Ask the Detailer

Ceramic coating on raw aluminum wheels that are polished? Or clear coat and then ceramic? Going to lose any brightness of the aluminum? Pros and cons? Thanks experts!

 

It's my understanding that coatings are designed to adhere to clear coat....based on that, I'd think they'd need to be cleared.

 

That’s what I’m thinking but I wonder if the clear coat will affect the mirror like affect in trying to go for? Thanks for the input!

 

Clear coat then coat. Aluminum oxidizes from within. A coating will do nothing for it without something like a clear coat covering those "pores" of the substrate up. I have seen IGL Aegis do good stuff for metal work though so maybe the chemistry has been figured out to an extent. But that's an industrial spray coating that is super expensive if you can get accredited for it.

 

So I tried getting in contact with Adam’s over the phone didn’t hear back going to give it another try. Not a big email fan just rather talk otp

I talked to shine supply too and they recommended leaving raw due to the fact if off-roading and you scratch a wheel the clear coat would need to be stripped to fix the wheel and the cut in the clear coat would act as a entry way to oxidation. They recommended raw with there marine beadlock and then a yearly polish and recoat? Sound about right?

 

Before I offer my opinion, I should have asked (maybe it's above and I missed it) are these polished aluminum or rough aluminum wheels? Aka shiny or matte looking.

 

So they are completely raw wheels no clear coat virgin aluminum wheels machined from billet. I plan on getting whole wheel vibratory polished.

 

Bought 23 Platinum, washed it, decon’d it, clay bared, used Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light & EXO V5 hyper coating. Just picked up the MJCC Foam Cannon S V3, Active 2.0 elect pressure washer, Active Short Pressure Washer Gun on holiday sales. Just ordered Suds Lab--High Foaming Wash Shampoo, Zero Acid Wheel Cleaner and Tire/Trim Protectant.

 

Just made me a new detailing cart today

 

Made me smile.

 

What coating did you use on the wheels and tires?

 

On the cart none, on my truck I used for the wheels Gtechniq wheel coating.

 

I like it.....lots of additional space to store foam cannons, soap, etc.

 

What’s a good go to tire cleaner? Using the foam Mothers stuff. It does a good job but just looking for something a little bit better. Economical preferably

 

grain of salt as I’m new to doing this myself but I’ve had good results with brake buster. I’ve used it straight and in an ik foamer. It’s roughly $30 a gallon and can be diluted. I’ve used adams wheel and tire as well with good results but have found brake buster more than adequate when my truck isn’t overwhelmingly dirty.

 

I personally like using power clean. I order a gallon at a time and have a separate sprayer I use to cut it to a 4:1 ratio. Works pretty well to cut it down to bare tire. There are prob some other good (better?) ones out there, but this has worked well for my tires and other applications

 

I've gotten away from dedicated tire cleaners. I use an APC - Bilt Hamber Surfex HD - at 10:1. If they are really bad, I keep a bottle of the same product diluted at 5:1. I apply it using an IK foamer for longer dwell time. I used to use Optimum Power Clean....but found the BH product to be more versatile and a better value.

 

I have started using these guys stuff, u can get from their web site, Amazon or Wal-Mart. Suds Lab
https://www.suds-lab.com/

 

Update on the wash cart, added some stuff, still more to do, but getting there. Got large and 3 small totes on clearance from Lowe’s

 

Very cool.

 

I'm looking at an 04DCSR54X4 for sale at a dealer that is a 2 hour flight from me. I went up this weekend to test drive it. During the test drive I had a hard time getting over the scent inside the cabin. It was menthol-y and had that eye-watering cleaning product smell.

I asked the dealer before I went up there "was this owned by a cigarette smoker" (1 owner vehicle) and the response I got was "we can't smell anything that resembles cigarette smoke." We are in the negotiations stage right now and I mentioned the smell inside and they offered to give it "3 internal ozone treatments to address the off-putting smell" but they still haven't said anything about whether it was owned by a smoker.

1) will the ozone treatments eradicate cigarette smoke scent permanently?

2) In your professional experiences is there a way to truly get rid of cigatette smoke scent in a truck?

