Dodge Charger SRT8 Detail
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
From: FL
Dodge Charger SRT8 Detail
We are often facing the question of what is the best way to achieve maximum results for a detail job. So I have decided to do a small write up of how “WE” do our detail jobs, I say “We” because there’s many ways to do a detail job, this is what works for us and doesn’t represent the only way to go about it. This is a system that we've used. There’s only one secret, “Prep Work !”
First Step- Vehicle placement,
To start your detail job, you want to make sure your car is not in direct sunlight and that the surfaces on the outside aren’t hot. If shade cannot be found, you can wait until late evening so the sun isn’t at its full intensity.
Florida Sun can be brutal and today was not an exception, so we put up the tent.
Step 2- Vehicle surface evaluation
One of the most important aspects of a successful detail job is the evaluation of the vehicle surface, this evaluation will allow us to prepare ourselves with the correct products and steps, things like light scratches, swirl marks and other paint imperfections can be evaluated at this time, from here we will have a plan of what products are needed and in what order.
You want to prep your washing materials first so you aren’t running back to get items from storage while water is on the paint or wheels. You can use a pressure washer usually with no problems, just use caution when doing so. You don’t want to get to close to any surface of the car with high pressure water, especially to pin strips or emblems, failure to do so can result in inevitable damage.
Step 3- Rinsing Vehicle- Pre Wash
I start off by rinsing all the loose debris from the top of the car working downwards. You want to make sure to get all of the loose grime off of the surface so you don’t have to your wash mitt. What I like to do at this point is just hit all the surfaces including, wheels and tires. I found out with this process we can avoid until a certain point swirl marks. Very often as you wash you may be dragging loose grime which will scratch the vehicle surface, these steps are by no means a solution, rather than a “preventative action”.
Step 4- Washing- Tires and Wheels
Washing removes all loose contaminates from the exterior surfaces of the car and leaves a clean and prepped surface ready for other steps in the detail. You will always want to wash the tires and wheels first, so water doesn’t sit on your clean paint and get baked in by the sun.
For the tires, wheels and wheel wells you will only need a few things. You will need a separate set of wash materials so your paint does not get contaminated by the metal particles and dirt on your tires and wheels. Do not use the same wash water or tools on the paint as you did your wheels. I like to have just a simple soft bristled brush.
There’s a big misconception that all wheel cleaners will stain you wheels, all do in part, this is true, the majority of wheel cleaners will indeed stain and damage your wheels, high end products will actually clean the wheels without acids or other harmful chemicals, some of which can and will cause spotting or peeling of the clear coat on the wheels, some formulas works well on plastic wheel coverings as well. With good quality products if accidentally sprayed on the vehicle finish, just wash off, no harm done, the product must be PH balanced and will not stain clear coats
Starting with your tires and wheels first, don’t wet the paint. Prepare your wash materials and get started doing the wheels, tires and wheel wells one by one. Don’t do all of them at once, you don’t want any of these cleaners to dry. I like to start out by rinsing the heavy debris from the tire and wheel well area. Most of the time mud and loose dirt accumulate in these areas, and you don’t want to be scrubbing that dirt all over your wheels.
I start out by spraying down all areas with xxx cleaner. By the time I’ve sprayed everything, it’s had enough time to sit and start working. I a detail brush fitted to a cordless drill to tackle the backside of my wheels and get all that brake dust out of there.
Nothing looks worse than a clean wheel where you can see a dirty backside. After that step is done, I take my soft bristled brush and work on the face of the wheel. Light agitation is all that is needed. Last I work on the wheel wells with my long handled brush making sure to hit every part in the wheel well. Wheel wells are a really important step to a complete detail, and you have to make sure they are spotless. While you are washing, make sure when you dip your wash tools in the bucket, to dip them in the rinse bucket first to remove all the dirt, and then dip it in the soap bucket so you are getting clean soap. When you are done with each wheel, rinse the wheel and make sure the entire cleaner is off the wheel. Repeat for the other wheels. Make sure to get any undercarriage areas that are visible.
