Agree. It is amazing how much pollutants the bars pick up.
C4
Dont forget to repaint the wheel wells. Seeing fresh coat of black in the wheel wells always look good.
I just scrub the wheel wells and then apply 303 protectant…which makes them look good as new.
Grant those lens came out super 
I have a lot of detail stuff
I left my nice cars on Maui though 
BMW and Porsche
had a MB S class here but got rid of it now my FJ I dont detail ?
all my nice cars were perfection to the point of not one craze line or anything ! I grew up in a car family ? like drove my uncles Ferrari Dino crazy car family my dad having cars like MB gullwing 55 speedster etc… he now just has a bunch of MB ? he got out of all his killer cars and Porsches once he got about 75 he said to hard to climb in and out of
but
I love sonus stuff and Klasse for products along with a few others ?
my PC 7424 with a ton of pads of various types microfibers for windows dif style for paint and for removing water etc…
when you get into it certain products work better with German paints ? I never owned American cars ? and only Imports were SUV or trucks so depending in your car ? certain products will work better
used to get some stuff from here
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/
and
http://www.properautocare.com
they also have some good tutorials
as mentioned CLAY is your friend and remember its cheap dont reuse it throw it do the divide it up for panels do a panel chuck it
use spritz or good lube
then step up the finish and keep it up
I keep thinking of getting a nice car again ? to me detailing was a way to just relax and enjoy
When I first got a car as a teenager I pain stakingly detailed it inside and out. Now that I work 50hrs a week plus I let Mother Nature wash my truck and take in about once a year for a full detail wash, cleaning, interior shampoo etc.
Yea I have done the same I do prefer the spray paint I cut a piece of cardboard to use as a overspray shield you can retouch up the control arms and linkages if that what floats your boat.
Me and buddy would pull the motor,trans,most of the interior except the dash unless we had to power wash and repaint everything replace what ever would be wore out . It would make a old car look almost factory new. Last car was 87 Olds cutlass We puled the 305ci and trans out. Put the car on blocks rented a industrial power steam cleaner and was completely amazed at how well the high pressure steam cleaner did to the 20 year old under carriage. If you ever seen 80’s GM under carriage you know. It practically took it down to bare metal We had to respray the entire under carriage the next day.
But man did it look good afterward. Used s&n micro polished to buff the headlights and taillights. It had the factory black paint job. You know how bad black can look when its oxidized bad [spider webs ]
s&n has a polish that works wonders with oxidized paint. The original plan was to respray the entire car but after many hours of buffing the factory black looked so good afterward we said to hell with it.
To bad it got stolen shortly after we finished working on it 
make sure the car is low enough that you cant see in the wheel wells 
For rims and tires, I like Simple Green. My biggest headache is keeping the Jeep’s soft top looking good. It does, but it takes some elbow grease and time.
I bought a 1982 Toyota 4x4 last year. I’ve sanded primed and painted what small rust it had, but the engine bay and undercarriage are a bit of a mess with grease, oil, etc. Anyone have a good recommendation for a cleaner to get all of that shit off without worry of destroying gaskets or hoses? I really just want to be able to notice leaks or potential problems. Elbow grease is not a problem.
P.S. Bravo on keeping those nice vehicles clean and in shape. It’s amazing what a few years of neglect will result in, compared to 20 or so years of good care.
Having access to a good pressure washer and couple of cans of engine degrease-er should go a good ways.
Dunderway - handy video HERE on engine detailing. I have some others bookmarked at home, but I am TDY right now and just went to the site where I get a lot of my detailing stuff. Phil always has coupon codes so don’t buy anything without a discount.
Be VERY careful with a pressure washer in the engine bay.
Thanks for the tips. Before I saw this thread I was going to wash / detail today anyways. So I ran out to wally-world and picked up a few extra things. Hopefully I’ll post before and after pics.
Costly Car Detailing Crazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkmZveqyU5E
exotic car detailing. here is the guys channel, his name is Paul Dalton:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MiracleDetail
A friend of mine has some Swissvax… Cost more than my first 3 cars (combined).
Well it appears that you sure are.
And if I recall you aren’t more than a couple hrs from me (good old TOS days 
), so if I pay for gas and tolls…
Edit: Now that I re-read this, I might clarify for any drawing dopey inferences that years ago we didn’t get along sometimes. And my 4 year old vehicle does have numerous scratches that I don’t have either the expertise or equipment to remove.
Carry on…
I got the exterior washed and used the Turtle Wax clay bar system and holy frijoles does that pain look and feel clean to the touch. I had to call it quits as I was running out of day light.
Apparently at the same time the local flock of herons was returning from doing what ever herons do and heading for their nesting grounds on the island in the lake. Wouldn’t ya know it, one of the sonsabitches decided to do a bombing run on my pristine clean truck on the way there.
yea clay bars amazing, gets that gritty feeling off the paint (contaminants). You only do it every few years.
I must admit I’m not a car guy. I don’t particularly care WTF my vehicle looks like so long as it gets me from point A to point B in a safe manner.
That said, my father hits up many a car shows with his 1950/1960-something Jeep Willies (that’s how much I care, I mean to say that I don’t). He’s out about every other weekend with that thing and I’ll be sure to pass along some of the knowledge spit out in this thread to him. Hell, at the very least it’ll give him some new ideas (and keep him out of my mother’s hair).
I guess I mean to say I cannot appreciate this thread like many of ya’ll but still find it useful. Nothing makes that man happier than going out to the garage and polishing or tinkering with something on his Jeep so much of this stuff should keep him occupied for a good bit.
I didn’t really care about car detailing too much either (no time). I am re-organizing though so that I do have some free time.
Like others have said, it is VERY rewarding/relaxing cleaning your car (properly).
C4