Ask the Detailer

Damn all I have is one of those pancake air compressor.

 

Last year I put on a trd rock warrior bumper from car part dot com and I can’t get rid of this streaking. Should I be painting this bumper?

 

Just out of curiosity...what have you tried? When did this appear?

 

I've only washed it. Others are saying to paint it but online it says it comes powder coated black.
https://www.carparts.com/details/To...umper/2013/SR5/8_Cyl_5-dot-7L/REPT823902.html

 

I've heard that you can you a clay bar on a powder coated finish.........I've never tried it. I'd test it in an inconspicuous area first.....Eastwood makes a polish for power coated surfaces....you could give that a try. Looks to me like you drove through something and maybe did not realize it until it has stained?

 

As the holidays approach, "the Detailer" aka @T-Rex266 needs to create of list of detailer equipment and products for those of us who are not skilled to put on our holiday gift lists! i.e. what products but which manufacturers; which foam cannon, pressure washer, blower, microfiber towels, etc.

 

Ended up manually using some ultimate compound from meguairs. I think it must have been hard water stains from water trapped under the bumper cover.

 

This would be great, I'm looking for a beginner list for paint correction. I'm scared to give it a try especially on a black car but don't want to pay $$$$$ for labor.

 

Need advice on clay. And wax.

To preface- I am far from new to car cleaning/paint care. My maintenance wash setup is killer. But I have limited experience with clay bars and wax. I have tons and tons of experience buffing and polishing boats, but that's remarkably different than polishing a car. My truck has been parked outside it's entire life- and the paint feels rough. It's obvious that it's chock full of contaminants and it needs to be clayed.

Do you guys think that if I clay the paint with a heavy clay, then switch to a medium, then a fine clay, that I could skip the polishing step and use a really good wax? My only polisher is a rotary and I don't have the skills to use it on a car without swirls. I'm not super interested in buying a DA right now.

I feel like it would be fine? Am I crazy? A friend of mine did the above process on his black Accord with really soft paint and it came out really good. If you think it would be fine, what clay and wax should I use?

 

If you have so much experience polishing boats (gelcoat)...why would you not polish after claying? I'd do a full decon...including an iron remover. Claying with three different clay bars and not polishing is just asking for trouble....to me. I'd be more inclined to start with a medium clay bar and assess your results.

I only use two grades of clay. For a more heavy clay, I use 3M Perfect It......for light claying...Griots Garage clay bars. I've never been a big fan of the clay mitts/towels...I like to see what I'm removing.

Griots Garage 3 in 1 Ceramic Wax is a good option.....very durable, locally available and economic to use. The only box it does not check (for me) is slickness....but its a top shelf product.

 

I don't own a DA polisher. Just a rotary. I know you can get them for $100 but I'm hesitant. I don't really want to buy one- this is the first instance where I've felt like I could maybe need one. Boat polishing is also dead simple and hard to mess up. I tried polishing the soft black paint on my other car one time and really F'd it up.

I'm also a college student- budget for maintaining this truck isn't huge. The amount of time I have to spent isn't huge either.

Hmm. Do you think that I could use a light/medium clay and get away with just wax?

 

Hi just wondering what the best product is to get a small area of pine sap off my paint? Thanks

 

Not much I can do about this, huh?

 

Tarminator

 

unscented hand sanitizer

 

Thank you!! Saved it to my list!!

 

If anyone is needing Adam's Polishes 16oz products, they're currently offering BOGO with code 'GETONE' at checkout. While this seems like a good deal, it was even better than I thought as I purchased the Interior Detailer for $12.99 and the Leather Conditioner + Applicator for $32.99 and the code took off the $32.99!

 

I've been using Ammo_nyc and Chemical Guys stuff for years and love them both. Just wish I could afford a rupes polisher.

 

Hello.

Yesterday I put a gas powered (gas+oil 2 stroke mix) drill on my back seat. Well it leaked. As soon as I realized (still wet) I got my steam cleaner out and went at it for 10 minutes or so to try to get all the gas out. There is still a little smell. Does Febreeze just do the trick? Or should I go for something else?

Thanks in advance!

 

@T-Rex266 My brown bomber is currently looking like Tony Montana's left nostril. What's your best salt removal tips, trick and solutions?

 

I picked up a set of rims for $100. Three of them came pretty clean with some polish and buffing pads for a drill. The fourth is kicking my ass. Two spokes came clean with about an hour effort each. The third spoke looks like this with about 3 hours of work on it.

This is one of the others. Still some haze, but the flash exaggerates it. Looks decent in normal light.


I see that Harbor Freight has a DA buffer for under $40, I'm thinking about that and some cutting fluid. Any suggestions? I don't want to spend big bucks on $100 rims for an 11 year old truck. Time isn't an issue.

 

While moving all the cars around today for snowplowing I put a small <1/2" sized tear in the seat of the wife's car. Also a few scuffs. I've never worked with any certain leather repair kits and have already been down the Google rabbit hole. Anyone have and recommendations?

This pic shows the tear


these 2 pics show the scuffed areas.




I'm leaning towards the seat doctors leather dye that is matched via a vin number for the scuffs. And a backing patch under the small tear that I would fish into place under the tear, then seal it from the outside.

https://www.seatdoctors.com/shop/automotive-leather-dye