Detailing The Gtr

[Beelzebub89]

Evening All,

So its been awhile since my car had a full on detail and I've offered it up to a member on here who was looking for white GTRs for his wedding. So I decided to do a big detail today and I've taken photos through different stages. Should give anyone who is wondering how to detail a car a good idea of the process and the amount of time it takes to get a good result.

90% of a good detail is in the preparation.

The steps I used for the detail are

1: Wash Car.

I do wheels first with a Wheel cleaner and a microfibre wash mit as well as the wheel arches. Then wash the body with a separate wash mit. After wash I use a microfibre drying towel to dry the car and a seperate one to dry the wheels.

2. Clay the car using a Blue Magic Clay Bar.

This is to get rid of all the built up crap that sits on top of your paint and gives you a smooth surface to polish.

3. After claying I wash the car again to remove any clay residue. Again dry with microfibre drying towel.

4. Now the surface is all ready for polishing. I use a random orbital for polishing. I used Menzerna Intensive Polish on a Blue edge pad for the first pass and then Menzerna Final Finish on a White edge pad for finishing it up.

5. I used FI Seal for my last step product. This is a new sealer from Final Inspection in Melbourne. It goes on really easy and provides awesome protection.

The sealer needs 72 hours to cure and then I will apply another coat to add some more protection. The sealer won't need to be applied again for another 6 months or so. To keep the shine I will be topping it up with P21s 100 carnauba paste wax.

Here are all the photos I took today from start to finish.

Equipment

Car Pre Wash

Car After Wash

Bit Rich? This rear bar is a pain in the arse to keep clean. Dam white cars. I used my wheel cleaner to get the majority of this crap off as it eats through it a lot quicker. The clay bar then gets anything that was missed.

These always look shit as well. About time they got cleaned.

After Claying

After Polish and Sealer

Was a long day but the car looks fantastic now. Next on the list is the interior.

[ali-turko]

looks the goods man,

now you can stand back and admire your own work

[Redsuns88]

*(jizzes*

[DaGr81]

Yeah clay bars do wonders for the cars, first time I did it it took 6 hours to do the whole car as it had so much crap like tree sap (probably 10 years worth) and what not. But now it's only like 2 hours or so of clay bar.

Anyways top effort mate.

[KR4-GTR]

extremely nice mate, well done!

[Hakosuka22]

Great job looks the goods. Just a quick question... What was the cost for the equipment you used? Approx?

[Beelzebub89]

Cheers for the comments guys

Took it for a run up to O'Reillys for a bbq and it needs another wash now haha.

Approx $300 - $350 in consumables polish, clay, sealer etc and then probably another $200 - 250 in cloths and polishing pads. And my random orbital cost me $150. Seems like a lot but if you were to pay somebody to do it to this standard it would probably cost $250 or more. My sister got her car detailed by one of those Jame's Mobile Detailers and they charged $200 and didn't even clay the car before it was polished. And then they only polished the bonnet, roof and rear bar.

If you're interested in getting some gear to detail the car get on to Final Inspection in Melbourne. Damian knows his stuff and can sort you out with everything you will need. It's not much more expensive than buying the Mothers/Meguires stuff and will give you a better finish.

But remember its all in the preparation. The one item I wouldn't be without is the Blue Magic Clay Bar. I've used the Mothers & Meguires clay bars and they are tiny and take ages to pick up some stuff. The Blue Magic bar is 3 times bigger and takes everything off a lot easier. They're only about $20 more than the mothers/meguires stuff so well worth it.

[GTR-32U]

Excellent job....!! Your car looks Totally Gorgeous....I dream of owning a car like this.!!

[EJD001]

Looks awesome...

What bug hit u on the front spoiler.. mad a mess of himself!!

[Beelzebub89]

Yeah I was wondering that myself. We did a mountain run the night before so that's why the front bar looks like an insect graveyard lol.

[NISMO]

Very nice job. Pretty much exactly what i do 2-3 times a year, but replace the Menzerna with Zaino.

Just a quick tip for the exhaust stains on the rear bar. I have a white 32 GTR as well and I use Tutle Wax spray on bug and tar remover. This stuff in unbelievable. simply spray on wait 60secs, and lightly wipe off and all stains disappear. Completely safe and doesn't strip polish/sealers.

Pretty sure it was under $20 at supercheap and the by far my best ever investment in car cleaning products.

[GTR-N1]

^^^ Thanx; will keep Turtle Wax Tar N Bug in mind!

mxfly via Polish_Doc taught me how to use the above processes too. Many thanx to those guys.

They use Menzerna & Zaino too.

God_speed uses Zymol for the wheels

[Beelzebub89]

Will keep an eye out for that stuff next time. The FI Wheel Cleaner I use eats through all the exhaust crap just the same. Its amazing on the wheels to. Never have to touch them with a wash mit again. Spray on, leave for a minute and then hose off along with all the brake dust and crap. Very impressed with it.

[Beelzebub89]

More photos from Sunday morning.

[Brandon]

Probably gonna wash it tomorrow!

[SHANE666]

Good work mate!!

There is no satisfaction greater than finishing off something like this and admiring the final result!!

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

Damn that is nice and shiny!

Welldone!

BTW I just saw your wheels again and they got some fat ass deep lip going.

[KR4-GTR]

My car has a huge thick layer of dust on it from the dust storm weather in sydney this morning.. I drove it this morning for only a 10 minute trip and its the dirtiest i think its ever been. Another guy called today and wanted to come and have a look at it - its the first time i've said no! haha

Your pics really have put me in the wash and polish mood, i think i know what i'll be up to this weekend I just had to come back to this thread for some inspiration!

Edited September 23, 2009 by KR4-GTR

[08r3308]

that look really good

[Beelzebub89]

Damn that is nice and shiny!

Welldone!

BTW I just saw your wheels again and they got some fat ass deep lip going.

Yeah I love my dish

My car has a huge thick layer of dust on it from the dust storm weather in sydney this morning.. I drove it this morning for only a 10 minute trip and its the dirtiest i think its ever been. Another guy called today and wanted to come and have a look at it - its the first time i've said no! haha

Your pics really have put me in the wash and polish mood, i think i know what i'll be up to this weekend I just had to come back to this thread for some inspiration!

Glad I could help

Mine is filthy as well lol. I didn't even drive it but somebody left the shed doors open yesterday so I have a nice coat of dust on it now. Getting a wash tonight and another coat of Sealer. Will be good to see how well it has worked so far