Freshman to the University gets his first Exam

[Key]

although i`ve lurked on here for a while, this`ll be my first attempt at detailing my ride. after a couple hours of searching through the threads, i went shopping and picked up a few things. i`m a college student that has zero free time, but this weekend`ll be the first free one i`ve had in a while so i decided to make the most of it and give my baby the loving she deserves. poor thing`s been so neglected !



here`s my gameplan, any help would be greatly appreciated. all materials were bought locally, so selection was a little limited.



- Wash with Mother`s Car Soap (Eagle One Aluminum Wash & Cleaner for Wheels, RainX wax for windows)

- Clay with Mother`s Clay Bar w/ Mothers Showtime

- Wash again



- Meg Scratch X on small scratches near passenger door

- Meg #7 Glaze



- S100 to lock it all in

- Mother`s Mag + Alum Polish for the wheels



got a 6 pack of 100% terry cloths and a wax appplicator, as well as a california blade, leather chamois (sp?) and 100% sheepskin Carrand Washglove. edit: oh yea, picked up a TurtleWax MF cloth as well. :)



The car`s a 1998 Honda Prelude, Dark Green ("Eucalyptus Green") that actually looks more like black, especially when it`s dark. Got a parking ticket once, the cop wrote "Black" as the color of the vechicle! Dirty, but not horrible. No trace of wax, so I`m not too worried about scrubbing it down with Dawn. Should I anyway?



Also, should I polish before I #7 it ? I`ve been getting the impression polish/glaze was pretty much the same process.



Been reading a bunch of threads on the PC, spent enough cash though I think I`ll do it by hand this first time :)



Thanks for the inspiration guys, I probably wouldn`t be remotely interested in spending this much time/cash on a shine if it weren`t for stumbling on this site. My lude thanks you more :)



edit: also read that i shouldn`t use brand new terry cloths, and that i should wash them first. should i drop those as well as the MF and wax applicator in the wash tonite as well?

[Steve @ Guru]

1) Don`t wash any MF stuff with the new towels. The MF will fill up with lint instantly...it`s best to wash the MF`s by them selves (always).



2) The plan looks good, I don`t see any major flaws/problems with it - although, I might suggest that the wheel cleaner choice might be a little on the harsh side.



Last time I checked, the Prelude had clear coated wheels, and that Mag cleaner is made for bare aluminum/cast aluminum wheels - it might be a little too aggressive (same with the polish). You might try Eagle One`s A2Z wheel cleaner instead, and a quality wax/synthetic on them when done.



Finally, be extra careful with the waterblade and chamois. Both work by dragging themselves across the surface of the car. In the event that a piece of debris is stuck somewhere on the paint, the blade will drag it rather unmercifully over the surface.



Finally, what sort of "polish" would you consider before the #7? #7 Should be a decent glaze/polish for use before the S100.

[Key]

thanks geekysteve,



i saw the a2z eagle one stuff but wasn`t sure which one was better. i`ll go back and swap for it. what kind of polish would you recommend for the wheels then? preferably something available locally so i can get it done this weekend.



i saw a thread where someone mentioned polishing with a meg product, i believe it was the crystal clear one before using #7, but i wasn`t sure that was necessary. the #7/s100 combo seemed to be mentioned several times with much success, so i went with that (convenient that the harley davidson shop is right next to the pep boys!).

[Steve @ Guru]

I don`t think you`ll need a polish for the wheels. Just spray the Eagle One A2Z on COLD wheels, let it sit for about a minute, wash with a separate wash mitt/cloth; then rinse with a strong stream of water.



Work one wheel at a time, and when you`re done, dry the wheels and then apply some S100 (use a different applicator - never swap applicators/towels/wash mitts between wheels and paint), or if you have access to some, try a synthetic product. Durability will be much better with a non-wax based product.



#7/S100 combo should be ok. I`m not a fan of #7 - I think it`s a little too hard to work with...I use the Gloss Enhancing Paint Cleaner from P21S instead. It`s about $9...

[Key]

i`ve heard the same thing about #7, maybe i`ll stop by and go back to the harley davidson shop and pick up some p21s paint cleaner instead than. should work the same, no ?

[AMP01]

Key,



Welcom to Autopia!



I also really like S100 Shine Enhancing Paint Cleaner which should be available at your local Harley dealer. This would be a good mild polish before using S100 wax.



Great luck in your detail! :xyxthumbs



Cheers

My Black 7 Series (http://www.cardomain.com/id/amp99)

[TurboCat]

The GEPC sold in the Harley Shops as S100 is the same as the P21S product. That will be fine!



Sounds like you have a good game plan. Have fun with it! :)

[schoi]

Welcome, sir! :wavey



Yeah, your plan sounds pretty good. I`d also be a little cautious in what you`re using on those wheels.



I used to use a #7 / #26 combo on my `Bring. Came out pretty well, of course, so I`m sure that you doing #7 / S100 (P21S) would look really good, too. How`s the paint? Gritty? Swirled? (...)?



Also, I`m not sure that you really need to use Dawn. I mean, it wouldn`t be terribly bad for your paint, but it may be a little unnecessarily harsh. Even if you had wax on your paint, the clay would remove some of that. The #7 would strip it all, for sure. Hell, #7 strips my Klasse. Skip the Dawn. You`ve got a nice little plan going.



