docker
New member
I waited until the last moment to order all my WG stuff from Autogeek (my penalty is that overnight Saturday delivery costs an extra 6 arms, ugh!), and then waited with baited breath for the package to arrive via UPS. In the meantime, I kept going back to Autogeek.net and Detailcity.com looking and reading about what I was about to get into, and to dream of how good my car was about to look. Finally, UPS came. I ripped open the package as if it was Christmas and I was, once again, a joyous little kid who couldn't wait to play with all his new toys.
I finished up with my first high level detail job this morning. Ahhhhh… wonderful. I’d attach a pic, but it keeps error’ing out when I try to upload. The paint is a Magnesium Metallic, and the metallic shines much brighter than ever before but I couldn’t get a good close pic to show the mega-shine. Next weekend I’ll be detailing my wife’s deep green metallic 05 Jeep Liberty, then the weekend after that I’ll be detailing my daughter’s purple/black metallic ’99 Saturn. They are both going to look superb also!
Here are my steps, including some observations. Please feel free to give me feedback or corrections if I’m out in right field on anything. BTW… I got the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Total Concours Kit, therefore all the products I used were WG items, and I am very happy with the results.
1. Wash w/WG Autobath. I like them Tuff Sudds II !! Used the dual bucket method that I read about here on the boards. I used MF towels to dry, which certainly beats the crap out of using chamois and faux chamois’.
2. Clay’d most of the car. Seems to be pretty simple to do as long as you keep the surface and clay well lubed. I wiped off the excess lube with a MF towel, but did not rewash the car.
3. Applied Pre-Wax Polish Enhancer. Again simple to apply and remove.
4. Sealant. This is where I had the most uncertainty, and was the most time consuming. The first time I applied it I used way toooo much. I felt like I needed to paint it on. Let it ‘dry’ for a few hours and wiped it off with a MF towel. However, much of it was still damp, so I assumed it didn’t ‘hold’.
- The 2nd sealant application I applied much thinner. Went on easily, and buffed off easily. I waited approx 45 minutes to 1 hour between application and buffing.
- The 3rd sealant application – same as the 2nd. I figured that since the 1st coat of sealant I applied too heavily, that I should apply this 3rd application. Again, I waited approx 1 hour between application and buffing.
5. Observations –
- Applying the sealant is much easier when you are not afraid to apply it thinly. That is what made the 2nd and 3rd coats go on and off so smoothly, plus the fact that using the small round yellow applicators soak up the sealant so you don’t have to keep applying a full nickel size amount.
- Curing time – I assume that the instructions (step #4 on the WG Sealant page) means that the surface can not get wet for 12 hours, NOT that you have to leave the sealant on and unbuffed for this time period.
- Humidity – an enemy while detailing. Not only is it tuff on us, but it apparently delays the ‘hazzing period’. I moved one of my heavy duty dehumidifiers from my basement into my garage. I assume it helped as it removed a lot of water from the air.
- I have a clearcoat on my car that the dealer applied. I am now anti-clearcoat, or at least very very cautious. I have waterspots UNDER my clearcoat. Actually, I have a bunch of them on my roof under the clearcoat. Of course, I could not clay them out, but I tried. I’m going to bring this up to my buddy the sales manager at the dealership to see what he says. There is someone here on the boards that is from the clearcoat company and I’ll make him aware also. Ugh, the water spots look crappy!
- In reading through some of the other threads, it appears that some people spritz their surface after the sealant. I did not, but wonder whether I should have???
I finished up with my first high level detail job this morning. Ahhhhh… wonderful. I’d attach a pic, but it keeps error’ing out when I try to upload. The paint is a Magnesium Metallic, and the metallic shines much brighter than ever before but I couldn’t get a good close pic to show the mega-shine. Next weekend I’ll be detailing my wife’s deep green metallic 05 Jeep Liberty, then the weekend after that I’ll be detailing my daughter’s purple/black metallic ’99 Saturn. They are both going to look superb also!
Here are my steps, including some observations. Please feel free to give me feedback or corrections if I’m out in right field on anything. BTW… I got the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Total Concours Kit, therefore all the products I used were WG items, and I am very happy with the results.
1. Wash w/WG Autobath. I like them Tuff Sudds II !! Used the dual bucket method that I read about here on the boards. I used MF towels to dry, which certainly beats the crap out of using chamois and faux chamois’.
2. Clay’d most of the car. Seems to be pretty simple to do as long as you keep the surface and clay well lubed. I wiped off the excess lube with a MF towel, but did not rewash the car.
3. Applied Pre-Wax Polish Enhancer. Again simple to apply and remove.
4. Sealant. This is where I had the most uncertainty, and was the most time consuming. The first time I applied it I used way toooo much. I felt like I needed to paint it on. Let it ‘dry’ for a few hours and wiped it off with a MF towel. However, much of it was still damp, so I assumed it didn’t ‘hold’.
- The 2nd sealant application I applied much thinner. Went on easily, and buffed off easily. I waited approx 45 minutes to 1 hour between application and buffing.
- The 3rd sealant application – same as the 2nd. I figured that since the 1st coat of sealant I applied too heavily, that I should apply this 3rd application. Again, I waited approx 1 hour between application and buffing.
5. Observations –
- Applying the sealant is much easier when you are not afraid to apply it thinly. That is what made the 2nd and 3rd coats go on and off so smoothly, plus the fact that using the small round yellow applicators soak up the sealant so you don’t have to keep applying a full nickel size amount.
- Curing time – I assume that the instructions (step #4 on the WG Sealant page) means that the surface can not get wet for 12 hours, NOT that you have to leave the sealant on and unbuffed for this time period.
- Humidity – an enemy while detailing. Not only is it tuff on us, but it apparently delays the ‘hazzing period’. I moved one of my heavy duty dehumidifiers from my basement into my garage. I assume it helped as it removed a lot of water from the air.
- I have a clearcoat on my car that the dealer applied. I am now anti-clearcoat, or at least very very cautious. I have waterspots UNDER my clearcoat. Actually, I have a bunch of them on my roof under the clearcoat. Of course, I could not clay them out, but I tried. I’m going to bring this up to my buddy the sales manager at the dealership to see what he says. There is someone here on the boards that is from the clearcoat company and I’ll make him aware also. Ugh, the water spots look crappy!
- In reading through some of the other threads, it appears that some people spritz their surface after the sealant. I did not, but wonder whether I should have???
