HOW TO: Paint Care & Detailing

[Shawn F.]

This thread is for those of you who are wanting to detail your G Body exterior or any vehicle for that matter that needs to be detailed for the very first time and then maintained afterwards. First I want to say that I am NOT RESPONSIBLE for any damage you do to your vehicle. Second, if you recently had your vehicle painted then I recommend waiting at least 90 day's before applying any wax or sealant to the paint job as to let the paint cure and gas off (ISO's). This entire thread or article is all based on my opinions and what materials I personally like to use. I have tested a TON of different brands of polishes, equipment, waxes, etc and use what I have found to be some of the best or top of the line and easiest products out there.
I will do to the best of my ability to make this organized and in order while still going into partially deep detail. Let's start with materials list, where to buy these materials and add a link next to the uncommon materials that some may not even know about...
Materials:
1.) Variable Speed Buffer (DeWalt, Makita, Porter Cable, etc)
2.) Buffing pad cleaner, brush or pad spur
3.) 6.5" Wool/Foam blend cutting pad (Lake Country brand)
4.) Medium (white color) Polishing pad (Lake Country brand)
5.) Light Finishing (grey color) pad (Lake Country brand)
6.) Microfiber towels, cloths, wash mitts and hand applicators
7.) Compound (Optimum Car Care)
8.) Polish/Swirl Remover (Optimum Car Care)
9.) Finish Polish or Polish/Paint Sealant (Optimum Car Care)
10.) Paint Sealant (Optimum Car Care)
11.) Spray Wax (Optimum Car Care)
12.) Clay Bar (Obsessive Detail brand)
13.) 3M painters tape (I prefer the green kind but blue works too)
14.) Dawn Soap
15.) ONR Optimum No Rinse (Optimum Car Care)

Here is the basic material list you will need. Again the brands I prefer are what I put above. You can go with any brand you want and any priced buffer you'd like just remember to follow the exact instructions on the bottle.
The only places to get Optimum Car Care products is through their site directly www.optimumcarcare.com or I always go through www.obsessivedetail.com and order everything. For microfiber towels and cloths I get them from Obsessive Detail or the sister company www.theragshack.com or even www.towelpros.com
I recommend using microfiber cloths only to do the washing, drying and cleaning of your vehicle inside and out!!!
I use almost all Optimum Car Car products and the reason is because they last a long time, easy to apply, and no dusting with their compounds and polishes like 3M does. You can also work with this stuff in the sun. Now 3M does make a good swirl remover called UltraFina, I like to use this on black vehicles and certain types of paint.

*Tip* Try this before starting anything... Take a plastic bag, put it over your hand and rub it over your paint surface. When you are all done with this entire paint care process, do it again and you will feel a huge difference if done right and your rags should float right off that hood or roof.

Before Getting Started:
Before you even think about pulling out that buffer there are a few things that need to be understood and done to the car. This article is about paint care and is for those who are doing this for the first time (not touching up a previous detail job). The first thing you need to know is, why even care for your vehicles paint and what exactly are you doing to the paint when buffing?
To answer the first question of why is because keeping up with the exterior paint will keep your vehicle looking great without ruining the paint from road grime, salt on the roads, bugs, UV from the sun. It keeps the vehicle cleaner for longer periods of time, makes it easier to clean the next time you wash your vehicle and will even add value to your vehicle. To answer the second question as to what you are doing to the paint when buffing, you are actually removing contaminants from the paint surface and pores. You do not want to wax or polish over a paint surface that has contaminants buried into your finish. You are also removing any scratches and swirl marks that were left from normal road grime, wear and tear, improper washing (yes there is a method to just washing a vehicle which I will touch on in another thread), and previous improper buffing/polishing techniques.
Now that you know the why's and what's of exterior paint care, we can get started on the process of how to achieve a great looking finish!

 

[Shawn F.]

Washing and Drying Exterior:
First thing you will need to do before that buffer touches the vehicle is to wash the entire exterior very well. You want to strip the paint of all the old waxes, paint sealants, road grime, bugs and anything else that may be on the paint, glass and trim. You want to start on a fresh clean surface. What I recommend doing here is using two buckets with warm water. One with Dawn dish soap and the other just water for rinsing your wash mitt. Another tip here is to add a cap full of Optimum No Rinse to the water to keep it from leaving any water spots. The soap to use here can and should be Dawn dish soap but ONLY use it at this point only, never after the vehicle has been detailed with fresh wax and paint sealant. The reason I like to use Dawn now is to strip off the old waxes and polishes. When washing the vehicle I like to start with the roof and work my way down to where the dirt is which is the rockers, bumpers, etc. After washing the vehicle very good, dry the car with a good quality microfiber towel. You can even use an air nozzle to get the dripping water out of the jambs, behind the mirrors and trim. When it is dry go ahead and start taping up any trim, gaps and sharp edges on the paint that you do not want to burn through on with the buffer.

