http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums How To Remove Swirls and Choose the Best Car Wax en Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:57:25 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/kirmizi/misc/rss.jpg http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1764&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:32:33 GMT When comes to cleaning leather the only thing i use on leather is D180 ( read : no steamer, no apc or any other things/cleaners ) Image: http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-41771694353694_2120_11789260 ... When comes to cleaning leather the only thing i use on leather is D180 ( read : no steamer, no apc or any other things/cleaners )

D180 is meguiar`s leather cleaner conditioner. for public can be purchase in sample of 12 oz around 7$ , or in gallon for more / detailer use.
one seat should take between 5 minutes up to 20 minutes (when soiled)
Depends how bad the leather condition is i do one or 2 applications for cleaning and the 3rd one for "conditioner" where the product is light wipe.
i use it with a soft brush (1in and half , soft-hair) i apply the product on the brush and i work the seat strategic , in steps. u agitate the product to make sure goes anywhere on seat surface and wipe with mf towel.
- when use with the brush keep on eye on any splater , if use too much product, wipe any splater from leather, try don`t leave it too long, has cleaning agents.
- always wipe with mf towel so the leather is even covered.
- once u start you wanna do the whole seat/ interior seats , if not will be visible difference
- the product has a light learning curve but once u use it it should be easy on/off , just wipe the excess to even the application if not the excess it may be visible too shiny.
- when first applied on seats it may look greasy at the momment you work the paste , but after 1-2 hours the finish is natural , and nice to touch , gives a light shine of the leather but not any extreme glare.
that`s my experience with D180, very affordable , safe on leather ,good working time , quality results.
i use it on different vehicles , color , and very soft leather
some pictures to sustain the one above:
motorcycle jacket 50/50 test:




Audi S4
before:




after:


Bentley
before


after


Ferrari after ( roof , door ,seats)


BMW Z4
before


after


Mercede Benz S550
before with some stains and dirt


kind of 50/50 view


after
]]> Show Off CosminTX http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1764 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1763&goto=newpost Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:27:23 GMT Before Wash: Image: http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/1896/dsc0001s.jpg (http://img818.imageshack.us/i/dsc0001s.jpg/) Image: http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/579/dsc0002tm.jpg ... Before Wash:



















After Wash:















]]> Show Off CU2MIKE http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1763 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1762&goto=newpost Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:50:23 GMT There are so many posts and info about how to apply it. I don' know which one correct or not. Someone please write a step by step guide. Here are some questions:

1. How to prepare the surface?
2. What to apply it with (I am guessing a foam pad)
3. What to do after applying it?

thanks ]]> Black Wow akarimov http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1762 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1761&goto=newpost Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:03:42 GMT I still cannot find a place that ships this product to Canada and has low shipping rates. In addition, they all ship it using FedEX, UPS, which means brokerage fees when I receive it. Any tips... I still cannot find a place that ships this product to Canada and has low shipping rates. In addition, they all ship it using FedEX, UPS, which means brokerage fees when I receive it.

Any tips please, I really want to try this product
thanks ]]> Black Wow akarimov http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1761 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1760&goto=newpost Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:34:26 GMT The Z4 had some panels respray or/and some aggressive buffing before. the paint was neglected for a while. when i saw the car i plan for 2 step correction one compound one polish, so i kind of... The Z4 had some panels respray or/and some aggressive buffing before.
the paint was neglected for a while.
when i saw the car i plan for 2 step correction one compound one polish, so i kind of have m105 in my mind. knowing that the car has some "history" i took some readings around the car and i was surprise to find the hood into max 70 and min 48 with a constant 55 , and all panels around the car between 88-110. at that point compound was excluded and i was aim at max 50% correction from initial condition , and my paint gauge save me again....
process:
Interior:
- 303 protectant on all plastic/vinyl
- meg d180 on leather agitated with brush
- vacuum
Exterior:
- wheels was clean with p21s gel and brushes
- klasse aio on wheels , m40 on tires
- 303 water repelant on soft top
- onr wash with 2 buckets
- claybar paint and windows with onr as lube
- m205 with hex polish pad on DA speed 6
- IPA wipe down
- optiseal one coat
- duragloss 105 one coat
Pictures...
wheel before

leather before:

leather after:

Hood before:

Hood after:

reading on the hood:

reading on side panel:

Pictures after:










