Detailing for the non-detailer

[Alfalfameister]

Background:

I was working on my 1997 Strada, and worked on it pretty much the whole day: exterior and interior. I used 3M Finish Restorer, Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish, 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, and finally, 3M Show Car Paste Wax.

There are still oxidation marks, small scratches, and various swirl marks (some probably require a rotary buffer, and some cannot be solved by detailing). HOWEVER, it does look tons better than it did before.

But this message isn't for or about me: my dad saw what I did to my car, and he's asking me to do his car, too. It's a pretty big car (Expedition), and it's the Medium Wedgewood Blue (grayish blue).

Anyway, here's the advice I was thinking of giving him, and I would like you to comment on this advice:

1. I'll clean and polish his car (3M Finish Restorer and DC Polish)
2. We'll top it off with a wax

I was thinking that he's not really into "depth, gloss" and such terms: he just likes a very clean car, and maybe a bit shiny (and avoiding scratches and swirl marks).

After doing the cleaning and polishing, I was just going to tell his driver to

1. wash the car weekly, using correct washing methods (and no more pranellas!), using car shampoo;
2. wax the car monthly, to protect the cleaning and polishing I am going to do.

Finally, last question: what brand wax/polymer sealant is best for PROTECTION and DURABILITY. I heard that my 3M Show Car Wax isn't all that durable. Shine, gloss, depth aren't important; protectiona and durability are. You think the Turtle Wax stuff are good?

Thanks for comments and advice!

--Alf

[theveed]

First of all, congratulations for getting your feet wet in car care... Sarap diba? hehe... Great job even if we haven't seen your work, at least you know what you can expect diba. thumbs up...

As for your dad's expe...

I would suggest you use a polymer instead of a wax, since he's not all that picky (and I assume he doesn't really care much about paint care as well), I would suggest that you use a polymer... Off the shelf, your choices are (AFAIK lang ha):

Turtle Wax Finish 2001 Polish (actually a sealant, yung green bottle)
Formula 2000 (yung red bottle) Polish
Simoniz Liquid Diamond

All three falls under the P400/bottle category and are available in most hardware stores.

Others that I would prefer would be (but more expensive and may not be worth it for your project): Approx cost would be P800-1000 a small bottle.

Liquid Glass
Soft99 Fusso

To save you some time, you may want try NuFinish as well, it last quite a while and also makes quick work in removing oxidation. It's a good product for never-been-detailed cars, this will set you back around P400 rin ata. Get the paste, not the liquid.

Keep us updated and pics naman dyan... :D

[e46boi]

Alf,

Advice to your dad sounds good. Personally, I'd do the waxing myself (if you want a job done right, do it yourself!). Expeditions is a fairly large project though, so I understand your choice to relegate to the hired help!

You might want to give Klasse Sealant (a synthetic sealant, I think?) a shot (although I'm not sure if it's available to you guys locally) to try to give longevity to the shine. Won't give as deep a shine as carnauba wax, but it's life your after, this should be able to give you a little bit more.

I tried using Turtle Wax when I had just started detailing. Wasn't happy with the results, but then again I was looking for depth and gloss versus durability. Worth giving a shot, can be had for (relatively) cheap. Has about average life (bit longer than carnauba wax), might be good for what you need. At least you won't feel too bad if it doesn't work out for you (because of relatively low price)!

You might want to check out some other synthetic waxes/sealants. From what I understand, they provide much longer life at the expense of depth of shine.

One last thing to consider is ease of application. Turtle wax was (to me) pretty hard to apply and buff out. Might want to take this into consideration, especially since you are planning on having someone else do the waxing for you.

Good luck, and happy detailing!

[Alfalfameister]

First of all, congratulations for getting your feet wet in car care... Sarap diba? hehe... Great job even if we haven't seen your work, at least you know what you can expect diba. thumbs up...

To save you some time, you may want try NuFinish as well, it last quite a while and also makes quick work in removing oxidation. It's a good product for never-been-detailed cars, this will set you back around P400 rin ata. Get the paste, not the liquid.

Keep us updated and pics naman dyan... :D

Feet wet?!? More like my whole body. Heheh. Can't show pics because I don't have a digital camera. And while the Strada is nicer than before, shy pa rin ako to post pics because it still has swirls and scratches... not to mention some dings.

I did my car Saturday (washing started about 9 am, which took a good 1.5 hours since I also cleaned the back (inside) of the pick-up which has a camper shell, and I know I finished the waxing about 3 pm; after that, quick lunch (yes, at 3 pm), and about 3:30 started on the interior -- the Power Out on the headliner, cleaned and dressed interior and dash, vacuumed the whole thing). Finished about 5ish).

Body was still aching on Monday....

Where can I get NuFinish?

(OT: theveed, were you in Hahn's Tools Shangri-la on Monday, about 5ish-6ish or so? I saw a guy who looks like he knows what he's looking for, or has the itch to get something again with his conscience kinda stopping him)

Thanks for the tips, theveed and e46!

--Alf

[theveed]

No I wasn't in Hahn... I'm so broke right now hehe.. can't afford Shang parking... :P

NuFinish is available in Concorde

[Alfalfameister]

I saw NuFinish sa Concorde South Mall. Ito ba yung orange?

Another OT: How's that Liquid Glass? Medyo mahal: 600 for the small can/bottle, 999 for the bigger one.

--Alf

[theveed]

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