How to: Complete Body Detail

Here we go. I am going to do a complete body detail of my 98 Explorer. First will be a wash, then clay bar. The wash again, then use some compound to remove some scratches. Then will use a swirl remover. Then a glaze to bring out the shine. Then will use some Klasse All In 1 glaze to give it a final seal. After all of that then I will wax. I will list the products that I use, exactly as I use them.

Notice the new hood scoop, EE Airdam, billet grille and bumper billet. New CobraR mag wheels and Pirelli tires.

First set of pictures is after I washed her. Now getting ready to use a clay bar. The clay bar I am using is by Meguiar's.

BEFORE Clay Bar

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

Here are the pictures taken after the clay bar and a re-wash.

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

Tomorrow will be, hopefully if God willing and the creek doesn't rise the 4 polishes applied using my new Porter Cable 7424 buffer. Can't wait to crank that baby up. Let's say this old man will do as much as he can in 1 day, LOL.

 

[IAmTodd]

Thats great looking already! I see you haven't put many miles on the tires. The stickers are still there List all the products you do too. I'm gonna do that same then

 

[MONMIX]

Nice shop !!!!!!! Plenty of light.
Oh yeah, sweet Ex too. Spotless.
You will never convince me it is six years old.

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

LOL, there is a bunch. Like I said, I will be using 4 different polishes before I put on the first coat of wax. This more than likely will be at least a 3 day project.
BTW, I forgot to add that I will be changing the blue Ford Ovals to Red ones tomorrow. Will show a good before and after picture of that.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[MONMIX]

what sort of shop is that you are in ?

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

what sort of shop is that you are in ?

LOL, I hate to say. It's still in the stereo shop. Over 6 months now. ;-(

 

[Redrig]

LOL, I hate to say. It's still in the stereo shop. Over 6 months now. ;-(

Holy crap, are you serious? I think I remember a thread about it being in there so long an that was a long time ago. How are they coming along on it?

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

We are stuck right now on a painter. He did the 4 parts to hold the speakers in the doors and ruined the 2 front ones. We are only waiting on him now. He has to sand them down, and paint it all over until they are "perfect". If you look in the last picture of the rear of the truck, to the right is my Wyndjammer spoiler. He has to paint that now for free. I was going to paint it myself, but not now. He has caused us a huge delay in this. I will now miss the Dallas competition because of this 1 person.

 

[RocksX]

Hey BBQ, its looking good, keep us posted on details, I would like to do the same to my X when I get back home. Now, I am young and a beginner with all this so I don't feel too dumb asking this, but could you also put a bit more detail on these steps please???? Like clay bar?? I know you use this to remove the underspray on a new car from the paint, but where all did you use it?? And your truck is still in the shop...holy cow man, your gettin screwed big time I think. I remember reading your other posts too, and ya, that was a while ago. But thanx BBQ, maybe some day I can help someone else out.

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

LOL, I put that truck in way way back on Jan 7. of this year. It's killing me too. The harder I push, the worse things get. So they are doing 1 hell of allot of free work for me, but still. I will lay out all of the details for yall. When I get up in the morning I will list more about the clay bar. I basically used it all over the body and glass. It removes all kinds of bug guts and stuff. It made the body go from a rough feel to like glass. For this dude, it was allot of work because I had to do it all by hand and wash the truck twice, once before with dawn detergent and then after the claying with a mild car wash soap. Will take pictures of the clay bars before and after for yall and list every detail. This will be good for everyone to see. Now not everyone's truck will need this type of detail. But mine does, it needs some heavy duty polishing bad. But wait till you see the end results. I am going for the "Perfect Shine". LOL.

 

[wired_af]

Lookin good, I really like how the front end of your explorer looks, and the wheel/tire combo also looks greal.