Ferrari F430 spider had some light water spots , and in need of refresh.
process:
Interior:
- 303 protectant on all leather ( console , back panels , dashboard, seats, doors)
- vacuum
- optiseal on all carbon fiber
Exterior:
- onr wash with 2 buckets
- vinegar on the panels with water spots
- wheels was wash with onr , dress with optimum car wax , m40 on tires
- optimum car wax on paint and clear bra
- 303 water guard on soft top
all pic are after:










]]> Show Off CosminTX http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1760 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1759&goto=newpost Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:23:09 GMT I just tried another product and MAN! what a difference. I used to start off by wetsanding and then polish out the sanding scratches on lenses that was in pretty bad shape, or use the rotary or DA... I just tried another product and MAN! what a difference. I used to start off by wetsanding and then polish out the sanding scratches on lenses that was in pretty bad shape, or use the rotary or DA with a cutting pad and some aggressive cleaner. Now I start with the meguiars headlight lens kit.

On some lenses that need more then just the meguiars kit I will start off with 2000 grit sanding paper but called Richard to order more prima and a couple more orange cutting pads and started talking to him about headlight lenses and products and what I was doing at this time and he advised me again to try something else? (WILL POST MY OUTCOME LATER WITH PICS ) Thanks again Richard for your help, What a difference it made, instead of several applications it only take 3 to 4 with ? (Going to hold you off to see if anyone else has used this , you can't answer Richard. LOL!)

Will post up pics with a write-up on the headlights and the VW I'm polishing out in a couple days, just started on the washing.

Interested in your technique & product you use when cleaning/polishing your headlight lenses so feel free to respond even if you just apply something by hand, hopefully this will be a hot topic because I've (well Richard) has a quick and easy way to get your headlight lenses back to a new or almost new look! ]]> Detailing 101 stang_krazy http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1759 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1758&goto=newpost Fri, 06 Aug 2010 02:13:04 GMT BMW Z8, with 9k miles on it , in good shape but with a need of refresh interior & exterior.
process:
- wheels wash with onr dress with m40 , and klasse aio.
- dashboard leather , console, door panels got 303 protectant and dash/console paint panels opti-seal
- leather seats was treated with d180 meguiar`s leather cleaner conditioner agitated with a soft brush
- paint panels behind the seats got opti-seal
- windows was clean in/out
- rear plastic window was polish with plexus on foam aplicator
- vacuum
- wash whole car with onr (optimum no rinse)
- claybar whole car and windows with meguiar`s white claybar
- protection : 1 coat of opti-seal and 1 coat of duragloss 105

the plastic get`s green , foggy


after:


hardtop got same treatment as paint ( clay and protection)




set-up , after opti-seal


interior:




all this pic are after:










]]> Show Off CosminTX http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1758 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757&goto=newpost Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:42:39 GMT So who knew that Prima Epic, their synthetic polymer wax, could be used as an all in one paint cleaner/polish/wax?

I've been experimenting with this for awhile (thanks to Daniel) and thought I'd share what 4 hours of work could do to this 2004 Alpine White 330I. In total we spent 6 man hours...4 on the outside to wash, clay, polish and 2 on the inside. This is markedly different from my typical 18 to 24 hour details..and yet the results were actually very remarkable.

We went from


To


Some process shots










Here's what we did:

I cleaned the wheels with my favorite wheel cleaner, Meguiar's Wheel Brightener. That took off 99% of the brake dust in seconds. Then I used a wheel brush and my Nomad pressure washer, and cleaned the rims using ONR as the cleaning solution.

Then I hosed off all the paint using the Nomad and ONR solution. The paint was filthy. I sprayed it twice to let the ONR (Optimum No Rinse) solution soften the contamination.

Then I went around the paint using Pre Wow and cleaned up anything that looked like a scratch...doing this first lets me know very easily and immediately if the defect is really a scratch or not without even having to think about it.

So like the pic below, those are not scuffs or missing paint.


PreWow on a microfiber cleaned it right up


On the trunk lid I poured on some PreWow


Gave it a couple of wipes with the microfiber towel and much improved.


Put on some more


And now totally gone


I wondered the same about the paint above the trim here


yep no problem for PW


What about these mirrors???