Step 4A- Washing- Vehicle painted surfaces
After the tires and wheels have been done and before wetting the paint, you will want to prepare your wash bucket and tools for the surface paint in this step you will use a good quality car shampoo, The use of the wrong shampoo that doesn’t remove the grime and dirt combine with a low quality sponge/applicator will eventually leave Swirl Marks in your paint surface something that all of us try to avoid.
The Car shampoo must be PH 7 Balance, something that you don’t find on those purple gallon jug’s at you local store for $2.99 - one of the most common mistakes that customers make is to invest in a good quality wax only to use an inexpensive /low quality car shampoo, using the wrong type of car shampoo will remove the wax that you had previously applied to protect your investment. A good car Shampoo will remove dirt and grime without scratching and will NOT strip the wax like inexpensive brands do.
We used a 5 gallon clean bucket of water mixed with a ˝ of a lid of car shampoo. During the washing process we have incorporated one of the most revolutionary products that we have found, the Oxidation block. The oxidation block is a product intended to be used to quickly and safely to remove bonded contaminants, droppings and insect grime from automotive finishes. For automotive paint finishes, this product has the same function and environmentally safety as clay-based stain removers. (Clay bars) benefits are endless but we will skip that information right now.
With a new high quality washing mitt on the bucket with the car shampoo we will work on sections, we wash the surface and immediately rinsed right after we then dip the oxidation block on the bucket which has the soapy solution, after that we proceed to pass the block with a horizontally motion to all the painted surfaces one section at the time.
Do it section by section so the soap doesn’t dry. If it does dry, just re-soap the area and rinse again. I do the rear of the car and the front bumpers last, as these have the most grime. You want to wash in long sweeping strokes, don’t wash in circles as this can induce marring of the paint. Also be sure to re-dip your mitt into the soap bucket frequently, rinse your wash mitt often to remove any dirt from it. You want to make sure you have as much lubrication on the surface as possible. We repeat that process to the entire vehicle surface.
With that process not only have we washed the vehicle but we have removed all bonded contaminants, droppings and insect grime from the surface, we have accomplished the most important task of a detail job. Surface preparation.
Step 5- Drying Vehicle surface
When you are done rinsing the car of all the soap, you want to remove the nozzle from the hose and do what’s called the “flooding” method. Flood the surface of the car from top to bottom with the hose. This turns those thousands of little beads of water into one big sheet, and it helps dry the car faster. After that is done, use you waffle weave drying towel from the top down to dry the rest of the car.
There should be very little water left on the surface of the car left at this point. Make sure if you see a spot of dirt you missed, or loose debris on the car, don’t touch it with your drying towel, re-wash the area and then dry.
I usually use a couple of inexpensive micro fibers to dry the wheels and tires. Wheels can get water spots as well, so you want to make sure you dry those along with the paint.
Using the proper drying tools is also important. I like to use something called a “waffle weave” towel for drying which is one of the safest way to dry your car. Another common tool is the chamois and we can go as far as using leaf blowers to completely remove all the water from all the tight spaces and trim.
Step 6- Tapping
Since we are going to do a full detail job the use of power tools will be needed, as safety measurement we will tape all the trim areas and delicate areas, the main purpose of this step is “in case” that we make contact with the power tool we will not damage the trim area, not taking the important step while using a power tool could result on leaving “scuffing marks” on the unprotected surfaces. We like to use 2’ masking tape and at times we choose bright colors so they stand out.
Step 7- Swirl Remover/ Light Scratches and paint corrections
In this step you should tackle all of the above problems; this could be a very long section which can be addressed with many different tools so we will concentrate in the Swirl Remover and the Porter Cable for tool.
What is a Porter Cable- General Speaking?
The Porter Cable 7424 dual-action car polisher started the pro-consumer car polisher market life more than a decade ago, the Porter Cable 7424 is one of the most popular buffers all do there’s many others on the market, we prefer this one but is just our choice. The polishing action of a dual-action polisher closely mimics that of circular hand polishing.
