Orange County Vettes at Meguiar's - July 16th!

[Mike Phillips]

Orange County Vettes



On July 16th, 2005 Meguiar's was proud to host our Detailing 101 Class for members of the Orange County Vettes!

[TKDDAD]

What a GREAT display of automotive history and excellence !...thanks for sharing Mike....it's times like this I wish I lived on the left coast....

btw, have you ever had a detailing 101 day for "normal" cars ?....it might be interesting to have a "every day ride" detailing day for those cars that are in need of tender loving care....the befores and afters could be amazing...oxidation removal, scratches etc...just a thought ....again, thanks for sharing

[Mike Phillips]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TKDDAD
BTW, have you ever had a detailing 101 day for "normal" cars ?....

We've held one or two detailing clinics for members of Meguiar's Online which is open to all members and whatever they want to bring, be it a grocery getter or a Ferrari.

it might be interesting to have a "every day ride" detailing day for those cars that are in need of tender loving care....the before and afters could be amazing...oxidation removal, scratches etc...just a thought ....again, thanks for sharing

We'll have another clinic for Meguiar's Online members soon and everyone will be invited to bring whatever they like.

[TKDDAD]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
We'll have another clinic for Meguiar's Online members soon and everyone will be invited to bring whatever they like.

Excellent !!....I'll have to start driving now

[Mike Phillips]

After the classroom portion of the class that includes a power point presentation and a time for questions and answers, it was time to select a Corvette to teach members how to put into practice what we learned in the classroom.

For this hands-on portion, one of the members let us use his beautiful 1956 Corvette. At first glance, this Corvette looks absolutely beautiful and anyone would be glad to own it and drive it!




However, upon closer inspection and using the suggestions taught in the class for inspection the finish on a car we can see that the finish on this Corvette could use a Meguiar's Makeover.



If you look closely at the finish, not only does the paint have the normal cobweb-effect, or swirls in the paint, but you can also see water spots in the paint.



In the classroom we learned before working on the finish, to first Evaluate the finish. We do this two ways,

• 1. Inspect the finish with your eyes in two kinds of light if possible. Look for swirls, scratches, etchings, water spots, oxidation, staining, water spots, etc.
  2. Inspect the finish with your hands, or sense of touch for above surface bonded contaminants, which will feel like little bumps on the paint.

Because the car was parked outside with the sun overhead, the first thing we did was to inspect the finish visually, our visual inspection revealed below surface defects, (swirls and water spots), so we knew we we're going to need a paint cleaner according to Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Next we pulled the car into Meguiar's Garage and after letting the car cool down and then wiping it down with Meguiar's Quik Detailer and a microfiber polishing cloth to remove light dust, we inspected the finish with our hands and discovered the finish had a rough textured feel to it, instead of feeling smooth like brand new glass.

So the first thing we did was to clay the paint.

[Mike Phillips]

Over time, if a car is exposed to the outdoors, airborne dirt and other contaminants land on your car's finish and if not removed in a timely manner, will actually bond to the paint and will not come off through normal washing with a car wash and wash mitt.

These bonded contaminants dull the finish down as they build up because they block your eyes from seeing the color of the paint and they diminish the gloss because they create a texture on the surface. Remember gloss comes from smoothness. A build-up of above surface contaminants not only takes away from the beauty of the paint, but they also prevent car wax from adhering to the paint, thus making applying a car wax an effort in futility.

To remove above surface bonded contaminants, Meguiar's offers a kit called, Quik Clay System



This kit consists of Meguiar's Quik Detailer and a bar of detailing clay



The way you use detailing clay is very simple, you knead the clay bar into a small wafer, kind of like a small pancake first, and then mist some Quik Detailer onto the clay bar and then onto the paint and then push the clay bar over the paint with some light pressure. The clay bar will glide over the paint and remove the above surface bonded contaminants. It does this two ways, one way is there is a fine abrasive in the clay itself and this fine abrasive basically sands off particles or contaminants sitting on top of the surface. As these things are removed, the clay, a synthetic polymer clay grabs and traps the particulates onto itself. While claying you need to periodically stop and inspect your clay and also re-knead the clay to expose a fresh surface.

During the hands-on portion of the class, anyone that has never used detailing clay to clay a car is encouraged to join in the fun and help to clay the finish. Bill was a good sport and invited everyone to help out and be a part of the transformation team to Meguiarize his Corvette.



That's Bill, the owner of this Corvette smiling at the camera!



Before claying, grab a clean, soft microfiber polishing cloth and keep it nearby to wipe off any excess Quik Detailer from the finish as you work around the car as these club members are seen doing.