Confused ... and lost (perhaps)?

RedOak

RedOak

New member
Man, I can`t tell you how hard it`s been to get basic detailing questions answered. Yes, I`m a whining detailing novice who`s looking to get those pesky "How to get started?" questions answered.

If anyone would point me to where a beginner can go to get some PITA beginner questions answered, I would surely appreciate the boost.

Have a good one ~ Red
 
RedOak- Welcome to Autopia!

FWIW, some of us don`t mind answering Newbie Qs, don`t consider them a PIA. Heh heh, I myself kinda like `em, although my responses might sometimes border on "oh man, that`s too extreme.." :o

Try to understand the concepts/processes so you`re not just flying blind. *ASK THOSE Qs* to take advantage of all the resources some of us have expended figuring this stuff out, so you`re not wasting *your* resources reinventing the wheel.

Hey, here`s a starter related to the Exterior:

-Decontaminate the car so you see what you`re really dealing with
-Go over it with an All-In-One product to make it look (at least) a little better
-Protect it with some LSP (Last Step Product, i.e., "wax" or sealant)
-Work on sorting out your Wash Technique, which I consider the single most important aspect of Exterior Detailing

The BIG TOPIC that`s a real can-of-worms is Polishing Out Marring (scratches/swirls/etc.). But there`s not much point in doing that until you`re sufficiently squared away so you won`t just reinstill those flaws (probably through improper washing), so I for one wouldn`t even go there for now.
 
RedOak said:
Man, I can`t tell you how hard it`s been to get basic detailing questions answered. Yes, I`m a whining detailing novice who`s looking to get those pesky "How to get started?" questions answered.

If anyone would point me to where a beginner can go to get some PITA beginner questions answered, I would surely appreciate the boost.

Have a good one ~ Red
Click to expand...

Welcome, RedOak !
Not sure where you have been looking for answers, but we are a great group of well-rounded, experienced, people; some of us do this for a living, some for other reasons..

One thing we all share the most is the love of Detailing, and there are a LOT of things to do with that.. :)
Glad to help you learn your way around !

I was in the USAF also.. 1967-1973.. 2049th Comm Grp., AFCS..
Later, Troop.. :)

Dan F
 
Stokdgs..... You did your time for our country a bit before me, but, regardless, a big thanks to you! I went into uniform under CiC Reagan, but, quite honestly, I spent so much time in joint services that I almost feel like my camouflage should have had some Marine and/or Navy coloring in it :). In fact, the Navair folks in Belle Chasse sort of lead me away from the USAF folks with a very good job offer -- after my active duty years and before Katrina. So, even though the USAF CCTs always came first, I feel a kinship to more than one branch of the service. As my dear old beloved southern people would say: "thankee" for the kind post ~ Red
 
Read, read, read, read. I`d do Google searches on topics you have questions about and then pic out the results from this forum. For some reason that approach works better for me than it does using the built-in search function on the forum. You`re likely not the first person to wonder how to do a particular task.

In addition to the information the members here can provide and what can be found from searches, another good resources are the articles posted by Mike Phillips over at Augogeekonline.com. He has great write ups on everything from how to car for a new car to how to do simple stuff like washing. Many aren`t focused on specific products.

Of course the folks here will/should be more than willing to share what they know.

Accumulator brings up a good point about starting with the simple things like washing and protecting your car. Get that down, and then move up to more advance things like machine polishing.

I`d also caution against buying a huge number of items all at once and spending a lot of money. Start simple with the basics for washing and drying like a couple buckets, wash mitt, a SMALL bottle of car shampoo (you`ll probably want to try out a few until you find one you really like) and a couple good drying towels. From there get a small bottle (or sample size if available) of a quality sealant, a few good applicators, and a handful of quality towels to buff everything out. As you skills and interest grows, your kit will grow too.

Funny you mention your time turning Purple during your career. I was active duty AF for 12 years with one Joint assignment and one Joint deployment in the mix. I then went into the Navy as a Resrvist for another 10-ish years and a mobilization back into the Joint world. In the end, the only colors I really cared about were those on the flag velro`d to my shoulder. Most of the Joint time was in the SOF world. Amazing people and great memories.
 
Hi RedOak,

You’ve come to the right place. The Autopians have answered lots of my noob questions over the past few months and I’m so grateful to them. Just fire away.


Ben
Current: ‘19 VW Golf R
Past: ‘05 RS 225 Cup
 
Quick tip that others here do *not* necessarily agree with: use a high-quality shampoo. Most of the better ones are very gentle on LSP while still providing good cleaning power and, of great importance IME, superior lubricity and encapsulation. I myself won`t use stuff in the Meguiar`s Gold Class range, though others think it works fine (OK, I found it OK for wheels/wells/undercarriages).

And never move the wash medium for long distances at a time. If (more like "when") a speck of abrasive [stuff] gets caught between the Medium and the paint the result will be marring, and it`s better for such damage to be short in length and not a few inches long.

Man, I just can`t overemphasize the importance of not marring it when washing...that`s 90-some% of Detailing right there. Correction (i.e., polishing out those scratches and swirls) is not only a big PIA, but it can only be done a few times because the clearcoat is very thin and removing too much of it (and "too much" isn`t much at all; we`re talking microns) will precipitate all sorts of serious problems that can only be fixed via repainting.
 
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