I'm not a detailer...but I tried!
 

I did my first wash/claybar/wax job on the MCS today. I also took off the wheels, scrubbed them down, and waxed them as well. I used Meguiars carnuba wax, and the Meguiars claybar as well. :)

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMG_0517.JPG

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMG_0519.JPG

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...m/IMG_0516.JPG

I was a bit unfocused with that last shot...the camera didn't like taking a reflective picture I guess :lol: It looks a lot better than the pics show...tomorrow the interior!!

Beautiful work! Very nice!

:thumbsup: time well spent

Ooh, the pictures are working now. Nice job!!! And yay for Meguiar's! LOL. That was my nod to Agranger. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

nice! :) i too was detailing my 06 legacy today... took me maybe 4+ hours
to do the whole car inside and out... i could not get to the engine bay today. (too tired...
octaneguy, I don't know how you do it). hehe. :)

is it just me or does megz tends to loose its glossyness by the next day? i use nxtgen wax,

Ill let you know tomorrow :lol: I had some left over so I figured I'd use it up before I moved on to some of the higher end stuff.

I came up w/ 20 or so witty retorts, but I couldn't bring myself to type any of them under this beauty of a car. :cool:

I'm loving the clean boot! I've been thinking about doing the same, but my wife likes the chrome.

Longest single day exterior detail I've done is 14 hours. Done with lots of Gatorade in my CamelBak and plenty of sleep the night before. :thumbsup:

If you've prepped the surface right, and applied it to a dry surface, and wiped it off after it's fully dry (i.e. followed the directions) then no it's not going to lose its glossiness by the next day. Remember to not let the car get misty or wet overnight. Once it's waxed, you don't want to get it wet for atleast 24 hours, or overnight at the very least.

Look at my MINI, hadn't been waxed in months. This was taken inside of a Dent Wizard shop while my car was being worked on.
http://static.flickr.com/43/113219409_2ca0831422.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/41/113219389_6f0381480b.jpg

oOoOoOoOooooooo very nice!!! :)

You have all that chrome to help your *bling*:lol: The car sat in the garage overnight, and after a lot of errand running this morning the paint still has a nice shine to it.

I too spent yesterday detailing my car. I have one tired arm now. My first time ever clay barring a car. You could tell too... I used a whole bottle of the detailing spray that came with it :lol:. Although I did have a lot of gunk that needed rubbed off. But I'm proud of myself for putting in the effort and seeing how good it looks.

Yours is looking pretty good :thumbsup:. I love the way a black car looks when it's all shined up.

I'll have to post some pics when I get home tonight. Ran out of daylight yesterday.

what wax was used? Meguiars?

Meguiar's all the way baby! :thumbsup:

14 hours?!! :eek: omg!!! that'll put me to sleep for a week. :lol:


i use NXT Techwax myself. :)

Looks great. I will be claying my MINI this weekend. I use NXT for my wax also.

Nice work, Coop d'etat! And OctaneGuy, your MINI is insane.

I did my dad's Mustang yesterday. 12-1/2 hours. I had planned on clay bar, 3M swirl mark remover, cleanser and a couple coats of Zaino. I hadn't planned on having to scrub out Coke stains from the carpet and mats and over an hour dealing with mildew stains on the convertible top. In case anyone wants to look at a shiny Mustang.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...23732&cat=1185

:lol: ^^ ok, this confirms that my 4hour + was nothing. I am officially a
detail wimp. hahaha. :lol:

Thats is amazing.

Mr Detailing Guru - can you tell me what step(s) im missing?

The paint on my car is pretty darn good. So i only clay/polish once every 2 - 3 months. So my process is wash,chamois dry, terrycloth dry, wax (nxt tech wax), let it sit for about 5 minutes, buff off with terry cloth towel and done. ( all done in shade).

i Dont see how im not following the instructions and ending up with a car sparklig like yours the next day.

