Please help me learn to professionally detail my car

[aves911]

Hey,

I've just recently finished building up my car and reached my performance goals. 50 Trim, 6-bolt, FMIC, supporting mods, suspensions, brakes, blah blah....Anyway, now I really want to spend a good while making my car look the best that it can.

Here is the existing condition of my car:

It's a 97 and the paint is not the best in places. Some scratches, chips, etc. I have all kinds of little grease spots and bug splats on my front bumper cover that I have never been able to get off.

On the inside, I have the tan interior and the vinyl has grease spots and is just dirty in a bunch of places.

My first couple questions:

Is there anything I can do, use to help cover up some of the small rock chips and scratches.

What can I use to get those damn bug splats of the bumper cover.

What do I do about getting my interior panels clean

Secondly,

I would really like to give my car "the works" on the outside, I've heard terms like clay bar, and different types of waxes and polishes, but I am not familiar with any of it. I not real crazy about buying a bunch of cleaning products and then screwing up.

What I'm looking for is just some product recommendations and how you use them as well. Please assume I know nothing when you explain I don't even know how to buff.

Thanks, sorry for the long post, but really want to make my car look as good as it is fast.

 

[GovernorKC]

I have had some of the same problems.

For the tar and bugs use 3M's tar remover. It worked really good. It might work for your stains on the interior too. for the paint chips go to a parts store/auto paint place and have them mix up a little bottle of touch up paint. That also works really good. Now best of all. for your exterior buy anything from Zaino Bros. It is only available online. It is absolutly worth every penny. and does everything that they say it does. Read around on the website to see what will work for you. Hope this helps

 

[GovernorKC]

I have had some of the same problems.

For the tar and bugs use 3M's tar remover. It worked really good. It might work for your stains on the interior too. for the paint chips go to a parts store/auto paint place and have them mix up a little bottle of touch up paint. That also works really good. Now best of all. for your exterior buy anything from Zaino Bros. It is only available online. It is absolutly worth every penny. and does everything that they say it does. Read around on the website to see what will work for you. Hope this helps

 

[Blizz92tsi]

Hey aves911,
I don't have any technical advice for you, but this might help. I just had my car buffed with a buffer machine. This transformed my dull and tired 1990 tsi to really bright and shinny. There's one catch however!!! Whoever does this to your car REALLY REALLY NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!! I can't stress that enough. My boss did mine and is quite good at it and even he did mess up several spots on my car. Several spots on my 90 the paint was really thin, in pretty bad condition, or both and the buffer did go through the paint. The main problems were my mirrors which were needing re-painting anyway. No harm no foul. Another thing is that the car has to be waxed very well afterwards or the results won't be as great. If you choose to do this make sure you do your homework. Find out how long they've been doing it, see their work, talk to customers, etc., etc. Also find out what happens if something does happen if they mess up the paint. A business that does it professionally and has insurance/capital to fix a mistake would probably be a good idea. I'd have to say this gave the car a dramatic change. Another option would be to have a well respected detailer do the car inside and out and then keep up with it after that. I think either of these would be a good way to go. Good Luck!!

 

[silvereclipse]

Wow that sounds like a nicely set up car but the appearance has been a little neglected =( With me being a n/t owner and not having enough money to go crazy on the engine, I like to spend time making it look nice. Any car that is cleaner than average will turn heads, my neighbor just got an old beretta that i think looks really good because its so clean.

First off, wash the car good. I dont trust mechanical car washes and cheerleader washes(although i like to say hi) find a nice soap at auto zone like eagle 1 or meguires. Use a wool mitt or wool covered mitt to wash with because a sponge will pick up dirt and scratch your paint. Wash the car in vertical strips, not a circular motion. If the car is pretty dirty then you might want to wash one section then wash the mitt in another bucket to get all the dirt out before starting on another part of the car. Rinse all soap from the car then take any sprayer off the hose and just let the water run over the car, this will help water sheet off and there will be less beads of water.(BTW i highly recommend washing in the shade) Now use a nice chamois to wipe off all the water left on the car, if you chamois the car before the water dries then you usually get a pretty nice shine just from that.

Now if you paint is kinda dull and has grease spots or whatever then i suggest polishing compound. Apply that in small areas with a nice cloth and buff it off before it dries. You also might want to try a clay bar to remove any oxidation or gunk from the paint, worked good for me

Next, you should give it a good hand wax. I use meguires gold, it should come with an applicator. Take your time and use a 100% cotton rag to buff with. Fold it over often because wax will get built up after a while and make it hard to buff off.

Oh ya, for the interior...scrub the carpets with a brush to loosen up any dirt then vacume it away. Use some kind of vinyl/plastic protectant for the dash and other interior pieces, do not use it on leather(if you have it)

Tada, now you have a nice shiny car! It might have a little bit of wax dust on it but thats nothing a quick spin won't blow away.

 

[pc talon]

For reccomended detailers, ask a car dealership. Often they outsource their detailing and may be able to reccomend a quality one to you. Buffing is an art, and not meant to be done by amateurs.

 

[Blizz92tsi]

I agree with pc talon. Buffing should be left to the professionals!! I thought I'd suggest this option however. I had it done to mine a couple of days ago. It turned my car from dull to wow!! I personally think this would be a place to start and then keep up with it from there. I don't think anything an amateur ( like me ) can do to get that kind of results. I also have connections and it didn't cost me as much as it would for someone to get it professionally done. Its just an option. Later.

 

[pc talon]

You could also try a Clay bar, cheaper than getting it buffed, but not as effective either. Does improve the finish though.