Looking to update skills (now hobbyist north of Pittsburgh)

[Ed Fisher]

I happened to just afford a new set of alloy wheels and tyres.



The wheels are 7 x 15 Speedline(s) and the tyres are 205/50 x 15 Pirelli Drago(s)



My babe feels as if she is riding on rails now !! However, could you give me an idea of what to use on the wheels since they are matte aluminum style and with a heavy coating of clearcoat...?



I want a rock hard protection so would carnauba be a good answer ???



Thanx already

[Michael H]

Polymer sealant would be better, such as Klasse. Klasse will better withstand the dirt, brake dust and grime the rims endure.

[Tiger88]

Go here:

http://www.autopia-carport.com/forum...&threadid=6776

[Geech]

Hi All,

I spent 1/4 of my 33 years detailing autos at various levels to pay for college and for fun, but after reading around this site for the past week or two, I realize I`m far from up to date.

A little about me, after spending a decade in a technology career I purchased my dream garage with a house next to it. I decided to use the 1200 sq/ft portion of the garage to start an upholstery shop which I currently run, but the original reason of buying the place was to enjoy the heated solitude of great lighting to maintain and care for my vehicles.

With my business consuming my life, I`ve been struggling to rekindle my hobbies, one of which has always been detailing vehicles. Back in the day I started as a lot attendant slinging wax on new vehicles, learned detailing and buffing from the other departments of the dealership, and moved on to working in a few smaller shops over the following years. Please keep in mind, I was strictly pumping out used cars from trade / auction and making them ready for retail, but I didn`t have the pleasure of working on more than a dozen true high end vehicles for personal consumers so I don`t have the same resume of most of you here operating your own businesses on a different level than my experience allowed me. I guess I mentioned that simply because other than when doing side jobs, the products available at my disposal were determined by someone other than me - whatever was cheap and effective just about summed up their purchases off the detail supply truck (keep in mind this was before the internet was really popular and purchases were made the old fashioned way).

Back in the day, I used to have the fun time killing task of making the Lincoln dealership owner`s new demo Town Cars sparkle like a diamond while a blizzard was going on outside the heated shop when things were slow, only to watch it all be undone within 30 seconds of heading outside, but I justified doing it telling myself one day I`d have a setup similar to take care of my own new vehicles with the same level of care regardless of what is going on outside. Fast forward 15 years and I`ve got the heated facilities complete with hot water to detail to my hearts desire at negative 15 if I feel like it, yet I`ve recently "opened my eyes" to find myself with a brand new GMC 2500 that I`ve barely only managed to wash less than a half dozen times and throw a quick wax job on twice now in the first 6 months of ownership.

In looking over the obvious signs of neglect starting to appear in my paint such as water spots I`ll possibly date myself on by claiming are from acid rain perhaps, I`ve gotten the itch to return to my old pastime as a hobby to reduce stress and appreciate what I have a little more. While my toy collection took a backseat for business purposes, we`ve got a few drivers in our fleet worth looking their best which I intend to return to. However, after reading as much as I could off the site so far, the first thing I noted is the professionals don`t mention the products I have on the shelf that were more popular back in my active times while working in the field that I`ve kept stocked over the years. I`m standing back looking at a slew of 3M products like Perfect-It and Finesse-It polishes and other compounds, waffle patterned foam pads beside some wool ones, etc basically things I haven`t seen here! Even more surprising is I haven`t found one mention (not that I`ve searched too hard for it) of my good old variable speed Milwaukee rotary polisher which is what was the only thing I used to see in shops back in the day.

I have no problem with updating my arsenal of products to some of the more modern lines out there now as I expect they`re so heavily used for a reason, but I`m sort of curious more than anything to learn why "what i thought I knew" barely gets a mention anywhere? Did I not know as much as I thought I did or have times changed that much! With that in mind, I`ll consider myself a newbie....

Anyhow, looking forward to returning to the art of detailing and learning as much as I can observing from the folks on the site. If there is a thread somewhere that can help an out of date person such as myself come up to speed a little quicker I`d appreciate help finding one that an out of touch guy can draw lines from what I worked with before to what is the choice of the pros now.

Thanks for taking the time to read the intro, I swear all posts will be much shorter than this one.

Greg aka Geech

[imported_Flash Gordon]

Welcome to TruthInDetailing Greg. Hope to see you around Candy Cane

[pjvosotas]

I was in the same boat as you a few months ago, Geech! I`ve been detailing since I was nine and tried at least 100 different products over the years, but this forum was a real eye opener! Here`s what I have distilled from all my reading in the past 6 months:

The three most frequently utilized products seem to be Meguiars 105 compound, Meguiars 205 polish and Black Fire Wet Diamond sealant- The Meguiars products are currently the best out there for compounding, then polishing. I am half way through my first wet-sanding project and I can tell you that 105 completely removes (not cover up- removes)1500grit scratches and leaves a beautiful finish. If you do it right, you can pretty much skip the polishing and go straight to sealing- it`s that good.

