i've never cleaned callipers, i'd just spray some wheel cleaner on them, wheel cleaner break's down the dust on the rims from the brake pads so the same should apply to the callipers. as for the rust around the edge, i dunno. try scrubbing it with some steel wool and pepsi. (btw pepsi eat's rust)

 

Vret tops and vert headliner cleaning suggestions would be appreciated. I don't want to ruin my top with a bad product. Whats the best way to make it look good on the outside?

 

trent, if you go to a local automotive paint shop where you can buy car paint and detailing supply's you should be able to pick up a conditioner/ reconditioner for convertable tops.

as far as a headliner goes, i really wont touch them, i dunno about a vert's i have never done a fc vert so i dont know what the underneath looks like. (i've always owned na's and TII's)

also when you do it make sure to do it on a day when its not going to rain for a few days, that will allow the protectant to soak in and seal up.

TS

 

Thanks, do you have a product name? I don't want to put some "snake oil" on my car. I found some conditioner for the top and the contents listed alocohol, naptha and mineral oil. I can not see that any of those things are good for the top.
I will keep looking.

 

look around in your local pant shops and see if they carry ARDEX. if you can find it retail its worth it.

 

thats a great write up however i have a question..

i noticed that my car has alot of swirls, like fine fine swirls thats only noticeable in direct sun, like when the sun hits it, then you look at it from the side..

i was asking around and people said its normal, its from when you wash your car..even my friends 05 wrx has some swirls but not as much as mine, i guess cause his car is still new..

so my question is, is it bad for wash your car alot? i mean from what people say, you get swirls from washing your car, or i mean from when you dry it..i wash my car once a week in the summer time..recently since its still winter, ill be lucky to get a wash every 2 weeks..

and will buffing take care of these swirls? my paint is pretty good, some nicks here and there but overall, its good and i dont wanna have it repainted yet since its not that bad but the swirls kill me..almost makes me not wanna drive it when the sun is beaming out..

ill appreciate any help

thanks guys

 

a couple days ago I clayed my car and man what a difference. It turned the surface of the paint back to a glass-smooth finish. I found the kit at pep boys. It was a Mother's brand claying kit with some spray on lubricant, a clay bar, and then a cleaner wax. I was so pumped after I cleaned up my car that I took it on a bitchin' joyride in the Angeles National Forest.

 

Ulost- You can either claybar your paint or have it highspeed with a cut 3.

Chase yea mothers has a very good claybar so dose i think it was blue magic. It was a blue claybar i bought a long time ago. I cant really remember what the name was tho.

TurboSmoke

 

For those interested Ardex has a website here: http://www.ardexlabs.com/index2.html

They also have an order form online, but no prices are quoted that I could find. This is a great thread BTW, I was looking through this forum hoping to find info on high-end waxes and found my way here.

 

thanks man, ill do that ASAP as soon as spring really hits

 

All,

I'm not a detailer, nor is my family in the detailing business. I do however want my car to look good, and I don't want to F it up with some lame *** product. So can we put our differences aside and help me select a full range of products that are user friendly and will make my car look amazing. Dying to give her a bath when the weather warms up, so I would like to get an order out soon!!!! Thanks for the help.

Mike

 

A clay bar won't remove swirl marks. Try using 3M's swirl mark remover (it works wonders), you should be able to find it at your local auto parts store.

http://www.autogeek.net/3mperswirmar.html

 

I didnt see anthying there about cleaning the carpet! i just bought an FD and the carpet is bloody dirty. and after i clean the carpet. how do i wipe off the dirt?

 

wow, i might have to try that first before i use claybar..

on a side note, on that site it said you get swirls from washing/drying your car..so do you guys continue to constantly wash your car? like weekly? and if so, what method do you use to prevent swirls so fast?

 

Clay bar your car first, then use the swirl mark remover. The biggest thing to do when trying to keep swirls from coming back is to keep all your wash/dry tools extremely clean. Start off by washing the car with a pressure washer. Take extra time with the pressure washer (the more dirt you get off now the less there will be to scratch the car). Make sure you have two buckets when washing your car, one for the soapy clean water, and one with just water for rinsing the mitt. Rinse the wash mitt often when washing the car in order to remove loose dirt that will scratch the car. When drying your car have a clean bucket full of just water for your chamois. Again rinse the chamois and ring out through the drying process. You will never be able to avoid swirl marks all together. The best you can do is try to prevent them (as much as you can) and occasionally use swirl mark remover.

 

^^wow man, thanks alot

and all this time i thought i was doing it right, i been washing my car the wrong way every week for the past year and a half!!!

ill def take your advice

 

if you work at a dealership and work as a detailer then you dont gotta worry just like me

 

well i detailed my truck and i took some pics. Here are some before pics.





i didnt get any other pics of the other parts of the carpet but it was pretty bad. i have after pics of it tho.

 

opps, i did get a pic of the before carpet.



I decided to try all the meguires products this time. The only thing i did not use from meguires was the blue magic carpet cleaner. I love that stuff.



It took me 2 1/2 hours to do started this at 12:30 was done by 3pm.

(step 1, 2 and gold class coats) 3 total done by hand ( my orbital is at my friends house in idaho )
shampoo carpet
cleaned all int plastic/ vinal and coated it with protectant
window's
door jambs
all vinal, plastic, rubber on outside protected
cleaned and conditioined leather seats

 

and the finished product

 

last 3

if you ever have your car detailed, always look at the door jambs. if they arnt clean, your detailer aint worth a shiet. if they over look your door jambs that means they overlooked alot of other things on your car







What i do when cleaning my carpet, i take the blue magic and take the top of it off, i spray the whole carpet with the spray, I make to hit every spot atleast 2 times. i let it sit for about 2-3 min and then start scrubbing with the blue bristle brush that was on top, then i take a terry cloth and go over the carpet with it.

Take some before and after pics for us

TurboSmoke

 

Took you 2 1/2 hours to do all that? Maybe its just because I detail every day and have it down to a fine art doing at least 30+ cars a day at the carwash but the longest I spend on anything that includes the exterior, and interior(including the carpet) is like one hour. I like Orange Blaster for door jams tho. Cuts right through the grease/dirt/etc in them. Our business is slowly moving all our products over to Lustra now though. Our old providers were starting to get rather slack. The new Lustra Tire Dressing is wonderful. It sticks like a charm to tires and stays for 1 week or better without much fade at all. For door jams, tooth brushes seems to work rather well for those hard to reach places.

 

how thick is the original clear coat on an s4? i like to use meguire's step #1 paint cleaner 2 times a year, its the best swirl remover i have ever used. i use a normal 8 inch buffer/sander (i dont like orbital) and when im done the paint looks and feels like glass, expecialy on my black FC. Im just starting to worry about how much of the clear coat i am removing each time i do this. I just got my black vert back from the shop after a deer smash and they did a complete *** job. there are swirls all over the paint, i had to take it back to have them remove the over spray all over the hood so the hood looks realy terrible. so i just need to know if its going to be safe to get out the buffer and take a couple more sweeps across the body with the paint cleaner or am i going to start running the clear coat too thin

 

ok so for my 12 year old paint, its claybar first, then scratch remover?

ill try that, thanks guys

 

remember, that was 3 coats of wax on and off, cleaned the whole interior, carpet, dressed the whole int and ext, window's ect. 2 1/2 hours is not bad considering i did not have the extractor that i had when i was detailing. That would have shaved off about 30 min. and a orbital would have cut off about 40 min.

I still got my speed, i just was taking my time. You tend to do a better job when its your own.


I've never heard of lusta, got any info on them? I like the thicker wax's, not the watery sloppy wax's.

TurboSmoke