New items I found useful

[William_F]

Since joining this forum, not only have I got a headfull of ideas for mods I want to do, I have become as my wife says "OCD about the apperance of the cruiser".

I have started spending time at Meguiar's Online daily learning all I can about detailing and then applying this new knowledge to my PT and the wife's CRV.

Today I popped into O'Reilys to pick up a few detailing supplies and found some things I thought were awesome that you guys might be interested in. None of this stuff is new to the market, but I just "discovered" them today.

1. Eagle One's Never Dull Metal Polish- I needed a chrome cleaner for my hood ornament. The guy at the store did a demo for me and another customer in the parking lot on his rims. I was sold!

This stuff is a wadded cotton type material in a big can. Simply pull out a small piece (less than a cotton ball), rub down the area to be cleaned, let the polish haze like wax and then wipe off. It's quick and easy, non abrassive and the results we amazing! I went a step further and also polished all the emblems and logos on the outside as well as my door handles and shift column.

2. Invisible Glass- It's a bit pricy at about $5 a can, but this stuff did an awesome job of cleaning all my glass without leaving streaks. I've tried several other products and they were all less than satisfactory in terms of being streakfree.

3. Microfiber paper towels- I don't recall seeing a maker on the package, but these come 30 to a roll, are lint free and can be machine washed and reused several times before they have to be discarded. I used them to clean my glass, wipe up the excess chrome polish, and with my quick detailer. They performed as well as a normal microfiber towel, except that because they are thinner, they tended to get saturated more quickly. Of course, with 30 of them on hand, it wasn't really much of an issue.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by William_F

Since joining this forum, not only have I got a headfull of ideas for mods I want to do, I have become as my wife says "OCD about the apperance of the cruiser".

I have started spending time at Meguiar's Online daily learning all I can about detailing and then applying this new knowledge to my PT and the wife's CRV.

Today I popped into O'Reilys to pick up a few detailing supplies and found some things I thought were awesome that you guys might be interested in. None of this stuff is new to the market, but I just "discovered" them today.

1. Eagle One's Never Dull Metal Polish- I needed a chrome cleaner for my hood ornament. The guy at the store did a demo for me and another customer in the parking lot on his rims. I was sold!

This stuff is a wadded cotton type material in a big can. Simply pull out a small piece (less than a cotton ball), rub down the area to be cleaned, let the polish haze like wax and then wipe off. It's quick and easy, non abrassive and the results we amazing! I went a step further and also polished all the emblems and logos on the outside as well as my door handles and shift column.

2. Invisible Glass- It's a bit pricy at about $5 a can, but this stuff did an awesome job of cleaning all my glass without leaving streaks. I've tried several other products and they were all less than satisfactory in terms of being streakfree.

3. Microfiber paper towels- I don't recall seeing a maker on the package, but these come 30 to a roll, are lint free and can be machine washed and reused several times before they have to be discarded. I used them to clean my glass, wipe up the excess chrome polish, and with my quick detailer. They performed as well as a normal microfiber towel, except that because they are thinner, they tended to get saturated more quickly. Of course, with 30 of them on hand, it wasn't really much of an issue.

Thanks for the tips Bro, I think I share that OCD problem but mine is with fluids and tuning the car. Today was a nice day, but their is still melting snow in the parking lots and on the sides of major streets which means puddles everywhere so it's still not time for the wash and wax job yet.

I think a lot of people on this forum share PT induced OCD.

[IMIEIW]

I agree with your Never Dull. I was first introduced to this amazing product while in the employ of the USAF. Removes surface scratches, tar, bugs and glue, like from emblems that have been removed. Great for wheels too. Made right here on LI too.

[prettybluewoody]

Tell your wife the good news is, she'll always be able to find you in a hurry: you'll either be in the driveway polishing the Cruiser, or getting more supplies from the auto supply store!

[William_F]

The wife doesn't mind my detailing habit too much. She has found that the more I learn, the better both of our cars look.

The only thing that bugs her is when I learn a new technique and try it out on her truck first

[Candyman]

Hey their Everyone,

Good little write up here Will. Its very important to keep trying out new Chemicals and so forth to get a feel for what works for you.

