Arnbine said:
I have a question about the stripes : Do you normally tape the edges up on the stripes if you are using a polisher.
Generally, yeah (not that I've dealt with stripes for quite a while!). You don't want to abrade the stripes (either painted or tape) much as they're generally rather fragile. And getting product residue along their edges is a huge PIA.
That product residue issue applies to LSPs too, so move the applicator *along*, parallel or "with" the stripe, not "against" it in a perpendicular manner, if you get my meaning. And consider using the wipe-on-wipe-off method for those areas too.
For maintenance details, I'd be *ALL* about washing it without instilling marring. What's your plan there?
I need some advice regarding this as i'm still an amature when it comes to detailing. I should really take time to read the advice on the forums, which i will probably do before completing puchases, but i will be taking your advice for the stuff you have listed here. I will be buying new detailing tools as well.
There are a lot of different opinions/experiences regarding wash techniques.
FWIW, the ONR/rinseless/etc. washes don't work all that great for me, even though they're very popular with others.
What do you plan to "dress" in the wells?
I plan to do the whole undercarage of the car then protect it so any advice wouold be greatly appreciated.
On my "good" cars, I'll go so far as to polish/seal these areas. Then I clean with a sorta-strong shampoo mix in a spray bottle using Boar's Hair Brushes ("BHB"s) and I rinse with the hose. After the wash/dry, I go back down there and spritz/wipe everything with a leaves-stuff-behind QD.
On my beaters, I clean things up very well but don't bother polishing/waxing. I wash with APC mix (again, with brushes, but sometimes on the beaters I'll use a flagged-synthetic-bristle brush) and rinse. I still do the QD wipedown after the rest of the wash as it helps keep dirt/etc. from adhering and makes the next wash easier.
In both cases, I'd generally rather use a QD (e.g., Fast Finish) than a dressing. While I've used Undercarriage Spray products before, they're awfully messy and sometimes seem to attract/retain dirt. Using those is a much bigger job (don't get 'em on the wrong places, or on the floor/driveway...easier said than done) than using QDs and most of the time it's not worth it to me.
Note that I'm a big fan of washing the undercarriage at *every* wash. If the top of the vehicle is dirty enough to need washing, the underneath is gonna be dirty too. I'm an absolute fanatic about this, in part because it keeps me in tune with any developments down there (last thing was discovering a pinion seal that was *just* starting to leak a little).
Compound?
Not for my car, but other family members especially my step mums car has some swirl marks in it so i would be looking to get rid of them. I have experiance on a DA polisher so i'm comfortable using one of them.
M105, Uno, Optimum Hyper Compound. The M105 is the most aggressive of the three. There are probably some recent developments/new products that I'm not familiar with (I hardly ever do compounding these days).
LSP- What's your fancy?
I've been readin g a little on the forum, just not enough but a few people seem to go with FK1000P
The FK1000P lasts an incredibly long time, while providing great protection. I've gradually gotten away from the "last half-% ultimate looks" in favor of not having to redo the vehicle for months at a time.
