West6MT

Ok, I finally got around to posting this,..........pics etc from my detail from a few weeks ago. There are lots of pics since I seem to have gone picture crazy lol.

Before I get to the details, I would like to thank a few ppl in particular that have helped me a great deal with learning how to detail properly. An enthusiastic "Thank You" goes to Exceldetail and Hawhyen, who have answered the millions of questions I have had since I became interested in detailing last year. Thanks must be extended to Brenton (not an AZ member) for the help he has given me, and Steve at PB's deserves mention as well,..both from DC. Lastly, an extra enthusiastic "Thank You" goes to JakieO . In addition to helping me online with questions, he was nice enough to let me go to a G35 meet to learn about polishing etc, that he held a little while ago. He was also nice enough to come to my house one day and help me with polishing technique etc. So,........thanks guys. Anyway, on to the detailing.



Process:

Exterior
Wheel Wash- Eagle One Car wash (older red one )
Wash - PB's SS&S and 4* UAW (I washed it twice just for the heck of it)
Clay - Opti-clay and Pinnacle poly clay
Polish - PB's SSR 2.5 and 1
Pads ^^ - Orange LC (green propel), and White LC
Paint Cleaner - 4* UPC - I have decided this is a necessary step (for me) after doing a little testing with water/alcohol mix VS Paint Cleaner, after polishing.
Sealant - 4* UPP (2 coats)
Nuba to top UPP - Nattys blue (I had not put Nattys on yet in the pics)
Interior
- Water/Woolite Zero mix @ 10:1
- 303
- seats (not done yet) Lexol
- APC/water for floor mats (not done yet)
Notes
- Wax Blaster works really well (had to get rid of a few UPP stains - I just got it)
- I had not done the seats or worked on the outside trim yet (ex mud guards etc).

Ok, on to the pics.

Some of my arsenal


My new PC (in the box of course)


Welcome to MF land


The before pics (before washing)

BUGS


Water spots


Before pics (after washing)


Looks good right,........................but wait,..................what's that,................

Most of the swirls are thanks to the dealer




Same spot after polishing



Interior before and after pics - The floor mats are dirty in all the pics because I had to drive after cleaning them,....rainy week,...so they got really dirty again haha. I swear they were clean though,......used APC/water mix. It was not very dirty before anyway, but dusty and some dirt in various places. I had not done the seats in the pics,.......so there wont be any difference with them.

Before

DUST CITY
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/606/img05054cc.jpg

After



The car in the garage during polishing and sealant steps


Before and After for the exhaust





A few new products that arrived while I was working on the car


After (polished and UPP'ed),........THE FINAL PRODUCT
Some of the pics have tape on the car,......I tape it up to make my life easier. I think the tape pics are the first UPP coat, none tape pics are after the second coat,.....I think.













My fav MF towels - PB's new ones (whatever they are called)


Three TSX's infront of my house,.....mine is the black one at the front in the second pic. The one behind it is my neighbours,.............side by side, mine looks brand new and his looks,..........well,.........not nearly as nice .

West6MT

Ops, I might have made a few mistakes in my first post^^. The first few reflection shots might be before I polished and waxed etc. I dunno why some of the pics are HUGE too???

West6MT

Anyway, I think I did ok for my first time polishing with a PC. I didnt use SSR 3 on some tougher scratches because I am not ready to use that yet (soon). Hopefully you guys think it looks good.

SuperCoupe93

Wow, great job on the detai!! You really had alot of swirls on there, but it looks perfect now. Nice job!

SweetJazz

Great Job! Your neighbor will break his/her neck when they walk out to their car. Hmmmmm................how come my car does not look as good as his?

VroomVroom

Very true...either one jealous neighbor...or one new customer...coming up!

EXCELLENT job on the detail. I like the product choice as well. I'm a HUGE fan of UPP, and NB is a great topper. The car looks outstanding!

Hawhyen51

Steve, hell of a job first time out. What else can I say. Love the reflection shots. Now you'll be the neighborhood detail guru and maybe make a few $$ on the side. So when can I bring my TL over?

Ken1997TL

Wow... very nice! Big improvement there

DutchCLS

oh man....looks very nice!! do you think you could give me a hand with my car? I don't know how to get rid of the swirl marks??

Whiskers

Nice....Makes me miss mine....

West6MT

Thanks for the nice comments .

I left out a few things:
I used PB B&B on the tires, and Blue Magic on the exhaust.

West6MT

Ya for sure dude. It would probably have to be on a weekend though. Are you planning on getting your own Polisher etc?

picus

Steve - awesome job. I knew it'd come out looking better than new. You were the most attentive guy at the "Meet & Shine" and it's obvious you take a lot of pride in caring for your car. That full sun shot on the hood is killer.

Now let's get to work on that Nissan in your yard! :p

Oh, and I love the pic of the Opt No Rise/Opt Car Wax/S&W, It's like a "Kevin Was Here" sign. I should be a salesman.

West6MT

Thanks Kevin

Tomorrow I think I am going to split the hood in half on the Nissan and go all out on it. SSR 3 and down, to see how good I can get it. about the optimum stuff. After talking with you about it I couldnt resist getting some right away LOL. I might get some Wolfgang sealant soon,........and I am flirting with the idea of,...........................souveran or the series II,......maybe even some victoria wax.

picus

I've got some wolfgang sealant if you want a 4oz bottle to give a shot or something.

