-Dressing, All-season Dressing, or one of the other detailer line dressings.

For something like wheelwells, it is really nice to buy in bulk, even if it takes you a few minutes of work to track down a store that sells them.

4. I dunno, but one of the dressings mentioned above would be better than the tire shine / Nxt Tech Protectant.

[Cubed]

Thanks Murr, However on #3 I will have to stay with a consumer Meguiar's brand or some other OTC product. There is a shop in my area but it is very unconvenient for me to go by there because of the hours I work. I have heard the best things about the APC and Hhyper-dressing though.

[gbackus]

Originally posted by Cubed
Thanks Murr, However on #3 I will have to stay with a consumer Meguiar's brand or some other OTC product. There is a shop in my area but it is very unconvenient for me to go by there because of the hours I work. I have heard the best things about the APC and Hhyper-dressing though.

Use cleaner-wax type products on the b-illar. Dressings will smear and run in the rain. Cleaner-waxes clean the oxidation leaving a nice black look, and slow the oxidation process of these types of materials.

[Cubed]

Good deal, thanks gbackus!

[SL1CK]

Can't he use Meguiars Exterior Trim Detailer on #4?

[Deaner5]

#4 the B-pillars on my Grand Prix seem more of a painted black, so I used scratch X and then went ahead and used DC#1, #2, and Gold Class. I did not clay them though. They turned out better than they were. Hope this helps.

[Murr1525]

Hard to say... I took 'tape related' to mean some sort of softer pourous material, in which case a dressing would be better.

If it is a 'tape', but some kind of clear coated plastic, then a cleaner and wax would be fine.

[Jbirk]

ui

Hi, I must second murr.

If you have dark paint, clay will really really help it look darker. If you have light paint, clay will make it lighter.

I.e. if you clay a white car, you will realize it was yellow before. If you clay a black car, you will realize it was actually brown.

You get the idea. Now, Just use a cleaner wax. It will help a lot as he mentioned. Good ones are A12 Cleaner Wax, a simple Carnuaba with about the same amount of cleaner as DC1 acording to most members. Also get some foam applicators or something similar.

Then there is ColorX with about the same amount of cleaners and dimmenisiong abrasives as ScratchX.


My recomendation to you is to buy a Smooth Surface Clay Kit, make sure you have a good wash mitt, and get at least one more microfiber, and 2 drying towels such as the w ater magnet.

This the minimum, in my opinion.

You would then rince and follow by a wash or two with the wash mitt and not instil new swirls. Clean your wheels with something else other than the wash mitt. A simple terry will do fine for wheels.

Now, use the Quick Detail and a clay bar from the Smoothe Surface Clay Kit to clay the entire car. Wipe up the mess with the encluded microfiber!

Now, take the included cleaner wax that comes with the kit. I know it is only 4oz. Well, apply it thin. 4oz can do 2 to 4 cars easily.

In other words, you get everything but the soap in teh smooth surface clay kit.

The only assumptions made with the smooth surface kit is that you are buying clay, so it is assumed you know how to wash and dry a car and have that handled. It is also assumed you have an applicator to apply wax, which is included.

The clay works very good. The wax is strong enough to get the job done. It will clean the paint, polish the paint, and apply a protective barrier. Not bad at all. That give syou 3 reasons to wax your car! It will probalby look beter than it did brand new from the factory unless it is swirled all up.

[Murr1525]

Just to throw this out there...

To buy from a store, Hyper Dressing and APC would total about $54.98 + tax.

Ordered online from ADS it would be $57.43, with shipping included.

And I would of course recomend ordering any other towels, etc from ADS as well, since there microfiber products are on sale still.

Oh, thats autodetailingsolutions.com.

[DUMP_TRUCK]

Re: I have questions about detailing certain areas.

Would it be a bad idea to use scratchx or #39 on the b-pillars? I have what I think is wax residue from whenever the dealer detailed the car on these areas.

[Murr1525]

Re: I have questions about detailing certain areas.

Well, what are they made of?

[DUMP_TRUCK]

Re: I have questions about detailing certain areas.

well the best answer i can get so far is already in this thread, the 'black tape'. I also have a Sonata, as pictured in the OP. I haven't been able to find out if it's metal, vinyl, or what.

[Murr1525]

Re: I have questions about detailing certain areas.

Hmm.. It has to be some sort of plastic/vinyl coating on the exposed side of the tape, I guess?

I'll have to look for one of these in a parking lot or something.

[DUMP_TRUCK]

Re: I have questions about detailing certain areas.

Hmm.. It has to be some sort of plastic/vinyl coating on the exposed side of the tape, I guess?

I'll have to look for one of these in a parking lot or something.

assuming it is one of those, then i suppose the scratchx and/or claying would be out? w/ the finish, it is really hard to tell if it's metal or plastic. seems like it's metal, without any glass to it, but who knmows w/ all these space age plastics. a magnet sticks to it, but that doesn't mean much since regardless of what it is, there is metal behind it for sure (the door frame).