cpotts13

Alright I have never really "detailed" my car, its always been a wash and vacuum afair. But I really want that amazing lasting shine all the way around. What do I need to do? I have never used wax or a clay bar....

houtex

Well, use them. Done.

Although, you'd probably wanna do the clay bar first, then the wax. There are plenty of threads about who's products to use... Zaino's, Meguires, Mothers, Blue Ice, Turtle Wax and others... But you should do your own research with Google and find reviews about the products, and just... make up your mind and go.

Get in the shade, wash the car with a good CAR wash, and soft mitts. Dry the car with shammies.

If there is any polishing/scratch removal to do, now's the time. A little rubbing compound, or if needed a orbital polisher and liquid polish... whatever ya need. Also, touch ups are good timing here too, and if you're really good at it, you can sand/rub them to hide them pretty good... or Dr. Colorchip maybe, somethin' like that.. And any goo-gone stuff, like tar on the wheel wells or such... You'll wanna re-wash the car after you do all that though.

Clay bar per instructions... here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfEfLGL59GI

Wax per instructions.

ALL IN THE SHADE.

And the car will be amazin' lookin'. It'll take a while, but I bet it'll be worth it.

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From that one video, you can go literally NUTS with all the various informational videos about detailing with the links on the right. Have fun!

cpotts13

Can you recommend a good car wash?

houtex

I happen to like Mother's California Gold, myself. I can use it on the motorcycle windscreen, which is plastic, with hot water and a microfiber towel... set it on the windscreen for a few seconds... bugs come *right off*, and the screen hasn't ever been scratched with that.

Flying rocks? Sure, scratched. But not washin' it. I like Mother's stuff.

I've also found that clean, washed, dried WITHOUT dryer sheets microfiber towels from a 10 pack in yellow, green and blue work really good. Use the Yellow to wash, use the blue to rinse, use the green to dry. It's sorta a shammy. Oh, and I use the two bucket system, one hot soapy water, and one cold rinse water. Works out pretty good for the motorcycle.

The car? Well... I have to admit, I use touch free car washes, or a particular shammy wash, with everything but the tire shine (that stuff is *NASTY*.) She seems to like them, and it's hard to get time to properly wash her by hand. Plus, honestly, I find it highly wasteful to wash the car by hand, water and time wise. I just go once a week on a nice day to one or two washes I have used, and know are taken care of. Doesn't seem to hurt her. She's a DD, but a nice one, and she's gonna get repainted/redone one day nonetheless, but I still get the "2006?! Wow..." so I guess those washes do ok... doesn't hurt she's white either.

/I know, it's sacrelige to use an automatic wash to some of you... I sorry. Just the way it is for me, you'll live.

Rob O

I've got an 05 Mustang & when I got it the first thing I did was clay bar it & 2 coats of polish, 2 coats wax & a sealant. I take mine through the wash too but just use a good buffer to take out the scratches...I'm in the same boat, don't like the auto washes but don't always have the time to do it myself. Once you have all this stuff on as a base coat then it'll just be maintanence.

ford20

If you want to do a full detail I would
Wash it
clay bar it (you can wash it again after to make sure all the contaminants are off but it is a bit over kill)
You can try a rubbing compound for medium swirl marks followed by a polishing compound ( some people say it is a bit much but I like to do the little extra work0
Than you can use a sealant. This is where the wet look really comes from and you always use sealant before a wax the sealant needs something to bond to and the wax will not create that strong of a bond. You can stop after this step but I like to use a wax for a extra layer of protection.
Than you can clean and polish your wheels and tires and your exhaust if needed
Dont forget to clean your glass it really makes your car look complete

Pinoy361

Good advice but personally i like to get my wheels and tires first that way in case anything splashes onto the panels i can wash it off. After washing i like to clay bar, go over with a waterless wash (like ultima waterlass wash concentrate) then apply pre wax- cleaner, polish, sealant, then wax. Then top it all off with a quick go over with quick detailer. You dont need to do all this evrytime you wash. If you do the detail process right you should only need to do it again 2 or 3 times a year depending on your climate

1999 Black 35th GT

How are you liking that Ultima, Herbert? Isn't it great!

Cpotts,

Head over to the forums at meguiarsonline.com for some great detailing advice. It doesn't matter how much knowledge you have. The people there are ALWAYS willing to help

cpotts13

Thanks! Ill check it out!!