Removing Contaminants:
Once washed, you will begin to remove the contaminants from the paint pores/surface. To do this you will need a clay bar, Optimum No Rinse (ONR) and water mixture. You can either use the water and ONR in a bucket or in a spray bottle but follow directions on the bottle for the mixture ratio. Kneed a piece of clay bar into a small palm sized circle or square (do not use the whole bar at once, only pieces at a time), wet the area with soap/water mixture. I recommend starting with the roof and working your way down to the hood, trunk lid, fenders, doors, quarters, bumpers and rockers. I personally always go in a back and forth motion with the bar and keep rubbing until you feel no more dirt or drag (you will see what I mean when you get here). You can even hit the headlights, glass and polished/chromed trim with this stuff as well to clean it up. Remember to do one panel at a time and to keep that surface wet with the soap and water to prevent scratching. When done with each section or panel, dry and clean each section with a mixture of water and ONR with a clean microfiber cloth.

Buffing Basics:
When the entire car is clay barred and cleaned with ONR it's now time to bust out the buffer, pads, compound and polishes! Here is an area where everyone has their own opinion on things, so I want you to know first that this is "my" opinion of doing this. Another thing is to read the directions on the bottles of every compound and polish you use for the correct buffer speeds and application. Every brand is a little different and once you become a pro at this you can start adding your own little tricks here and there. Remember to always start with the lightest compounds first before moving up to a more course grit compound. Depending on how scratched your paint is or how oxidized or damaged really depends on what grit compound you should go with. As for buffer machine preference, that is all up to the user and how much money you want to spend on one. Just remember, you will be putting a lot of hours on this thing so you get what you pay for. I personally use a DeWalt and Makita but have used the smaller Porter Cables with great luck and they work great for the hobbyist who does not use a buffer all day every day.

Compounding- Step 1:
The first step to creating that nice shine is to cut down the current paint surface around the scratches. A dull paint surface is usually due to tons of micro scratches that are hard to see in day light and to the human eye. To get rid of these scratches you need to cut the clear coat down to a nice even finish. Again, I recommend starting with the roof then hood, trunk lid, and so forth. In this process you will want to pull out the compound and wool/foam blend pad. Start by putting a quarter sized amount of compound on the pad and a small amount of compound on the paint surface itself. Lay the buffer on top of the compound and without turning it on yet, smudge it around in a small 1 foot section or so. Now when buffing you want to work in small sections no more than 2 square feet at a time and ALWAYS keep the pad flat on the surface. With Optimum Compounds you will run the buffer at a speed of 1000-1500 RPM's and go in a back and forth motion overlapping the last pass by about 50%. Be sure not to let the compound dry up or else you will create too much heat and badly damage the paint and burn through. Keep compound on the surface, keep it wet but not so much that it slings compound all over and also keep your pad clean but running the buffer on your knee with a pad brush or pad cleaning spur. Continue this process over every section and panel until you have eliminated most of the big scratches and the paint begins to come to a nice shine. Clean each section with ONR and water mixture as you move onto the next 2 square foot. section. If you do not clean each section and you buff over the dust and sling it creates, you will get this in your pad and do more damage than good.

Polish/Swirl Remover- Step 2:
This step is to remove (not hide) the swirl marks left by the compounding step. The thing I like about the Optimum Polish is that it does not fill in and hide the swirls, it actually gets rid of them. If you use a cheap product that fills or glazes the swirls then next time you wash your vehicle the swirls will reappear. Before starting, be sure the section you are starting with is free of dirt, compound dust or residue. Here you will use the medium foam pad (grey), swirl remover, and a speed of 1000-1400 RPM's on your buffer. Again do a small 2 square foot section at a time and keep the surface wet with the polish and clean the panel when you move onto the next section. Repeat this step until the swirl marks are gone!

Final Polish- Step 3:
The final process is to finish the surface to remove (not hide) any imperfections still in the paint (very small imperfections only). I personally use and highly recommend Optimum Poli-Seal which is a final polish and paint sealant all in one. Use the grey finishing pad with the buffer at 1000-1200 RPM's. Again, slow back and forth movements here keeping the pad flat! Finish wiping it with a microfiber cloth misted with spray wax for a steak free and perfect finish. Now that you are done, take the vehicle outside (or inside) and look over the vehicle closely in florescent lights and natural sun light and check for swirl marks. If you find any, hit them with the Poli-Seal or Polish again until they are gone. Check for swirl marks from all different angles and lighting because they can sometimes be very hard to see.

