Wow! This is really great. Your car looks outstanding. What do you plan on putting on the wheels to protect them as well? My neighbors all thought I was insane for using a leaf blower to dry my car until they came by the first time in the evening and couldn't believe the finish on my car compared to theirs. Keep it up.

 

Marc recommended "Optimum Tire Shine", which I'll need to either order or pick up somewhere. In the meantime, I got a spray bottle of Surf City Garage Beyond Black Tire Dressing. I'll give it a go until the Optimum Tire Shine arrives. I don't know if I'll get to the tires this weekend - I got an invite to go with the local Mustang club for an outing on Saturday. We'll see what time allows.

 

I meant for the wheel finish to combat the effects of brake dust on the finish and not so much the tires. Wheel wax.

 

^ ArmorAll makes an awesome over-the-counter wheel protectant spray / aerosol. Works awesome and application is super fast.

 

I thought mentioning "ArmorAll" was sacrilege....I thought it's generally frowned-upon.

 

Go find and use that product and you'll see...

 

Eagle 1 makes one too. Even honey just rolls off like water.

 

Ok, I'll go try it out...off to WalMart tonight I go!

 

^^this, I use this on my wheels since day one and they still look as good as the day I got the car!

 

I have questions for you about your detailing...and they might be based on old-school thinking that no longer applies...I'm looking for education because I've never had a black car before and black is just plain higher maintenance.

I've always been of the mind that you shouldn't be waxing brand new paint, and should wait at least 90 days on fresh paint. I can see using the clay bar for rail dust, that **** is NASTY if it beds in. I was initially planning to just use a high quality paint sealer when I first got it to strengthen the clear, then wait a couple months (it'll probably be 30-45 days old when it gets here) before going further. Is my information out of date, or was it always wrong to begin with?

I don't have a lot of experience with a clay bar beyond some spot jobs, as I've always had white/silver cars that just don't show a lot of contaminants like black does, often a little mild polish will take care of anything visible on those colors, so this level of paint care is somewhat new to me.

 

Posted by lakeguy77

The paint on a new car has been cured in a bake oven at high temperatures. This happens when the car is still a shell.

Keep in mind that once a car is assembled, it sits in the lot at the factory for a while until it can be shipped.

Repainted cars that are done in a spray/bake booth are cured at a much lower temperature, henceforth one should wait to wax and/or seal it according to the paint manufacturer's specifications.

See the information above.

Having a black car is a labor of love. Marc Harris writes for Detailed Image, everything you need to know about maintaining your car's looks can be found here.... http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-Detailing-Guide/

 

Great info, thank you.