I generally start off by detailing the motor compartment a few days prior to doing a full detail in my personal vehicles. This helps break up the work which is a lot easier in my opinion. Process was as follows: Remove Belt Meguiars Super Degreaser Autowerkes APC Exclusive Agitate with Brush Rinse & Dry with Blower Treat all plastic, hoses, etc with Hyperdressing 4:1 Polish by hand with Meguiars #105 Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant Optimum Metal Polish on Supercharger Pulley Reinstall Belt Time: ~1.5 Hours I always start my full details on my personal vehicles on Friday night with washing, drying, etc. Process was as follows: Two Bucket Method with Grit Guards + Pressure Washer Foam Cannon with Raceglaze Snow Foam - Spray & Rinse Sonax Wheel Cleaner Agitated by Uber Boars Hair Brush DP Xtreme Foam Shampoo with SM Arnold Sheeps Wool Mitt + Honeycomb Bug Sponge Iron-X with SM Arnold Sheeps Wool Mitt 1Z einszett W99 with Foam Cannon - Spray & Rinse Sheeting Method with Purified Water from Store Drying via Blower Time: ~2 Hours This was my first time using the Iron-X and 1Z Einszett W99. I sprayed the whole car down with Iron-X noting the time. By the time I was done with the whole car it had been 3 minutes. I started "washing" the first panels sprayed as my fiance went behind me rinsing. It was dark so I can't say for sure but I don't think I had many deposits other than the rear end of the car. My guess is maybe it has something to do with the offroad mid pipe. I could see the discoloration dripped on the concrete at the rear and no where else. The smell is even worse than Sonax FE Wheel Cleaner, IMO. I really like the 1Z Einszett W99. I put 2 oz of water and 3 oz of 1Z Einszett W99 into my foam cannon. I needed just a little bit more solution to really do the whole car well. I probably could get by with this solution knowing the coverage now. It's got a really nice, thick foam. It's got a citrus smell to it. It rinsed off quite well for how thick foam it put out. I was thinking I was going to spend a ton of time working on getting it rinsed. It seems like it got the paint super clean. I highly recommend it as a pre rinse prior to a full detail as it's citrus based and will strip the wax, etc from your paint. No pictures of during the wash because it was dark. Funny enough I ran into a little snag... I started rinsing the car and the pressure washer stopped working. I reset the GFCI and nothing. So I pull the car in and the fiance and I run to the store to get another pressure washer. Home Depot didn't have anything I was interested in.. So we went into Walmart because I knew they sold Karachers. Buy the last one, get it unpacked realizing it isn't going to work with my foam cannon. I plug it in and nothing. Right than and there I realized the breaker was blown for whatever reason. Nothing was wrong with my pressure washer to begin with! :lol Clay Bar took a lot longer than I was expecting. I don't know if I was just going slower than normal, being more anal, being hot or all three of the above.. I must of just drove over some wet road paint. It was in a spot where I wouldn't of saw it but from how hard (not) it was to remove it was within the last few days. Side skirts were horrible, ended up rewashing them with some ONR and a new Honeycomb Bug Sponge. Beyond that the only other place where there was any significant amount of containment was right below the windows, next to the weatherstripping, there is a 1/4" wide strip of body that is facing up in which there was overspray from the body shop. Process as Follows: Meguiars Clay + Poorboy's Spray & Wipe Removing the majority of QD with a "wet towel" from Pak Shak Following with a "dry towel" from Pak Shak Clay Top to Bottom Clay Rear Bumper ONR + Honeycomb Bug Sponge on Side Skirts Clay Side Skirts Time: ~2 Hours Well, I fought with Meguiars #105 for a while. I just couldn't figure it out with the Flex 3401VRG. I played with pad selection, speed, pressure, arm speed, etc and finally found something that worked "decent". I was expecting more though. After some deliberation between Danny and myself, he confirmed my belief that the humidity was wreaking havoc on #105. Polish Step 1: Meguiars #101 Flex 3401 VRG @ ~3.5 Uber Orange Pad Pak Shak MFs Honeycomb Bug Sponge to clean pad after each panel Time: I don't care. Polish Step 2: Meguiars #205 Flex 3401 VRG @ ~4-5 Uber Orange Pad Pak Shak MFs Honeycomb Bug Sponge to clean pad after each panel Time: ~2 Hours? Polish Step 3: Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish Flex 3401 VRG @ ~4-5 Uber Green Pad Pak Shak MFs Time: ~1 Hour This was the first time using the Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish. It's obviously very oily so keep this in mind. It does not take a lot to go a very long way. After priming the pad I only used a 1-3 drops per panel. Moisten the pad every panel as well. It still takes patience in removing it completely. Taking your time pays off otherwise you'll be frustrated when you catch more "extra oils" from a different angle or lighting. I tried to take a picture with one side of the hood done and without but the camera couldn't capture the difference. However I'll say it now there is a huge difference. The paint looks so much richer, wet, etc. It's a complete step above glazes in terms of appearance after application, IMO. Sealant: Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant Flex 3401 VRG @ ~2 Uber Black Pad Pak Shak MFs Time: ~30-45 Minutes This was my first time using Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant on a whole vehicle. I played around with it on some other painted items. Maybe you remember the Echo! LOL Anyways, I really like it! I'd highly recommend it, especially applying it with the PC/DA. It spreads very nicely, only needs a few drops per panel to get 100% coverage. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the static it produces. It seemed to be fine after a bit but during removal it had a static charge unlike most products. By no means, something to make me not like the product though. The instructions say to do a panel at a time and remove. I couldn't disagree more with it. I found it much easier to remove the longer cure time the product had. As I did more of the car I kept dragging it out and I ended up in the end having 5 panels needing to be wiped and on all of the panels the product removed like a dream. This was one of my favorite parts of the product, removing it you could immediately feel how slick the paint was. I actually ended up applying it to all of the windows as well and they feel and look amazing. While I was waiting for the last two panels to cure I decided to detail the door jambs instead of waiting until tomorrow. The door jambs got the same treatment. Clay, #105, #205, and Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant. Although I skipped the Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish. I removed the door sill plates as well to ensure proper coverage. I used Optimum Metal Polish on the exhaust tips and like always very happy with the results. The only thing left is to clean up any dusting, QD the whole car, clean the interior, and seal the wheels. I'm still debating if I want to try to polish the face of the wheels with the Flex + #205. Finished until the LSP... #205 on wheels followed by Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant. Hyperdressing 1:1 on tires. Wiped all jambs, etc of dust. QD everything. Interior: Vacuum Poorboy's Natural Look Dressing on interior plastics, etc. Wipe Seats, etc. Chemical Guy's Stripper Scent. Windows were already cleaned. Here it is after a few days of driving. This is prior to the LSP of course as well. I just got done applying the Adam's Americana. Adam's claims it is a easy on easy off wax. I'm not so sure... Although I won't know for quite some time probably. The humidity is horrible right now here in Florida. It goes on pretty smooth but removal wasn't fun. It was very "smeary", almost grabbed the microfiber out of my hand. Very thin coat, too. It hazed up in literally about 5 seconds after application. Although just from looking at it in the garage it looks like it's going to be amazing. Ive yet to do the front bumper and I might throw a second coat on it depending on how froggy I feel. I ended up doing another coat of Adam's Americana. It went on much, much better so environmental conditions must of been cooperating with it. If the first time wasn't the norm than I'm very happy with it. Enjoy!