A few wipes with PW going along the scratch lines and big improvement. Polishing with an orbital restored it 100%


I cleaned up the faded cowling with PW first, then applied Black Wow (BW)


While I restored the outside, Stephanie worked on the inside


Using a 7424XP and LC orange pad with Prima Epic as the polish (yes I know it's a wax, but I used it as a polish), and it gave me incredible results. I did two slow passes with it, and the orange pad turned black from all the contamination it pulled. At some parts I clayed the paint further and rebuffed it. Finally I used a black pad to apply a final coat of Epic and let that cure.

Inside the shop


Outside in the remaining sunlight or sunset??








The customer was elated! Prima Epic can be found at my shop at ShowCarSupplies.com Shopping Cart ]]> Prima Waxes OctaneGuy http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1756&goto=newpost Mon, 02 Aug 2010 02:02:57 GMT This is a 2007 Acura TL-S
Didnt have a lot of time to take pictures as I was on a time limit.
Single stage polish with Griot's Garage 6 inch DA and Prima Swirl on LC Orange CCS pads (6.5 inch)
P21S Carnuba paste wax, here is the end result.












If you can't tell what that last picture is, it's a reflection shot lol.
Definitely wasn't the best work that could have been done, but I only had roughly 5 hours to do it, so I gave it my best shot. ]]> Show Off CU2MIKE http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1756 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1755&goto=newpost Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:48:27 GMT 2002 Nissan Sentra Extreme Makeover - [Exterior Only]

I just finished this car up last week and posted this write up on another site, but I thought I would share it with everyone here as well. I thought it turned out rather well. :smile:


This was my first major detail for cash. The 5 or 6 years leading up to this was mostly spent detailing my own vehicles or the occasional family members vehicle.

I was at a get together over the 4th of July weekend when a friend noticed how shiny my red truck was and asked if I thought I could do something with his Red Nissan Sentra which has 106,000 miles on it. He said the paint was dead and had very little shine to it. So I told him sure, bring it over some time and I will see what I can do with it.

About a week later he dropped the car off to me and said I could keep it for the entire week since they would be away on vacation. I thought great! That will give me plenty of time to work on it a little bit each night at my own pace without trying to rush through it all at once. It was late when he dropped the car off, so I parked the car in my garage and shut off the lights and locked up for the night.

Later the next day I pulled the car outside and washed it. I sprayed all of the lower panels with Meguiar’s Body Solvent, let it dwell for 10 minutes or so and then mixed up a bucket of wash water with Meguiar’s Gold Class Soap and began to wash the car. The front bumper had a lot of accumulated bugs and some of the lower panels had some old stubborn tar that two applications of Body Solvent did not touch, so I used my Sure Scrub Sponge (similar to Pinnacle Safe Scrub Sponge) which made quick work of the remaining contaminants.

Now that the car was washed I took a few pictures to show how faded the color is.






Now it was time to get a better look at the true condition of the paint. I ran my hand across the roof and it was very rough to the touch. More so than what I normally feel from above surface bonded contaminates alone. So I started looking at the paint from several different angles while out in the sun and I noticed that the paint had a lot of pitting. I could also see small opaque white dots throughout the clear coat on all of the horizontal metal surfaces.

Here is a close up view showing how pitted the surface of the paint was.



Here is a photo showing the opaque white dots, which I believe is the beginning stages of clear coat failure.



I then took the car into the garage to try a test spot on the roof with M105 on an Orange 5.5” CCS pad with my G100 set to speed 6. After doing 3 section passes with moderate to heavy pressure I was pleased with the results, so I followed that up with a couple passes of M205 on a Meguiar’s 6.5” finishing pad. Then I took the car back outside to inspect the results in better light.

The right side shows the hazy and pitted texture that was across the entire roof. The left side is my test spot. You can see that most of the pitted texture has been removed and the paint is much clearer as can be seen by how much crisper and defined the reflections look as compared to the unpolished right side.





Satisfied with the results from my test spot, I pulled the car back into the garage and got to work on polishing out half of the hood with the same process as above.

Here is a 50/50 shot with my dual halogens lighting the hood. You can see how swirled the left side is compared to the right side that I just finished polishing out with M105 and M205.



Here is a shot with the halogens on the trunk to show how swirled, pitted and hazed everything is.



It was now getting late, so I shut everything down and locked up for the night.

