so i got my FitS cold air intake for sale over in the fitforum with a $125 discount
vs new. mine is actually brand new (just recently got it replaced under
warranty) yet the tough economic times have put a stop on these
young folks' purchases. arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. ..

 

I've been stressing over school for the past three weeks!

 

I got to use my Griot's Spray-On Car Wash the other day. I was pleasantly surprised. It worked well and two days later, Clara is still shiny and without too much dust.

 

Is this the right forum for new used MINI owners are completely overworked and don't have any time at all to use any of the Prima super bundle products they received last week!?!?!?

So, I have been looking forward to doing the whole day spa treatment for my car, but I am never going to find the time!

How long will the below take? and is it enough for a 2005 that I just bought (don't know how well it's been kept) Is it in the right order? Can I do some now, some later?

Mystique wash
Hydro wax
banana gloss
black wow exterior plastic (is it good for rubber?)
nero interior
clarity glass
wheel armor

The only thing that stinks more than being a newbie is being a newbie with no time!

P.s. Seriously considering doing the car detailing in the dark when/if I find a little time.

thanks everyone. You guys are really great, and i've been learning a lot from this forum. laughing a lot too.

 

ive been stressing over work, house chores, and raising
2 children...but still manage to do fun stuff. how's that?

yah, it does the job well. i use it from time to time with
good results.

akkkkk... you just have to manage time better by sleeping more at
work. hahahaha

 

had to erase what I wrote.

 

It all should take maybe two hours. However, the first time you do this, don't Hydro. Just do the Banana Gloss. Then for the next month or so, you can just wash and Hydro (no BG). Repeat cycle.

Black Wow is not *meant* for rubber, but I know some people use it that way. If you're talking tires, that's a waste of good BW - get some tire stuff for cheaper If you're talking seals and stuff, then there's probably other things that work better and aren't quite as oily.

If you're happy with the finish of your 2005, then this is all probably fine. If you are bothered by swirls and other imperfections in the finish, then there's a whole other process you need to learn about, but the above is a good start

 

why did you have to make fun of my asian ****?

 

FWIW, I washed my MINI, dried interior door jambs etc.., Neroed my Interior and wiped off dust on gauge faces, Banana Glossed whole car, and took a shower for myself all in less than 1 hour.

A MINI can be safely washed in about 10 minutes--drying it of all water will add time, but if you really just want to wash your car and dry it, and let any water in the cracks drip dry..that's all it takes. For me a full wash and dry including using the air compressor will take about 30 minutes.

You can always Nero at a different time, same with Clarity and Wheel Armor. Hydro would be used the next time you wash your car, and would be used instead of Banana Gloss.

Remember that Hydro and BG serve the same purpose---to protect the paint. How they are applied is where they differ. Hydro is super easy and doesn't last that long. BG requires a few more minutes of work, but last a few months instead of weeks.

For Black Wow--you'll reapply as needed but usually it's every few months or every 4th or 5th wash, depending on how often you wash, etc...

As for detailing in the dark--it's how I do it. You do need a flashlight. Those Xenon headlamps work great for handsfree working--especially for the interior where it's very dark at night. The biggest problem with working at night is moisture--you spend a lot of time washing and drying your car, and then you find it wet, 20 minutes later due to moisture, lol.

Richard

 

Hey ML & OG,
Thanks! That detail, and encouragement are just what I needed! really appreicate it! I will find time, even if in the dark, and wake up pleasantly surprised to a shiny car.

kenchan: are you serious? you're kidding right? I would be mortified if you were serious. I erased my post (wanted to completely delete but couldn;t) because I realized I was ranting and complaining about "oh poor me". Nothing to do with you, or the board, or anything really relevant to anything. Short story: I need a vacation. BTW, I am also Asian, first gen Chinese.

-Anna

 

yah, when i detail my cars at night i close the garage door and run my
dehumidifier at MAX. it is a must-have for me.

even with it running, typically it will take over night for the wax
to completely dry.

 

dont worry about me. im only kidding.

yah, sometimes i get caught up in the nasty at work and can
really use a vacation. when i didnt have kids i tended to get
'ill' on sunny days all the time. (out motoring) but now with
the kids, it's sometimes more relaxing to be at work NAMing
away. cause once i step inside the house 'daddy, let's play!'

 

But I AM offended. I can't believe you said such a thing about kenchan, and then tried to cover your tracks. You dirty rat.

