Auto Detailing

A great guide by 'Mothers' about detailing your car, theres also a guy on tune my toyota (Tercel5efe93) who wrote a good guide about cleaning your car and engine bay.

http://www.detailguide.com/PDF/Mothe...uide_0_All.pdf

From Tercel5efe98

Quote :

The way I detail exterior of cars at my job is spray the wheels with degreaser pop the hood spray the engine with the same degreaser.
Before you get carried away with anything if you have access to an air compressor blow out the dirty carpet from rear to front to take care of those hard to reach areas then bust out the vacuum.
Once that is done take a towel and spary some amoral on the towel so you don't hit the window when cleaning off the dash. don't worrie about the windows till very last.

Then bust out the hose and spray everything down with the gun.
Number one rule is to keep the car wet during the washing stage.A sponge and some car washing soap or you can use dish soap it works great also.(only do the soap after you wet the car) or else you could scratch up your paint job with all the dirt.
Hit the whole car up even the wheels it will help get them cleaner quicker.
It's not necessary to put soap on the motor the degreaser is there for that.
after your done with the rinsing process get you shammy out and start to dry immediately and try to keep the car out of the sun.
To prevent dry spots and that nasty water spot on the window.
When every thing is dry grab some windex and paper towels.
Hit the windows up one at a time very thoroughly.I fold my towel into a sqaure and keep it flat so you get no streaks.
If you apply less Windex the better and quicker you can clean the window.
where people get streaks is from putting half the bottle on one section and use a crumpled up towel.
Just a light spray of Windex is all you need for one window.

On the body if you have a smug of something but you don't know what it is get some 3m adhesive remover.
Its paint safe and gets the job done nicely.

Ok plastic fenders take some amoral and spray a towel with it wipe around the edges of the bumper closer to the paint.
Then any thing below that point just spray with amoral and rub it into the plastic bumper.(note
This only applies to those with black unpainted bumpers or cars with black side molding.
ok now my favorite part the engine by now its dried out some I usually wrap the cone filter with a trash bag. Then take the filter off inspect that no water on the filter if so let it sit in the sun to dry.
Ok i like to take a towel and wipe out any remaining water out of the engine bay.
This helps so you can get to the next step on detailing the motor witch is to spray amoral all over the engine bay and rubber parts of the engine.
Once your done spraying let sit for about 20-30 minutes with the hood open so it can breathe then come back and see a sick looking clean engine.
during the 20-30 minute period apply wheel polish to your chrome wheels and if you don't have chrome wheels then just wipe the wheels down.
Take a towel and some tire shine apply to the wheel while the polish is on protecting the wheel from the oily tire shine.

Use a dry towel to clean off the polish on the wheels. Bling BlinG
THis is just stuff that I go through every time i hit up the exterior wash of the cars.

all the electronics are water proofed to a certain point so spray all you want to get the dirt out.
I suggest you use some type of degreaser on the dirt let it sit about 5 min then take the hose to it.
I spray my alternator battery and the fuses ar covered in most engine so yeah it doesn't matter as long as all the stock covers ect.. are there.
Degreaser is your best friend in the engine bay.

Also I forgot to mention the interior for those hard to reach spots use a que tip.
And if you really want to get down with it take a paint brush wrap some tape around the brissles leaving just a little showing. This will make you a short duster i would do this while holding the vacuum behind it to suck up the dust.
For that fine detail.

If your paint is looking a little swirled or dull I would suggest getting some meguire wax spray bottle or something equal.
And also get some micro fiber rags they have them in most auto parts stores.

Also think about giving your car a wax job.
I like mothers wax because it has the carnauba wax and smells great.
Use a smooth pad to apply and a micro rag to rub off.
You could use a buffer but your will need to be careful not to burn the wax and paint.
I would watch a few you tube vids on buffing cars or watch a detailer do it.
the best way is by hand.
You will find your self using the car for support leaving pinger prints try to avoid that. lol
I like to get a stool with wheels and go around the car on that so i don't leave finder prints.
Oh yeah do this in the shade if you can.
only apply light coats of wax and watch out for door crevices and the trunk as well.
Oh yeah also when drying open your doors and get the door jams and don't for get the mirrors.
If you see water streaks from the mirror running down the door don't freak out a light spray of windex and a towel will clean that up and won't harm the wax.

And if you have a painted engine parts, make sure it has a clear coat or some sort before you use degreaser.

Be careful when hosing, i always cover my alternator, spark plug leads, alternator, distributor, pod filter, most sensors and battery to play it safe

just one thing, never ever use a jet washer, you'll be askin for trouble!

rollaboy wrote:

just one thing, never ever use a jet washer, you'll be askin for trouble!

Unless you have a diesel