Spring Detailing?

[Too Stroked]

Well, spring is almost here. (OK, maybe not here where I am in the Great White North.) But as warmer weather approaches, many of us will want to catch up on a whole winter?s worth of missed detailing of our vehicles. Lord knows it?s hard enough just to keep most vehicles washed and half way decent looking during the winter months. So I thought I?d start a thread about what you might want to consider as general steps to catch up on making your ride look like new again. Oh, and I hope all of my fellow caf? members will chime in with their thoughts and hints too!

One hint I usually offer for folks who live where they use road salt is not to even attempt a full detail until 1) Everybody is done dumping salt on the roads, and 2) After a couple of good downpours. Why? Because try as you might, it?s hard to beat a good long drive in a downpour to wash the underside of your car to remove all of that built up salt. And why bother detailing if they?re going to salt the crap out of everything tomorrow anyway?

Assuming the time is right, it?s time for a real wash now. You?ve probably all read about starting from the top and working down. Well, I?m going to go against the grain here and say that in this special case, start at the bottom first. Why? Because the bottom half of your vehicle takes the worst beating in winter. Since it requires the most work ? and maybe the most aggressive chemicals ? I take care of the bottom half before going back up and working from the top down. (And for the top I will have fresh soap water and supplies.) I spend a good deal of time on my hands and knees with the hose pointed up here. No, I?m not watering the lawn. I?m spraying the underside of my car and up into the insides of the box on my pickup truck. Don?t be shy here and pour it on. You?ll be surprised how much stuff will come out the bottom, from behind your tail lights, etc. I keep spraying until the runoff is clear.

The other thing I do at this time is spend some extra time on my wheel wells. They take an absolute beating during the winter and this is when I catch up on all of that abuse. I generally spray APC on the whole area and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then I come back with my array of stiff bristle brushes and scrub them really well. I?ve also found that whitewall cleaner works pretty well in this application. Be careful on the overspray and finish up with a really good rinse.

After the wheel wells, it?s time for the tires, wheels and brakes. Making sure the wheels are not hot from driving / braking is an important hint before applying any kind of chemical cleaner here. I usually start with the wheels and brakes first, then finish up with the tires. Most wheel cleaners do a great job of cleaning up brake dust both on the wheels and on the brake parts such as calipers, rotors, etc. Make sure to follow the directions and let it soak in for a bit. I have a special set of brushes that I save for brake work. If you?re diligent, you can really make things look like new here. And again, make sure you rinse really well.

While I?m working on the bottom half of the car, I also inspect the paint for damage from stones, snards, salt, etc. Every year I find at least one unpleasant surprise. (Kind of makes me wonder why I don?t have a dedicated beater / winter car anymore like I used to.) You may actually find that you need some paint touch up work that should really be done to a really clean - but un-waxed ? car. No time like the present to get that done so it can cure before you move on.

I?d move on to washing the rest of the car from the top down, but I?ll let some of my fellow members chime in here. Then I?ll add some more of my thoughts over the next few days.

[Kitzy]

I'll add that I almost always start at the bottom washing and by that I mean wheels and wheel wells.  Even in the nicer parts of the years.  I always focus heavily on areas that are normally overlooked and areas that I can see to save my life.  They're usually a perfect spot for dirt and grime to hide.  Inside the wheel well along the lip of the fender comes to mind.  In the winter this is especially important.  You amazing how much crap comes out.  And that brings up my point as to why I start there.  That crap in those hard to reach areas... gets everywhere.  All over you, the paint, the wheels.  I like to use a touch less drive through car wash to get the bulk of the underneath.  Then I just wash it properly.  Its $8-$12 well spent. 

[Rollingrock]

Great thread and great points for you "northern" folk

But we folks down here got a little salt...as Tom put it about as much as on a large order of fries but still.

This is one of those times I think using the Rollingrock super soaked HD method would be in play for the undercarriage and wells.  When get that first wash down, I would totally saturate the wells and undercarriage with HD.   Then pull up and take your hose and dilute the HD so it doesn't pool and stain your driveway.   

Those using the Foam Sprayers, I think i would double coat it and really let it dwell on the surface to help emulsify the grime before even putting a MF on it.   

If I lived up north,  I would take the time and go ahead and remove each wheel and really get in there....then add a coat of PB Wheel Sealant.    What I will be doing to the EXPY and the Jeep is a full wash, quick go over with the "autoscrub" then very light polish.    Correct anything that needs attention, maybe run a lighter polish then an IPA wipe down....finally a re application of OC2.0 



 

[sscully]

I am a door and fender seam freak.

During the winter, I wipe down that bottom seam of the door every wash, and then spray them down with corrosion protector
- s100 makes ones for motorcycles, I just carry this product over to the car seams.
 
The G6, GM was nice enough to install a rust flap there, just to be sure the crap builds up and can eat away at the bottom of the door in peace.

I use Torx wipes ( the ones that Griot's sells ), they are nice and soft and work great with Spray n Wipe to clean the crap out.

This is important to me in the winter months, the Summer I only apply the corrosion spray once a month ( about every 3rd to 4th wash ).

Another nice place for this procedure is along the seam at the bottom of the tail gate.
- A nice place for crap to build up and eat at the bottom of the tailgate.

These are more so important in the winter months doing a wash or ONR, but now is a good time to take an up close look at them.
- When I get to a full detail, I pull out the creeper and the LED spot lamp in the clap bulb holder and go after them eye-loupe style.

As Tom said, now is a good time to start to inspect what happened over the winter while crap was building up, and washes were minimal, at best.
- Merlin and similar do not have this issue...

[Too Stroked]

Cool! Keep them coming guys!