DutchCLS

I'm not sure if I'm at the stage of getting a polisher. I've been trying to get the swirls out by hand forever with no luck. And I don't want to attempt teaching myself, I would rather learn from someone with expereince. I'm willing to do all the work, just want someone watching over my shoulder.

West6MT

Haha, you will end up getting a PC or Rotary because you cant escape the addictiveness of detailing . Trying to get rid of swirls by hand wont really do much at all,....as you seem to have found out on your own. I would highly recommend getting a PC for fighting swirls and scratches.

Anyway, I dont have a problem meeting up with you to show you what I know, and to talk detailing etc (I dont know everything bear in mind). Maybe a little AZ toronto detailing get together could be organized or something. I can think of a few ppl who might be interested.

DutchCLS

That's sounds like a good idea, perhaps some of the experts can show us novices how it's done!

West6MT

I will take it off your hands if you dont want it,......but whatever dude. I will probably just buy a normal bottle since ppl seem to like it a lot,.........although testing it out is never a bad thing. Im tempted to look into it as a replacement for UPP because I can get wolfgang from Eshine easily, but UPP is coming from the States and I HATE PAYING THE INSANE SHIPPING CHARGES (but its so good,.....and I really like the UAW too).

5o9

Those are some of the best reflection shots yet. I'll look at as many tsx pics as anyone will post.

I actually had an easy time getting rid of light scratches in the clearcoat by hand, using four star ultimate swirl mark remover, microfibre pad, and rub like hell maybe 20 passes.

Would not think about doing a whole car or even an pannel that way though. Just taking care of some limited scratches that were installed by the dealership.

chuson

Sup Steve~ remember me??? We met in the TSX.... club meet before. Your car looks really shinny right now. I've just spent 2 hrs reading this forum on which products I should get and the way to do it. Unfortunately some of the popular products mentioned here is not carry by Canadian Tire or other auto place. Where did you get all yours cleaning products? Maybe I should come visit you and detail up my car~!@!

wickedk24

Looks good

West6MT

Haha, I remember everyone from the meets I go too (I just forget names) . Pretty much everything I use has been ordered online. A lot of my supplies have come from the States directly, while the rest of them are ordered from an online retailer in Canada (which gets his stuff from the states).

States - I have used Autogeek, Exceldetail, and Poorboysworld.
In Canada - Eshine

If you are looking to use the same products I use/others use, I would highly recommend you check out eshine. If there is something I cant get from eshine, I will order it from the States. However, ordering from the States costs a ton of money, and I only do it for specific products I really want that I cant get in Canada.

cmschmie

I've never seen the tape idea before and kinda like it. Does it leave any gooey residue?

chuson

I guess I will just drive to your garage and have it detail~!!! j/k

THX 4 the tips. I just check eShine and they have alot of products that I want but not carry thru Canadian Tire. THX

West6MT

Nope, I have not had any residue issues. I have left it on the car for 4 or 5 days before and didnt really find any residue on anything (in the garage). If there was, it would be easy to get rid of with some isopropyl alcohol or something like that.

mrchan625

iTrader: (3)

what is the tape suppose to be for? i dont get it

Hawhyen51

Tape is used to cover moldings, rubber. Just a precautionary practice to prevent staining from certain products

Jeff The Pianist

Do you guys use anything special on the exhaust pipes or just regular soap?

Vicman17

Metal Polish. Mother's has a very good one.

ck123

amazing....i wouldpay you to clean my car!

what did u use to polish your tailpipe?

West6MT

That could be arranged if you live near me .



For the pipes I used Blue Magic (recommended by JakieO). I picked it up locally at Canadian Tire. I dunno where you live, so if you are in the US I have no idea where you would find it.

This is what it looks like (my bottle looks slightly different).
http://store.botachtactical.com/blumagmetpol.html

ck123

im in san fran....

nice ill be on the lookout for that polish!

joerockt

Hey, I missed this...Nice work West! Evil swirls BEGONE!

qweezyq

how can u be so anal about your cars shine, but your yard looks like crap?

waTSX

Nice, and that was the first time with the PC? Makes me want one even more, since it doesn't seem too hard to learn how to use. I like your use of the masking tape. I've never thought of that before. Have to try it.

Overall, very nice job

joerockt

So he likes growing weeds and shit...Who cares...

West6MT

If it makes you feel better qweezyq, we are in the process of tearing up the backyard. We are going to take up the lawn and re-sod it. We have already removed most of the basketball net (which was set in concrete), and we are working on the flowerbeds etc around the limestone right now. We are also tearing down the back porch. Why would I bother with tending to the backyard when everything is going/being torn up anyway? That aside, I could care less what my backyard looks likes anyway.

joerockt,...........who bloody cares what my backyard looks like.

West6MT

BTW, thanks to everyone for the nice comments.

Joerockt,.........awesome avatar. I have seen that vid before, and I immediately burst out laughing when I saw your avatar.

joerockt

Its been a crowd fav