How to properly detail a car (56k go use the loo)

Simple, get a new paint job. Wet sanding, polishing, and power buffing will only do so much (and can only be done so many times). Polishing will only help if the paint is a few years old and has a little haze, wet sanding and power buffing is much more involved and has the risk of really screwing your paint up.
 
I'd invest in a polisher (not a buffer, they may look the same but they are not) and some good compounds. I'd get a kit from a place like http://www.meguiars.com/ (if you can) since it will include everything you'd need.
 
What products do you guys use on your paint?

I'm currently using a combination of Klasse, Sonus, P21S, and ClearKote. I can post specifics if anyone gives a shit on the subject...
 
^Lol do I spy Turtle Wax in one of those tubs? List the products if you feel like it. Which Stoner's product is that? I use their Invisible Glass and it owns hard. To date I've been applying all my products by hand. A while ago I was going to pick up a Porter Cable, but decided to hold off. Now I'm not sure if I should pick up a PC or Ultimate Detailing Machine.
 
There's some turtle wax in there yeah, the platinum series ultimate gloss or whatever, it was 75 cents on clearance, so I grabbed it just to have and then some ICE products, but I only used those once or twice since I don't care for their low protection (and the liquid clay bar is crap).

Stoner stuff too, invisible glass yeah, works well, and some tarminator. I need more tarminator, it's wonderful. It takes off baked in 3 year old tree sap in about 30 seconds to a minute. Definitely going to buy some other stuff of theirs.

There's also two or three bottle of Meguiars ultimate quick detailer around here somewhere, I love that stuff.

As far as the polisher, either the PC or the UDM should work fine, just go with whatever you can get cheapest I'd say. I got a good deal on my PC and the pads so I went with that. They are so worth it. Application of stuff is so much easier, faster and you get better results.
 
Well I like a nice and shiny car too, but anything that takes longer than 1 hour is overkill in my book.
(I mean washing, waxing is another thing).

Do any of you guys actually do this sort of thing to make your car super duper shiny? I'd be scared to drive anywhere, cause it'll get dirty the minute you drive out of your driveway
 
NooDle said:
Well I like a nice and shiny car too, but anything that takes longer than 1 hour is overkill in my book.
(I mean washing, waxing is another thing).

Do any of you guys actually do this sort of thing to make your car super duper shiny? I'd be scared to drive anywhere, cause it'll get dirty the minute you drive out of your driveway
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Mine's basically a daily driver when the roads aren't snowy. They get dirty, that's just a fact of life. The good thing is, if you take the afternoon and do a proper clean, seal, wax and everything, then you are set for months and months. Just a quick detailer and a microfiber cloth for 3 or 4 minutes to wipe off all the dirt and you're back to being shiny again.
 
BUMP!

VXRMarc has a new car! Well, actually it's been a while since he got it, the thread is from last year, but it seems we have not had this posted on our lovely forum. So here it is, this time it took old Marc just three months to wash his car. Well, he did do some other things to. He washed his wheels. And chromed his engine bay.

https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2009/08/13/IMG_8656.jpg

Oh, and there was that thing about the wax. That thing in the middle there. Applied by hands.
The wax used today came from a ?10,000 Daniel Swarovski Ltd Edition
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https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2009/08/13/91ab79d9.jpg


Gently open the following link and await the million pictures to load. Then make toast and reserve time in your schedule. VXRMarc is going to show you the art of detailing.

http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/f47/astra-nurburgring-vxr-3-month-detail-5030.html
 
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Detailing is something i hate with a passion.. Just the idea of scrubbing and waxing and polishing for hours makes me cringe.
 
That is just a whole new level of insanity, I'm surprised he didn't yank and repaint the calipers when he found a paint chip in them. I understand wanting to keep your car clean, but that is way too much.

EDIT: I stand corrected, I'm still going through the thread and see he did indeed do the calipers.
 
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So is this car driven at all? What's the point in spending 3 months detailing a car when most of the grime will return in a matter of days/weeks?
 
If a stray pebble hits his car on the road will he buy a new one or just off himself?
 
Posmo said:
Detailing is something i hate with a passion.. Just the idea of scrubbing and waxing and polishing for hours makes me cringe.
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Oh Christ how I hate it so. I wash my car maybe once or twice a year.
 
Magnet said:
Oh Christ how I hate it so. I wash my car maybe once or twice a year.
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Me too. It's even worse when the paint& and the panels on the car are less than perfect. There is no point in speding hours buffing a door that has dents in it.. The only part of my car that has been washed & waxed in the last 2 months is the rear hatch, and that's just to make tree sap more easily removable..

About that Mark bloke, he did a good job, but 1 tip. When taking final photos of your car, try not to park it against something so awesome, it makes all of your work obsolete:

IMG_0108.jpg
 
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