New guy's first post

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Rudamous

New member
Hey I'm new to the detailing world and haven't actually done anything to my car than washing it was dawn soap=(. But I want to change that so I came here. I've been reading for like 3 or 4 hours. I am currently driving a 2000 ford mustang v6 3.8L engine with a cold air intake...oh joy(not really) but anyway I at least want it to look nice. It was originally was my sisters but I traded the trailblazer I was driving with her for a while because I wanted to learn to drive stick(i'm 17 and in high school by the way). The car has not been seriously washed in 2 or 3 months and has never been more than dawn washed or just taken to the local car wash place for a cheapo 15 dollar wash. After what I understood from reading this is what i was planning on doing and was just making sure that a few people could read over it before I got started to make sure I don't mess anything up.



1)Get a 16 oz. Bottle of Meg's Hi-tech wash 00 and use sheepskin wash mit to wash the body of the car and windows on outside. Taking note to carefully afterwords dry everything with a MF towel including the seals inside of trunk, hood, and doors.



*Next I was planning to Clay Bar the car because it has never been done, but was reading that some people don't dry car after wash and just use what's left on there as the lubricant for the clay bar. What are the pro's and cons of doing this.



2)Use the clay bar on the car. The thing I were wondering about are how much pressure should I apply when using the clay bar. From what I read you just need to graze is about 2 or 3 times across the area. *If I did go ahead and dry the car what do I use as a lubricant for the clay bar when applying it to the rest of the car.



3)Then i planned on going around the car with Meguiar's Swirl Remover #9 and was wondering if that would also be needed after the clay bar. It looked like a good idea seeing how old the car is I figured it would be needed. QUESTION: what should be used to apply the swirl and how much of it do I need to use. Question:Is this product used to go over the whole car or only spot that appear to have the swirls?



4)In a few of the posts mentioned I noted that people said a glaze should be placed on your car before waxing and since I have already been on the Mequiars route and everyone highly reccommended their productions the Meguiar's Show Car Glaze #7. QUESTION: what should be used to apply this glaze and how much should I use?



5)Time to apply the wax it looks like Meguiars High-Tec Yellow Wax #26. QUESTION: what do i need to apply the wax and how much should I use.



That is pretty much the run down of it from what I gathered in 3 or 4 hours. I don't own a PC but from what I can see it would be a good idea to buy one. I want to try it by hand a few times before I get that far into it though. If anyone has any suggestions on different products that might work better or if I am not grasping the concept of the order or way to do something. Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to Autopia!



1) You don't have to dry your car before claying. After claying rinse your lubricant off and dry.



2) You'll know if you're using adequate pressure and making enough passes once you start to feel the finish getting smooth. When you first start you'll feel the clay grab, but it gets smooth as you work it.



3) Swirl removal without a PC is VERY difficult.



4) #7 is a good product, but not the easiest to use.

Mike Phillips wrote these guidelines to using #7.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23740



5) Use a foam applicator and apply #26 thin. Personally I spritz my applicator with a QD. It helps me apply thin, even coats.



Good luck and keep us posted on your results.
 
Rudamous - Welcome to Autopia! What NHBFan said, with the following tweaks, based purely on personal preference:



1) Watch that things don't dry on their own causing water spots.



2) Sometimes you have to clay an area for quite a while, just don't rub too hard. Rub longer, not harder.



3) The #9 does different things than the clay. It gently abrades the surface, which not only cleans it some more, but more significantly *removes some surface marring* such as swirl marks. But the #9 is *very* mild, maybe too mild, and yeah, doing this by hand is sorta tough. Work small areas (start to finish), don't apply it to the whole hood or something. You want to keep things manageable while you climb the learning curve.



4) #7 won't really do all that much for your car's basecoat/clearcoat paint. I honestly don't believe it's worth doing in your case. Spend your time and energy on the #9. If you really want to do this step, use Meg's #81/#3/#5 instead or Mother's Sealant Glaze (yeah, it works fine with other products). " Oops, sorry" :o if you already bought the #7 (which I do like on single stage paint).



5) Yeah, thin thin thin. While you certainly *do* want complete coverage, think of the wax as bonding on the molecular level and remember that anything you buff off is wasted wax and effort. Keep the #26 off any black trim or you'll probably get a hard to remove white stain.
 
This is what you should expect from meg's 9,7 and 26. I did my mustang in the spring and added another layer of 26 this summer. Good luck





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Link, just in case image doesn't display



http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=8046&papass=&sort=1
 
I was looking at the stores around here and it was appearing that I might have to buy the polishes off the internet but I lucked out and found them all at pep boys! So I now have the professional series 9,7 and 26 of megs. They didnt have the 00 high tech wash so i got some nxt car wash as it looked like the best that they had there. Ok so tomorrow it the big day when I plan on getting this all done. I am going to retype this out just for the sake of my reassural.