Thanks,
DF

 

I haven’t run into anything an ozone generator wouldn’t get rid of yet. I haven’t used one for cigarette smell, but they are used in homes during remodeling after a fire.
The 3 treatments is what bothers me. Ozone generators should be used very sparingly, as long term exposure can damage plastics and electronics.
If you really want the vehicle, I’d recommend declining letting them do it. You can get an ozone generator really cheap on Amazon. I’d get one and run it one time for 30 minutes max.
Be sure to let it air out for a good while afterwards because the ozone smell will remain, and it’s bad for your lungs.
Afterwards, I’d put baking soda on the carpets, let it sit overnight, then vacuum it up the next morning.
If that doesn’t get rid of the smell, there’s other things you can try. I’m pretty confident one use of the generator plus baking soda will do the trick though.

 

I agree with war machine. I used to smoke in the FJ and once I quit it was an absolute mission to get the smell out of the truck which I accomplished after a long while.

cleaning the AC system took the longest. Get a can of AC cleaner and do that treatment with new filters. Ozone generator treatment and a steam cleaner was used many times.

 

Thanks, we use them in the wineries for cleaning equipment, but it's ozonated water that we spray on surfaces.

 

I bought a LandCruiser years ago from a guy that lost his license to a DWI (once I met him it was his 5th) and the truck was nice except the interior. All I can say is OMG Dude, why couldn't you find another place to drink than in the truck? He was also a chain smoker so when we went for a test drive I sked him if he could not smoke and he glared at me. I told him I will walk if he wants to smoke in a vehicle I am in.

Once I bought it I took it home and gutted the interior. Once I had the carpet out and cleaned the floors and all the extra wire (seriously people, if you remove something take the wires with it!) on the ground it looked and smelled really nice. I did not actually clean the carpet just vacuumed so I steam cleaned the carpet as well. Once I got it back together all smells were gone.

I just wanted it to be done with and do it once instead of trying this and that. I really thought if I could not get the smell out I would replace the interior but I was surprised, cigarette smoke is usually very hard to get out. It was gross, I literally was scraping the film off the windows in the truck. Very nasty... but I got a smokin' deal!!!

 

LOL, funny @azTony

The more I look into this, and now that I've gotten a couple quotes from local professional detail shops, I feel more confident about making the purchase. Honestly, I couldn't smell any smoke when I test drove it, but that was because there was that methol-y masking agent scent in the cabin.

I'm fairly confident the prior owner was a smoker because normally if a used vehicle hasn't been smoked it, the dealer will make a big deal out of that in the listing.

Secondly, when I outright asked if the last owner was a cigarette smoker, their response was "I don't smell any smoke in the vehicle..." which seems like an evasive answer to me. They knew what it was like prior to being detailed at the dealership.

Thanks for all these responses.

 

Have cordless vacuums been covered in here yet? Trying my hardest to keep the new Tesla clean
A couple I found on Amazon with good reviews.

Handheld Vacuum Cordless, Upbooz Portable Car Vacuum, 14000PA Powerful Suction Vacuum Cleaner with LED Light and Air Duster 2 in 1, Low Noise Rechargeable Mini Hand Held Vacuum for Car Home Pet Office

$50 Handheld Vacuum Cordless, Upbooz Portable Car Vacuum, 14000PA Powerful Suction Vacuum Cleaner with LED Light and Air Duster 2 in 1, Low Noise Rechargeable Mini Hand Held Vacuum for Car Home Pet Office

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFTTMTQR

WADEO Car Vacuum Cleaner, Handheld Vacuum Cordless, Car Vacuum Portable Cordless18000PA Strong Suction, 6 in1 Dust Buster&Air Blower&Hand Pump&LED&SOS Light for Car, Keyboard

$57 WADEO Car Vacuum Cleaner, Handheld Vacuum Cordless, Car Vacuum Portable Cordless18000PA Strong Suction, 6 in1 Dust Buster&Air Blower&Hand Pump&LED&SOS Light for Car, Keyboard

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6Q7ST66

 

I love my Milwaukee Fuel cordless vac. I hardly touch my shop vac anymore

 

Trying this stuff out.