Several newbie questions ;-)

[james0509]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

I want to say THANKS to all you guys that have taken the time to help out a new to detailing guy! You are fantastic...as always..at hanging in there and walking folks through the processes and correcting where needed without making him/her feel like they are asking dumb questions. To me, this is the greatest value of Megs on line!

This is how I learned 90% of my current humble knowledge about car detailing! Thanks to the people who helped me out !

[Jossy92]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

I am a newbie too. Interspersed with some of great advice here is some stuff I have never heard of.

Part of being a newb is not knowing what you "don't know". Another part is "each one teach one" (or helping others). Unfortunately, knowledge and intentions aren't the same.

I want to help too. But I am still learning. I have to bite my tongue before opening my mouth. Maybe some more feedback would help if you repost some of the questions you might still have, but do so separately and clearly state the question in the title. Some of these guys are too busy to look closely at general questions.

A lot of good advice in this thread. I don't have any criticism, except some of it is "different", but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Have you heard of "least agressive" I believe that also applies to washing, drying tools, Polishing, etc.

[philming]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

Hi there.
The more I read about detailing, the more I realize most people think you dont get anywhere by working by hand. Especially when when preparing the paint, and chasing swirls and scratches out. I guess I'm going to go for a DA-S6, since G220 is beyond my financial possibilities for the time being. There seem to be a shortage for this product where I want to buy it so I guess it'll be another month or so till I can start working with it. Does it make ANY sense to complete my program by hand this week-end as I intended to or is it just a waste of time and products?

[Murr1525]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

There is no reason you cant get good results by hand. Most of the cheap machines wont do much more ,anyway. And if the car is already in mostly good shape, you can certainly maintain that by hand.

Other than the paint blobs, are there many other scratches/swirls? Or the rest looks pretty good?

Were you able to find SwirlX and/or Ultimate Compound?

[philming]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

Yes I found SwirlX. I dont know if UC will be necessary. My car's at the garage after a little crash that needed to have a "wing" replaced (is that the term in english? The vertical parts beside the hood?). At least I know there's one side that wont be in any need to be treated ;-) So I dont have my eye on it, so I dont know how bad the paint is. I know I mostly washed it at high pressure station, and never really took proper care of it. Plus 7000 km this summer crossing France, Spain and a part of Marocco probably didnt do it any good. I should get the car back today, so I'll post some pictures if I get the time to take them.

[james0509]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

Hi there.
The more I read about detailing, the more I realize most people think you dont get anywhere by working by hand. Especially when when preparing the paint, and chasing swirls and scratches out. I guess I'm going to go for a DA-S6, since G220 is beyond my financial possibilities for the time being. There seem to be a shortage for this product where I want to buy it so I guess it'll be another month or so till I can start working with it. Does it make ANY sense to complete my program by hand this week-end as I intended to or is it just a waste of time and products?

I usually take 4 hours to detail my car by hand. That includes wash, dry, clay, and wax, withOUT polishing.

Doing things by hand is tiring and takes time. I recently ordered a DA because it just takes too long to detail by hand.

[philming]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

This is what I'm going for :

http://www.shinearama.co.uk/product.php?id=KES-DAS6KIT1

What do you think?
What products n the consumer line do those replace? UC? SwirlX?
Is the kit enough to do a good job or do I need something else ordered with it?

[Murr1525]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

My car's at the garage after a little crash that needed to have a "wing" replaced (is that the term in english? The vertical parts beside the hood?).

That would be a fender in english, or at least in America.

At least I know there's one side that wont be in any need to be treated ;-) So I dont have my eye on it, so I dont know how bad the paint is. I know I mostly washed it at high pressure station, and never really took proper care of it. Plus 7000 km this summer crossing France, Spain and a part of Marocco probably didnt do it any good. I should get the car back today, so I'll post some pictures if I get the time to take them.

Just dont let them give your car a courtesy wash. And do inspect the repair at the shop, hopefully i nthe sun. Dont let them give you paint that looks a mess.