(incoming college freshman, Fall 2003... bleh)

[Thomasfl]

A different point of view, I like the #7 and don`t have much problem applying by hand or PC. You have that already try it out. If you want a mild cleanser try the SEPC or Meg`s Medallion before the #7, personally I like that, it cleans the paint slightly and adds a gloss. If you have both (SEPC & #7) I would try putting on the SEPC, then take one panel like the trunk, add the S100 without the #7. Then do the rest of the car with the #7/S100 combo. For me I can see the slight difference.

[shaf]

Hello Key, and welcome. :wavey



Now down to business. :) BEWARE of your 6 pack of "100% cotton" terry towels. Unless this is some weird 6 pack of quality bathroom hand towels I bet they say "made in India/Pakistan" right? Don`t let these touch your paint (especially if it`s dark). Save these for cleaning your interior, wheels, or engine bay and spend the money on some US-made bath or hand towels (they can get cheap if you look hard for deals). I would get a whole armload more of the Turtle Wax MFs - these are not bad towels at all and you will need lots of them to do your wiping/buffing tasks for your big detail and for caring for it afterwards. You cannot own too many MFs. Terry cloth can also be used for polishing/applying however.



Get several more round, foam wax applicators. You can use these for polishing as well as glazing and waxing... basically they can be used to apply almost anything.



Unless you have bare-metal, custom, real "mag" wheels, I would seriously just use A2Z on them and use your Scratch-X to polish them if needed because 99% of todays wheels are painted or clearcoated. Cleaners and polishes made for bare metal wheels will kill your painted wheel`s finish in no time.



I don`t know how much swirling your paint has after 4 years of "neglect" as you put it, but if it has swirls in the paint (should be really easy to see in the sunlight) you should try to make an attempt to polish them out with an abrasive product like #9 Swirl Remover. It`s hard work to try removing swirls by hand though. After swirl removal, finish up with #7 to hide what`s left over.



#7 is not a polish. It is a pure glaze, and doesn`t do any abrasive paint correction ability. Its job is to fill in and hide swirls/imperfections. One of my big pet-peeves is how the terms polish and glaze get all mixed up in "Meguiar`sese". Most people think of "polishing" as using abrasives and technically they`re right. Many people have this association and it only causes confusion when buying products. :down



Budget LOTS of time to do this. At least a whole day if you`re doing clay, polish, etc. etc.

[Key]

thanks for all the welcomes guys :)



finished the wash/clay/wash process today. holy cow, i can`t believe how noticible the feel was immediately after claying. it was amazing. i went over the whole car with a fine toothed comb so to speak, so it took quite a while. heh, my neighbors came home and saw me rubbing my car still and were like "dude, have you been washing your car for 4 hrs?" didn`t realize time flew so quick!



i`ll polish with SEPC tomm (the bottle just says SEC, is that the same?) and then if i have time, apply a coat of S100. otherwise i`ll just wax on sunday. i`ll try and apply a second coat monday if i can find the time. hope it takes less time then it did to clay!



but then if the change was as miraculous i don`t think i`ll mind :)



i can`t stress enough how smooth it was after claying, best $15 i`ve ever spent (this takes into account the $130 mp3 player i got for $10). i can`t believe more people don`t clay

[nate010753]

Hey there just a note on the wheels. I have been using a synthetic wax on mine. I happen to use Blackfire II but any of them will do. You can also use regular car wax however it will not withstand the heat as well or at all for that matter. At any rate if you have access to a synthetic wax use it on your wheels.





also the SEPC /S100 combo looks great. you won`t be disappointed. :xyxthumbs

[Patrick]

I bet they say "made in India/Pakistan" right? Don`t let these touch your paint

Whats wrong with these towels ? There 100 % cotton, and appear to be extremely soft after a wash or two.......

[tkr128]

Originally posted by Patrick



Whats wrong with these towels ? There 100 % cotton, and appear to be extremely soft after a wash or two.......



These towels are 100% cotton, at least the part that`s cotton. They`re usually a cotton/polyester blend. Polyester will actually scratch the paint surface. I`ve bought quite a few of these towels and they fail the CD test miserably. As a rule, usually only towels made in the US are completely cotton. :)

[shaf]

Originally posted by Patrick



Whats wrong with these towels ? There 100 % cotton, and appear to be extremely soft after a wash or two....... Inconsistent and questionable quality is the problem. They can lint like crazy or even lint themselves to death after a while (ie, fall apart). And although they often say they are "100% cotton" they can be hard and stiff or not even really be 100% cotton (yes, it`s lying). Towels with polyester content are a no-no and can scratch. Try burning some on a piece of tinfoil someday. It`s really shocking and disappointing how hard it is to find stuff that actually is 100% cotton. Domestically made, quality bath/hand towels should be honest about its composition and perform better.



In the words of Levar Burton, the Reading Rainbow guy, you don`t have to take my word for it. :D Search around the archives and you`ll find similar info in there.



You may find some towels like these that are okay, but you`ll have to judge it on a case-by-case basis. I bought some of these cheap towels when I was just starting to learn about car care because they were the desired "100% cotton terry towels" :rolleyes: :rolleyes: but now only use them for grunge work because they have proven to be abrasive and really awful, despite feeling "okay" at the time of purchase. I have the feeling they use fabric softener to pull this trick off.