 

[spindlecone]

RONNNNNNNNNNNN< STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP.
Claybar my friend, but after that, pls try www.crystalgaurd.com, no wax, no zaino, no bullshit

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

LOL, WHATTT???? No way. I have had these plans laid out for sometime now. I have everything I need including the buffer and a complete set of pads. I have a pad for each degree of polish to use and then one for the final buffing of wax. I love the way wax does. The more wax, the deeper the shine. The deeper the shine, the wetter it looks. I want mine to look like a different color when I get through. LOL, granted if I get carried away with the compound, I may see more gray than I ever wanted to see on my Explorer, ROFL. But I know what I am doing. Been down this road a million times. Even thought about doing it as a business from a trailer and go to people's place of work and detail there cars while they work. It's just so hot here in June, July, and August. And September is no picnic by any means either. I bet I lost 5 pounds today in sweat just from the claying. That was some work. And I feel it in my back too. Just took a pain pill, will be going to bed soon. I would even smoke a doobie if I had one, LOL.

 

[spindlecone]

Ron, check your fax machine, just sent over a thaistick

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

ROFL, man you are OK. I don't care what some of the others think of you. LOL. This little piece of string always get me. How do I get it started to coming off without tearing the bud? ROFLMAO

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

BTW, that link doesn't work. I have used it in the past. It was nice and lasted for quite some time. But it's not the "shine" I want. It is great for protection, but right now I want shine and the only way to get it where I need it is to compound/polish/seal/wax. I will be using 3 different types of polish all by 3M. Then I will apply 4 in 1 Klasse sealant. Then for the final touch, about 3 or 4 coats of wax using some Pinnacle Souveran paste wax over the Klasse. That will deepen the shine and give me that water reflection look.

 

[spindlecone]

and then you will drive that puppy out of the shop and it will rain like all get out, been there done that, Have fun dude, post some pics

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

Alright, There are about 6 or 7 steps we will take. Let's look at some of the details of the work. Right now we have used the Meguiar's Clay bar.

The first step is to analyze your vehicle. Wash it good with a very good cleaning detergent. I highly recommend Dawn's dishwashing liquid for this. Do not use Dawn everytime you wash your vehicle, but for what we need to do here, it is perfect. After washing, use a lint free cloth to dry it off. I love the cannon bath towels for this. I don't know why, but they are great and do not leave a bunch of lint. I also do not recommend using those wool mitts unless you know it is clean and please keep it clean of sand/grit/rocks etc. or it will scratch the heck out of your vehicle.

Then in a nice lighted area, out of the sun, test the paint. The way I do it is to take a sandwich baggie or something like that and put my hand in it. Slide it across the paint, if it feels rough and sticks and hangs up, your vehicle needs to be clayed.

Take the clay bar, kneed it allot in your hand, in other words, roll it around like play dough and loosen it up. It is sticky, that's why it works. Use the detailing spray as a base spray, a lubricant. You want the surface to be wet at all times every where you are rubbing. It is going to make a mess, but don't worry, you will have to wash the vehicle when you are done anyways. Rub all of the painted surfaces and keep it lubricated with the spray. You will feel it loosen up and slide easily over the paint while doing this and move on, doing a small section at a time. I started on the top and worked my way down.

Even do your windshield with the clay. It will pull those bug guts right out. You know the last thing a bug sees when he hits your windshield, right? Well it's all over. After you have completely wiped the vehicle down with the clay bar, kneeding it all the time during the process, and you have done either your front windshield or like I did, all of the glass too, then take your vehicle back outside and wash it again. This time, do not use Dawn. It's too strong to use again. Use a nice soap that is made for vehicles, I am using Sonüs Gloss Shampoo on mine because that is what I bought and it is some dang good stuff. Then give it a good drying using a lint free towel.

1 WORD OF CAUTION - IF YOU DROP YOUR CLAY BAR, THROW IT AWAY. IT WILL PICK UP STUFF OFF THE GROUND AND GRIND INTO YOUR PAINT JOB AND RUIN IT. SIMPLY THROW IT AWAY AND USE ANOTHER. THAT IS WHY I HAD 2 OF THESE TO START MY JOB.

Next step, polishing with details and pictures.

Here is a picture of the box, the bottle, (which is very important) and 2 clay bars. 1 is new still in the package and the other is what it looks like after I finished with my truck. I used all of the spray up on this 1 job, if you do run out, just use some of the good soap diluted down with water to finish the job.