First time ive posted in this room but i have read things in here quite often.

Now i am not and am never going to be a professional detailer or any good at it for that matter, However what i do want to do is at least try and correct a few issues and get some pointers when cleaning.

At the moment whenever i like a car i clean it myself. My latest car i am now starting to like and therefore want to give it some TLC.

its just came back from the paint shop after having some bits done and its actually looking fairly good.

This is normally what i would do next.

One Bucket.
One 99p sponge.
Meguiars Purple shampoo stuff. £16 bottle.
wash the car with that little lot in medium temp water.

Then

the dreaded T-Cut one panel at a time.
Then Mer again one panel at a time.
Then my Zymol Wax after.

Now generally this actual gets the car really shiny and brings a lot of colours back to life (hard to believe aye!)

Then i back to black all plastics and put some tyre shine on and jobs a goodun!

now i know this is all wrong and this is why i am asking for advice.

I dont want to spend a fortune on products to start off with but i can spend a bit, I also dont want 50 different products as i am just a noob.

The car in question is an Orient Blue (fantastic Colour) 330 m sport cabriolet, i will post pics when i start.

The bodyshop as done some mopping to not a very good standard and have left swirls etc etc and as its dark i know im going to have trouble. Im not to sure about buying a machine polisher yet so whats the best bet with hand polishing?

Also ive never clayed a car before but im thinking of trying to do this one (less panels!)

let me know what im doing wrong guys and what i need to do with this one.

Cheers

Rob

ps. anyone thats local and wants to come and show me are more than welcome

 

I have to go to work in 10minutes mate so i will leave a brief reply until iam at 9pm tonight.........

you need a 2bucket method and a lambswool mitt(i use 2mitts 1 for top half 1 for bottom)
Snowfoam for lifting dirt before the washing process
shampoo - dodo juice born to be mild
polish - autoglym super resin polish
Sealent - FinishKare polymer sealent
Wax- zymol is fine!

The car will not need clayed as its just out the body shop(unless you have over spray)
I would not advice doing the correction by hand as it will be a silly long process mate!
If you have the funds,buy a das-6 DA machine,available from www.i4detailing.co.uk

Wheel cleaner id use bilberry non caustic cleaner,i have to stop there and rush to work!

If you wish mate,make yourself a budget and pm me,ive been 5years doing this so i know what im talking about if you give me a budget i will recommend you a list of products to buy,and in the pm if you could leave me what colour your car is also! I will happily advice you on the correct products What people dont realise is the compatibility of products,some products out rule others and ruin the process,i will guarantee ill have your car showroom condition ill give yo advice on the process also,cheer,

Roy.

 

Does the snowfoam need a jet wash? as i dont have one at the moment.

Just a hose with spray attatchment lol.

Ill get hold of 2 buckets, can you do me a list of the products i need to order later and ill get them bought.

i was looking at maybe £100 but obvisoly with the polisher im going to have to raise that budget lol.

Maybe £150!

do you reckon that would be enough as a start.

Ill take some pictures of the car later.

Cheers

Rob

 

If it is straight out of the body shop then i would not touch it for 2 weeks till the paint fully hardens. It worries me when people say the body shop moped the car, usually the y use a wool pad and G3, this removes allot of paint and results in Swirl city. You will never remove swirl marks by hand, dont even bother it will take you forever. It takes me 12 hours with my G220 on my car so it would take 3 months by hand. Best thing is to use a polish with loads of fillers. Auto Glym Super Resin is the best as already mentioned. Its the only decent product in the Auto Glym range.
If you are going to get a machine polisher it might be worth taking some paint thickness readings, you do not know how much paint has been removed by previous polishing. If you have never used a machine go for a DA as they are allot safer to use. Menz polishes are THE best IMO

 

Wooooooooo thats quite a tight budget my friend the machine with backing plates and pads are around the £120 mark.

I will pm you a list of products buddy,try not to faint lol

EDIT: i also forgot to say.....foam can be achieved through a snow foam lance and pressure,or a gilmour foamaster which simply attaches to your hose,do you have a good pressure on the hose?if so then it will provide you with a good foam

 

thanks for all the help guys, the budget can be raised but i think you need to remember im not going professional or anything, this will literally be just to clean my personal car.

here are the pics, its a right mess so go easy but please remeber this is the starting point, Its also extremely dirty, I can leave it for a while but when i said just got back i meant a week ago!



Bonnet



Rear Quarter



Boot






Im sure you will agree she needs work!

 

and a flat tyre lol, that will get sorted even when i look at the pics i know i need to get on top of it, its not being driven at the moment which is contributing to the condition.

Its actually a nice car underneath so i must get on top of it.

 

Very swirly mate,thats going to need a good bit of work to get back to its full lustre....

Id machine it with poorboys black hole rather than the menzerna polish,after that finishkare polymer sealent and then a wax,once you have done this if your wash method is good it will remain shining as long as you wash it properly

 

Poorboys black hole is predominately a hand applied product and it is just a glaze with loads of fillers, it will not remove swirls but just hide a few like super resin polish, it is just better for darker coloured paints. If you really want to get rid of the swirls the paint will need a polish there is no other way and Menz polish is the best. There is a huge difference between polish,glaze,wax, sealant etc. After a polish you will want to cleanse the paint with something like limeprime or limeprime light before applying black hole, sealant & wax.

 

its rediculous i nearly bought a load of stuff last night but seems like everyone likes different products.

My shopping list so far.

Dodo Juice boorn to be mild 500ml

Bilberry wheel cleaner.

I already have TFR.

2 x wash mits and 2 x buckets

Sonus mild green clay.

Autoglym fast glass

Autoglym glass polish

Autoglym super resin polish

Already have zymol wax.

Dodo Juice Red Mist

 

want to try and get the products and then get the machine.

What else should i get on top of that?

 

Im sure you will agree she needs work![/quote]







Mate did the front end get painted? as from this pic the door looks way out of colour

 

Id buy the meguiars last touch rather than the red mist,the last touch aids drying awell
Wheel brush?
Detail brushes,
loads of microfibres,
tyre shine,
arch/trim dressing,

 

no but i believe its had paintwork before Its is 8 years old afterall.

It was rear wing on other side. The camera has picked up colour mismatch, not noticeable in normal light which makes it not WAY out of colourmatch as you put it...

 

sorry yeah i have loads of microfibres, problem is the last touch is 25 quid dodo juice 9 quid.

i have a wheel brush but no detail brush. I have no arch/trim dressing or tyre shine.

 

Right i have ordered so far.

Sonus SFX Green ultrafine Clay X2

Pro bilberry Safe Wheel Cleaner

Dodo Juice Born To be Mild 500Ml

Meguiars Last Touch 3.78 litres

Poorboys Black hole Glaze

Autosmart hi style 500ml

detailing brush large.

I will be going to halfords to get autoglym stuff as its buy 2 get one free.

 

*edit* i did not see your already had wax..............carry on lol
Here is a tip, i only use my MF cloths once or twice before binning them. Go to Screwfix direct web site they do 50 MF cloths for £20 cannot fault them, you will realise you will never have enough cloths.
Drying the car quickly is a must, depending on the mineral content of your local waters supply will depend on how bad your water spotting will be and this can take a machine polish to get rid of. Have a look at Cleanyourcar web site, they do a great drying towel which is usually a sale item, one towel can dry an entire car in one sitting and it takes 2 mins max.
The Pro's use pure water to wash a car whilst detailing which means no water marks. If you want an ultimate product that IMO really adds that bit extra to the finish, buy some Zaino Z8, spray on wipe off like QD but it leaves an amazing finish, do this before or after wax