With this tool(s) many different foam pads can be used, they all come in many sizes designs and colors, the color is the industry standard rule of thumb for a certain job, all do recently more and more colors are appearing in the market.
Yellow Foam Pad- Use for Heavy duty Compound
Orange Foam Pad- Use for Light duty compound
Green Foam Pad- Use for Compound/Polish
White Foam Pad- Use for Polish
Black Foam Pad- Use for machine Glaze
Blue Foam Pad- Use for Polish/Sealant
Extreme care must be taken when working on near the taped areas, I personally like to start with a speed of 4 and from there work up to the speed # 6 but I do most of the work at 4, I believe this is a personal preference same as the machine in use, products, pad brand and technique, I also recommend to run the porter cable power core thru the shoulder to avoid any contact with the work area and surface area.
To accomplish this task we have found out that the systems that works for us is as follow: Use with an air or electric Random Orbital Buffer, preferably with a 3/8 stroke. With electric use a medium to high setting. With air, make sure 90 psi is maintained at the tool when in use. Shake well before using product. Apply product either to surface to be buffed or directly to pad, we like to apply it to the pad, we like to put 3 dime size drops in the pad after that buff using a light to medium pressure. We like to work on a 2x2 area always monitoring the process and results.
Buff until most of product has disappeared; decreasing to light pressure as buffing is finished. Wipe off any excess left with a dry micro fiber towel. If excess product slings onto adjacent panels or moldings, wipe off with a damp micro fiber cloth before going to next panel to be buffed. Pro detailers often use the aid of high powered lights to follow their work; this tool allows them to completely see all areas in need of correction.
Step 8- Pre Wax
We have not only completely stripped all the old wax via the oxidation block, while the vehicle surface has been corrected with our swirl remover I still like to go and apply a pre wax as part of the entire system.
Pre-wax is just as the name implies, to get the surface ready for wax to be applied. Tar spots, some tree saps and various other surface contaminates are usually not taken off by a product that is termed wax only. Your better pre-cleaners have a small amount of abrasive in them, and a lot of the wax/cleaners on the market have a very high content of solvents in them. The wax/cleaners with high solvent content in them need to be avoided, as they will eventually deteriorate the surface to which they are applied.
Pre Wax Cleanser is especially formulated to be used prior to applying a Car Wax.
The process is very close to the one done with the swirl remover, on this step we like to apply the Pre Wax by hand but will remove it via porter cable with a white pad and touch it up with a high quality super soft Micro fiber towel, again extreme car must be taken with trim areas and delicate areas.
Applied by hand
Step 9 - Car Wax
We now move to the final step, the application of the car wax, Again we like to apply the wax by hand and remove via porter cable using a white foam pad and finished with a super flush Micro fiber towel. It doesn’t get any easier. The use of porter cable is not necessary for the pre wax and wax steps but for an extreme detail they help a lot.
Applied by hand, I like to use the porter cable with a Microfiber towel to remove the wax; it seems to work great for me.
Step 10- Tire Dressing
I like to apply our tire gel last, using our no mess applicator with a very thin layer of tire gel to the tire sidewall if more shine is desired a second coat can be applied, most of the time one coat is enough, not only you are making the tires shinny, the gel also prevents premature sidewall dry rot and cracking.
And the photos, ( sorry for the size)
First Step- Vehicle placement,
To start your detail job, you want to make sure your car is not in direct sunlight and that the surfaces on the outside aren’t hot. If shade cannot be found, you can wait until late evening so the sun isn’t at its full intensity.
Florida Sun can be brutal and today was not an exception, so we put up the tent.
Step 2- Vehicle surface evaluation
One of the most important aspects of a successful detail job is the evaluation of the vehicle surface, this evaluation will allow us to prepare ourselves with the correct products and steps, things like light scratches, swirl marks and other paint imperfections can be evaluated at this time, from here we will have a plan of what products are needed and in what order.
