Detailing thread

[John]

Just picked up my 5MT last night - and trying to understand all the great info on here. Any recommendations for a good (and reasonable) PPF/Ceramic guy in the Detroit area? Also - thinking of waiting maybe until spring to do it - bank account needs to recover a bit, LOL. However, may want to at least coat the wheels before any brake dust builds up. What is a recommended DIY ceramic spray that I can use on the wheels? And, I'd like to PPF the door sills to start with - is PPF hard to DIY? Thanks!

If you're not driving it over the winter, then waiting until spring isn't a huge deal. If you plan to drive over winter I would at least try to get the front end, the rockers and behind rear tires wrapped.

PPF on the sills is DIYable if your just trying to do the straight parts and take your time. Plus you cant see it if the door is closed so if it looks like crap who cares? It's protecting and easy enough to remove and try again later.

If you are planning to coat the wheels either do an actual coating or use a much easier spray on rinse off type of SiO2 protection. There are plenty on the market. Two I like are Gyeon Wetcoat and McKees 37 Hydroblue. You clean the wheels and calipers, rinse, spray a couple sprays of the product and immediately blast with water. Presto, your wheels and calipers are now protected. (Double check it is ok on carbon ceramic brakes if you have them. It should be but you should verify) The real coating (Like Tall Steve posted) is going to last much longer but the spray on rinse off stuff is great if you're short on time and easy to reapply.

Not neurotic...just thorough. Nice work! It's great to have something to show for your efforts.

That's what I like to think! Thanks. I finally finished the paint correction and cannot wait to get PPF done next week so I can start driving before the snow flies.

 

[Powerhungry]

If you're not driving it over the winter, then waiting until spring isn't a huge deal. If you plan to drive over winter I would at least try to get the front end, the rockers and behind rear tires wrapped.

PPF on the sills is DIYable if your just trying to do the straight parts and take your time. Plus you cant see it if the door is closed so if it looks like crap who cares? It's protecting and easy enough to remove and try again later.

If you are planning to coat the wheels either do an actual coating or use a much easier spray on rinse off type of SiO2 protection. There are plenty on the market. Two I like are Gyeon Wetcoat and McKees 37 Hydroblue. You clean the wheels and calipers, rinse, spray a couple sprays of the product and immediately blast with water. Presto, your wheels and calipers are now protected. (Double check it is ok on carbon ceramic brakes if you have them. It should be but you should verify) The real coating (Like Tall Steve posted) is going to last much longer but the spray on rinse off stuff is great if you're short on time and easy to reapply.


That's what I like to think! Thanks. I finally finished the paint correct and cannot wait to get PPF done next week so I can start driving before the snow flies.

If you're not driving it over the winter, then waiting until spring isn't a huge deal. If you plan to drive over winter I would at least try to get the front end, the rockers and behind rear tires wrapped.

PPF on the sills is DIYable if your just trying to do the straight parts and take your time. Plus you cant see it if the door is closed so if it looks like crap who cares? It's protecting and easy enough to remove and try again later.

If you are planning to coat the wheels either do an actual coating or use a much easier spray on rinse off type of SiO2 protection. There are plenty on the market. Two I like are Gyeon Wetcoat and McKees 37 Hydroblue. You clean the wheels and calipers, rinse, spray a couple sprays of the product and immediately blast with water. Presto, your wheels and calipers are now protected. (Double check it is ok on carbon ceramic brakes if you have them. It should be but you should verify) The real coating (Like Tall Steve posted) is going to last much longer but the spray on rinse off stuff is great if you're short on time and easy to reapply.


That's what I like to think! Thanks. I finally finished the paint correction and cannot wait to get PPF done next week so I can start driving before the snow flies.

Thanks so much for this great info @John. I thought I had replied earlier but now I don't see it in the thread - maybe I didn't hit enter. Still not sure about whether I should 'reply' or 'quote' to messages. Anyway - I ordered the McKee's, looking forward to trying it out!

 

[Powerhungry]

Hey folks, what do you recommend to protect the seat belts? Mine are tan and over time they will surely discolor from skin oils. Also what would you recommend for the seat leather? I have seen folks say ceramic works but do know if it will leave a chemical residue that could be harmful for example if wearing shorts?

 

[Powerhungry]

Diamond Detailz if you're willing to travel to Washington TwP. He's now done 4 Blackwings including mine. Young kid, but stands behind his work and is trusted with heavy metal like local McLaren 720s.

