Well I had a lady call me up and tell me she wanted her son's Mazda 6 detailed. She told me he was in the Marines and was coming home and this was going to be a birthday gift for him. Since this guy is serving our country I decided to do a few extras for him to really make the car look great. The car had been sitting for quite a while under some trees, so the exterior was looking rather horrid. I don't think the thing had ever been detailed. When I took it back it was raining like no tomorrow and she informed me he wouldn't be home for a couple of weeks, so I told her I would come back and get it and wash the exterior again the day before he came home. I wanted it to look as good for him as it did in my garage while it was raining, and since he's a service man I felt like it was the least I could do. You'll notice that the afters were taken after the second wash since the sun was out like when I took the befores. Well here's what I did: Tires/Wheels/Wells: Well the wheels were in a little rough shape so out came the Megs Wheel Brightener. I used a variety of brushes including: my favorite wheel brush of all time the Raceglaze XL wheel brush, my Black Magic wheel brush bent to 90 degrees to get behind the spokes, lug nut brush, and green foam finger pocket. For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 2:1 in a Gilmour 2 gallon pressurized sprayer (I use so much of the SGS that I needed to go to a bigger sprayer), and some of the brushes I got from Home Depot. The tires were first dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with a TW tire applicator and my Tropi-Care tire dressing. Every other dressing that I had used is just inferior in looks from what I get with the Tropi-Care. I'll tell you the stuff is very durable as well. Wells were dressed with Adams Undercarriage Spray. I then coated the wheels with MS Enviro Shield and rinsed off. I used DI water from my CR Spotless for the entire detail, not just the final rinse. Engine: I gave the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless, and sprayed it down with MS SGS. There was a lot of dirt and dust in just about every crevice there was so I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld sprayer. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and voila it looks great again. Exhaust: The exhaust got Megs WB and #0000 Steel wool while washing the wheels and then later polished with Autosol and buffed off with an Obessesive Detail MF. Wash: For the bugs and tree sap I used the CGs Strong Wash and a Majestic Solutions Bug Brick. The gas filler area and all badges and emblems were soaked down with MS SGS, agitated with a Swissvax Wheel brush, and rinsed before beginning the wash routine. You could tell while doing the initial rinse with the PW that there was no LSP on this thing but I needed a good cleaning wash and went with my favorite LSP stripping formula and loaded up the foam cannon with 2 oz. of MS Super Foam and 1 oz. of MS Power Prep. Man this combo foams like crazy and cleans even better. Like I said in another post this combo stripped everything but the paint off! I used my CR Spotless (for the entire detail like I stated earlier) and the 2 bucket method. In one bucket I used Tropi Care Citrus wash (to ensure everything came off) and the other was a rinse bucket, both with grit guards. I used my Zymol Sponge on this wash. During the drying phase with the leaf blower it had started to drizzle so I got as much off as I could and pulled into the garage and finished drying with a Tropi Care Waffle Weave. Let me say that the TC WW is the best WW I have ever used and it's makes drying a car a breeze. I had heard a lot about the legend of the TC WW and it all turned out to be true! After getting in the garage the freakin' bottom fell out and continued to rain on through the night. Man I hate doing a car and having it rain during the detail. Clay: I know it sounds like a broken record from me but, my mainstay for clay has become and always will be the Bilt Hamber and this detail was going to be no different. I used the regular clay for this one. Of course as always the lube was water from the CR system. Glass: Glass inside and out got Sprayway Glass Cleaner. I used a MS blue huck window towel to apply and a Walmart WW to buff off. The outside of the glass was treated with Zaino Clear Seal. Interior: Well the interior was really rough. It was full of Dalmation dog hair which was really hard to get off. I used a pet brush and my shop vac and lots of time and managed to get most all of it. This is one of those areas that for the price would not have gotten a lot of attention but I decided to make this as good as I could. All plastic and vinyl got a thourough cleaning with Majestic Solutions Leather and Plastic cleaner @ 1:1 with a splash of MS Lemon deodorizer in it and the Autoglym Hi-Tech cleaning pad. Dirt is absolutely no match for this combo! The interior got a very thorough vac and then everything was dressed with Jeffs Werkstatt Satin Prot. This stuff is great, and gives a nice matte finish. There was still a slight smell of dog in there after the cleaning so I gave a few sprays of MS Clean Cotton Deodorizer. It helped so much that the Mom told me she couldn't believe the dog smell was gone. All the stains throughout the car and especially the backseat were cleaned with MS Extraction +. This stuff is nothing short of magic. I