Subaru WRX Forum banner

Fulling detailing my 02 Wrx

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Palam7 
#1 ·
Okay so i spent about an hour going through posts and wanted to join it all here because it was SO much new information to me. The paint on my car is in fantastic condition and I would like to keep it that way. I'll be buying all of this stuff at the same time.

First off, what are the must have tools/utensils for fully detailing a car (excluding a buffer)? This includes cleaning the interior, the rims and the paint. Do I need a rim brush? I will need a shammy, microfiber cloth and what else?

What are some MUST haves for interior cleaning? I have cloth seats. I would like to keep all the vinyl clean

For detailing the exterior I'm curious as to why I would clean the wheels first as mentioned. Wouldn't dirt from cleaning the paint run down onto the freshly cleaned wheels?

So far I want to pick up

- stoner's invisible glass for the windows, what cloth should I use?

- simple green for the engine bay, can I use it on the intercooler?

- nevr-dull on the exhaust, what should I use to apply this?

- I was thinking about picking up the Mother's ultimate wax system and clay bar. What soap should I pick up that isn't dawn?

And the steps to detailing go something like this right?

- hose down
- wash a section then hose it down and dry it with shammy
- clay bar
- step 2 and 3 of mother's kit


I intend to wash the car outside and then wax in my garage
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Check out autopia forums... they are amazing for detailing such. Here is a good post for ya to read over...

http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/80221-perfect-shine.html ... I think... the forum is down for maintenance at the moment.

It basically walks through the procedure one of the more well known guys on the forum goes through to really bring out the shine.

Some of the important detailing points:
-Paint microswirls/scratches are caused by rubbing dirt on your car. Make sure when you are moving anything over your car it is clean. Drying CORRECTLY is very important
-Microfiber cloths do not prevent this micro-scratching
-Polish is ABRASIVE. It has a purpose, but keep this in mind. When you use a polish, it wears off the bumps in your clear coat, and using a chemical solvent 'melts' it back into a smooth clear coat layer. You dont' want to polish off your entire clear coat!
-Some waxes contain (light) polishes, some are meant to be applied over themselves, some clean off previous layers
-To start drying, use the surface tension of water to help. Take the hose nozzle off, park the car on a slight hill, and slowly pour water from the top down as to create a "sheeting" effect. The surface tension of the water will actually pull most of the water with it leaving very few drops. A microfiber cloth should easily dry up what is left
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top