Awesome thanks @Jameson's Viggen. I need to break the car in so driving there will help towards that goal!

 

[565565]

Well this isn't on the blackwing but it is detail related. So my dad just got tundra trd pro. He got it MSRP but put his name down early.

It came with partial hood and fender PPF from the factory but no bumper ppf over the painted parts.

I looked at the car and it looked like pretty much all flat panels on the bumper so I figured I could DIY it and use the precut kits from Xpel. Plus is an off road truck so it didnt have to be perfect. Used it 5 years ago or so on my C5 z06, and I guess I must have blocked the previous experience from mymemory, because I figured I could do it.

Well 8 hours later and plenty of cursing later it's on but looks like shit. I also burned my leg with the heat gun I use for the corners. I'm gonna let it bake in the sun for a bit and try to pop the larger bubbles with needle. Even being super careful some dirt got under it.

I look over at the blackwing and think to myself that 7500 for a perfect full PPF install on that is an absolute bargain.

I'll probably forget this whole experience in another 5 years and try it again.

 

[hawgs911]

I always recommend having at least two people when doing film/wrapping. One person to hold position while the other works the solution out. Nothing more frustrating than when the film moves around on you.

I havent done mine yet because all of my friends that dont have the alcohol shakes are busy.

 

[John]

Picked it up Saturday from the PPF shop. Full Xpel PPF and windows tinted 20%

 

[Powerhungry]

Picked it up Saturday from the PPF shop. Full Xpel PPF and windows tinted 20%

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Looks amazing!

 

[Daijoubu]

Hey folks, what do you recommend to protect the seat belts? Mine are tan and over time they will surely discolor from skin oils. Also what would you recommend for the seat leather? I have seen folks say ceramic works but do know if it will leave a chemical residue that could be harmful for example if wearing shorts?

In my opinion, I wouldn't worry about "protecting" any surfaces of the interior. Just make a habit of doing a light cleaning once a month (which is about every other car wash for me) of the interior. If you keep up with it, it'll never get that dirty, and real grime will never set in. I keep some cheap white microfibers (so you can see any dirt coming off) and some Griots interior cleaner (which is very mild and doesn't streak on shiny surfaces) on the shelf and give a good wipe to the high touch areas and a quick pass over everything else.

My detailer actually recommended I use Optimum No Rinse diluted 16:1 to clean my alcantara steering wheel and shift knob. I started to get a very light matting on my wheel, and a barely damp microfiber seemed to work great.

 

[hawgs911]

I haven't seen anyone post any oopsies so I'll go first. This happened pulling into my tiny garage this morning.



Step 1 was to curse.
Step 2 was to cry
Steps 3 thru 5 was to drink

Unfortunately however... after Steps 1-5 the car still looked the same

Step 6 was some Goo Gone which took a lot of the paint off not the scratches





I was not planning on compounding the car so i didn't have any and was too lazy to go to the store. This is after one pass with just a Polish and medium pad.




Its not 100% but I'm good with it for now. Not bad for 30 minutes with just stuff I had laying around. Plus it passes my 3ft away test.



Disclaimer: If you have any advice about how I could have done this differently it will serve as proof that you are wrong and do not deserve love.

 

[NewCaddy]

I haven't seen anyone post any oopsies so I'll go first. This happened pulling into my tiny garage this morning.

View attachment 12685View attachment 12686

Step 1 was to curse.
Step 2 was to cry
Steps 3 thru 5 was to drink

Unfortunately however... after Steps 1-5 the car still looked the same

Step 6 was some Goo Gone which took a lot of the paint off not the scratches

View attachment 12687View attachment 12688

View attachment 12689

I was not planning on compounding the car so i didn't have any and was too lazy to go to the store. This is after one pass with just a Polish and medium pad.


View attachment 12690View attachment 12691

Its not 100% but I'm good with it for now. Not bad for 30 minutes with just stuff I had laying around. Plus it passes my 3ft away test.

View attachment 12692View attachment 12693

Disclaimer: If you have any advice about how I could have done this differently it will serve as proof that you are wrong and do not deserve love.

U do good work! And good taste in color, satin steel

 

[Ungwei]

speaking of oopsies, I really need to vent here over an ongoing ordeal that seems to never end. I posted here looking for advice after i dented the rear quarter panel and door against a pillar.


