Alright, now that the weather has finally cleared up, I'm going to be doing my first detail, so its time to buy some supplies and finalize my plan. I'm going to first practice on my dad's blue pickup, then if things go well, I'll do my pewter Maxima with the same procedure. I know, its not an F-150, but I got a great deal on it I couldn't pass up :o

First off.. I was wondering if you guys could offer some advice on
what towels, washing material, and wax applicators, etc I should get, and where I can get the best deal on them. I see alot of recommendations for MF towels from PAC. Which ones should I get and for what job should I use each? What should I get to wash my car with? What about applying wax and polishes?

2nd.. Here's my plan for detailing.. please offer any input and advice you may have.

1.) Give the car a good rinse with the hose.
2.) Wash with Dawn - 2 bucket method - to strip any old wax the dealer used to detail it.
3.) Rinse again w/ hose
4.) Clay with the Clay Magic Kit.
4a.) Do I need to do a quick wash after claying, or can i just do another rinse?
5.) Here I was thinking about going with Klasse AIO, which has some polishing properties to it I think.. which will save me some time on the polishing step.
6.) Top it off with NXT
7.) Following weekend give 'er a wash (what car wash do you recommend? Something from Meguires?), then give 'er a coat of #26.
8.) Some sort of quick detail spray to keep it nice and clean during the spring season.. What would you guys recommend?

If you guys see anything that I should change let me know.. If you know of a product that would work better on Silver (pewter) paint than the stuff I mentioned, speak up

Oh, and what is the best way to remove bugs and bird poop if I don't have time or weather isn't permitting me to wash it. I don't want to scratch the finish trying to remove that crap.. any advice on this?

I figured I shouldn't spend -too- much money with this setup. This is my first detail, I'm a real noob, so any advice you guys wanna throw in would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

gmorf33,

Here's my suggestions......

Tools:

Good 100% cotton wash mitts, or sheepskin mitts.

Quality MF towels (The 16" x 16" or 20" x 40" towels from PAC are excellent)

Waffle Weave drying towels (Again, the Preimum WW at PAC, and Super Soft WW at PAC are excellent)

Here's a link for the towels:

http://www.premiumautocare.com/mictow.html


1. Wash/dry the vehicle (NXT wash is very nice) Skip the Dawn...... the AIO (or polish) will remove any wax on the paint.

2. Clay the vehicle (make sure to remove any of clay residue with QD & MF towel)

If you have some swirls, or fine scratches, insert a good polish or two here, and skip the AIO.

3. AIO

4. NXT x 2 (or 3) 24 hours between coats

5. #26 x 2 (24 hours between coats)

6. Additional coat of #26 every month or so.

7. I recommend Poorboy's Spray & Wipe to remove the bugs and bird poop, and to QD a dusty/dirty vehicle. You can follow that up with a glossy QD like Meguiar's Final Detail (being discontinued).

Hope that helps.

 

sweet, thanks for the help Boss. One last question for ya. How long do I need to wait after applying AIO, before putting down my first coat of NXT?

 

Looks like Boss beat me to the response.

My response is as follows:

See Boss_429's recommendation. LOL!

RP

 

You're welcome!

No need to wait at all for the NXT after AIO. AIO is mostly a cleaner, with just a tiny bit of protection.

 

oh, I see. So if AIO is basically just a cleaner, do/should I even use it after washing and claying before going to the NXT? If it will just be redundant without adding to the appearance or protection, I'll save myself some time and money and bypass that step

Lemme know what you think, thanks.

 

Depends upon your finish.

If you have some oxidation or minor spider webbing/swirls, I'd still recommend utilizing that product as it will be more agressive than NXT as it only has very nominal cleaning abilities...

RP

 

There's no swirl marks that i've noticed on that silver paint, but its also been pretty cloudy so i haven't gotten a real good look under bright sunlight. There are a few scratches on the drivers side door that could use a little polishing out. No oxidation from what I can tell either.

Maybe instead of the Klasse I should get something slightly more aggressive, like meguires swirl remover? Would that take care of little white scratch marks on the drivers' side door better you think? How difficult are these polishes to use, and what is the best technique for applying (By hand, I won't be getting a PC).

 

I think you'll find Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover 2.0 to be a relatively easy product to utilize by hand. Please be sure to 'work' the product until it is nearly dry and don't expect a miracle after the first application. I've applied #9 over my entire truck before only to do it three or four times to remove the swirls/slight scratches.

Be patient. I can assure you that you'll see results.

RP

 

When I did my truck, someone here recommended to use car wash solution as the lubricant for your clay. After you clay an area you just rinse it off.

It seemed to work great for me.

Brook

 

I think that's what I'll do. Not only does it sound easier, but I can also save my quick detail spray for quick detailing

Any of you guys know where I can get a good deal on just clay? I dont' really need the bottle of spray that comes with it. O'Reily's autoparts had a jar of meguiar's clay, that had to bars in it, but it was 25 bucks. Is this about the normal price, or is there a cheaper solution, like maybe mother's or clay magic? Are all these about the same, or are some brands significantly better than others?

 

I'll give Kudos to the people here for another tip they gave when I had similar questions.

I know the bars are expensive and I'm pretty sure it was Rockpick who told me a good idea was to break one of the bars in two. If it gets dropped, throw it away. You don't want it picking anything up off the ground that might scratch your paint. If you break it in half before you start, the most you can ever lose is 1/4 of your investment.

I can't give you any feedback on the costs or quality of other bars, but at least that might help on getting some good use out of whatever you get.

Here's the thread that has some other good tips as well.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...hreadid=114789

And hey! It was Rockpick. My memory isn't so bad after all.

Hope it helps.

Lyf

 

I use and like Pinnacle Products.