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My Shelby cleaning and waxing system.


stump_breaker

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Thought I would give you the steps I took today and the products I used to finally get my black car shining like a mirror. I takes about 2 hours of work but was well worth it.

 

1. Park car in sun and presoak with a very mild detergent. I put a little bit - 2 ounces or so - of mild diswashing detergent in a bottle and mix with water. Then I hosed the car down while letting the soap trickle into the water stream and let sit.

2. Rinse.

3. Once I'm sure the large pieces are off I mix up car wash soap in a 5 gallon bucket and wash 1/2 the car and rinse. Repeat for other half. The car is getting hot so it dries quickly if you not careful.

4. Now to dry. I use a Chamois and break the surface tension of the water removing most of it from the car. Since it's sitting in the sun, it will spot and streak. Not a problem.

5. Using WINDEX, not a store brand, you lightly mist and wipe. The streaks and spots disappear. Don't get ahead of yourself and just do a little at a time. Mist, wipe, mist wipe. As you do this, the car begins to have a streak free sparkle.

6. Once complete, I find a shady area, in this case it's my barn. As I posted earlier, not only did I get a small piece of trash between the car and my rag earlier when I was waxing the top that put some nasty scratches in the clear coat but I also used a Trutle Wax rubbing compound to try and remove these scratches that only made things 10 times worse. It looked like I had buffed with a handfull of sand. I ordered THIS and THIS to try and fix these problems.

7. Apply the 357 Heavy cut to scratched area and start working it in. I had to use quite a bit to keep it moist. I then took my dual action buffer and let the buffer really work this stuff in. The minor scratches started to disappear and the major ones lightened up to the point you really have to look for them. The Turtle Wax scratch-haze disappeared completely. It leaves a light fog on the car so I just wiped but only to make sure it was clean. I then applied 61 Smooth Cut to the same bonnett, rubbed it into the bonnet by hand and buffed the car for about 5 or 6 minutes. It was a miracle! The same fog was there but I'm getting to that.

8. The wax I used is a basic Carnauba wax blend I purchased some time ago but it works well. Although the instructions said "not to let dry", I applied to the fogged area by hand, let dry and then removed by hand. It came off easily and left a DEEP MIRROR finish and only the faintest signs of the deeper scratches still remain but even under flourescent lights, you have to know where they are to see them. I'm sure Zaino would work fantastic in the place of this wax product I used (can't remember it's name). Showroom be dammed, this is a show quality finish and nothing is sticking to it. The car feels like silk.

 

Anyway, that how I'm going to start taking care of this black car. It worked very well today.....

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Thought I would give you the steps I took today and the products I used to finally get my black car shining like a mirror. I takes about 2 hours of work but was well worth it.

 

1. Park car in sun and presoak with a very mild detergent. I put a little bit - 2 ounces or so - of mild diswashing detergent in a bottle and mix with water. Then I hosed the car down while letting the soap trickle into the water stream and let sit.

2. Rinse.

3. Once I'm sure the large pieces are off I mix up car wash soap in a 5 gallon bucket and wash 1/2 the car and rinse. Repeat for other half. The car is getting hot so it dries quickly if you not careful.

4. Now to dry. I use a Chamois and break the surface tension of the water removing most of it from the car. Since it's sitting in the sun, it will spot and streak. Not a problem.

5. Using WINDEX, not a store brand, you lightly mist and wipe. The streaks and spots disappear. Don't get ahead of yourself and just do a little at a time. Mist, wipe, mist wipe. As you do this, the car begins to have a streak free sparkle.

6. Once complete, I find a shady area, in this case it's my barn. As I posted earlier, not only did I get a small piece of trash between the car and my rag earlier when I was waxing the top that put some nasty scratches in the clear coat but I also used a Trutle Wax rubbing compound to try and remove these scratches that only made things 10 times worse. It looked like I had buffed with a handfull of sand. I ordered THIS and THIS to try and fix these problems.