[Too Stroked]

Steve,

Is that S100 anything like Fluid Film? The reason I ask is that I've used Fluid Film before and really like it. But I don't apply it to the seams you mentioned. I do wash I dry them regularly though.

[sscully]

Taking a quick look at it, Fluid Film and the S100 appear to be the same.

Fluid Film seems to be a bit more industrial, where mine is more Motorcycle focused, and the results of this seem to be Fluid Film might last longer.

Might want to take a look at those seems, well on the Toy in a season or 2, it is new.  I find the crap in the bed will fall down into the self clean area, and stick in there if there is any water around and create a film of muck

[Blown F-150]

I just started the "Spring detail Prep" on the truck today.

 - Coin wash and I brought a 5 gal. pail of hot water (not so much when it got there) ready to go with Meg's gold wash. I pretty much try to spray every nook and cranny I can as well some of the underside as the place I go to has a long angled pressure wand to get undercarriages. MF Mitt wash and wand rinse.
 - Wipe down of all door jambs. Overall my wax seemed to still be sticking around in most areas, so that was good.
 - Walk around to check out chrome and painted parts as well as wheel, wheel wells and drivetrain. Check for new paint chips, tar, iron spots, etc.
 - Quick interior clean up, basic vacuum and wipe-down checking out condition of carpet (salt, dirt, new stains, etc.)

Then it's basically I take the info gathered and will get supplies together for when it actually warms up. It was only 35*F today, so no polishing for a while...

After the winter the truck saw this year, it will need a FULL detail...

[Too Stroked]

Taking a quick look at it, Fluid Film and the S100 appear to be the same.

Fluid Film seems to be a bit more industrial, where mine is more Motorcycle focused, and the results of this seem to be Fluid Film might last longer.

Might want to take a look at those seems, well on the Toy in a season or 2, it is new.  I find the crap in the bed will fall down into the self clean area, and stick in there if there is any water around and create a film of muck

Already did Steve. As I have with my past vehicles, I sprayed Fluid Film into the lower door and tailgate seams when the Taco was new. .

BTW, we use Fluid Film now on many of the "rust problematic" parts on the Super Duty fleet. Number one and two on that list are Oil Pans and Transmission Pans - which rust out all to fast when exposed to salt up here.

[sscully]

Already did Steve. As I have with my past vehicles, I sprayed Fluid Film into the lower door and tailgate seams when the Taco was new. . ...<snip>...

Sorry I misread your post above.  Thought it said you didn't.  I should not have been trying to type a check Menz PL for removal on the G6 at the same time.
- Why is it we get past St Pats day, and regardless of the weather we are starting to treat it like it is open season on detailing ?

...<snip>...BTW, we use Fluid Film now on many of the "rust problematic" parts on the Super Duty fleet. Number one and two on that list are Oil Pans and Transmission Pans - which rust out all to fast when exposed to salt up here.

Good one, I don't have that issue with my F150 yet, but then again I don't keep a salt spreader on it.

Do you use the spray cans, or get it in gallons and spray it on ?

Also do you have a local / place you get the skid steer equip from, or is it from a national chain ?

I checked,  the local "yard" equipment place here has it ( the Russo family, they seem to own 45% of Melrose Park ) but I did not see it listed as Napa or the local Vatozone.

Just eye balling getting some, the run it in park has peaked my curiosity, I might dip the bottom of the truck in it this year ( it has 100K + on it, time to take a bit of additional care of it ).

[Too Stroked]

Steve,

We get our Fluid Film from the local Truck Parts / Driveshaft specialist shop here called Fleet Pride. (One of the guys that works there drives a plow for us part time.) We buy it in the spray cans (about $7 each) but should really buy it in bulk and shoot it out of a sprayer. And BTW, it's not just the salt truck that goes through oil and tranny pans. Every single one of our trucks has either had them replaced or has one in trouble. We just started using the FF a couple of years ago. The trucks using it appear to be in way better shape.

[Too Stroked]

OK Caf? members, we've determined that most of us actually prefer to start at the bottom of the vehicle and work around - not up. To reiterate, this is to keep contaminates from the area of the car they seem to thrive in from causing damage to the rest of the vehicle.

Now it's time to shift gears and move to the top of the vehicle and work down with a really good wash. As with working around the bottom, we start at the top and work down for a very similar reason - gravity. We want to use gravity to force everything to flow from the top down as we wash, then rinse.

The first thing I do when washing is go around the whole vehicle and wet it down really well with a gentle spray. I do this to start loosening up anything that has attached itself to the various surfaces. I follow this up with a good blasting of specific areas where I can really see the dirt. Again, this is to loosen the stuff up even more.

Next, I pull out my trusty foam gun loaded with whatever your favorite Car Wash Soap happens to be. (My current favorite comes from Optimum.) Starting at the top, I soak the entire vehicle so that it's covered and soaking in scrubbing bubbles. Then, I have a quick beer. Why? Because for one thing, by this point I'm thirsty. Second, it allows the soap to further loosen any surface contaminates before I start with a wash mitt.

Next, well, I'm going to let somebody else chime in about how to wash properly using the two bucket method.

[Blown F-150]

Thanks for the tip on Fluid Film. I am just seeing if there is anywhere I can pick it up vs. online.

[Too Stroked]

Thanks for the tip on Fluid Film. I am just seeing if there is anywhere I can pick it up vs. online.

Try truck parts stores and even some gun shops.

[sscully]

Thanks for the tip on Fluid Film. I am just seeing if there is anywhere I can pick it up vs. online.

I did not search around local for the price per can, but Amazon has a few market place vendors that sell the cans for ~ 11.00 each shipped ( in 2 and 3 packs ).

Just a bit of FYI.
- I would not be over by the equipment place to check prices, and that is c(r)ook country so huge tax bill is included with every purchase...