1)First do the wheels and tires. Then wet car fully and wash it using the nxt wash and sheepskin mit entire car. Then hose it off fully and dry it down with some MF towels.



2)I decided to skip the clay bar as I didn't see it. Then I am going to use #9 with a foam applicator. QUESTION: I should work on a 3x3 section at a time correct? And about a quarter size of polish should handle this section correct? Just wanted to double check on those. Never having done this stuff before what I am wonder is what is the extra stuff I am going to have to buff off look like. Is it the haziness I have seen in some peoples pictures? Or is it just extra fluid. And also are the MF towels that I used to dry the car okay to go ahead and use again on the excess polish/glaze i need to get off/buff out haziness, of course assuming that i won't be using same MF towel for the polish glaze. If I can't I might have to get some more MF towels. I only have 4 13"x15" towels is this enough?



3)Repeat process for number 7 show car glaze using a fresh foam aplicator and assuming i buff out same haziness using a damp MF towel but not the one used in step number 2.



4)from reading directions on wax I do overlapping strokes longways over the section I'm working on. Then let it dry to a haze followed by rubbing off the excess with a clean portion of a towel. QUESTION: what kind of towel should i use to wipe off excess, terry or MF? How long should this take for it to dry knowing that I'm going to be using #27. Can it sit too long to where I won't be able to get the haze off without pulling off everything i worked on?



Thats about it. From what i've been reading they terry cloths are only for drying off the wheels/tires. Is this true or are they usefull on the car for buffing off extra wax or are they too abrassive for the products that are already used on there.
 
Rudamous said:
1)First do the wheels and tires. Then wet car fully and wash it using the nxt wash and sheepskin mit entire car. Then hose it off fully and dry it down with some MF towels.
Click to expand...



I'd wash/rinse sections at a time then rerinse the whole car. Start at the top and work down so you don't get dirty run-off on areas you've already cleaned. Roof-hood-trunk-sides, something like that. Don't wash large areas before you rinse the mitt, it'll pick up dirt that you want to rinse out as often as possible. Moving the dirt across the paint will mar it. You might find that "regular" (non waffle weave) MFs don't absorb much water.



2)I decided to skip the clay bar as I didn't see it. Then I am going to use #9 with a foam applicator. QUESTION: I should work on a 3x3 section at a time correct? And about a quarter size of polish should handle this section correct? Just wanted to double check on those. Never having done this stuff before what I am wonder is what is the extra stuff I am going to have to buff off look like. Is it the haziness I have seen in some peoples pictures? Or is it just extra fluid. And also are the MF towels that I used to dry the car okay to go ahead and use again on the excess polish/glaze i need to get off/buff out haziness, of course assuming that i won't be using same MF towel for the polish glaze. If I can't I might have to get some more MF towels. I only have 4 13"x15" towels is this enough?



I'd work smaller areas and only use as much polish as you need to. I bet you're gonna need more (MF) towels. I go through a lot more than that!



3)Repeat process for number 7 show car glaze using a fresh foam aplicator and assuming i buff out same haziness using a damp MF towel but not the one used in step number 2.



Nah, you'd better do a search on #7 and check out Mike Phillips' technique. #7 is sorta tricky until you get the hang of it. Don't try to use #7 without doing this research!



4)from reading directions on wax I do overlapping strokes longways over the section I'm working on. Then let it dry to a haze followed by rubbing off the excess with a clean portion of a towel. QUESTION: what kind of towel should i use to wipe off excess, terry or MF? How long should this take for it to dry knowing that I'm going to be using #27. Can it sit too long to where I won't be able to get the haze off without pulling off everything i worked on?



You mean #26, not #27, right? I'd take it off with MF (terry can mar the finish). You'll see how long it takes when you use it. It's not really tricky or anything. You won't pull off the tiny bit that actually sticks to the paint (don't put it on thick, it's just a waste of time, effort, and wax).



..
terry cloths are only for drying off the wheels/tires. Is this true or are they usefull on the car for buffing off extra wax or are they too abrassive for the products that are already used on there.
Click to expand...



You might use the terry for the first passes with the #9, but generally I don't use them much for anything that involves touching the paint. Some (including Mike) use them to remove #7, but those are *very* soft towels they're talking about and those people who use them are quite experienced.
Click to expand...
 
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