7. Apply the 357 Heavy cut to scratched area and start working it in. I had to use quite a bit to keep it moist. I then took my dual action buffer and let the buffer really work this stuff in. The minor scratches started to disappear and the major ones lightened up to the point you really have to look for them. The Turtle Wax scratch-haze disappeared completely. It leaves a light fog on the car so I just wiped but only to make sure it was clean. I then applied 61 Smooth Cut to the same bonnett, rubbed it into the bonnet by hand and buffed the car for about 5 or 6 minutes. It was a miracle! The same fog was there but I'm getting to that.

8. The wax I used is a basic Carnauba wax blend I purchased some time ago but it works well. Although the instructions said "not to let dry", I applied to the fogged area by hand, let dry and then removed by hand. It came off easily and left a DEEP MIRROR finish and only the faintest signs of the deeper scratches still remain but even under flourescent lights, you have to know where they are to see them. I'm sure Zaino would work fantastic in the place of this wax product I used (can't remember it's name). Showroom be dammed, this is a show quality finish and nothing is sticking to it. The car feels like silk.

 

Anyway, that how I'm going to start taking care of this black car. It worked very well today.....

 

 

I never have, and never will, wash a car in the sun... regardless of the color..

 

A carport with 4- 500 watt halogen lights works really well for me.. I usually wash cars at night.

 

Also, I have never been able to wash a car without using an air chuck or a leaf blower to get all of the water out of the gaps/seams/crevices, etc..

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I have to agree. Only wash, dry, polish, and wax in shade with the paint temp relatively low (not 1500 degrees from being in the sun).

 

I also only use Meguiers products. They are more $, but worth every penny.

 

Last, use Mequiers car wash or other quality wash liquid, not dish detergent. Detergents have mild caustics which can be corrosive to your clear coat and cause a haze that can be extremely difficult to remove even with quality polishes.

 

Just my 2 cents.

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Just from my experience I recommend Zaino. As someone else mentioned, dish soap isnt good to use regularly. Those like Dawn take carnuba wax off. Its great to use to wash before you are going to claybar but other than that its bad.

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Detergents have mild caustics which can be corrosive

 

 

Caustics are 7+ to 14. When you mix a mild caustic (high pH) with tap water (should be closer to neutral pH but these days, who knows anymore) the caustic is neutralized so you don't have to worry about the etching effect this could cause (dilution is the solution). If you are concerned a product may be too caustic or acidic (soaps = caustic, vinegar=acidic (acetic acid) ), you can mix in baking soda which has a natural tendency to adjust it's environment to an 8.1 pH, closer to neutral which is 7. From this point the "soap" (sodium metasylicate, phosphates, etc) are breaking the surface tension of the water allowing the water to dissolve the grime on the car. The breaking of the surface tension is where bubbles come from. Surface tension can be observed through the side of a clear glass (Meniscus curve) or by watching a water beetle striding across the top of a pond.

 

But then with all that being said, H20 is called the universal solvent because it will react with and dissolve nearly everything given time. Maybe we should invent dehydrated water in which to wash our cars? :lol:

 

BTW, just so you know I'm not talking out of my rear end, dealing with these process is what I do on a daily basis. Among the many hats I wear at work as the Environmental Manager, I'm also over the water pre-treatment facility located on-site. We chemically remove metals - CU and ZN mostly - which is very dependent on pH to work efficiently.

 

This is why I'm not concerned with using Windex. Although it does contain a strong solvent, Butyl Glycol, is is also diluted with Ammonia and Isoproponal. As long as it does not sit to long, it will not harm the vehicle but, you will probably need to wax more frequently if you use it often. But then who doesn't like waxing these cars.... :D

 

I also forgot to mention, when I washed in the sun, it was early in the morning so the heat was not cranked up yet.

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Caustics are 7+ to 14. When you mix a mild caustic (high pH) with tap water (should be closer to neutral pH but these days, who knows anymore) the caustic is neutralized so you don't have to worry about the etching effect this could cause (dilution is the solution). If you are concerned a product may be too caustic or acidic (soaps = caustic, vinegar=acidic (acetic acid) ), you can mix in baking soda which has a natural tendency to adjust it's environment to an 8.1 pH, closer to neutral which is 7. From this point the "soap" (sodium metasylicate, phosphates, etc) are breaking the surface tension of the water allowing the water to dissolve the grime on the car. The breaking of the surface tension is where bubbles come from. Surface tension can be observed through the side of a clear glass (Meniscus curve) or by watching a water beetle striding across the top of a pond.