You want to prep your washing materials first so you aren’t running back to get items from storage while water is on the paint or wheels. You can use a pressure washer usually with no problems, just use caution when doing so. You don’t want to get to close to any surface of the car with high pressure water, especially to pin strips or emblems, failure to do so can result in inevitable damage.
Step 3- Rinsing Vehicle- Pre Wash
I start off by rinsing all the loose debris from the top of the car working downwards. You want to make sure to get all of the loose grime off of the surface so you don’t have to your wash mitt. What I like to do at this point is just hit all the surfaces including, wheels and tires. I found out with this process we can avoid until a certain point swirl marks. Very often as you wash you may be dragging loose grime which will scratch the vehicle surface, these steps are by no means a solution, rather than a “preventative action”.
Step 4- Washing- Tires and Wheels
Washing removes all loose contaminates from the exterior surfaces of the car and leaves a clean and prepped surface ready for other steps in the detail. You will always want to wash the tires and wheels first, so water doesn’t sit on your clean paint and get baked in by the sun.
For the tires, wheels and wheel wells you will only need a few things. You will need a separate set of wash materials so your paint does not get contaminated by the metal particles and dirt on your tires and wheels. Do not use the same wash water or tools on the paint as you did your wheels. I like to have just a simple soft bristled brush.
There’s a big misconception that all wheel cleaners will stain you wheels, all do in part, this is true, the majority of wheel cleaners will indeed stain and damage your wheels, high end products will actually clean the wheels without acids or other harmful chemicals, some of which can and will cause spotting or peeling of the clear coat on the wheels, some formulas works well on plastic wheel coverings as well. With good quality products if accidentally sprayed on the vehicle finish, just wash off, no harm done, the product must be PH balanced and will not stain clear coats
Starting with your tires and wheels first, don’t wet the paint. Prepare your wash materials and get started doing the wheels, tires and wheel wells one by one. Don’t do all of them at once, you don’t want any of these cleaners to dry. I like to start out by rinsing the heavy debris from the tire and wheel well area. Most of the time mud and loose dirt accumulate in these areas, and you don’t want to be scrubbing that dirt all over your wheels.
I start out by spraying down all areas with xxx cleaner. By the time I’ve sprayed everything, it’s had enough time to sit and start working. I a detail brush fitted to a cordless drill to tackle the backside of my wheels and get all that brake dust out of there.
Nothing looks worse than a clean wheel where you can see a dirty backside. After that step is done, I take my soft bristled brush and work on the face of the wheel. Light agitation is all that is needed. Last I work on the wheel wells with my long handled brush making sure to hit every part in the wheel well. Wheel wells are a really important step to a complete detail, and you have to make sure they are spotless. While you are washing, make sure when you dip your wash tools in the bucket, to dip them in the rinse bucket first to remove all the dirt, and then dip it in the soap bucket so you are getting clean soap. When you are done with each wheel, rinse the wheel and make sure the entire cleaner is off the wheel. Repeat for the other wheels. Make sure to get any undercarriage areas that are visible.
Step 4A- Washing- Vehicle painted surfaces
After the tires and wheels have been done and before wetting the paint, you will want to prepare your wash bucket and tools for the surface paint in this step you will use a good quality car shampoo, The use of the wrong shampoo that doesn’t remove the grime and dirt combine with a low quality sponge/applicator will eventually leave Swirl Marks in your paint surface something that all of us try to avoid.
The Car shampoo must be PH 7 Balance, something that you don’t find on those purple gallon jug’s at you local store for $2.99 - one of the most common mistakes that customers make is to invest in a good quality wax only to use an inexpensive /low quality car shampoo, using the wrong type of car shampoo will remove the wax that you had previously applied to protect your investment. A good car Shampoo will remove dirt and grime without scratching and will NOT strip the wax like inexpensive brands do.