The next day after work, I went out into the garage and finished polishing out the rest of the hood and then jumped to the front bumper. The front and rear bumpers actually had a different look to them than the rest of the car did. The front and rear bumpers were more oxidized and pink looking without the pitting that the clear coat on the roof and hood had. I began by running a strip of tape down the middle of the front bumper and polished the right half of the center section of the bumper. After starting up the polisher and doing that one small section I noticed that my pad turned red. I knew I must be dealing with single stage paint here.

Here is a 50/50 shot of the front bumper. You can see how dull and oxidized the paint on the left is compared to the area on the right that I just polished.



I finished up polishing the right side of the bumper and then left the other side of the bumper for later because there was some damage I needed to fix first. I will show that later.

The next day after work I decided to work on the front fenders with the same process as above. I again began with a strip of tape down the center and then polished the right side out.

I pulled the car outside to take the 50/50 comparison shot of the fender. You can also see the damage to the front corner of the bumper that I was talking about.



Here is a close up. It is definitely looking a lot better!



Next, I pulled the car back into the garage and went to town polishing out the entire passenger side. That took me several hours and it was getting late so I did not take any pictures of the passenger side that night.

The next day I decided I wanted to try and speed things up a little, so I got out my rotary and wool pad and did a test spot with M105 and it immediately gummed up and dried out on me and made the rotary difficult to control, so I scrapped that idea and decided to try a Meguiars 6.5” polishing pad and M105 on the rotary instead. This combination worked much better. I then proceeded to tape off all of the panel joints, window trim, door handles, emblems and moldings on the entire drivers side of the car so that I would not accidentally burn an edge. I just wanted to be extra careful. Especially since I had only used the rotary on a few test panels before this and never a whole car.

Taping up the driver’s side.





After taping up the car I proceeded to buff the entire driver’s side and trunk with M105 on a Meguiar’s polishing pad on my rotary.

After buffing everything out with M105 on the rotary, I followed up with my G100 and M105 on a white 5.5” CCS polishing pad to get a little more correction as well as to make sure that I would not have any holograms left behind by the rotary buffer. Next I removed the tape from the car and proceeded to polish it out with M205 on my G100 and a white 5.5” CCS polishing pad to refine the finish and bring up the gloss a little more. Then I called it a night as it was getting late.

Buffing the Roof with M105 on the Rotary.



The next day I pulled the car outside to inspect the results. It’s really starting to look good. If you notice, I removed the rear spoiler so that I could buff the trunk area out easier.



I pulled the car back into the garage and got to work on the front bumper again. I had skipped polishing the passenger side of the bumper initially due to some damage to the front corner. I wanted to try and wet sand that area a little to try and feather some of the scratches out a little before I started buffing.

Here is the scrape.



This is after wet sanding with 2000 Unigrit Wet Sanding Paper.



This is after polishing out my wet sanding scratches with M105 followed by M205. Obviously you cannot fix this type of damage by wet sanding alone, but I definitely improved its appearance some.



Next up I wanted to work on the headlights. You can see that the headlights are starting to oxidize and this will diminish your night time visibility as well as detract from the overall appearance of this car detail. Who wants to see a nice shiny car with ugly oxidized headlights?

Oxidized headlights.



My dad actually offers a headlight restoration service at the dealership he runs, so I had him bring me home one of their kits to use in restoring these headlights.

I began by taping off the surrounding paint to protect it. Next I started wet sanding the headlight lens with 400 grit wet sanding paper, followed up by 1000 grit wet sanding paper and then I finished off with 2000 grit wet sanding sandpaper.

You can now see the oxidation has been completely removed and now there is a uniform frosted finish to the headlight lens.



Next I was ready to apply the sealant that came with the headlight restoration kit. I applied a liberal amount of the sealant to a foam brush as per the instructions and then made 3 overlapping horizontal passes across the headlight lens until I had fully covered the entire lens.

After the lights fully dried I removed the masking tape and here are the final results. Nice! Big improvement.



I left the car sit for several hours to allow the sealant to fully set up.



Later in the day I washed down the car and wiped down the door jams to remove any dust from my compounding and polishing process and after everything was dry, I applied a coat of Meguiar’s M26 Hi-Tech Yellow wax via G100 and Meguiar’s 6.5” finishing pad. I left the wax dry to a haze and then I removed it with a Supreme Shine microfiber towel. Next I cleaned the windows with Meguiar’s Glass Cleaner Concentrate and then gave the car a final wipe down with Meguiar’s Ultimate Quik Detailer and then pulled the car outside for some after pictures.

