Im pretty green when it comes to detailing, so please excuse any novice moves/nomenclature on my part. Im pretty happy with the exterior appearance of my 2005 Grand Cherokee, but there are 4 areas that id really like to improve: 1) Engine 2) Wheel wells EDIT: Directly below my thread is this one Wheel wells 3) front clip (bug marks, sap, nicks/dings) 4) Carpet Engine. I just read a pretty good write up (cant remember who did it) on someone detailing there S2000's engine. I feel comfortable with this step, however he recommended using a leaf blower to dry the engine. I dont have one available, would compressed air work? Or is it too direct/powerful? Wheel wells. Im at a loss here, they are clean...but the black is faded and looks pretty dull and shows wear. Id like to darken the whole area (make it look new again). Front clip. Any good suggestions for removing all the bug grease/road grime that gives the paint a textured finish? The jeep is coming up on 100,000 miles so its got its fair share of nicks on the bumper, but id still like to clean it up as best as i can. Carpet. My only complaint about the carpet is the random coffee and salt stains from winter. Anyone have a good link to a write up on working over carpet to make it look new again?
on the carpet some people rent a professional extractor and use it for the interior. a steamer is another possibility. good old elbow grease and product with clean white towels and brushes usually works but it a pain. i like the clean smell with an extracted carpet. the front clip is best handled by one of the new films and keeping it sealed or waxed regularly. today a friend watched me clean the front of bugs with just detail spray. blew him away hope this helps
Compressed air works perfectly fine. Just don't hold it too close to any connectors and you'll be good. Grab a bottle of forever black or any type of black dye product and a can of 3m undercoat. Next take your wheels off and thoroughly clean and the fender wells. Use the dye product on the plastic liners and apply a new layer of undercoating onto the existing factory coating. This solution would last much longer than constantly having to apply a wheel well dressing like CG barebones/Adams Undercarriage spray. Surf City Garge Grime destroyer at 1:1 works extremely well as a bug and road grime remove. Spray, let sit for a few minutes and lightly scrub with a bug sponge (pre-soak in warm/hot water.) Coffee stains are pretty hard to get out if they have been there for a long time and have been given enough time to set into the fabric. Get some Folex(available at home depot) and spray onto the stains. Get a towel and then blot the stain to remove the majority of it. Come back with a carpet cleaner of your choice , brush and a bucket of hot water. Spray your carpet cleaner, dip the brush in the bucket of water and agitate the carpet. When you're done with that take another towel, dip it in the bucket and wring some of the water out. Take the damp towel and go over the carpet to remove the dirt and cleaning solution. Rinse the towel and repeat as necessary (you might have to change the bucket out a few times.) Finish up with a shop vac to remove whatever left over water and dry/fluff the carpet up with compressed air.
Well... Megs 2n1 engine wash seems like a good idea (maybe i didn't execute properly), but i had marginal results. The engine is cleaner, but the dust/dirt from before got stuck in the 'dressing' part of the megs 2n1 and is now stuck to everything. Looking back on it, i should definitly have cleaned the whole thing first before using anything like the megs....learning curve! I have soo much reading to do, nothing availible locally is worth a damn (IME) and i dont want to blow a ton of money on stuff i dont know how to use properly lol.
Don't worry, it'll get easier. The way I actually discovered detailing is when I was 16 I was trying to clean up my Mom's car, didn't know what I was doing at all. Accidentally stained the trim with Nu-Finish and had to go online to figure out how to get it off and got addicted haha, so mistakes can help :thumb: Definitely wash your engine next time, 2 in 1 cleaners and quick detailers are only good for very light dirt and dust. The good news is that after it's cleaned and dressed, it will be easy to maintain and clean. One tip that will save you a lot of money, remember that you don't need a dedicated cleaner for everything. A safe all-purpose cleaner can do the engine, door jambs, bugs, etc. I use Meg's APC at 4:1 for bugs and heavier cleaning, and 10:1 for interior and engine and it saves me a lot of money. Just like how you can use the dashboard dressing on the outside trim, paint polish on the headlights... etc. When in doubt, it never hurts to ask! If there wasn't people asking for help, this detailing forum wouldn't exist :mounty:
Is megs APC available at most chains locally? Definitely learning, i was motivated tonight so i cleaned up my wifes journey as best as i knew how. I figured out that i need to know one thing to make my detailing life easier: 1)The order There has to be an order in which you do things. Windows last? Trim/interior after vacuming? Im assuming carpet first? Im sure there is some hard & fast guide to this.
I'll do a quick list, gotta wake up early to work on a car tomorrow. 1) Engine (optional) 2) Rims/Tires/Wheel wells 3) Wash, using 2 bucket method and starting with the roof
Ive been working on the wheels this weekend, and ive got a stubborn mark on one tire from a yellow curb somewhere...it left a very faint patch about 12" long and 4" tall on the tire. I tried photographing it, but it did not show up. Its invisible 90% of the time, except in just the right light. I would just replace the tire, but there brand new and $190/piece. Any suggestions on how to process with this?
I got the door jams done this afternoon, im going to grab some pics asap and post them up for critique. It took about 1.5 hours to do all four jams. I did the following: 1. rinsed the jam first with the hose (a little tricky since i was getting a little water on the interior) 2. washed with a cotton rag + megs APC at 10:1 3. rinsed again 4. let dry while i did the others 5 used some QD on the newly cleaned jams, and back to black on the trim just below the jam. Things I learned: Do all the jams at once! lol...could have saved a lot of time here. Ill have the pics up in a bit, im really looking for tips on how to speed this up/make them appear nicer.
I never noticed how dull the paint looks in the jams. Also the engine is getting better, ive been using 4:! megs apc and brushing every time i clean the jeep a little. Its slowly shaping up. I could use some help here. Do i clean this up like the rest of the jam, or leave the grease on it for lube?
Get an old tooth brush and a 1" paint brush so you can get into the tighter areas and remove the grease as it is lubed inside of the hinge, not the outside.
Thanks, it will be a few days before i can get back to this...but ill pick up some brushes and try it again. Also, whats a good cleaner for the plastic gromets/wire loom protectors that are real nasty? I scrubbed them with 10:1 megs apc, but it really didnt touch it.
I picked up some cheap paint brushes for the doors today, but didnt get a chance since i also picked up some folex to try on my drivers side mat. Before: After: There isnt much difference between the two. Im a little let down, i was hoping to really clean this up today. Heres what i did 1)Spray N Wash the whole mat and scrubbed with a stiff carpet brush. 2)Sprayed the mat off 3)Spray folex on the two larger stains you can see in the pics above. 4) Sprayed all of it off, then vac'd it dry Any tips? Im thinking a bucket of hot water + folex tomorrow when i get time, anyone else have a better idea? Forgot to mention, i scrubbed the top stain so much some of the thread is coming out of the carpet. Didnt know i could do that.
