My New Baby's First Detail

[teblhasa]

Its going to be a nice weekend here in MN, and so I will go the chance to detail my baby for the first time! I'm so excited, I have scheduled out my entire Saturday.

Being black, its got a lot of swirl marks, and deeper scratches on the bumper, so I will have my work cut out for me. I plan to start by a gentle bath, clay, cleaner polish & wax, and finish by cleaning and polishing up the tires with an old toothbrush. Of course, if the swirlies refuse to go away, I'll have more steps to do. I also need to take the Bissel to the dirty carpeting inside.

When she's done, I'll post the pictures. She'll look like new, and will feel as smooth as glass (currently the paint is quite rough). Since she'll be getting all this hands-on TLC, she won't be able to act up on me anymore!!! Correct?! Just kidding! Aw, she's a good lady, she just got mistreated by an incompetent dealership is all.

[Warren Demontague]

Same thing here. Black car, some swirl marks, and hasn't been detailed since last year. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. Like it's the official beginning of spring.

[Mr Ray]

you planning to put a machine polisher to it for swirl removal or just waxing it?

[CaptinFocker]

products? just curious what you plan to use

[ADouglas]

Originally Posted by teblhasa

Aw, she's a good lady, she just got mistreated by an incompetent dealership is all.

Did you buy it from Schmelz Saab?

I only ask because they are the most incompetent dealership on earth.

[mohooba93]

i think saab paints are rough in general, well anyways that how my paint feels from many areas.

[DanS]

You will have your work cut out for you if you have swirls. I had a nocturne blue with light swirls and it looked great for one or two days after waxing. Then the light swirls would reappear. It needed to be professionally buffed and waxed.

Now I have a light colored car....though loved that blue.

[teblhasa]

I'll try to answer the questions in order...

Yes, the first detail of the year is the sign of spring! Winter just seems to not want to leave this year. Took my scooter out Sunday for the first ride of the year, and then it snowed about 5 inches the next day.

I will be using an orbital buffer as much as I can get away with, it does a great job waxing and polishing. I will have to do some by hand, where the orbital can't reach. I am thinking of picking up some microfiber bonnets today, I normally use the terry cloth ones. I have some touch up paint I bought from Fleet Farm that does an amazing job. For $2 you get a big jar, and it doesn't fade or come off like those normal touch up bottles you get for around $7 at the parts stores. Lots easier to match the color also.

I am going to use my Wizards products, I really like their polish and paint sealant. I am thinking of trying the Liquid Ice clay instead of the actual clay bar, to test the difference. If I cannot get the swirls out with the Wizards, I also like using the Mother's Power Polish & Wax line. I was amazed at the job it did on my black Camry. I was thinking of finishing with Meguiar's Glaze but I think that's what ruined my lungs, that stuff's nasty smelling!

Its amazing how many cars have swirl marks. Unfortunately, its a major headache trying to remove them. Just don't do like I tried my first time- I started with the abrasives first. Start with the lightest chemical first, and if you have to, go slightly harsher. Sometimes a good clean and polish takes care of them. Once you succeed, you should use a paint sealant to "seal" the work you just did, it should keep it from reforming.

I bought my car from Morrie's Saab actually, and they're the ones that messed stuff up. They put a quart too much oil in the car and kept telling me it was normal to have that much on the dipstick- yeah, well past the max mark. Schmelz drained the quart and did a couple of tests to make sure nothing got damaged. They also did something to the tranny while it was in there because it got a bit smoother. Morrie's told me they all shift rougher. Not true. When I bought the car, it was smooth. Why don't you like Schmelz? Just curious... They also told me they could try to de-squeak my interior next visit. Morrie's ignored my request.

[DanS]

Sounds like you know what you are doing. Definitely don't start with the most abrasive. Its easy to take off too much or cause other problems.

It takes skill to find the right compound to remove the swirls, but not take too much off. One time I buffed an edge a little too aggressively. Dang!

Mask off your mouldings and other black trim.

Winters are hard on cars in the midwest. So many towns are using sand and gravel instead of salt and it sand blasts the lower panels and front of the car.

Post some pics when done.

[teblhasa]

Originally Posted by DanS

Sounds like you know what you are doing. Definitely don't start with the most abrasive. Its easy to take off too much or cause other problems.

It takes skill to find the right compound to remove the swirls, but not take too much off. One time I buffed an edge a little too aggressively. Dang!

Mask off your mouldings and other black trim.

Winters are hard on cars in the midwest. So many towns are using sand and gravel instead of salt and it sand blasts the lower panels and front of the car.

Post some pics when done.

Yeah, I was using a regular buffer and wasn't paying attention when I was near the windows of my Celica. Ended up burning through a bit of the rubber that outlined the window. I smelled something odd, saw a little puff of something, and it was like CRAP! Another lesson- don't buff when you're tired. Thanks for the reminder to tape off- I'll definitely do that if I have to take the serious buffer out. Thankfully the orbital's super gentle everywhere.

I've been detailing for a little while now, been thinking of getting some side business doing it on the weekends for some extra cash. Right now because of the economy, people just don't have the extra money, even though its worth the cash you spend. Like you said- the Midwest is tough on cars! We have salt drenched streets, and sand on top of it. Its the salt that worries me, it looks like it ate a little bit of the silver metal I had around my license plate. I'll have to see if I can polish it up a bit. They were brand new too!