 

But then with all that being said, H20 is called the universal solvent because it will react with and dissolve nearly everything given time. Maybe we should invent dehydrated water in which to wash our cars? :lol:

 

BTW, just so you know I'm not talking out of my rear end, dealing with these process is what I do on a daily basis. Among the many hats I wear at work as the Environmental Manager, I'm also over the water pre-treatment facility located on-site. We chemically remove metals - CU and ZN mostly - which is very dependent on pH to work efficiently.

 

This is why I'm not concerned with using Windex. Although it does contain a strong solvent, Butyl Glycol, is is also diluted with Ammonia and Isoproponal. As long as it does not sit to long, it will not harm the vehicle but, you will probably need to wax more frequently if you use it often. But then who doesn't like waxing these cars.... :D

 

I also forgot to mention, when I washed in the sun, it was early in the morning so the heat was not cranked up yet.

 

 

Stump,

 

Wouldn't it be much simpler to just drive it through the car wash? ;)

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^not really The SGT is a little low for the automatic car wash, Also some of the chemicals they use are very harsh, My son has an Evolution 8 and he heard from an Evolution forum that the chemicals they use will start to strip the paint off of his Brembo Brakes.

 

If you wash you're car it should always be done in the shade! I've USED Meguires products as well until they started to MELT off my sons car. We went to the mall and he parked towards the back of the parking lot (he used paint cleaner, polish, and carnubia waxed the car the day before) His car was as smooth as silk we came out of the mall a couple hours later and a bird had crapped on his car. He pulled out a soft rag and qiuck detailer from the car and it felt like the car had never been waxed, turned out the wax had melted off. From that day on he has been searching for a polish and wax that would work and NOT MELT form the car, Zaino has never melted and still looks as good as the day he waxed it.

 

This is how my son details my car and his

 

1. Wash you're car with dawn dish soap (once or twice a year WILL NOT HURT) and it gets all the old wax off

2. Dry car (I like microfiber rags)

3. Zaino clay bar

4. Wash the car again using Zaino car wash concentrate

5. Dry car again

6. 1 or 2 coats of Z-5 (depending on how many fine scratchs are in you're paint)

7. 1 or 2 coats of Z-2 (depending on how many coats of Z-5 were applyed)

8. Finish with a coat of Z-8 grand finale spray

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^not really The SGT is a little low for the automatic car wash, Also some of the chemicals they use are very harsh, My son has an Evolution 8 and he heard from an Evolution forum that the chemicals they use will start to strip the paint off of his Brembo Brakes.

 

If you wash you're car it should always be done in the shade! I've USED Meguires products as well until they started to MELT off my sons car. We went to the mall and he parked towards the back of the parking lot (he used paint cleaner, polish, and carnubia waxed the car the day before) His car was as smooth as silk we came out of the mall a couple hours later and a bird had crapped on his car. He pulled out a soft rag and qiuck detailer from the car and it felt like the car had never been waxed, turned out the wax had melted off. From that day on he has been searching for a polish and wax that would work and NOT MELT form the car, Zaino has never melted and still looks as good as the day he waxed it.

 

This is how my son details my car and his

 

1. Wash you're car with dawn dish soap (once or twice a year WILL NOT HURT) and it gets all the old wax off

2. Dry car (I like microfiber rags)

3. Zaino clay bar

4. Wash the car again using Zaino car wash concentrate

5. Dry car again

6. 1 or 2 coats of Z-5 (depending on how many fine scratchs are in you're paint)

7. 1 or 2 coats of Z-2 (depending on how many coats of Z-5 were applyed)

8. Finish with a coat of Z-8 grand finale spray

 

 

Santa,

 

Thanks for the info. I am waiting for my white (auto) SGT to arrive. Hopefully it will never get dirty so I won't have to wash it. :D

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