Milano Red Si... Its been kinda neglected... Haven't had a chance to wax her this year... But always keep her washed... well... most of the time... Except for when the car pisses me off...

But anyways, like all Milano Red, its starting to show signs of fading QUICKLY... Plus I have a car show on Sunday, so I'm gonna scrub it up good... I need opinions on a few things...

First off, here's what I plan on using... Good or no?
#1. Wash with Dawn
#2. Dry with Absorber
#3. Claybar using Meguiars Claybar & Quick Detailer (never done this before... Advice?)
#4. Meguiars Show Glaze Polish
#5. Carnuba Wax (not sure on brand yet.. Probably Meguiars)

Are those steps good? I'm not sure if i am going to do it by hand or using my orbital buffer... I'm thinkin about using the buffer for the polish, but not for the wax... Yes/No? Any other steps I should add?


#1. Fiber Images Carbon Fiber Hood... Just wash/wax with the rest of the car? Or is there a better trick? I have always just waxed it with the rest of the car.
#2. White Wheels. They are currently off the car, so they are going to get scrubbed Extra good... Recommendations to get off wheel weight glue? And I plan on throwing some Carnuba wax on them, and claybar'ing them as well.
#3. My leather seats show slight signs of the leather kinda... wearing off... like on the bolsters... For the leather I was planning on cleaning with Woolite (My research says thats best), then using Lexol Conditioner. Better Ideas?
#4. Engine Bay... I'm going to degrease it, and scrub with a brush, wax the radiator support & fenderwells, then armor all hoses & such... My CTR valve cover is lookin kinda dingy... Suggestions? Scrub brush with Simple Green?
#5. Windows... Whats your suggestion? I'm figuring 20/20 glass & newspaper. It has worked well, but last time i cleaned the windows i used windex & paper towels, and now it looks all streaky and dingy... Should I also ClayBar the windows after I claybar the car?

Of course I will have SERIOUS Before & After pics of this... But somebody give me a few milano red pointers please...

 

Read this thread and come back with more questions:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=790409

No need for Dawn.

 

Dawn the dish soap? I heard that was bad

 

rinsing with water is the key to making your engine shine after degreaser...i used a prssure washer on min...Just be sure to remove the batter, and intake and mask of the throttle body and its sensors and the cattery cables, and the distributor

 

well, its raining... So I'm detailing the wheels in my living room since they were already off the car... Simple Green, then spray off with water, then claybar using claybar & QD, then Meguiars Show Glaze, then spray with water from water bottle, spray with wax as you dry, and polish off... I've done 1 1/2 wheels in the past 2 hours...

Here's wheel one before & after

 

^^^ DAMN I NEED TO DO THAT!

good work!

 

That turned out awesome. Gonna have to give that a try when i get motivated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NiceDc2r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">rinsing with water is the key to making your engine shine after degreaser...i used a prssure washer on min...Just be sure to remove the batter, and intake and mask of the throttle body and its sensors and the cattery cables, and the distributor</TD></TR></TABLE>

um dont remove any of that, just spray around the distributor, we do it everyday at work.

 

I'm just gonna quick detailer the car when I get to the show tomorrow morning... Its still raining outside...

Here's the rest of the pics from cleaning the rims...

 

Try this

Wash ( NXT Wash )
Clay
Wash
#80 Speed Glaze ( you can pick that up at Meguiars Auth. Dealer)
#7 Show Glaze
NXT Tech Wax
#16 Meguiars Paste Wax ( apply VERY THIN )

sometimes keeping it the same manufactor is nice..
but if you have money to spare try this

after your wash ,clay,wash
purchase some ClearKote Vanilla Moose and PoorBoys World EX-P from http://www.pakshak.com ( theres a special called " Hawaiian Punch " )

replace the Vanilla moose for #7 and NXT for EX-P

Hope this help..

p.s. When apply your sealant ( NXT or EX-P ) let it cure for 12hrs so the prodcut can crosslink to your paint..Then apply your carnauba wax

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by japspecjohn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dawn the dish soap? I heard that was bad</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, dawn is a degreaser and it gets all of the **** off your paint to make a good base for waxing

 

dawn is ok occassionally if you want to start with a fresh base ..dont make it a habit tho

 

It is unneccesary as the clay bar leaves you with a "fresh surface." The only time I have used dawn is when I am applying zaino to a car that has never had it (and now I have stopped, I feel it is unnecessary and too hard on the paint).