We used a 5 gallon clean bucket of water mixed with a ˝ of a lid of car shampoo. During the washing process we have incorporated one of the most revolutionary products that we have found, the Oxidation block. The oxidation block is a product intended to be used to quickly and safely to remove bonded contaminants, droppings and insect grime from automotive finishes. For automotive paint finishes, this product has the same function and environmentally safety as clay-based stain removers. (Clay bars) benefits are endless but we will skip that information right now.
With a new high quality washing mitt on the bucket with the car shampoo we will work on sections, we wash the surface and immediately rinsed right after we then dip the oxidation block on the bucket which has the soapy solution, after that we proceed to pass the block with a horizontally motion to all the painted surfaces one section at the time.
Do it section by section so the soap doesn’t dry. If it does dry, just re-soap the area and rinse again. I do the rear of the car and the front bumpers last, as these have the most grime. You want to wash in long sweeping strokes, don’t wash in circles as this can induce marring of the paint. Also be sure to re-dip your mitt into the soap bucket frequently, rinse your wash mitt often to remove any dirt from it. You want to make sure you have as much lubrication on the surface as possible. We repeat that process to the entire vehicle surface.
With that process not only have we washed the vehicle but we have removed all bonded contaminants, droppings and insect grime from the surface, we have accomplished the most important task of a detail job. Surface preparation.
Step 5- Drying Vehicle surface
When you are done rinsing the car of all the soap, you want to remove the nozzle from the hose and do what’s called the “flooding” method. Flood the surface of the car from top to bottom with the hose. This turns those thousands of little beads of water into one big sheet, and it helps dry the car faster. After that is done, use you waffle weave drying towel from the top down to dry the rest of the car.
There should be very little water left on the surface of the car left at this point. Make sure if you see a spot of dirt you missed, or loose debris on the car, don’t touch it with your drying towel, re-wash the area and then dry.
I usually use a couple of inexpensive micro fibers to dry the wheels and tires. Wheels can get water spots as well, so you want to make sure you dry those along with the paint.
Using the proper drying tools is also important. I like to use something called a “waffle weave” towel for drying which is one of the safest way to dry your car. Another common tool is the chamois and we can go as far as using leaf blowers to completely remove all the water from all the tight spaces and trim.
Step 6- Tapping
Since we are going to do a full detail job the use of power tools will be needed, as safety measurement we will tape all the trim areas and delicate areas, the main purpose of this step is “in case” that we make contact with the power tool we will not damage the trim area, not taking the important step while using a power tool could result on leaving “scuffing marks” on the unprotected surfaces. We like to use 2’ masking tape and at times we choose bright colors so they stand out.
Step 7- Swirl Remover/ Light Scratches and paint corrections
In this step you should tackle all of the above problems; this could be a very long section which can be addressed with many different tools so we will concentrate in the Swirl Remover and the Porter Cable for tool.
What is a Porter Cable- General Speaking?
The Porter Cable 7424 dual-action car polisher started the pro-consumer car polisher market life more than a decade ago, the Porter Cable 7424 is one of the most popular buffers all do there’s many others on the market, we prefer this one but is just our choice. The polishing action of a dual-action polisher closely mimics that of circular hand polishing.
With this tool(s) many different foam pads can be used, they all come in many sizes designs and colors, the color is the industry standard rule of thumb for a certain job, all do recently more and more colors are appearing in the market.
Yellow Foam Pad- Use for Heavy duty Compound
Orange Foam Pad- Use for Light duty compound
Green Foam Pad- Use for Compound/Polish
White Foam Pad- Use for Polish
Black Foam Pad- Use for machine Glaze
Blue Foam Pad- Use for Polish/Sealant
Extreme care must be taken when working on near the taped areas, I personally like to start with a speed of 4 and from there work up to the speed # 6 but I do most of the work at 4, I believe this is a personal preference same as the machine in use, products, pad brand and technique, I also recommend to run the porter cable power core thru the shoulder to avoid any contact with the work area and surface area.
