Detailing advice

[Stutopia]

How on earth did we all get by in the 80s without all these modern Gizmos?

 

Didn't cars only come in black Hammerite finish back then

[Tuck]

I has arrived to add a millionty more steps to your process.

 

So about paint prep, so far I've been led to believe;

•Wash (G3 body prep)

•Iron X

•Wash

•Dry

•Clay

•Wash

•Dry

•IPA (50/50 water)

 

Anything else?

 

Then compound, polish, glaze... Does this require a sealant too?

 

As has been said, no need to (or point in) dry(ing) before claying. I'd also replace all the subsequent washes (after the initial one, obviously) with just a thorough rinse.

 

There's no point in using IPA before polishing either, so move that step to after polishing. You'll use the IPA to remove anything left behind by the compounds to give you a true indication of the correction acheived. Also, polish and compound are that same thing, so that's yet another step you don't need to worry about and use of a glaze would depend entirely on your chosen Last Stage Product (LSP) - if waxing, glaze is optional, if using a sealant it's likely to be detrimental, if using a coating then it's a big no-no. Also worth noting about polishing, you need to make sure you're working the polish for long enough - when the polish turns clear and you can't really see it on the paint anymore, that's about long enough - but the best way of checking the actual correction acheived is by wiping the area with diluted IPA and checking it in direct sunlight... but you don't want to polish outside (too high a chance of contaminant ruining everything for you!) so decent lighting is a useful indicator whilst you're going round the car - it's usually worth rolling it back outside once you've done the car if the sun is out to double check the finish.

 

And yes, you will need to seal afterwards, whether that be a wax, sealant or coating depends on a billionty other things but largely comes down to what you're trying to acheive - looks durability, cost, ease of application, speed of application, something new, something old, something blue... no wait, that's something else.

 

With regards to the actual polishing, as previously stated, always start with the least aggressive combination and step up only if you need to. Whilst the paint on Z's is butter soft (Stu, try polishing a BMW, you'll really appreciate how [comparatively] easy the Z is to polish ), the polish will still need to be worked properly to be effective, this will likely take a 4-5 passes and a good couple of minutes per section. Polished Bliss give great advice by the way.

 

My full process would be;

Wash.

Rinse.

Iron X.

Rinse.

De-tar.

Rinse.

Clay.

Rinse.

 

Optional paint clenser.

Polish (compound).

IPA wipedown.

 

What follows after this will be determined by the LSP.

 

 

I think that's covered everything.

 

That's helped me no end buddy, cleared a lot of that up for me.

 

Will the Iron-X not remove the tar? Or just brake down the iron

 

Cheers

 

 

Sent from my potato using duct tape

[coldel]

If you want to do anything in the meantime Poorboys Black Hole Glaze does a great job with kuro black. Yes it fills the swirls etc rather than corrects them but if you are a bit OCD and want something to use when you have little time its pretty good stuff.

[ilogikal1]

That's helped me no end buddy, cleared a lot of that up for me.

 

Will the Iron-X not remove the tar? Or just brake down the iron

 

Cheers

 

Nope, Iron X won't touch the tar at all. To be honest it won't even touch that much iron in my experience...

 

You'll need something else for the tar - Autosmart Tardis is by far the best sticky stuff romover I've used but due to their new policy of not permitting resellers outside of their own fanchised reps it can be both difficult and expensive to get hold of these days (do NOT buy it from eBay, you have no idea what you're actually getting from there and some people will pass off anything as Autosmart products on eBay!). Pretty much any tar remover is better than nothing.

[Tuck]

That's helped me no end buddy, cleared a lot of that up for me.

 

Will the Iron-X not remove the tar? Or just brake down the iron

 

Cheers

 

Nope, Iron X won't touch the tar at all. To be honest it won't even touch that much iron in my experience...

 

You'll need something else for the tar - Autosmart Tardis is by far the best sticky stuff romover I've used but due to their new policy of not permitting resellers outside of their own fanchised reps it can be both difficult and expensive to get hold of these days (do NOT buy it from eBay, you have no idea what you're actually getting from there and some people will pass off anything as Autosmart products on eBay!). Pretty much any tar remover is better than nothing.

 

Cheers bud, Any recommendations apart from the Tardis?

 

 

Sent from my potato using duct tape

[Stutopia]

I like the smell of Dodo Juice Tarmalade, but It's the only tar remover I've used, so I can't say if it's good or not versus other products. It's more of a topical product than a "wipe down the whole car with it" so it comes out during claying when I see a tar spot. Also it's made of fruits and superfoods and hippies and stuff, not nasty chemicals. So it's a win for the polar bears.

 

Did I mention it smells nice too

[ilogikal1]

It depends largely on your preferred trader tbh, even AutoGlym Tar Remover is adequate (although better when decanted onto a spray bottle). With tar remover it's much more cost effective to spot treat (pardon the pun) rather than cover the entire car in it.

 

As you're using a clay mitt though, I wold strongly suggest that you keep the two stages separate as the tar remover will eat your clay mitt if it comes into contact.

[Tuck]

I like the smell of Dodo Juice Tarmalade, but It's the only tar remover I've used, so I can't say if it's good or not versus other products. It's more of a topical product than a "wipe down the whole car with it" so it comes out during claying when I see a tar spot. Also it's made of fruits and superfoods and hippies and stuff, not nasty chemicals. So it's a win for the polar bears.

 

Did I mention it smells nice too

 

So how does it smell?

 

 

Sent from my potato using duct tape

[Tuck]

It depends largely on your preferred trader tbh, even AutoGlym Tar Remover is adequate (although better when decanted onto a spray bottle). With tar remover it's much more cost effective to spot treat (pardon the pun) rather than cover the entire car in it.

 

As you're using a clay mitt though, I wold strongly suggest that you keep the two stages separate as the tar remover will eat your clay mitt if it comes into contact.

 

So a wash between tar removal and the clay?

 

 

Sent from my potato using duct tape

[ilogikal1]

When using a clay mitt (or cloth) definitely rinse thoroughly. It could get very messy otherwise. no need for a complete wash again though.

Edited January 5, 2016 by ilogikal1

[Spatt]

:snack:I'm loving being back in the detailing threads