Paint Sealant and Waxing- Step 4 (Optional):
I always like to add two more quick steps at the end. Even though you used (or did not use) the Poli-Seal, I add another coat or two of Paint Sealant from Optimum called Opti-Seal. One bottle should last about 25-35 vehicles and best of all it is easy to apply and there is NO wiping off. Wipe it on and it evaporates of like rubbing alcohol. Read the directions carefully and use the foam hand applicator it comes with. When using this stuff a tip here is to NOT use a lot and do NOT press down on the applicator or else it will smudge and leave a mark that will need to be washed or rubbed off with ONR. Go around the car 2 times with this and finish it off with spray wax and your done!

 

[Shawn F.]

Now that you are done, take that plastic bag again and rub your hand over the roof or somewhere that is clean. You should feel a big difference with NO drag and it glides across nicely. Also remember that with this paint sealant from Optimum, you can use it over EVERYTHING including glass, rubber, mirrors, emblems, trim, chrome bumpers, plastic, tail lights, headlights, etc. The paint sealant is MUCH better than wax, lasts much longer and makes your car washing easier because it wont allow dirt to stick to your paint. Bugs should wash right off your front end as well.
I will make another thread on how to properly wash your vehicle after it's been fully worked over and buffed. The ONR I mention in this how to is GREAT stuff and I use it all the time to wash vehicles without pulling out a pressure washer and hose. You can use it on the interior of windows to clean them as well.
I hope this helps some of you and gives you ideas. I did not take this from any website or magazine/book, this is all from my head and my opinions from personal experience!

The ONR will last you a very long time. Only one or two capfuls in a bucket works great and there is MULTIPLE uses out of it. Look on the Optimum Car Care site and look up the Quick Detailer as well. I like to add ONR to it and use it to wash and clean cars that are only lightly dirty. Doing that will make it a Waterless Wash instead of a No Rinse solution. All you have to do then is get a few microfiber cloths, use the ONR/Instant Detailer mix and go to town cleaning one panel at a time with no buckets, hoses, water or sitting outside in the winter cold weather. Finish drying with a new cloth and spray wax and you just washed, shined and waxed the vehicle in two steps. Justin at Obsessive Detail also sells a Waterless Wash. I am not a huge environmental save the trees freak and that really isn't all the product is used for (to save water and have nasty run off into the street, drains or yard), it actually saves lots of time and easier to do in your garage out of the cold. Keeps the paint protected at all times. Once you guys do what I explained above you should be able to drive in the rain, come home, park in the garage and the car should be dry within minutes with very little to no dirt on the car, even the rockers. Next time you wash the vehicle, most bugs and dirt will fall right off. The glass will bead up and stay cleaner too.
As I may have mentioned, I will do a wash and dry write up as well with the Waterless Washes and ONR and all the different things you can use ONR on.
I also do not represent Optimum Car Care or have anything to do with their business, I know I have mentioned their products over and over but like I said before I have tried hundreds and even thousands of dollars worth of products out (just testing and daily usage) and found every single product from Optimum to be the best out there. There are a few other brands that are great as well and are cheap such as some Stoner Car Care products (Invisible Glass), etc but what I have done by testing all these products is cut my time and cost on materials way down to almost half. Sure I spent tons of time and money testing good and junk materials out but now I save myself the headache and have my own routine down exactly how I like it. I still test other products though. Pretty much I mix Optimum Power Clean and Stoner Trim Shine (in the 5 gallon bucket) and have an interior cleaner/shiner all in one. Power clean degreaser can also be diluted to clean carpets and seats, the tire gel from them can be diluted way down and put into a Wagner spray gun from Lowes that is electrical and used on tires, wheel wells, engine compartments, trim, etc. Doing this keeps me from having to buy 5 or 6 different shine/dressing products, carpet cleaners, degreasers, etc.
Anyways I will shut up now, sorry for the rambling. If anyone has ANY questions on products, detailing, body work or paint then please feel free to Email or PM me.

*****If you order the materials from Obsessive Detail, let the owner Justin know I sent you and tell him your a member of the El Camino forum (I know this is G Body forum but it's OK). He said he will give out a 10% discount to all members here and on El Camino Central. When you checkout, put " El Camino Forum Member 10% off" in the comment box!
For The Rag Shack you can enter "rag10" in the coupon box and get the discount automatically.
These products can get a bit pricey so I thought this could help some of you when ordering to save some money.*****