Black Fire Sealant is the best sealant I have ever used- been detailing for myself and family 30 years, used dozens of waxes and sealants and there is nothing like it. Shines like a carnuba wax and lasts a long time. I did my Subaru in April and it still beads water after 7 months outside in FL weather. Great product.

You can put carnuba over the sealant to add shine- the wax choice is your`s!

You have to use either a Dual Action polisher or a rotary. I like my dual action because I`m afraid of screwing up, which I hear you can do with the rotary.

Lake Country and Surbuf seem to be the pads of choice out there, but people are trying some new products too, lately. I use Lake Country pads. I have 4 or more of the Orange, Green, White, Red and Black pads- you don`t want to be short on them. There`s a couple different pad surface choices and varying opinions on all of them!

Cotton or cotton blend towels are out- they tend to scratch the car up. Get a couple of the Big Blue waffle towels and you will see why they are so popular.

Never use dishwashing liquid unless you want to strip all the products off your car.

Use two buckets. One for old water and dirt, one for fresh soapy water.

303 Aerospace protectant is excellent for protecting trim. Satin finish, protects for a few months, doesn`t run and blackens up black stuff.

"Optimum" product line appears to be very popular, especially the no-rinse car washing stuff. Never used there products yet, but most of these guys seem to use it

From there, it seems people go different ways with products. It`s a lot of fun seeing people`s processes and the results though. I think if you get the above products in your man cave, you will be beyond thrilled with your results! Good luck!

[imported_Tuscarora Dave]

Welcome to TID from the Harrisburg PA area. I wouldn`t want to run a Milwaukee rotary for any length of time. My forearms get to really hurting after running my Makita all day which it considerably lighter than the Milwaukee units.

I have all this stuff pictured below and wish I could find some sucker that would trade me gallon for gallon for M-105/M-205.

[bmw5541]

Welcome to TID Greg.

Just like anything else, times change and so do products. There have been many improvements in the industry in terms of the chemicles and products that we use. Just keep reading the posts here, and you will be up to speed in no time.

I am looking forward to seeing some of your posts.

[imported_kakeuter]

Welcome to TID, this is a great forum with a lot of great people always willing to offer up advice of their past experiences.

I was pretty oblivious to all the information, product and processes that are entailed in real detailing. I had thought I was maintaining my vehicle properly, whilst doing it better than the average car owner, I still had a lot of learning to do if I wanted to be a professional. Every day is a learning experience for me and I`m glad I have this site to come to for quality advice.

Enjoy it!

-Kody-

[Puckman]

Welcome Geech and congratulations on finally having some time to return to detailing. Sounds like you have an ideal shop setup to boot!

I would bet your old Milwaukee rotary would be just fine if you are planning to continue to use it. If you are looking to replace it there are so many options and a lot of machines on the market for cutting/buffing/polishing. If you are looking for a machine one phone call to Angelo at PAC and he`ll listen to what your needs are and certainly be able to help you select a new machine. As Dave suggested, that ole Milwaukee is probably a beast to manhandle around a GMC 2500 for half a day and the new machines are lighter and just plain easier to use.

As far as pads, I have just about every pad Lake Country Mfg. produces and they are the single most popular amongst the detail set. There are many who still use the 3M pads and even the waffle pads however, again, a lot of progress has been made with regard to pad design and application and there are so many options.

I cut my teeth years ago on just about every brand of compound, polish, glaze, etc. and have finally reduced my inventory to Megiuars 105, 205 and about 5 or 6 Menzerna products (from Power Gloss for heavier cut to PO85RD for finesse and gloss).

What you want to do is keep asking questions along with trying some different pad/polish combos to get back into the "feel" of paint correction.

Welcome back into the addiction and you`ll find this place to be a great source of amicable guidance if you have any questions.

[Geech]

Thanks for the quick start tips - I`ll wrangle the heavy Milwaukee around until either my back or it gives out to save a few bucks for now, and take the advice of the newer products on the market.

I`m looking forward to trying them out and I`m sure I`ll find myself having plenty of questions.

Thanks everyone - great forum
Geech

[PAR Detailing]

I have an old Milwaukee rotary. I got here 9+ years ago and she is still running like a champ! I have gotten lighter polishers since then but I sometimes pull her out, shake the dust off, and take her for a spin... runs just like the day I bought her.

Best of luck with your new hobby, you will find alot of guys know their stuff and we have some world class detailers contributing.

Jon