This thread is about the details I have done and continue to do as time and weather allow. I will add pictures for the work I have done. If anyone has any questions about products to use or the products I use feel free to ask away. Enjoy
This weekends SUV tooled like death when it showed up Friday. Sorry it was a Mom’s car with 2 kids so it looked like a dumpster inside and out. I did not take before pictures, but the guys wife loved it when they picked it up today. She did not believe it was the same car and thought her husband got here a new one, just like the old one. Oh and the house across the street just sold for $369,000 so I guess I need to find a new spot to take pictures soon.
‘Dave, you never cease to amaze me. I use Mequiars exclusively, but not the Ultra Polishing Wax you show. Is this all you use for paint in good condition? Because I take extra good care of my autos, I am currently using Meguiars Ultimate liquid wax once every 12 months or so. Comments?
Dave O's detailing is second to none...truly high class. The detailing that he did on my car, Peppurr, looked fantastic, but the true worth is that it is much easier to keep clean. All I have done since Dave's work is wash it properly and it still looks as good as it did when I picked it up. Hat's off to Dave...
I do not use any wax or sealants any longer, I only use Gyeon Ceramic coatings but it’s all about the paint prep. (Compounding, polishing and finish polishing) Also wax only last weeks to a month at best as it is very thin layer of protection. Sealants only last 4-6 months tops but ceramic coating last a year easy and some 1-5 years with proper care and maintenance. I use Sonex perfect finish and sometimes HD Polish+ from time to time if paint defects are not that bad and I use the on a Rupes DA . I would say that combo works for 99% of the cars I do. I can remove swirl marks, some scratches most problems with combo. If they are really bad I use my Mikita rotary with a wool pad and use Meguiars 105 or 205 to remove the defect in the paint. I have even had to wet sand some scratches and defects before but that is rare now a days. Most times I only have to wet sand when I am doing deep scratch repairs or paint chip touch ups. Once the paint is perfect then and only then do I wipe it lol down with Gyeon Prep to remove lol wax, compound and oils left behind. You can not coat a car with those things on it. I use the best products from years of do and testing, not web comments and suggestions but actual use with the product on my own car and customers cars.
Great thread Dave! The helmet has some rock damage behind the front wheels. On the rocker and doors. You can only see it when the sunlight hits it just right. What is the best way to get rid of it. I will post some pictures when I can. Also how often should you redo the clear bra on a car.
Post your pictures when you have time on the chips. The best way I fix them is clean the wax and oil out of it with a Q-tip dipped in acitone. Then fill the chips with touch up paint by adding just a little every few days. After a couple of days I wet sand down the filled in chip and polish it back to new like it never happened. Now people have used Dr. Colorchip or Lanka system with good-ish results for amateurs meaning you will not see the chip from a few feet away. If you want it gone like it never happen you use my method. As for “Clear Bras” or Paint Protection Film (PPF) it all depends on how the car is stored and maintained. If car sits inside and is not out in the sun exposed to UV and salt and stuff they will last. Good 3,5,8 years. If the car sits out side all the time and the film is not maintained with proper Ph washing soap and a maintenance coating it may only last a year in Florida, South Texas, and Southern California. PPF is just like OEM vinyl stripes but thicker and need to be maintained and protected.
Completely agree - can wait to see some of the intel posted in this thread. I need to schedule mine to be done at MOTD or something. That said, I have a few things I'm thinking about doing to it.. which should probably be done prior to having it all cleaned up. Hmmm..
It’s hard to ceramic coat a car at the Dragon because I need the car to sleep inside without the risk of it getting wet overnight while it’s curing. This is also why all ceramic coatings say not to wash the car until at least a week. When I do cars at home in my garage the car spends the night or some people leave a car for several nights in my garage under several sets of strong T5 HO 6500k lights. This helps to bake / cure the coating in the first few hours after I am done coating it. I leave the lights on overnight and the garage gets very warm and the humidity is very low. This is the perfect environment for curing a ceramic coating.
This weekends detail. I washed it Friday after work and it started to rain, then sleet then a little hail all within 15 minutes. I just kept working since I was bundled up since it was already cold and a little windy. I was only washing it for today’s polish and coating. I will post outside shots tomorrow asthe Big Black SUV is baking in my garage overnight under my powerful garage lights. Currently 40 outside, garage is at 65 degrees and I do not have a heated garage.
Great cars made to be even greater looking by a true detailing artist. I have thought about coating the wheels but my Enkei's "spokes" are close together and it would be a real pain to remove the coating so I just use Reload on them. Does not last anywhere as long as a coating but does do a better job than something like a brake dust repellent.
Finished pictures. Mrs, Darth Vader’s SVU is done. Pictures from iPhone X not in HD. As you will see below it looks liquid black, but is metallic with blue and silver in it.