SwirlX will be a product you will use either way, so nothing wrong with cleaning the dirt off a spot, say 2x2 foot square, and giving it a try or two.

[Murr1525]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

This is what I'm going for :

http://www.shinearama.co.uk/product.php?id=KES-DAS6KIT1

What do you think?
What products n the consumer line do those replace? UC? SwirlX?
Is the kit enough to do a good job or do I need something else ordered with it?

Have not heard of Kestrel, but at least it looks better than the real cheap products. Hopefully someone else has seen it around.

SwirlX is sort of similar to #80.... sort of.

#83 does not really have a Consumer Line equivalent. UC is much stronger.

As far as other products, the real need would be a few more pads, at least the polishing pads, maybe 1 more finishing pad if that. I'd like to have 3 polishing pads, just in case.

Looks like all the polishers are out of stock at the moment though.

[philming]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

OK I'll stick to my plan for now and do it by hand. I'll probably go find some UC, since I understand SwirlX really is only for very light scratches.

I have another question though, and that goes for DA or hand.

Most threads refer to "passes" when applying products.
How long is a "pass" actually taking?
I mean I'ml doing a panel with UC or SX with the pad, when do I know the pass is done? When the product's dried out?

I've heard of product "breakdown" if I'm not mistaking. What happens to the product while breaking down ? (Just to know what to expect) Is this happening with a DA as well as by hand? Does that mean the pass is over?

Thanx a lot (again) for your enlightment !

[Murr1525]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

Try the SwirlX first of course.

Passes work a little different by machine and by hand. By machine, you would take like a 2x2 foot area, and slowly move the machine across the area, then up and down the area. Say 45 seconds or so.

By hand, you might stay with 2x2, or even shrink down towards 1x1. If trying to remove defects, you would want to have some pressure behind the pad (not finger tips), and work the product in evenly over the entire area, for about the same length of time, or until the product starts to dry on you. Hope that kind of helps.

The older products (like #80), actualy had abrasives in them that broke down. So the the product would go from thick and creamy to a clear greasy look.

The new products (like SwirLX, UC), dont break down. If worked long enough, and depending on the temperature, they will dry out. But in theory you could just keep working them in forever. So that is why you want to do your test spot, and see if working the product in for 30 seconds or so, one or two applications does the trick, how much pressure ,etc, before doing the whole car.

[philming]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

Strange. I thought having a product that would break down would rather be a good thing.. Why did they stop this "feature"? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to use only one prduct, say UC i.e., wihout having to bother applying a second lighter product to finish off?

Well the ore I look into detaiing, the more questions I end up having. Ignorance is bliss isn't it? ;-)
Does anyone has a clue about paint hardness on the european skoda cars? More precisely on mine : A Skoda Octavia 2 "Elegance" finish, from late 2006? Having his info would be helpfull when buying my DA in a few weeks...

[Murr1525]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

The trick is that they dont break down and can still leave a mirror finish. (relatively speaking of course).

You'll find out the hardness once you start working on it by hand.

[philming]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

OK JOB DONE !

Yesterday :
1 - went to the high pressure car wash, stripped off firest layer of NXT Tech Wax
2 - Dried the car with water magnet. Magical !
3 - Drove home
4 - Quick detailed the whole car
5 - Clayed. The clay really reminds you when not enough QD !
6 - SwirlX. By hand it's a total nightmare. Really makes you want to get a DA !
7 - NXT Tech Wax 2
8 - Ultimate Quick detailer

Today
9 - Quick detailed the whole car again since I drove it a little this morning
10 - NXT Tech Wax (the car sleeps in a garage btw)
11 - UQD

Done !

The car being very light in color (Diamond grey as Skoda names it), swirls are really hard to see. Rather a good thing I guess. Swirl X nonetheless really helped out getting a smooth surface.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow, dont have the courage to take the car out again to shoot it ;-)

[Murr1525]

Re: Several newbie questions ;-)

As long as it turned out well and looks good.