Here is the finished product.















I probably had between 15 and 20 hours work into this car spread out over 5 or 6 days. I know I spent way too many hours on it, but in the end it was worth it to me. I basically took as a challenge to get the car looking as good as I could for him.

I am very happy with how everything came out though considering the condition that the paint was in when I started. My friend was amazed how good it looked when he came to pick it up. He could not believe it was the same car.

Products Used:

Meguiar’s Gold Class Wash
Meguiar’s Body solvent
Poorboy’s Bug Squash
Meguiar’s All Wheel Cleaner
Meguiar’s APC+
Meguiar’s M105
Meguiar’s M205
Lake Country 5.5” Orange CCS Pad
Lake Country 5.5” White CCS Pad
Meguiar’s 6.5” 8006 Polishing Pad
Meguiar’s 6.5” 9006 Finishing Pad
Meguiar’s Last Touch
Meguiar’s #39 Heavy Duty Vinyl and rubber Cleaner
Meguiar’s Glass Cleaner Concentrate
Meguiar’s #26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax
Meguiar’s #40 Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner (Used on Tires)
Meguiar’s Ultimate Quik Detailer
Meguiar's Unigrit Wet Sanding Paper - 2000
__________________ ]]> Show Off Mister B http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1755 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1754&goto=newpost Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:32:27 GMT Hi, my name is Alan and I just recently attended one of Richard's clinics on Saturday. Great experience and fun to learn how I can take better care of my paint. I bought the Prima Swirl, the Porter Cable orbital, and some microfiber towels, and with newfound courage, went to work on my wife's Subaru :p It was pretty neat to see swirls disappear and the paint rejuvenated. Very dramatic change!

My question is: I had some Meguiar's Swirl-X lying around and decided to try it. The bottle says you can buff by hand or orbital. I used the orbital with it and found that it dries a little faster than the Prima Swirl, throwing little specks of dried polish around. My wife thinks the dried polish can ADD more scratches to the car. I check the buffing pad (orange) and it's still moist with polish, so I don't think it's harming the paint. Of course, the results at the end show marked improvement post-polish. The dried specks I wipe off, but I need a moist microfiber towel to do so. Is this harmful to the paint and is it just a result of the product used?

sorry for the long-winded question,

Alan ]]> Detailing 101 alan000 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1754 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1753&goto=newpost Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:17:18 GMT Hi,

I just want to introduce myself. I'm a total noob to orbital buffers and tried it for the very first time (on my wife's car) today :) I attended one of Richard's clinics on Saturday and found it very helpful and informative. Met other great car enthusiasts as well. Having the chance to practice gave me the courage to detail my own cars.

I have before and after shots, but I can't seem to post them. I'll have to read the instructions.
Pics to follow...

Alan ]]> Prima Car Care General Discussion alan000 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1753 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1752&goto=newpost Sun, 25 Jul 2010 03:34:46 GMT Hi,

my name is Seth I'm very happy to become a member.
I will post some pictures of vehicles that I work on if you have any tips or questions please ask I love to work on cars it's my life so if need anything let me know hope you would do the same for me:thumbup: ]]> Introduce Yourself! Seth B http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1752 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1751&goto=newpost Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:55:32 GMT ok i just bough my car and the last owner tried to wet sand out the scratches. now i cant seam to get them out, the car is a metallic gray. products used Meguiars stage 1-2and 3 turtle wax... ok i just bough my car and the last owner tried to wet sand out the scratches. now i cant seam to get them out, the car is a metallic gray.

products used
Meguiars stage 1-2and 3
turtle wax polish and rubbing compound
Meguiars ultimate polish
Meguiars ScratchX® 2.0
nu finish scratch x
and so on

now i got the scratch almost gone but in the right light i can still see them.

i really dont know that to try next im lost besides repaint.

tools i have
7-in. Variable-Speed Polisher

8-in. Random Orbit Polisher



help would be great thanks
mike

]]> Detailing 101 willcann http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1751 http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1750&goto=newpost Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:39:40 GMT Hello everyone, im new here. lokes like alot of useful things to ready. thanks for having me mike Ontario Canada Hello everyone, im new here. lokes like alot of useful things to ready. thanks for having me

mike
Ontario Canada ]]> Introduce Yourself! willcann http://www.showcardetailing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1750