I brought it to an auto body shop that fixed the panels, and I thought all was well and good. Unfortunately, I discovered after I brought the car back that the paint was incredibly swirled from machine buffing.

I brought it back, and they somewhat minimized the swirls, but I then noticed the color was not matching at all, so I brought it back for a respray.

this time the colors were matched correctly but there was a lot of dust nibs and still swirling.

I didn't want to bring it back to them again so I found an auto detailer and asked them if it could be paint corrected and they checked and said it could. Today was 30 days after the repaint, so the detailer came over to paint correct and ceramic coat. After he started wet sanding the nibs, he messaged me saying there was tons of overspray at the bottom of the repainted panels and even on the unpainted side and that it would take him weeks to get rid of, and that I should get it resprayed again.



This whole thing has been such a nightmare. The auto body shop agreed to bring it in so they could clay bar it, this would be my FORTH time bringing it to them. I'm over 4.5k in between the auto body place, and down-payment for the detail and ceramic coating, have a car with wet sanding marks and overspray on the side, and no idea where to go from here. Should I eat the costs and just find another shop and pay probably 5k to get everything hopefully fixed? Or should I give the body shop a try at clay baring it? It's been a hell of a last two months and I really just needed to vent to y'all.

 

[jonnywaffles11]

What type of shop did you go?! That's terrible on all fronts. Have they now resprayed that panel twice to correct the color? Does you detailer have a paint depth gauge to see how thick the paint is on that resprayed section? If they just keep spraying on top, that paint is going to crack and look extremely bad in the not to distant future. Judging by their states of further fuck ups my guess is they did just spray right over the last attempt.did they replace any panels doors or did they bondo the damage?

I would not want that shop to further touch my car but would get the owner involved with all documented mistakes and say that another shop needs to take over to fix this.

 

[Ungwei]

What type of shop did you go?! That's terrible on all fronts. Have they now resprayed that panel twice to correct the color? Does you detailer have a paint depth gauge to see how thick the paint is on that resprayed section? If they just keep spraying on top, that paint is going to crack and look extremely bad in the not to distant future. Judging by their states of further fuck ups my guess is they did just spray right over the last attempt.did they replace any panels doors or did they bondo the damage?

I would not want that shop to further touch my car but would get the owner involved with all documented mistakes and say that another shop needs to take over to fix this.

The best reviewed shop in the area on Google panel is proper color now, the owner admitted they selected the wrong paint and showed me the difference between the two. No idea about the thickness. They didn't replace any of the panels, just did bondo.

during the initial repair

 

[Powerhungry]

I haven't seen anyone post any oopsies so I'll go first. This happened pulling into my tiny garage this morning.

View attachment 12685View attachment 12686

Step 1 was to curse.
Step 2 was to cry
Steps 3 thru 5 was to drink

Unfortunately however... after Steps 1-5 the car still looked the same

Step 6 was some Goo Gone which took a lot of the paint off not the scratches

View attachment 12687View attachment 12688

View attachment 12689

I was not planning on compounding the car so i didn't have any and was too lazy to go to the store. This is after one pass with just a Polish and medium pad.


View attachment 12690View attachment 12691

Its not 100% but I'm good with it for now. Not bad for 30 minutes with just stuff I had laying around. Plus it passes my 3ft away test.

View attachment 12692View attachment 12693

Disclaimer: If you have any advice about how I could have done this differently it will serve as proof that you are wrong and do not deserve love.

Ouch! Great job on the repair though!

 

[DustinEarnhardt]

For anyone that's had any rear end damage and gotten photos of it... Any chance you have a picture of the rear of the car with the plastic bumper cover off?

I would gladly Venmo someone a tip if they could get me a picture of the structural rear bumper elements uncovered!

 

[BrakeFade]

Xpel on the front, then clay bar on the entire car, then Nova Lustre. I didn’t do the Xpel, but I did do everything else.

 

[John]

I don't see a picture. Quit teasing us!

Xpel on the front, then clay bar on the entire car, then Nova Lustre. I didn’t do the Xpel, but I did do everything else.

 

[LF4472]

XPEL Ultimate
15% FormulaOne Pinnacle
Modesta Ceramic

 

[Tall Steve]

XPEL Ultimate
15% FormulaOne Pinnacle
Modesta Ceramic
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Sexy!