I'll post the before and after pictures tonight. This will be fun!

[DannyBoy08]

I just put the first coat of wax on my 08 today. I'll take some pictures tomorrow. I'm happy with the results in general. Being it's silver, no swirls to deal with.

I used a turtle wax wash. Adn a new McGuires wax. Good luck with yours.

[teblhasa]

Okay, sorry for the big delay! Here are my pictures. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get all the swirlies out, much to my dismay. I had to give up for the day. I plan to attack them with my rotary buffer on another weekend. I am so bummed!

The pics that are first and last are the befores, the ones in the middle are the afters.

[Ambisaab]

I just bought myself a rotary to sort the swirls out on my Black Aero. Have previously always done it by hand...but thought I would push the boat out and go with a machine. It's a long time since I used one..in fact it was back in the 80's !!! So like learning all over again. All we had back then was Rubbing compound and T-Cut.. Oh how times change !!

I am using Mcguires products at the moment. Got good results on the swirls with scratch X followed with the polish and Gold Class.

The swirls aren't disappearing as fast as I thought they would but thats down to my (at the moment) poor technique rather than the product!!

[teblhasa]

I've been out of it for a little bit now too, so its probably my technique as well. I liked using the Meguiar's step 1 cleaner to help the swirlies on my red car. I was trying to avoid using the serious buffer on the car, just in case. I don't think there's any risk of burning off the paint, thanks to today's clearcoats. I don't buff in one spot for any length of time, of course. I'll have to try again when the stinkin snow keeps falling; we're expecting up to 1/2 foot by the weekend! Insane!

[platypus]

[QUOTE=teblhasa]Okay, sorry for the big delay! Here are my pictures. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get all the swirlies out, much to my dismay. I had to give up for the day. I plan to attack them with my rotary buffer on another weekend. I am so bummed!

QUOTE]

zaino Bros.
by hand
ALL swirls and scratches gone.
in this order
wash with dawn
Z-AIO
Z-5
Z_6
Z-5
Z-6
Z-CS
you wont regret it.
no-one more picky than me.
my black Aero looks like the paint is dripping off.
check out the picks on their site. your car will look better than those shots

[teblhasa]

Yeah, I just might have to buy the Zaino line. Normally Wizards works wonders. I should have washed with Dawn too. I figured since there was no wax on the car (they didn't give the car a detail before I bought it!) that I didn't need to. Wrong! Oh well, another summer project for me I guess! That and I cannot get the greenish mildewish stain out of my carpet. blech.

[Krieg]

Hey Anne, what the hell is that tent thing you have the car in?

Did you set that up just to get the car out of the sun to wax it? Or is that a permanent fixture in your driveway?

[platypus]

Originally Posted by teblhasa

Yeah, I just might have to buy the Zaino line. Normally Wizards works wonders. I should have washed with Dawn too. I figured since there was no wax on the car (they didn't give the car a detail before I bought it!) that I didn't need to. Wrong! Oh well, another summer project for me I guess! That and I cannot get the greenish mildewish stain out of my carpet. blech.

I am telling you, you will not be sorry.
my car looked so bad when I purchased/recieved it, I almost took it back.
i tried a couple of products before I bit the bullet on the Zaino, but they could not solve the problems.

I am no rocket scientist, but following zainos simple procedures, and Blue taping off my car. it was a great afternoon in the yard.
I get comments about my car all the time people asking me, if I have some special paint on there or something. it is creepy how sweet it looks.

Eric

[teblhasa]

Originally Posted by Krieg

Hey Anne, what the hell is that tent thing you have the car in?

Did you set that up just to get the car out of the sun to wax it? Or is that a permanent fixture in your driveway?

That's our nice movable carport. We got ours at Costco for very cheap. It has doors & windows too. Some of those tents you get at like Menards, you have to buy each section separately and it costs a lot of $$ in the end. The one at Costco was all one tent, everything you could possibly need included. One really nice feature is that the roof raises to a peak and is around 6' or taller in the center. So with winter or heavy winds, this tent is super stable, while the other ones either collapse or get blown away. A lot of people in our area have similar ones for their boats, but we keep a car in there in the winter and our scooters in there in the summer.

Plus, you're right, its perfect for detailing. Just try to detail a car in the hot sun (we have no shade), it sucks! Its alot easier to do under some sort of shade, although I suppose that's what the 2+ car garage we have is for.

[teblhasa]

Originally Posted by platypus

I am telling you, you will not be sorry.
my car looked so bad when I purchased/recieved it, I almost took it back.
i tried a couple of products before I bit the bullet on the Zaino, but they could not solve the problems.

I am no rocket scientist, but following zainos simple procedures, and Blue taping off my car. it was a great afternoon in the yard.
I get comments about my car all the time people asking me, if I have some special paint on there or something. it is creepy how sweet it looks.

Eric

Sweet!! When I got my red Celica all nicely detailed, it was amazing the number of comments I got. People thought it was brand new, and actually it was 10 years old when I sold it. It got so slippery I couldn't keep a cloth on it to save my life. Now my baby is still a bit rough, even with polish, and I can see the swirlies when the light hits it. When its cloudy, the car looks nice anyways! Sign me up for Zainos, I'm willing to try it!