To accomplish this task we have found out that the systems that works for us is as follow: Use with an air or electric Random Orbital Buffer, preferably with a 3/8 stroke. With electric use a medium to high setting. With air, make sure 90 psi is maintained at the tool when in use. Shake well before using product. Apply product either to surface to be buffed or directly to pad, we like to apply it to the pad, we like to put 3 dime size drops in the pad after that buff using a light to medium pressure. We like to work on a 2x2 area always monitoring the process and results.
Buff until most of product has disappeared; decreasing to light pressure as buffing is finished. Wipe off any excess left with a dry micro fiber towel. If excess product slings onto adjacent panels or moldings, wipe off with a damp micro fiber cloth before going to next panel to be buffed. Pro detailers often use the aid of high powered lights to follow their work; this tool allows them to completely see all areas in need of correction.
Step 8- Pre Wax
We have not only completely stripped all the old wax via the oxidation block, while the vehicle surface has been corrected with our swirl remover I still like to go and apply a pre wax as part of the entire system.
Pre-wax is just as the name implies, to get the surface ready for wax to be applied. Tar spots, some tree saps and various other surface contaminates are usually not taken off by a product that is termed wax only. Your better pre-cleaners have a small amount of abrasive in them, and a lot of the wax/cleaners on the market have a very high content of solvents in them. The wax/cleaners with high solvent content in them need to be avoided, as they will eventually deteriorate the surface to which they are applied.
Pre Wax Cleanser is especially formulated to be used prior to applying a Car Wax.
The process is very close to the one done with the swirl remover, on this step we like to apply the Pre Wax by hand but will remove it via porter cable with a white pad and touch it up with a high quality super soft Micro fiber towel, again extreme car must be taken with trim areas and delicate areas.
Applied by hand
Step 9 - Car Wax
We now move to the final step, the application of the car wax, Again we like to apply the wax by hand and remove via porter cable using a white foam pad and finished with a super flush Micro fiber towel. It doesn’t get any easier. The use of porter cable is not necessary for the pre wax and wax steps but for an extreme detail they help a lot.
Applied by hand, I like to use the porter cable with a Microfiber towel to remove the wax; it seems to work great for me.
Step 10- Tire Dressing
I like to apply our tire gel last, using our no mess applicator with a very thin layer of tire gel to the tire sidewall if more shine is desired a second coat can be applied, most of the time one coat is enough, not only you are making the tires shinny, the gel also prevents premature sidewall dry rot and cracking.
And the photos, ( sorry for the size)
Last edited by Turbo Wax; Dec 23, 2008 at 02:00 PM.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 419
Likes: 0
From: RSM, Ca, United States
Re: Dodge Charger SRT8 Detail
First of all that was a very, detailed, post and while I don't necessarily agree with everything you said, I do agree that having a knowledge of the PURPOSE of products and techniques is the cornerstone of becoming a master detailer. Good job, a lot of people seem to think that detailing is just "glorified car-washing".
I do however disagree with your reluctance to use clay to remove the bonded contaminants from the paint. In my experience every couple of years some new product comes along, whether its a chemical or time-saving device, that claims it replaces the need for clay. I never really saw what the big deal was as claying is not really that difficult. In all of my experience not one of these products has ever done as good of a job as clay barring. With that in mind, I am still open to new ideas, what is this "oxidation block" I seem to remember reading something about it or hearing something about it years ago, but cannot seem to remember exactly what it is.
My next point would be taping. It seems that you not only taped up all areas where the buffer might touch rubber, but every single body panel seam as well. I guess my question would be, "why?" It seems that taping up those areas is not only going to prevent you from polishing all the way to the edge of the panel, but also create more work when removing it, (tape lines) and more work to apply it for no real gain. It just seems gratuitous to me.
And lastly I don't necessarily see the point of using the PC to remove wax. With a properly polished paint surface wax glides on by hand and is just as easy to remove. 10 times out of 10 you are going to get a more defect free finish applying and removing wax by hand than with a machine.
Other than that though you seem to be a very well informed detailer, which is getting rarer and rarer. Keep up the good work.
