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It has to be said that this is one of the filthiest cars I've ever worked on. Albeit the fact that there have been a lot worse that I've seen in the forums here, this is a personal record for me.
A week prior to yesterday, the owner's mother (who lives 2 houses down from me) called me saying that she needed her oldest daughter's car detailed ASAP. The mom explained that the car needed some serious help and that her daughter hardly ever took it to the car wash, much less had her new husband do it for her. Not really knowing what I was about to get into, we scheduled the appointment, and so the story begins.
The car was dropped off to me at 9:00 AM yesterday, and I wasted no time giving the TSX and thorough evaluation and was rather disgusted by some of the things I found. However, before I got to work, I had to get the before pictures first, so prepare yourself because this could get ugly (especially for you Acura/ Honda fans).
Alright, so now the cleaning begins.
Exterior Process:
Before I actually started on the actual body of the Acura, I shot each of the wheels with Hot Rims AWC, agitated it, and then let it work for about 15-20 seconds, then rinsed. After hosing off the AWC, I neutralized the finish with Deep Crystal Car Wash and rinsed. I was pleased with it so far, but now the real challenge began, getting rid of all that grime and dirt that had slung all over the car.
I mixed up the traditional 2 bucket method, using Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo/ Conditioner as my weapon of choice. Before I actually began using the GC, I blasted the entire car down with a pressure washer, in an effort to clear most of the looser debris and dirt. It worked to some effect, but the GC was the real hero in this. It cleared away ALL of the dirt on every inch of that car. In addition to that, I removed the bugs from the front by just using some hot water, Dawn, and a two sided detailing sponge with a slightly rough edge. I dried the car off using Water Magnets and instantly the color came back. The color really began to show through and even after just a wash, and to most eyes, it already looked like a million bucks. I wasn't going to stop there by a long shot.
I pulled the car into the garage and inspected for swirls, RIDS, and various other defects. As far as swirls and oxidation goes, there was none to be seen to my amazement. On the other hand, there were RIDS EVERYWHERE! Most of them looked like the traditional case of setting a purse, bag, backpack, etc. on the roof and trunk mainly. Before I broke out the compounds, I clayed the entire car using the Smooth Surface Clay and the traditional Quik Detailer as lube. Once I felt the car was perfectly smooth as glass, I attacked the RIDS. Using a combo of Ultimate Compound and ScratchX 2.0, I managed to remove some of the lesser deep scratches and RIDS, but a lot still remained. Being a DD, I wasn't too concerned about total perfection, but I wanted it to be close enough.
After observing a very smooth sheen and relatively good reflection, I skipped on the Deep Crystal Polish and went straight for my trusty, handy box of NXT Tech Wax 2.0 and applied 2 thin coats in 30 minute successions, to allow a solid cure. Once all the wax had cured, I sealed each of the wheels with Cleaner Wax and gave the tires a good coat of Gold Class Endurance Tire Gel. As an added bonus, I polished out each of the exhaust tips to a beautiful shine with Hot Rims: Mag and Aluminum Polish. I also cleaned each of the windows using Eagle One: 20/20 Glass Cleaner.
Interior Process:
The interior of this Acura was a total war zone. The owner's 5 year old son had made an absolute WRECK of the back seat, mainly by throwing cereal all over the place, and spilling various drinks all over the carpet and leather seats. Before I did anything else, I made sure that there was nothing valuable that I could possibly **** up with my RIGID Shop Vac. To put this next process lightly, you might say I sucked the very life out of those carpets, due to all the vacuuming that needed to be done. Pet hair, human hair, cereal, paper...you name it, I guarantee you I sucked it up inside that vacuum.
I then treated each of the carpet mats to a dry brush and then sprayed them down with Tuff Stuff Foam Carpet Cleaner and agitated. Using a stiff-bristled interior brush on the entire floor of the car certainly helped as well. After I was assured that the carpets were as clean as could be, I moved on to the leather seats and dash. Using an aerosol can of Dust-Off, I blew off the whole dash, gauge bezel, and doors, and then applied a good amount of Supreme Shine: Hi Gloss Dash Protectant to give it a good sheen.
The black leather seats and leather door panel pieces were treated with Gold Class: Rich Leather Cleaner/ Conditioner (spray) and the rest of the door panels were treated with Supreme Shine: Hi Gloss Protectant. For the stains in the seats, some of the leather cleaner and a good ol' toothbrush did just fine.
Extras:
The couple of bonuses I decided to add to this car, was to clean out that nasty child's booster seat in the back and also wipe down that nasty engine bay.
Seeing that the orange and gray cover of the child's seat was removable, I just simply pulled it off, and ran it through my washing machine and dryer. Turned out ok, but still was stained a little bit, and a little Tuff Stuff took care of the rest.
As for the 2.4L DOHC I-4, I used some QD and just gave it a quick wipe down and that pretty much took care of that.
So after reading all of that description, I'm pretty sure you're wanting to see what all that hard work led up to.
Well here's your answer:
Exterior
Interior
I was very pleased with how this Acura turned out and both the owner, and the owner's mother were VERY impressed. Take care everyone!
