Thanks Iain....

[slick]

Must say a big thanks to Iain for his info on how to detail my car, after various pms back and forth i set out and brought all the products needed and started on sunday morning...

The car is a Black Magic Leon FR and well i do keep it clean i didnt clean the way i should, e.g. cleaning it with a sponge all over and cham'in it off...
I have now learnt the errors in my ways...

First i cleaned it using as Iain described in his "how to wash your car" thread, making sure i washed off the dirt of the mitt in another bucket before moving on to the next panel and changing mitt on the lower panels, always cleaning in a forward and back motion.
Then once cleaned it was down to clay bar the whole car... I WAS amazed on what that clay took of the car especially the front bumper...
Then once all dryed down using the terry towels that cost more than the towel i used to dry myself outa the shower that morning, i moved on to Meg Scratch X, now Iain said it would need major muscles to do this by hand, but i thought as i dont have a PC its the only way... so 5 and half hours later I'm just finishing the last panel, lucky my swirls wasnt so deep and came out quite easily.. using a up and down motion, followed my a side to side motion the worst was finished!

Then i moved on to more rubbing in... NXT was put on as Iain suggested and allowed to cure... then polished off using the terry towels...

then i moved on to the Meg's Carbunana wax which i covered the car all over and allowed to cure (e.g drink several pints of water as i was dripping by this point) then polished it off, i wanted to layer it abit so i did this 3 times to make sure i had a lasting coverage as it will make me life easyier next time i clean it...

So after the 9 odd hours of cleaning that day i ended up with this (pics from my phone so not best quality)

Pretty much swirl-less!! Very pleased!

As you can see, my missis could do her make up in its reflection...

So have to bow down to the Master yoda of the Detailing world Iain, ur advice was invauble.. thanks...

Next I must find out how Iain cleans wheels as mine are looking abit sorry for themselfs at the moment and also I'm going to invest in P21S Carbunana wax or other that Iain would suggest so that its alittle harder finish.

 

[FinerDetails]

Slick, thats a great post, and lovin' the way you have improved so quickly and seen the improvements from it.

Wheels, prevention and cure young Jedi! First cure, DC1/or scratch X very lightly to remove the crud. Then something noce and durable. If you are going to move to a durable wax, then use that (dont spend money for sake of it!)

Recommendations : Megs #16 hard wax - method - spit shined! I feel so many emails happening again whilst I explain spit shining a hard wax lol

Well done mate, you've achieved a very good result by hand!

Iain

 

[slick]

Yes Master Yoda, prevention i see now is the theme to the detailing, the more u prevent the dirt gettin to the paint and clear coat, the easier it is to clean!

and yes Iain... the results and changes are great... i really got a great feel to the whole detailing thing again...
The results where good enough for a guy two doors down the road to come out look at the car and say to me " you must do that for a livin', dont you?!" lol

Yeah well I'm going to finish of the wax i have at the moment but once the wax is finished I'll move to a harder wax...

So #16 then, carsparkle should have that shouldnt they?

Also a question about the NXT, i found it very hard to get it to blend in, where the applicator pad put slighty more product on the edges it left a VERY deep shine but it didnt buff out and looked a bit strippy when i finished, is this right, or is the point u layer it again to make it "fill the strips in" so to speak... i found once i had put one layer of wax on top the strips dissappeared, so thought nothing of it.. but thought I'd ask you if thats normal?

And yes more PMs are needed to descirbe spit shine techique... as i think i have the sweat shine down to a T from the Scratch X after sunday!

 

[FinerDetails]

lol@sweat shine!

Sounds like the NXt went on too thick. Very very thin layers. A dime size drop to cover half door panels or whole wing.

Ideally wax layers should be 24 hours apart to allow full curing. The Dc3 wax will give you a good 6 weeks ish protection at this point, maybe more....

I'll see about typing up a spit shining post aka the how to wash your car post

 

[jetsetjimbo]

explain away mate...

Good job slick - mine needs some treatment like that! I have the kit but finding 8 hours without sun or direct sunlight is an absolute nightmare!

 

[slick]

lol@sweat shine!

Sounds like the NXt went on too thick. Very very thin layers. A dime size drop to cover half door panels or whole wing.

Ideally wax layers should be 24 hours apart to allow full curing. The Dc3 wax will give you a good 6 weeks ish protection at this point, maybe more....

I'll see about typing up a spit shining post aka the how to wash your car post

Oh thought as much, ok next time very thin layers...
Do you recommend a couple of layers of NXT or just one?

ok so i should get a good use on what i have pu ton and i let it cure for at least an hour each layer, as i was near to dyin from the wipe on wipe off motions for 9 hours.. and the sunlight was getting dimmer so less heat on the panels.... so over like 4 hours i did the wax layers!

Yeah i think spit shine post is needed!!

 

[FinerDetails]

quick reply, without re-inventing the wheel:

Apply wax to panel 1, spritz with a detail spray, leave

Apply wax to panel 2, spritz with a detail spray and leave

Repeat for panels 3 and 4

Return to panel 1 and re wax until spray droplets are almost invisible. leave

Repeat for panel 2, Buff panel 1, and so on......


Iain

 

[slick]

Gonna need a large supply of detail spray then....

I cant beleive the detail spray on, what does that do?

how times do u recommend that process? 2-3-4 or 5 times?

 

[FinerDetails]

if you follow the spit shine for the wax topper of Megs #16 you should see 6 months protection quite easily.

Remember, you only want to 'mist' a panel so should use that much QD

 

[jetsetjimbo]

if you follow the spit shine for the wax topper of Megs #16 you should see 6 months protection quite easily.

Remember, you only want to 'mist' a panel so should use that much QD

or wheel at a time...

The manual for the LCR actually advises hard waxing the wheels once a month.

Would you ever advise this 'spit shining' for body work? If so under what circumstances?

Cheers Iain

 

[FinerDetails]

it helps to gain extra shine from a hard wax, they are known for depth and gloss, but can lack reflection, this brings that up. Also helps with the removing process as the wax has been applied well into the paintwork

 

[slick]

Thank You Sensay....

I will go now, back to "....wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off...."



lol