Hello all,
Thanks for all the info and help over the last few months. I finally got to put all my learning’s and orders to use. Unfortunately I didn’t finish due to the rain
, but I wanted to document my process and get any feedback (I am open to constructive criticism as I want to learn). The car is my wife’s 2002 Subaru Legacy GT (Silver). I debated which forum to put this in as for me I am really not bragging, but it seems more appropriate here, due to how I wrote it up.
Here was my process and tools used for as far as I got:
Pressure Wash Car and Wheels
Clean Wheels and Tires
- Meg’s Hot Rim’s cleaner
- Meg’s Gold Class Two Bucket
- Meg’s Wheel Face Brush
- Meg’s Wheel Spoke Brush
- Meg’s Tire Brush
Pressure Wash Car and Wheels
Wash and Dry
- Meg’s Gold Class Two Bucket
- Meg’s Camille Wash Mitt
- Sheet Water
- Meg’s MF WW
Clay
- Meg’s Clay (until dropped on ground)
- Mothers Clay
- Meg’s Quick Detailer
Polish
- PC
- 1Z Paint Polish on 4� Green Lake County CCS Pad (Hood and drivers side fender)
- 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax on 4� White Lake County CCS Pad (Hood)
Wax
- Collinite no. 845 (Hood) on 4� Black Lake County CCS Pad (Hood)
Hood before wash:
Hood after wash:
Hood after polish and wax:
Driver side fender after wash and clay:
Driver side fender after polish:
Scratch that I didn’t get out after going over it 3 times with PP on a green pad:
Impressions and comments:
So I was originally going to tackle my car, but opted at the last minute to work on my wife’s. I have never even washed her car. We have only owned it for two years (we bought it used). I inspected the car (mostly hood) with my halogen and didn’t find any obvious maring, but there were lots of specs of something and water spots. I also didn’t see many scratches.
Well after washing I uncovered a bunch of hidden marks, scratches and the specs and water spots weren’t really removed. I really didn’t plan on claying, but realized it was needed and well it was. Though again I dropped my clay :wall (did it when claying my car). That was my last Meg’s clay bar so I ended up using the last one I had which was a mother’s clay bar I had. I am guessing the mothers must have been more aggressive then the meg’s as it took off a lot more stuff the meg’s wasn’t, and it was doing it with less effort (due to this I tried to be extra careful and make sure everything was nicely lubed). So I doubled back over parts of the car. I ended up spending a lot of time claying the roof as it collected a ton of black dots along the roof rails. Claying really killed my time, but it was good for me to do it again (only second time using clay)
After that I finally got to polish I worked the hood and a mark on the drivers side fender. This is only my second time using my PC on a car and my first time using a polish. I think it went well. So far I am pleased. I was surprised how easy it went and really I think the 1Z polishes were easy to work with, though I don’t really have much to compare them to yet. I used 1Z Paint Polish on the entire hood using a green CCS pad. And 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax on a white pad. I was impressed with how it took out the mark on the fender (pictured above). I think the hood came out pretty well considering my experience level. There was another scratch on the fender I worked with PP on the green pad about 3 times and it’s no where near as noticeable, but still there. Any recommendations on where I should go with that scratch (final picture. Sorry not the best)? Is it too deep? Should I go to a more aggressive pad? A more aggressive polish?
Waxing went fairly well. I used collinite no 845. I used a 4� black CCS pad. I think next time I want to try a larger pad to see if waxing with a larger pad is easier. I was a little unsure how long to wax for. With polishing it seemed easier since I worked it until it broke down (I hope I didn’t over work it).
When I realized I was running out of daylight I wanted to go all the way to waxing which is why I finished the hood. I still have a lot to do so I was hoping to get out there Sunday and nope, Rain, Rain Rain (I don't have a usable garage for detailing). Still I thought it went well and am already watching for a window in the weather to get back out there and finish it up.