I know what you guys mean! I used to drive my Wife nuts all the time with my Detailing! She eventually got used to it, and was immune to it by the time I opened my Shop in San Diego. I still try to keep up with my vehicles. In fact I have been working on my ride prepping it for show for the past 4 days, and still have another 4 to finish it up, but that includes everything from the chassis up, taking the wheels off to polish both in and out with two coats of polish by machine, clean and treat the wheel wells, and areas out and apply a coat of wax to the plastic components and polish all suspension, and related parts accordingly, Clean and polish engine compartment, apply 2 coats of polish by hand to all door handles, shampoo the carpeting, clean all leather and condition using Leatherique softening cream which is massaged in by hand taking up to 2 hours per seat, polish the glass and plastic, clean and dress all rubber, clay, glaze and seal, apply 2 coats of high intensity Polymer Paint Sealant over every inch of paint including under the hood, and in all the door jambs, and inner most parts of all the doors and trunk, followed up by 2 coats of my own home made Mad Scientist 68% White Carnuba Mix which goes directly over the top of all of the paint sealant to maximize depth, and gloss, and really make the paint pop at ya in a swirl and scratch free finish. Then I pop the tail lights out, headlights, license plate, and windshield wiper squirters so I can clean any wax residue from behind them, and then take toothpicks, and Q-tips that have been allowed to pre-soak in my Isobutyle Water 50/50 mix overnight in a small container so they will clean and dress better, to clean and dress all other tight areas including around the edges of the emblems, rubber trim, around door handles, and so on where you can usually find build up. Then last for me is usually a quick rub down to make sure I got everything and then I pop 4 Laundry Fabric Softener Sheets under the seats overnight to give the car a nice fresh smell that will last for days, and finish off by dressing the tires with tire gel (Usually Meguiar's Endurance) applied with a one coat Paint Brush to a nice high gloss, and done. At least that is all I can think of at the moment. Dang I am tired just from writing that!
All together I used to spend around 40 - 50 hours a month on my personal vehicle, but they have always looked showroom new. Its just a release I recon, as I truly for some reason just love to do it, and would be more than happy even without getting paid to be sitting out in the shop with a buffer, and a bottle of polish just buffing away.
And now as for Chemicals:

For me, I still really like to use white Jeweler's Rouge on all of my Chrome, Aluminum, and other related materials as I have yet to find anything on the market that will even come close to polishing like this stuff does! This is the very same stuff that polished those aluminum wheels, and fuel tanks on tractor trailer, and even those big fuel tankers from a dull haze to a near chrome finish in nothing flat.

You can buy it at most any Truck Stop, and they have several different brands from Magic Bunny, to you name it. As long as it says Jewelers Rouge, that's the stuff you want. Looks like kind of like a white milky polish. They also make it in a bar form, but that is more for bigger jobs like those found on other Big Rig instead of another smaller car.

One thing you may, or may not have known is that Jewelers rouge is also good as a glass, and plastic polish as well.



And of course as I have posted a few times, I like to use my mix of Isobutyle (AKA Rubbing Alcohol) mixed 50/50 with water to clean windows. It is pretty much the same product as most Final Detailer, or Quick Detailer systems out their.

Another little quick tip that I have buried in my Guide is, when cleaning my windows, I like to use a specially woven Microfiber that specifically is made to clean glass. What I like to do whenever I clean any type of Glass is to clean the outside from top to bottom, and then clean the inside from side to side. This way if their are any streaks, you will know which side of the glass its on to quickly resolve the situation.

One last little thing about glass, whenever you are cleaning your side windows, before cleaning the entire window, be sure to roll them down just a little and wipe down the top edge. Then you can roll them back up and complete the job. Its just another small detail a lot of people tend to overlook, and is a big part of a complete detail is looking for all the small things. The more things you find, the more complete the job will be, the more people will be amazed at its looks, and asking if you bought a new car.
Anyways, that my two cents. You guys go easy, keep up the great work their Will, and I will catch ya later.

Candyman