 

Actually, it was the Ken of Amigo that I was bashing, not kenchan.

so, I am going to skip lunch, Mystique and Banana Gloss right now...right after two more, no three, more calls I have to make! I want my car to look good while I do my taxes (uber late) this weekend! I could use some Clarity. lol.

Wish I was in So Cal, I would hot foot over to OG's place for the works!

I'll tell you all how it goes!

 

Well I'm about 1/2 done getting Poco fully polished/waxed. Should finish everything this weekend, including interior, engine bay. The Cabrio is done, and I'll never be doing it again, but I will have another slightly bigger MINI with an S on the rear badge to do next week.

Mark

 

*GASP*

I'm all for slightly bigger MINIs... but to lose the cabrio.... NOOOOOOOOO......

 

The Cabrio was fun & I'll always be a top down girl but when the glove box gets so full of invoices that you can't close it, it was time to move on

I'm a happy girl now Soon you will all meet "Gimli" but Mark is compelled to detail him first

Lois

 

I'm about to wash, Hydro, Banana Gloss Gimli now. We want to load up the hounds, and go for a motor on some twisties today. Next weekend he will get the full treatment. He has some dealer installed swirls, but I'm pretty sure some Amigo and the RO will take care of that.

Any info on how to deal with cloth seats would be great to hear. The leather bits I know how to treat.

I'll post some pics in a few hours.

Mark

 

Mark, I would just get a fabric protectant with Scotchguard in it to treat the fabric, and do it once or twice a year. That'll make it a lot easier to spot-clean when needed.

 

ML, thanks. That's what we were thinking

OK gang, meet Gimli, or 08 launch edition Clubman S. He has all 3 packages, plus a few other goodies, is Lighting blue/Silver. He has some miles on him, put on by employees at the dealer, but the warranty has been extended to cover those miles. They marked him down an unprecedented amount for a MINI, and gave us a very fair trade in for the Cabrio, which is right now possible getting a new tranny. So it was a deal we could not pass up.

I decided against putting on Banana Gloss, as I want to clay him first. But I did wash/Hydro. Here are some pics.









Mark

 

Great looking Clubbie!

For cloth seats - 303 fabric protector.

 

congrats lotsie! lookin' good.

i dont have much EXCITING news as a brand new car, but i did run my
G35C in the rain today to test the stability of the Pilot tires to make
sure i dont get ahead of myself. balance and dynamics were perfect.
no over or understeer, and i can make the car turn more by throttle.

washed her and SprayOn waxed afterwards, Clarity'ed the glass, Hydro'ed
the wheels.

then i took a used STI maplight i bought off a member over at NASIOC
and installed on my FitS. looks factory finish.



DIY here...
http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-f...tml#post462574

 

Thanks

We happen to have some of that 303 left over from the Cabrio.

Mark

 

had to erase wat i wrote...

 

My first detail....

I did it! It took forever! About 6 hours (I got distracted & I had to redo a few things)! I seriously think I have not washed a car by hand since 1993.

-Mystique, wash car
-Dry with 2 waffle weaves
-Epic (on the half of the car not in direct sun)
-Move car out of path of dust/construction, decide to go to local DIY car wash and use their vacuum. decide to also go to auto parts store for wheel brush.
-Re-wash wheels with leftover Mystique, then husband's Zymol(?) (didn't want to use "my good stuff" on those nasty dirty wheels)
-Black Wow on the exterior (GREAT stuff, you really use so little, like maybe 12 pearl size globs)
-Clarity & special glass cloth, inside and out. I even did the inside of the back window of the cab (tricky)
-Rub car repeatedly at this point. decide next time I have to clay first for even smoother finish.
-Nero interior, mostly cab mechanical plastic parts.
-Metal polish to remove tape residue from shorty antennae
-Re-clarity windows, to get rid of the Nero I got on a few spots.
-Nero driver side of car, where my son got dusty shoeprints while I was Clarity-ing the other side of the car.
-Decide to Banana Gloss the whole darn car, I've already spent all day.
-remove BG with Platinum MF
-Re-BW the plastic parts I got the BG on
-Decide Nero can go on everything inside - it's all plastic! Nero everything.
-Decide BW can go on the wiper blade arms - they look so bad - old and worn on such a clean car.

All this, and I didn't even touch the cabrio top!

So, what do I use on the chrome plastic parts. As you can see from the pix, I have lots of chrome!

Another benefit of washing your own car, you get to really know it. There are all kinds of loose things that need attending to!

Thanks again everyone for your help! My car is in the driveway with its cover on.