I do however disagree with your reluctance to use clay to remove the bonded contaminants from the paint. In my experience every couple of years some new product comes along, whether its a chemical or time-saving device, that claims it replaces the need for clay. I never really saw what the big deal was as claying is not really that difficult. In all of my experience not one of these products has ever done as good of a job as clay barring. With that in mind, I am still open to new ideas, what is this "oxidation block" I seem to remember reading something about it or hearing something about it years ago, but cannot seem to remember exactly what it is.
My next point would be taping. It seems that you not only taped up all areas where the buffer might touch rubber, but every single body panel seam as well. I guess my question would be, "why?" It seems that taping up those areas is not only going to prevent you from polishing all the way to the edge of the panel, but also create more work when removing it, (tape lines) and more work to apply it for no real gain. It just seems gratuitous to me.
And lastly I don't necessarily see the point of using the PC to remove wax. With a properly polished paint surface wax glides on by hand and is just as easy to remove. 10 times out of 10 you are going to get a more defect free finish applying and removing wax by hand than with a machine.
Other than that though you seem to be a very well informed detailer, which is getting rarer and rarer. Keep up the good work.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
From: FL
Re: Dodge Charger SRT8 Detail
Hello, thank you for taking the time to read/evaluate and discuss my post, it is greatly appreciated 
Regarding you questions;
"I don't necessarily agree with everything you said"
must people don't, that's why I said "what works for me" lol
"a lot of people seem to think that detailing is just "glorified car-washing",
I agree 100% this remains me of the old days, everyone had a 10 sec car with 800hp until you ask them for the dyno sheet or the time slip,lol.
"I do however disagree with your reluctance to use clay to remove the bonded contaminants from the paint"
I don't blame you, it just happens that I have done extensive test against each other and the results sold me, I have it all recorded step by step against each other, I be more than happy to share it with you if you wish, PM me and I will provide my findings.
"My next point would be taping. It seems that you not only taped up all areas where the buffer might touch rubber, but every single body panel seam as well. I guess my question would be, "why?" It seems that taping up those areas is not only going to prevent you from polishing all the way to the edge of the panel, but also create more work when removing it, (tape lines) and more work to apply it for no real gain. It just seems gratuitous to me"
You are absolutely correct, it is a bad habit that I have, for some reason I like to do those areas all by hand, 90% of the time I don't cover them, but since I was going to do a step by step I wanted to do the best I could, it took me a long time to tape the car and the entire job took me 11 hours.
"And lastly I don't necessarily see the point of using the PC to remove wax. With a properly polished paint surface wax glides on by hand and is just as easy to remove. 10 times out of 10 you are going to get a more defect free finish applying and removing wax by hand than with a machine"
Again is my preference, I have included a photo of one of the ways I do it, again just something that works for me.
Other than that though you seem to be a very well informed detailer, which is getting rarer and rarer. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your comments
Regarding you questions;"I don't necessarily agree with everything you said"
must people don't, that's why I said "what works for me" lol
"a lot of people seem to think that detailing is just "glorified car-washing",
I agree 100% this remains me of the old days, everyone had a 10 sec car with 800hp until you ask them for the dyno sheet or the time slip,lol.
"I do however disagree with your reluctance to use clay to remove the bonded contaminants from the paint"
I don't blame you, it just happens that I have done extensive test against each other and the results sold me, I have it all recorded step by step against each other, I be more than happy to share it with you if you wish, PM me and I will provide my findings.
"My next point would be taping. It seems that you not only taped up all areas where the buffer might touch rubber, but every single body panel seam as well. I guess my question would be, "why?" It seems that taping up those areas is not only going to prevent you from polishing all the way to the edge of the panel, but also create more work when removing it, (tape lines) and more work to apply it for no real gain. It just seems gratuitous to me"
You are absolutely correct, it is a bad habit that I have, for some reason I like to do those areas all by hand, 90% of the time I don't cover them, but since I was going to do a step by step I wanted to do the best I could, it took me a long time to tape the car and the entire job took me 11 hours.
