Exterior Detailing Question?

[AZDinanE34]

Im a noobie when it comes to professional car detailing except the interior but what is the process (a quick step by step) for completing a good exterior detail? Like wash, dry, clay w/detail cleaner, wipe down, polish w/buffer.....etc??? Also whats a good way to get oxidation off the car? Thanks guys!

[daflameking]

There are many methods in cleaning our cars. I personally will attempt do some of the stuff that was listed in this article that was recently made in the car care section of the boards.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=972977

For more detailed information on car detailing, hit up this site 4500RPM mentioned previously last week

http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detai...chemicals.html

and to clean up the black trim to make it brand new (like it), use mothers back to black. All of these are part of my combined project though once i get help on how to fix my door rust =/

[offthewall]

i do wash, rinse, clay, wash, cleaner wax, buff, then a coat of your favorite carnuba or synthetic wax, buff.. then step away and stare for 1 hour or more.

as far as oxidation, i`ve seen people get awesome results with the right polishing compound and an orbital polisher.

[zubbie]

Originally Posted by offthewall

i do wash, rinse, clay, wash, cleaner wax, buff, then a coat of your favorite carnuba or synthetic wax, buff.. then step away and stare for 1 hour or more.

as far as oxidation, i`ve seen people get awesome results with the right polishing compound and an orbital polisher.

Does the cleaner wax serve as the polish stage? I always thought the paint had to be polished after claybar.

[Ace_of_Spades]

this is what i do, it may not be the best way tho,
when i know that its gonna rain or the car is gonna get dirty in the next few days
i wash, dry, clay, wash, meguiars quick detailer(turns out really shiny when there isn't many swirl marks however its a 'dry' shine), mothers back to black on the trims and tire shine

in summer when i don't really rain or something,
wash, dry, clay, wash, polish(getting good gear this summer), a better wax, do the trims (including grills, where mothers back to black performs soooo well) then tire shine.

i love detailing, there is sooo much to learn. i plan on getting all the correct gear in near future as they are not too cheap

[Ace_of_Spades]

Originally Posted by offthewall

i do wash, rinse, clay, wash, cleaner wax, buff, then a coat of your favorite carnuba or synthetic wax, buff.. then step away and stare for 1 hour or more.

as far as oxidation, i`ve seen people get awesome results with the right polishing compound and an orbital polisher.

i don't think that the cleaner wax is really useful there. the clay bar is what removes everything
i THINK a glaze would be more useful there

i'll try to answer that one,

Originally Posted by zubbie

Does the cleaner wax serve as the polish stage? I always thought the paint had to be polished after claybar.

no the cleaner wax doesn't serve as the polish stage
and you can polish the car, but its recomended that you don't do intensive polishing tooo often. remember thats what gets the clearcoat thinner. once you polish it, there are some techinques that you have to learn so that you won't create swirl marks or scratches during all those processes.
microfibers are recomended so that you don't scratch the paint and need polishing afterwards

[Jcbe34]

Autopia is a great site. Go there and just look around. Don't post, just search... All the answers are there.

What I do, usually once a week:

-Clean wheels/tires, rockers, lower body panels and bumpers with caustic degreaser.
-Soak car, then wash using two bucket method. 1 bucket with soap (been using megs gold class lately), and 1 bucket plain water with grit guard. Always makes sure to use a new wash mitt, wash one panel, clean mitt in water bucket w/ grit guard, re-soap, continue
-wash wheels
-dry with compressed air
-vacuum
-wipe down interior/clean windows
-dress fenderwells/tires
-add coat of sealant (using blackfire wet diamond sealant currently)

I usually polish my car once every 2-3 months using non-aggressive polish like Menzerna PO106FF

I am somewhat fanatical when it comes to detailing

PS: those of you working by hand are wasting your time. I do everything with a rotary and have for years.. But random orbitals are very user friendly and will save you tons of time