Saab 900 first detail

[lincellusion]

Hey guys, last night I did my first proper full car detail. My car is a Saab 900 (not a gr8 car, but we all gotta start somewhere ).

First, I cleaned the whole car using nxt gen car wash. first I used a pressure hose to get the dirt and other **** off the body, then just used the hoses natural pressure to cover the car in water. once the car was covered in suds and sprayed off with the hose, I chamoised it all dry.

Once dry, I cracked out the quik detailed and clay bar for the first ever time. I rubbed my hand on the hood to feel the bumps, generously sprayed the hood with detailed and went to work. after only about 1 minutes I was done, so I toweled it off and rubbed my hand, it felt like glass! I was so impressed and excited that instead of rubbing any other part of the cars paint I just clayed it all.

Now it was time for the scratches/ swirls/ scuffs. I was not impressed by this. I used scratchx to try and remove some scratches, unfortunately, nothing happened, I did it twice on some scratches but still nothing, maybe I am doing something wrong? even though the scratches didnt come out this time, I keep telling myself that I have all the time in the world to master it

Now I went into uc. did the entire car with uc, only one layer, and there were still scratches and scuffs, but I will say it removed about 10% of the swirls.

I put deep crystal polish only on the hood, I think the reason why I only did the hood was because I didnt really see any difference between the polished hood and un polished rest of the body. I then used nxt gen liquid wax and covered the whole car. I was amazed at how about an hour after I waxed the car, it rained, and all the water just beaded and fell off it :P

A few questions. What should I do to remove the swirls, scratches and scuffs?

I have a rotary buffer, should I practice that on something to get good at it before trying on my car? it only has a lamb wool pad, is that ok to use just to apply the product? then wipe off by hand?

As I got towards the waxing proccess of my detail job I noticed the product was getting much harder to wipe off, is this because the supreme shine microfiber cloth I was using was a little damp? I was only using the one cloth throughout the whole detail as I only had one.

Since I have waxed the whole car now, the next wash I do, what else should i do to it? are there any other things I should do to my car now? add another layer of wax maybe?

If you guys can help me with removing the scratches, can I just do it over the layer of wax? or do I need to somehow remove the wax?

I will be posting up pix soon, thanks alot guys.

[lincellusion]

Re: Saab 900 first detail

Also, my Saab has a few exterior black plastic panels, such as the door handles, bumpers etc. I noticed that when using uc and I accidently got a little bot in the door handles, when I rubbed it off, the parts where it came in comtact with on the palstic were all shiny and looked brand new, can I use uc on all exterior black plastic bits to make them look nice and shiny? or is that not a good idea? cheers.

[Shawn T.]

Re: Saab 900 first detail

Can't wait to see the pics. As for your questions........


What should I do to remove the swirls, scratches and scuffs?A machine of some sort will help tremendously in this area. I would stick with Ultimate Compound, Swirlx and Scratchx for swirl and defect correction.

I have a rotary buffer, should I practice that on something to get good at it before trying on my car? it only has a lamb wool pad, is that ok to use just to apply the product? then wipe off by hand?
Definitely practice on a junk hood from a body shop or something to learn the proper technique. A lot of damage can be done with these machines. I recommend putting the rotary down and investing in a dual action polisher. It will effectively solve most paint problems and are virtually fool proof. Additionally, invest in some foam pads. A wool pad should only be used in the most serious cases. After working the product then you simply wipe off the product with a microfiber towel. Always make sure the product is wet while working it.

As I got towards the waxing proccess of my detail job I noticed the product was getting much harder to wipe off, is this because the supreme shine microfiber cloth I was using was a little damp?
In order to keep the towel effective while removing wax it is best to turn to a fresh side every few panels. The microfiber is trapping the waxx within itself therefore product will eventually build up making it harder to remove the dried wax. Turning the microfiber to a fresh side will solve this issue.

Since I have waxed the whole car now, the next wash I do, what else should i do to it? are there any other things I should do to my car now? add another layer of wax maybe?
I would recommend applying a second layer of wax after the next wash. This will ensure even and complete coverage of the paint surface. After that you can just sit back and enjoy the shine!

If you guys can help me with removing the scratches, can I just do it over the layer of wax? or do I need to somehow remove the wax?
You can apply a paint cleaner over a layer of wax. The paint cleaner will remove the previous wax though so be sure to re-apply the wax to all areas the paint cleaner was used on.

can I use uc on all exterior black plastic bits to make them look nice and shiny? or is that not a good idea?
I am not sure what kind of plastic this is. Is it painted plastic? Is it smooth black plastic? Some pics would be nice.

[lincellusion]

Re: Saab 900 first detail

Will add all the neccessary pix in a few hours. Dies it matter what sort of foam pad to get for the buffer?does meguiars make a paint cleaner? Also, should i have used uc on the whole body, or should it just go on whatever parts need it? I think the plastic on the handles may be pure black plastic, pictures will be up soon.

Thanks so much for your reply mate. One last thing, i only have a meguiars supreme shine cloth to wipe off product, are any of the microfibers kmart sells any good? If so i may but some cuz theyr so cheap