"And lastly I don't necessarily see the point of using the PC to remove wax. With a properly polished paint surface wax glides on by hand and is just as easy to remove. 10 times out of 10 you are going to get a more defect free finish applying and removing wax by hand than with a machine"
Again is my preference, I have included a photo of one of the ways I do it, again just something that works for me.
Other than that though you seem to be a very well informed detailer, which is getting rarer and rarer. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your comments
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,196
Likes: 0
From: Nah man, Yemen
Re: Dodge Charger SRT8 Detail
A benefit of taping up the edges of panels is because the paint/clear is naturally thinner in those areas.
I noticed you were using one of those "clay" block things... I personally would never let one of those touch my car lol.
One thing you might want to add to your wash technique, is using two buckets (one wash, one rinse). I've recently started using this and I'm amazed and how much soot I get at the bottom, even when my car doesn't look to be that dirty. Oh, and wash top to bottom (wheels first though, obviously), and if the car hasn't been detailed in a while, I'd highly suggest using a dish detergent to wash it once to remove any old waxes or sealants, rewash with a proper car wash, clay, wash again, then proceed with the polish, prewax, etc.
I noticed you were using one of those "clay" block things... I personally would never let one of those touch my car lol.
One thing you might want to add to your wash technique, is using two buckets (one wash, one rinse). I've recently started using this and I'm amazed and how much soot I get at the bottom, even when my car doesn't look to be that dirty. Oh, and wash top to bottom (wheels first though, obviously), and if the car hasn't been detailed in a while, I'd highly suggest using a dish detergent to wash it once to remove any old waxes or sealants, rewash with a proper car wash, clay, wash again, then proceed with the polish, prewax, etc.
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
From: FL
Re: Dodge Charger SRT8 Detail
Thank you for your comments, I guess is all about choices, not to start a war, but to educate some newcomers.................
"I'd highly suggest using a dish detergent to wash it once to remove any old waxes or sealants"
There's many other ways more effective; Many people always mention the "Dawn Brand" so lets concentrate on that one;
Using dishsoap is not the correct way, of course we could go around and around about this subject, but to make it fair, why don’t we ask the product manufactor? Im not into the dishwashing soap business so it only makes sense to ask them.
This is posted on Dawn's site in their customer support section
Question
Can I wash my car with dishwashing detergent?
Answer
Your car surface and the dirt that gets on it are a lot different from the food soils and dishes that dishwashing liquids clean effectively. We don't recommend them for cleaning your car.
"Can I use Dawn to clean things other than dishes?
Dawn is so effective in cutting grease on dishes that over the years, consumers have used Dawn on other greasy messes around their homes, from cleaning kitchen messes like grease build up on the stove range hood to oily spots in the garage. Dawn is not recommended for window cleaning, car washing, body wash or washing hair.
This is coming from the product manufactor not from me, just in case here is the source directly from them.
http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/questionsaboutdawn.do
Again, is all about choices thanks again for your comments.
"I'd highly suggest using a dish detergent to wash it once to remove any old waxes or sealants"
There's many other ways more effective; Many people always mention the "Dawn Brand" so lets concentrate on that one;
Using dishsoap is not the correct way, of course we could go around and around about this subject, but to make it fair, why don’t we ask the product manufactor? Im not into the dishwashing soap business so it only makes sense to ask them.
This is posted on Dawn's site in their customer support section
Question
Can I wash my car with dishwashing detergent?
Answer
Your car surface and the dirt that gets on it are a lot different from the food soils and dishes that dishwashing liquids clean effectively. We don't recommend them for cleaning your car.
"Can I use Dawn to clean things other than dishes?
Dawn is so effective in cutting grease on dishes that over the years, consumers have used Dawn on other greasy messes around their homes, from cleaning kitchen messes like grease build up on the stove range hood to oily spots in the garage. Dawn is not recommended for window cleaning, car washing, body wash or washing hair.
This is coming from the product manufactor not from me, just in case here is the source directly from them.
http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/questionsaboutdawn.do
Again, is all about choices
thanks again for your comments.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