Bobby Johnson
Owner/ Founder:Carchitects Auto Detailing
A week prior to yesterday, the owner's mother (who lives 2 houses down from me) called me saying that she needed her oldest daughter's car detailed ASAP. The mom explained that the car needed some serious help and that her daughter hardly ever took it to the car wash, much less had her new husband do it for her. Not really knowing what I was about to get into, we scheduled the appointment, and so the story begins.
The car was dropped off to me at 9:00 AM yesterday, and I wasted no time giving the TSX and thorough evaluation and was rather disgusted by some of the things I found. However, before I got to work, I had to get the before pictures first, so prepare yourself because this could get ugly (especially for you Acura/ Honda fans).
Alright, so now the cleaning begins.
Exterior Process:
Before I actually started on the actual body of the Acura, I shot each of the wheels with Hot Rims AWC, agitated it, and then let it work for about 15-20 seconds, then rinsed. After hosing off the AWC, I neutralized the finish with Deep Crystal Car Wash and rinsed. I was pleased with it so far, but now the real challenge began, getting rid of all that grime and dirt that had slung all over the car.
I mixed up the traditional 2 bucket method, using Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo/ Conditioner as my weapon of choice. Before I actually began using the GC, I blasted the entire car down with a pressure washer, in an effort to clear most of the looser debris and dirt. It worked to some effect, but the GC was the real hero in this. It cleared away ALL of the dirt on every inch of that car. In addition to that, I removed the bugs from the front by just using some hot water, Dawn, and a two sided detailing sponge with a slightly rough edge. I dried the car off using Water Magnets and instantly the color came back. The color really began to show through and even after just a wash, and to most eyes, it already looked like a million bucks. I wasn't going to stop there by a long shot.
I pulled the car into the garage and inspected for swirls, RIDS, and various other defects. As far as swirls and oxidation goes, there was none to be seen to my amazement. On the other hand, there were RIDS EVERYWHERE! Most of them looked like the traditional case of setting a purse, bag, backpack, etc. on the roof and trunk mainly. Before I broke out the compounds, I clayed the entire car using the Smooth Surface Clay and the traditional Quik Detailer as lube. Once I felt the car was perfectly smooth as glass, I attacked the RIDS. Using a combo of Ultimate Compound and ScratchX 2.0, I managed to remove some of the lesser deep scratches and RIDS, but a lot still remained. Being a DD, I wasn't too concerned about total perfection, but I wanted it to be close enough.
After observing a very smooth sheen and relatively good reflection, I skipped on the Deep Crystal Polish and went straight for my trusty, handy box of NXT Tech Wax 2.0 and applied 2 thin coats in 30 minute successions, to allow a solid cure. Once all the wax had cured, I sealed each of the wheels with Cleaner Wax and gave the tires a good coat of Gold Class Endurance Tire Gel. As an added bonus, I polished out each of the exhaust tips to a beautiful shine with Hot Rims: Mag and Aluminum Polish. I also cleaned each of the windows using Eagle One: 20/20 Glass Cleaner.
Interior Process:
The interior of this Acura was a total war zone. The owner's 5 year old son had made an absolute WRECK of the back seat, mainly by throwing cereal all over the place, and spilling various drinks all over the carpet and leather seats. Before I did anything else, I made sure that there was nothing valuable that I could possibly **** up with my RIGID Shop Vac. To put this next process lightly, you might say I sucked the very life out of those carpets, due to all the vacuuming that needed to be done. Pet hair, human hair, cereal, paper...you name it, I guarantee you I sucked it up inside that vacuum.
I then treated each of the carpet mats to a dry brush and then sprayed them down with Tuff Stuff Foam Carpet Cleaner and agitated. Using a stiff-bristled interior brush on the entire floor of the car certainly helped as well. After I was assured that the carpets were as clean as could be, I moved on to the leather seats and dash. Using an aerosol can of Dust-Off, I blew off the whole dash, gauge bezel, and doors, and then applied a good amount of Supreme Shine: Hi Gloss Dash Protectant to give it a good sheen.
The black leather seats and leather door panel pieces were treated with Gold Class: Rich Leather Cleaner/ Conditioner (spray) and the rest of the door panels were treated with Supreme Shine: Hi Gloss Protectant. For the stains in the seats, some of the leather cleaner and a good ol' toothbrush did just fine.
Extras:
The couple of bonuses I decided to add to this car, was to clean out that nasty child's booster seat in the back and also wipe down that nasty engine bay.
Seeing that the orange and gray cover of the child's seat was removable, I just simply pulled it off, and ran it through my washing machine and dryer. Turned out ok, but still was stained a little bit, and a little Tuff Stuff took care of the rest.
As for the 2.4L DOHC I-4, I used some QD and just gave it a quick wipe down and that pretty much took care of that.
So after reading all of that description, I'm pretty sure you're wanting to see what all that hard work led up to.
Well here's your answer:
Exterior
Interior
I was very pleased with how this Acura turned out and both the owner, and the owner's mother were VERY impressed. Take care everyone!
Bobby Johnson
Owner/ Founder:Carchitects Auto Detailing
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