Not the best pictures I could have taken, I just got the Digital SLR and am trying to learn that as well. (I have more pictures and larger sizes)
Any feedback and suggestions welcome. I am looking to learn and improve.
chris
Thanks for all the info and help over the last few months. I finally got to put all my learning’s and orders to use. Unfortunately I didn’t finish due to the rain
, but I wanted to document my process and get any feedback (I am open to constructive criticism as I want to learn). The car is my wife’s 2002 Subaru Legacy GT (Silver). I debated which forum to put this in as for me I am really not bragging, but it seems more appropriate here, due to how I wrote it up.Here was my process and tools used for as far as I got:
Pressure Wash Car and Wheels
Clean Wheels and Tires
- Meg’s Hot Rim’s cleaner
- Meg’s Gold Class Two Bucket
- Meg’s Wheel Face Brush
- Meg’s Wheel Spoke Brush
- Meg’s Tire Brush
Pressure Wash Car and Wheels
Wash and Dry
- Meg’s Gold Class Two Bucket
- Meg’s Camille Wash Mitt
- Sheet Water
- Meg’s MF WW
Clay
- Meg’s Clay (until dropped on ground)
- Mothers Clay
- Meg’s Quick Detailer
Polish
- PC
- 1Z Paint Polish on 4� Green Lake County CCS Pad (Hood and drivers side fender)
- 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax on 4� White Lake County CCS Pad (Hood)
Wax
- Collinite no. 845 (Hood) on 4� Black Lake County CCS Pad (Hood)
Hood before wash:
Hood after wash:
Hood after polish and wax:
Driver side fender after wash and clay:
Driver side fender after polish:
Scratch that I didn’t get out after going over it 3 times with PP on a green pad:
Impressions and comments:
So I was originally going to tackle my car, but opted at the last minute to work on my wife’s. I have never even washed her car. We have only owned it for two years (we bought it used). I inspected the car (mostly hood) with my halogen and didn’t find any obvious maring, but there were lots of specs of something and water spots. I also didn’t see many scratches.
Well after washing I uncovered a bunch of hidden marks, scratches and the specs and water spots weren’t really removed. I really didn’t plan on claying, but realized it was needed and well it was. Though again I dropped my clay :wall (did it when claying my car). That was my last Meg’s clay bar so I ended up using the last one I had which was a mother’s clay bar I had. I am guessing the mothers must have been more aggressive then the meg’s as it took off a lot more stuff the meg’s wasn’t, and it was doing it with less effort (due to this I tried to be extra careful and make sure everything was nicely lubed). So I doubled back over parts of the car. I ended up spending a lot of time claying the roof as it collected a ton of black dots along the roof rails. Claying really killed my time, but it was good for me to do it again (only second time using clay)
After that I finally got to polish I worked the hood and a mark on the drivers side fender. This is only my second time using my PC on a car and my first time using a polish. I think it went well. So far I am pleased. I was surprised how easy it went and really I think the 1Z polishes were easy to work with, though I don’t really have much to compare them to yet. I used 1Z Paint Polish on the entire hood using a green CCS pad. And 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax on a white pad. I was impressed with how it took out the mark on the fender (pictured above). I think the hood came out pretty well considering my experience level. There was another scratch on the fender I worked with PP on the green pad about 3 times and it’s no where near as noticeable, but still there. Any recommendations on where I should go with that scratch (final picture. Sorry not the best)? Is it too deep? Should I go to a more aggressive pad? A more aggressive polish?
Waxing went fairly well. I used collinite no 845. I used a 4� black CCS pad. I think next time I want to try a larger pad to see if waxing with a larger pad is easier. I was a little unsure how long to wax for. With polishing it seemed easier since I worked it until it broke down (I hope I didn’t over work it).
When I realized I was running out of daylight I wanted to go all the way to waxing which is why I finished the hood. I still have a lot to do so I was hoping to get out there Sunday and nope, Rain, Rain Rain (I don't have a usable garage for detailing). Still I thought it went well and am already watching for a window in the weather to get back out there and finish it up.
Not the best pictures I could have taken, I just got the Digital SLR and am trying to learn that as well. (I have more pictures and larger sizes)
Any feedback and suggestions welcome. I am looking to learn and improve.
chris