 

Dawn is unnecessary as the polish will clean off the residing wax (if any).

Uhm, Meguiars #16 is the best wax they have.

 

looks good indeed

 

looks good indeed!!

 

now i have heard that claybar won't remove ALL the wax, and that is why it is good to use dawn.... yes/no?

Anyways, Because of the rain I couldn't detail it THAT good... So before the car show this morning (RIGHT NOW), I'm gonna go wash the car w/ car wash soap, and apply a coat or 2 of Meguiars Show Car Glaze... Just to give it a SHINE... Then i'm gonna take tuesday off of work and spend the whole day detailing the si...

 

well my reply is probably too late, since you said your car show is this morning. Anyway, I also have a Milano Red Civic. Let me see if I can help you out...

Wash the car with car soap. I personally haven't washed with dishwashing soap as I do not feel safe doing it. But if you wanna try it, go ahead.

Go ahead with the Meguiars Clay Bar/Quick Detailer combo to remove old wax and dirt. It will get MOST of the crap outta the paint, including previous wax and dirt. Make sure you flip and fold over the clay bar as the bar picks up the dirt. You'll need to use the clean area of the bar for it to work effectively. The bar will turn into a dark color as you use it. You'll be suprised in how much it picks up. Just spray the quick detailer and rub the clay bar on the paint until smooth. Dont worry, it will not scratch. When you feel it getting harder to rub on the paint, spray more detailer, flip or fold the bar if necessary and proceed. Run your hand over your car and feel the rough spots and where u see some dirt in the paint. Go over these areas with the bar.

I noticed you did not list a step 1 on your list, (ie. Meguiars Paint Cleaner). I would run this step after the clay. This removes all your leftover wax, gives the paint a smooth surface and it brings out the shine that was under the old wax and dirt. This preps the paint for polish and wax.

If you use the Glaze Polish, you might want to try out the orbiter. I tried it once and it was a bitch to take off by hand (I do all steps by hand). Go ahead with the Carnuba wax to seal the paint. If you want, try the new NXT car wax. It is very easy to work with.

I have never used claybar for the windows, but I imagine that it should work very well. Polish the windows also. Even wax it if you want. Cleaning glass has the same principle as paint, getting dirt off the surface, and the bar does exactly this.

Your engine bay steps sounds good. I use a pressure washer though when I clean the engine, just be careful around the valve cover as it can chip the paint off. Try either Simple green or that GUNK stuff. Both are pretty good. Go ahead and scrub the heavy areas and go over it with a dash cleaner after you have rinsed and dried it up. This will give it a shine.

Depending on the protective coat on your CF hood, I would just wash it with the hood on your car. 3-step your hood afterwards.

I dont really have any tips on cleaning rims. I've never taken them off to just clean. I just go over them with car wash soap and rinse off. My car has never been to shows, I just like to keep it clean for tha street.

Waxing and maintaining Milano Red is absolutely necessary. Once it fades into that dark pinkish tone, like those older civics that have been neglected, **** looks like crap.

Well let us know how it goes. I've seen pics of your car around here, definately a clean car.

Good luck.

 

well i didnt have a chance to detail the car... just washed it really good... The Clean wheels made it look 100x better... They are BLINGING!!

Here are a few pics from the joke of a show



I'm HOPEFULLY going to be taking a day off of work this week.

 

^^^^^**** looks good mang

 

The wheels look great!