Help with new car.

R

roaringmouse

New member
:bounce My new car arrived and I followed advice here and told the dealer not to prep the car. They told me it was the first time they sold a car without prepping it. Even the sales manager told me he hated to see such a dirty car leave his lot :) .



I haven't done anything except run clean water over it so far. There is so much grime on the paint that I need some advice on how to proceed. I don't want to swirl the paint removing the dirt and rail dust.



I don't have pics yet because it was dark when I got it home and it's still dark out as I write this.



I have Sonus Gloss Shampoo, sheepskin mitts and plenty of buckets.



How do I safely remove most of the grime prior to claying?



Thanks

Jeff
 
roaringmouse said:
Chrysler 300C. It took 16 weeks from order to delivery.
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Schweet!!! Did you get one of those pearlescent colors? Those are he best!



I'll bet the dealer really was like :confused: when you told them not to prep! Not many folks want to leave the lot w/ a dirty brand new luxury car!:p
 
Congrats, roaringmouse! I was just in the same boat - picked up a 2004 VW R32 on New Year's Eve and told the salesman (and practically everyone else I dealt with) NOT to wash it! Was psyched when the car showed up filthy (it had been on the back lot for months.)



First, I did my interior - dilute Woolite and 1Z CP for the dash and shop-vac'ed everything in sight. For the outside, I washed with Dawn, rinsed heavily and then clayed. The claying took longer than usual because I had a fair number of tiny black specks that took a lot of work with the claybar to get out. See this thread for more details, but essentially you want those specks to be GONE.



Once everything's smooth, whip out the products and go to town! That's where I am so far. What color is your car?
 
roaringmouse said:
Chrysler 300C. It took 16 weeks from order to delivery.
Click to expand...



16 weeks? Holy crap! I think that's the longest I've ever heard, demand must be really high.



If you're concerned about marring, you want to loosen and flush off as much as you can without ever touching, so you need to get some car wash type product on there and let it work on the dirt for a bit--sounds like a job for a foam gun! Or that Stage One Prewash, or some Spray and Wipe.



But, I'm guessing you are in a hurry to get the grime off (don't want to let that sit on there), and don't have any of those things, so I would use your best car wash, mixed up at a higher concentration than normal, get it in a sponge, and squeeze it out all over the surface of the car. Keep repeating as necessary to keep it wet for a while, then hose it off real well with a fairly agressive water stream. That should hopefully unstick some of the "grime", then you can go at it carefully with your mitts.



You can also search for Accumulator's Extreme Washing Technique, for minimum touching.
 
What is this "foam gun" you speak of Setec? I saw that in another post but I couldn't find any real clarification of it on the web.



Links would be helpful . . .
 
REX-RACER said:
What is this "foam gun" you speak of Setec? I saw that in another post but I couldn't find any real clarification of it on the web.



Links would be helpful . . .
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Here you go...but you too can go to the search page and type in "foam gun" :p



http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48225&highlight=foam+gun

http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47773&highlight=foam+gun

http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47277&highlight=foam+gun
 
REX-RACER said:
What is this "foam gun" you speak of Setec?........
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Good links from Setec Astronomy, and if youâ€â„¢re not confused enough yet, here is one more link:



http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47983&highlight=foam+gun



Bill D and Accumulator seem to be two of the foam gun experts here on Autopia. In this link Bill D mentions that there are three known brands of the foam guns that are deemed the âہ“goodâ€Â� kind (Gilmour, Butcher's, and Simple Green), which look to be made by the same company with differences being in the colors and size of the container.



I have the Simple Green variety that I got for Christmas. I only had a chance to use it once so far but I was quite impressed with it. Here is a link on where my wife bought it:



http://www.safetyplus.net/CandJproducts.html#56SG13291



I believe some cheaper sources were discovered after I gave that link to my wife, but I do like the larger size (1/2 gal) of the bottle.



roaringmouse, a foam gun would be a nice addition to get that new car clean and then to keep it as defect free as possible with subsequent washings.
 
Congrats on the new ride:xyxthumbs . Follow what Setec Astronomy said but I would be very careful with a strong pressure hose as this may scratch the paint . Flood the surface a couple of times letting it soak to loosen the dirt, then wash gently.
 
Yeah, the foamgun is very helpful. It keeps everything lubed with soapy suds.



I haven't seen my

Wash Technique Thread for so long I hardly remember what I posted :o



Generally, you put the foamgun inside the washmitt, shoot foam through the mitt, and just barely touch the car with it. And still rinse/replace the mitts frequently.



But I dunno if that'll work on a really dirty car that doesn't have a slick LSP on it.



I'd get some ABC from AutoInt (or the FinishKare version). I use that stuff on all my new cars and I really think it's good. I clay while the "B" step (the acid) is dwelling. Even if it means waiting longer than you'd like, I'd take the time to do this right.
 
Thanks everyone for all the help. I have it washed and clayed. I will finish the detailing this weekend.



I flooded the surface with water. Made a strong mixture of Sonus Gloss Shampoo and filled another bucket with clean water for rinsing the mitts. Soaked a sheepskin mitt in the shampoo and squeezed it over the surface. I let it set for a while and then very lightly, using only the weight of the mitt, went over a small area. Rinsing and resoaking the mitt each time in the shampoo. I went over the complete car 4 times with slightly more pressure at the end. I had to refill the shampoo bucket 3 times and cleaned/refilled the rinse bucket 4 times. I believe I removed all the loose crud.



I rinsed the car with clean water and made a new mixture of shampoo. I wet each section of the car with the shampoo and went over it with the blue Clay Magic. I clayed the car twice kneaded the clay often. The whole car feels slick now and ready for AIO by PC, SGx3 by hand and probably Carnauba by hand.



I only dropped the clay once :( and luckily I followed the advice here and was only using about 1/4 of my bar. Picked up a clean piece and finished.



I'll post pics when it's complete.



BTW, the 300c is in very high demand with many dealers really screwing their customers on price. I purchased mine for about $600/invoice but most pay full sticker or sticker + as much as $8000.



Thanks again for all your help.

Jeff
 
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