cleaned the door jambs with Duragloss Citrus APC while washing. I used a Swissvax brush and rinsed with the pressure washer. I later wiped them down with Megs Final Inspection. The floor mats were cleaned with MS SGS and dressed with DG Tire and Mat. Paint: I went with my ol' standby DG 501 to clean the paint. I used my Makita @ 600 rpms with a black 3M pad. I buffed it all off with a Super Fly MF from Justin at Obsessive Details. The thing was starting to look black again! Protection: I decided to go with my favorite paint sealant and apply a coat of CGs Jetseal applied with a CGs Stage 3 applicator. It was buffed off with a Danase Phat Towel MF. Man Jetseal just looks sooooo good on black! LSP: I went with my Autoglym High Definition Wax. This stuff goes on so easy and comes off just as easily. And yes another product I got from Ken at Autowerkes. I have been impressed by every single Autoglym product I have used and AG High Definition is becoming one of my favorites. I like it so much that my Jeep and my BMW are both wearing it now! After washing it the second time (with MS Ultra Gloss) I did a wipe down with Scholl Concepts SW20 QD and a Plush MF from Ben @ Rubbish Boys. I tell you the SC SW40 is the best QD that I have. If you get the chance to try the SW20 you need to! Well when I took it back the rain had slacked up some and she told me it looked better than when they bought it. I love getting that compliment! Well here are before's and afters: I know there is some dirt I missed under the seat and after seeing the pic I made sure I got it when I brought it back for the re-wash. Some reflection shots:
Nice job, it does look pretty good. Nice going with doing a little extra for him, bet he will be pretty happy once he gets back and see's it waiting for him in show room condition!
Wow, love how your pics of the before and after so you can easily compare. Thnx for sharing. Makes me wanna try the Autoglym products.
:worship2: Hey man, it looks great. He's going to be thrilled when he sees it, very nice of you to go the extra mile for someone serving our country. Next time you're at Majestic Solutions, pick up one of those "Furz-Off" things for pet hair. It looks like a pumice stone, but Phil told me it's actually made out of recycled glass. The thing freaking WORKS for pet hair removal, it's flat out amazing. EDIT: sure looks like more Tropi-Care stuff has entered your arsenal. Looks like yet another line I should check out.
Great job JL, you did an outstanding job and he is going to love the results man. I need to check out MS for some more tire dressing plus some new stuff I want to try out I see you using!!
Great work, JL! Man, I'll have to try that combo for myself - JS109 topped with AG HD. I got some AG HD on it's way, bought a pot from a forum member.
Thanks for the compliments. I really hope he's happy with it. Thanks Aaron I had a few months where my life outside of detailing got really busy, hectic, and stressful. All is back to normal now and I'm trying to catch up on the detailing. Thanks! Thanks I like doing the pics that way so the reader can see the transformation without having to scroll up and down. You really should give the Autoglym stuff a whirl as everything I've used has exceeded my expectations. Thanks dude, now change your avatar!! Thanks Karl, I should have bought one of those Furz-off the last time we were in there. Got to looking at so much other stuff I forgot to get it. Sucks acting like a kid in a candy store when I go in there, LOL. Oh and the Tropi Care stuff that I've used has been very good. Oh and a big thanks to Cooter for hooking me up with the Tropi Care WW. Thanks Corey!! No real theory except I like 2 coats to make sure I get complete coverage. I do one before I pull into the garage and the other after I pull into the garage with the wheels rotated 180 degrees from the first coat. The reason for using different products is that Megs HD is extremely cost effective but I don't like the look of just that as good as the look of Tropi Care over it. Two coats of Tropi Care would look great too but much less cost effective since it's not dilutable. Thanks Jason! Do a JS 109 topped with AG HD bro and you won't regret it.
Great work JL! Thats black! I have a Furzoff as well. Havent had a chance to try it on anything really bad yet but I'm concerned that it'll scuff interior plastic fairly easily if you're not careful.
Yeah, I'd definitely keep it away from plastic. Vinyl and leather too, for that matter. It's pretty harsh.
Great work there JL! The tropicare tire dressing is the next thing on my list. I need to check out some of the MS products when my supply get low. I am sure the owner will be very happy when they return.
Thanks Bill much appreciated. Thanks Ken means a lot from a detailer like you. Like we discussed the other night its good to be back in the swing of things. Thanks man and you really need to get some of the Tropi Care dressing. Stuff just flat out rocks! Thanks Carlos it feels really good to get back to detailing. You forget sometimes how much fun it is until you can't do it for a little while.
JL...Seems like a long time since I've seen a job from you but I haven't been around a whole lot lately. I, too, was going to mention about the furzoff thing as I have one as well..it'll definitely save you some time. Nice way to pay it forward for the military man too...God Bless bud!