^^ do you use an orbital buffer or just hand buff? that makes a huge
difference...plus, some people put 2-3 coats of wax on top.

What color is your paint? Is this the paint on your MINI? Dark colors will reflect like crazy, lighter colors won't.
It's not necessary to clay every time you wax. Even 2 to 3 months by be too much. Always feel the paint surface. No need for a plastic bag. Just make sure the paint is clean, then touch it with your fingers. If it isn't mirror glass smooth, then it's time to clay.

But Claying won't make your car look shiny. It will help, but unless your finish is heavily oxidized and dull, clay will affect the feel of the surface more than its looks.

What polish are you using?

When you say buff off, is this by hand?

Working in the shade is one thing, but just as important is weather humidity and ambient temperatures. I have no problems waxing a pepper white MINI in broad daylight that's 80 degrees outside. The paint will be cool to the touch and that's what's important. The black roof will be super hot and I couldn't work on that effectively, but you get my drift.

High humidity will affect how long it takes for the wax to dry. The way you determine is by doing the swipe test. That is apply the wax, then when you think it's dry, do a quick swipe with your clean index finger and look at the swipe. The edges should be sharp and distinct. The surface below the swipe should be clear and glossy, not smudgy. If so, then it's ready to wipe off. This could be 5 or 20 minutes.

Once you've wiped off the car, apply wax one more time. 2 coats will ensure you didn't leave any thin spots that you may have missed the first time. Let dry, then wipe off.

Make sure the car doesn't get wet until the next day.

Assuming the paint surface is clean and polished, and properly protected, it will look as good the next several months as it did the day you waxed it. Are you using Quik or Speed Detailer to wipe off the dust off your car? Each day after you come back, give a spritz of Speed Detailer, and wipe off with a MF towel. It will clean off surface dust, and restore the just waxed look to your paint. Of course if you're in an area that snows or rains a lot or your car gets heavily dusted, then washing maybe in order more frequently, but remember, everytime you claybar, it removes everything above the clearcoat, so you have to polish and wax again.

If you don't clay bar, you can get away with just polish and wax or maybe even just wax, again depending on the paint condition.

My standard regimen is M80 or M82 for my paint cleaner/polish followed by either NXT Tech Wax or M21 Synthetic Sealant. I use a Porter Cable polisher to polish my paint and apply/remove wax. I also use only MF towels, no terrys or chamois to.

I've got a video that will be available in the NAM store that shows how to do this. The instruction is by Mike Phillips, the trainer at Meguiar's, and I owe everything I know about detailing to him.

Richard

Not to hijack ths thread any further, but this would apply to the thread poster as well, check out my Flickr gallery and you can see what properly applied Meguiars can do for MINI paint.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/octaneguy/sets/1208398/

Here is one of my favorites from this set, shine by Meguiar's M21
http://static.flickr.com/29/63318879_0f0505607c.jpg

Looks great Coop d'etat. Just one thing. In the future don't use that claybar on your license plate. It looks like you removed all the numbers.

Mr Detailing King (i seriously mean that ur car is always immaculate!)

Answers to your questions:

1) Im using one layer of "Step 2 Deep crystal polish" http://www.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/sp...?pc=A2116&tp=0
After that its a coat of nxt tech wax ( ill start using 2 coats ) - is this ok?
2) Buffing off is done by hand unforunately. I use a terry cloth towel when buffing.
3) My car is DS colour (the best lol) not sure about temps, but i see your point about this.
4) Never actually tried a swipe test, i just assumed it would be dry within 5 minutes lol thanks for the tip
5) Not using any quik/speed detailer to rid the dust of the car ( assuming your referring to a few days after detailing the car ie. quick detail). What i simply do is dust off the car with a really really soft brush/mop/terrycloth like thing. Then wipe down with a damped terry cloth towel again. I guess this is wrong technique?

Thanks for your input! i hope these questions ahelp other detailining beginners like myself out there.