Tips and Tricks for detailing.

[dave-trx]

I thought since I spent a couple of hours the other day detailing my Navara, why not get and share tip on detailing our car or in my case 4wd.

I do alot of night driving which I prefer because my Navara ain't intercooled (when the warrenty is up its getting water to air Denco Diesel kit), sorry for ranting but since I do alot of night time driving the front of my ute is always peppered with insects.

To clean the bugs off the bullbar I used Turtle Wax bug and tar remover, best stuff I have ever used. My chrome grill and chrome mirrors I used the same stuff and they came up like a mirror.

To protect my snorkel I bought a can of Meguiar's Exterior Trim detailer, It brought that back to original. It is also designed for bumper bars and plastic mirrors.

Still have to do the rear chrome bar. Which I dont really have to because the rear bar is getting replaced in a week, yeah dumb arse me damaged it 4wding.

Still trying to decide what to use on the alloy rollbar.

Come on people post up what work and doesn't and what you use and on what vehicle.

Was it Greenbird that had a surf aswell as the bluebird. What do you use to clean the surf after a run in the bush.

[hrmmmm]

For any chrome bits (not chrome look plastic) you can use PURPLE POLISH, it is made by CALIFORNIA CUSTOMS. It is mainly available through automotive paint store, at work it is regularly used to polish fuel tanks and  alloy bull bars.           
 
For exterior bits that are black, I have found that MOTHERS brand NATURALLY BLACK is good for any mouldings of any colour, it give a natural low sheen finish instead of a full gloss finish. All you do is rub on with cloth/meguirs foam pad, buff it off with another clean cloth and if you want rub over with chamois, I do this as I think it gives a better finish
 
I use AUTOGLYM SUPER RESIN POLISH on my car as well as dad's car, it is a light cutting polish and removes bugs really well, like Dave me and dad do alot of highway driving at dusk and early morning, this polish is also ideal for acrylic plastics like plastic headlight lenses and chrome mouldings as well as alloy tanks/steps bull/nudge bars and is really good for removing bugs and tar off of glass surfaces. Use it like regular polish, on with clean cloth then rub off with another clean cloth, you can let it sit on car for up to an hour if time permits, this gives a better finish as well, I use it with terry towelling.
 
 When I cut the paintwork on the car back I use the SUPER RESIN POLISH but use a waffle pad or lambs wool pad on dad's buffer, occasionally I use the AUTOGLYM paint cleaner stuff, in a yellow/white bottle, stuffed if I can remember what it is called, (after selling it for 2.5 yrs you would think I can remember what it is called)
   
On my windows which are tinted I use the CRC SO EASY WINDOW FOAM, it is safe for all tinted windows and dries streak free, you apply it with a clean cloth and then let it dry or you can buff window with microfibre cloth for that perfect streakfree finish if you hate streaky windows like me.
   
To clean my seats I use a meguirs product called HEAVY DUTY CARPET AND INTERIOR CLEANER, all you do is spray on, rub in with cloth and let dry, drying time generally takes 20mins
 
 For tyre black I use CRC SO EASY TYRE SPRAY (not the foam) it is easy to apply, doesn't stain polished alloy or painted wheels and give a nice shine. Just spray on and let dry. I rub it off my rims because, I don't actually know because it doesn't stain wheels.
 
Interior of my car gets cleaned with whatever interior cleaner I have at the time, I prefer to use SEPTONE INTERIOR CLEANER as it is a cleaner and cologne in one, it is only available through automotive paint shops as far as I know, if I don't have any SEPTONE CLEANER I use CRC INTERIOR CLEANER as it does a good job as well, just rub on to interior bits and pieces and your done.
 
To make my car smell nice I use a VANILLA CAR DEODORANT, spray it in the car and then close the doors, with the windows up and your done.

[dave-trx]

Good stuff Langers. Looks like no one else cleans there cars. 31 views and 1 post.

[hrmmmm]

Thanks Dave, one thing I can't stand is my car being dirty, inside or out. After working in the industry for nearly three years made me aware of how important it is to protect the paintwork as well as the interior parts of a car. It also made me aware of what products are good and bad and how to use each product.
   When I get the 4x4 I willl look after the paint/interior as much as i look after the corsar's paint/interior. there will be one exception though, the 4x4 will get a mudbath every six weeks, if you know what i mean.    .

Here is some pic's of the corsair just after I detailed it 2 weeks ago:
   these are two of about 8 shot's of the exterior




I do have pics of the interior, but I don't think anyone wants to see my cancer ridden steering wheel and cracked dash board.

 

[dave-trx]

She looks good mate. I got the same roof racks on the Navara. I would debadge it, a pintara grille with the rest of the corsair lights on the front would set it off.

The Bluebird tail lights look the goods aswell.

[DTM]

I used to work at a detailers, Purple Polish is the bomb for anything chrome!

Everything else I use is industrial spec so not available over the counter Industrial spec acid FTW!

[Vithy]

my turn

I use Maguires gold class endurance gel for my tires. works really well a lot better than the maguires nxt gen tire spray....my shitty tires didnt like the spray and it looked dodgy gel wrks much better 4 me..

Interior carpets i use mags heavy duty carpet and interior cleaner

Dash and trim use mag gold class foam wrks really really well! i used it on my steering wheel and it came up looking like new.

Nxt Gen glass cleaner on my windows love the stuff so much better than the home brand window cleaner used around the house lol spray it on the window then buff of using mag micro fiber cloth

Wash and waxed using nxt gen products and to help remove swirls use mag color x all over and for the serious scratches and marks left from beer cans ect i use scratch x lot of elbor grease required lol

use speed detailer in between cleans depending on my mood lol altho i notice it doesnt do a very good job as it leaves scratches and on my roof and boot doesnt leave a great finish so i mainly use it on the inside of the doors near the seals and on the inside of the boot and sometimes under the hood where its not all oily and shit...

for the black plastic on the exterior mags gold class trim detail i use

for rims and my metal pedals and knob i use mag nxt gen metal polish, it wrks really well...

i love all the nxt gen products coz they smell awesome lol

when applying wax ect use a even coat applicator to help give better shine

[Jono]

I use Rain^TM and silicone/rubber windscreen wipers to remove the bugs from my windscreen, and just plain Rain^TM on the rest of my car.

It works a treat getting rid of dust and bird shit!

[Febrile]

I hate cleaning the car, so I never do it.  (I think I managed to go 2 years without washing the Corsair =P).  But when I was working for a mechanic for a little while, I had to clean a fair few cars.  The tool used for most of the scrubbing was one of those indoor brooms, the ones with the soft bristles.  I have no idea whether it was good for the paintwork, but it sure as shit made quick and light work of the whole job.