should be picking my new Fabia in the next few weeks and am thinking of detailing it myself, asking the dealer to leave the factory protection on. This raises a few questions for me:-
1 Will the original factory protection survive a 250 mile drive up the motorway and not attract the 'bizzies'?
2 What will I need to get the glue etc off the car? Never seen a car before the dealer has 'prepped' it so don't know what a car looks like straight from the factory.
3 Have got UF snow foam, BH soft clay bar, BH Korrosl, BH Cleanser Fluid, 2 buckets with guards, lambswool & MF mitts, BH Auto Wash, BH Double Speed wax, wheel sealant(C5), lots of MF cloths of varying weights. Also have a sample pot of Obsession Phantom wax but can't see this doing the whole car(was hoping they would do an offer over Easter but they didn't). What else will I need?
Car is Metallic Moon White with black roof, wheels & mirrors. I'm retired so time rich but although i have a garage it's not big enough to do any work in; but the car will fit overnight.
Any guidance greatly appreciated.

I did exactly this last week, on our new Superb. Have a look at my thread (a few below yours atm). Yes the transport wrap will be fine on your way home. We got a few long stares from bus drivers and passers by, but nothing out of the ordinary and we weren't pulled by the police.

 

The transport wrap just peels off and doesn't leave any visible residue. I stress, visible residue. Do one panel at a time, and start at the edges to make it easier, as they're well adhered. For example, peel up a little edge/section from a corner of the bonnet, but rather than then using just that to peel off the whole panel, keep going along the edge. Once you have a whole straight edge peeled back, you can exert greater leverage to peel off the whole panel at once. It will split, and bits will stay behind at various points at the edges. Easily removed with a (very) gentle fingernail at the edge of it, so don't worry. Keep going until you have a fully unwrapped exterior. Note you'll also have some blue foam blocks stuck to the doors and boot, which are themselves simply stuck to a piece of the transport wrap which is the same size of them (i.e. at the bottom of the foam). These are a bit harder to get removed, but only because of the foam being an awkward shape. It still only took me a few seconds to get the edge up and then they pull straight off. There will also be a plastic strip hooked around the driver's door edge, with a rubber on it to prevent the door being scratched/scratching adjacent cars. This just unhooks/snaps off (if you get me) by pulling it away from the bodywork. I found doing it from the inside of the door and levering outwards easier.

 

The product you are missing from your line up - and the answer to the glue issue - is a tar and glue remover. I used Gyeon Q2M Tar which, unlike most, is citrus based not solvent based. That means it's safe to spray over the whole car without worrying about paint, trim or rubbers, and after leaving it a few minutes you just rinse it off. It powered through the ton of tar from German tree sap (where the car had stood outside between transporters), and also removed the glue marks from the transport paperwork etc from the windows too. You will also want to dab some onto a lint free pad or cloth to scrub away the yellow marker writing from the glass, it's easier. Takes a little bit of elbow grease but it'll lift straight off once it's wet with the Tar product. 

 

Basically you want to do something like this:

 

• Foam, then dwell for five minutes
• Rinse
• Tar and glue remover (save a little bit for later though!)
• Rinse
• Iron / fallout remover
• Rinse
• Two bucket wash
• Rinse
• Clay (very gently, with lots of lube)
• Rinse
• Dry
• Seal

It'll take a good few hours to do properly, but prepare to be amazed at (1) how much tar and iron is on there, and how much is still left for the clay to remover and (2) how amazing it looks after all your hard work. My paint is like glass and looks super glossy with no horrible scratches, swirls or whatever that you normally get 'free of charge' from the monkeys at the dealership. Then you can do the interior. Remove seat covers (they lift off but have an elastic strap wound around the seat adjuster on one side and the seatbelt holder at the other), peel back the carpet films (they are clear and stuck on, and just peel away easily) and remove any glue from the front windscreen using another dab of Tar on a pad/cloth. Optionally, seal the dash, doors, plastic sills and leather parts of the seats with Gtechniq C6 matt dash protector and then seal any fabric with a suitable fabric guard. 

 

Have fun, and post up pictures (mine are in the S3 section!).

Edited 7 April, 201610 yr by Derv

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Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

VERY well spotted BTS22, new baby will look nice!! Thank you.

Sorry for the slight OT nature of this post.

 

I keep seeing a lot of threads about people claying cars and not much mention of polishing afterwards.

 

This is just my opinion/experience but I would never clay a car that I don't intend to polish afterwards.  I have always seen claying as a fundamental pre-polish process for ensuring the paint is clear of every last possible particle that a DA/Rotary will drag around the paint.  It is not a "catch all" solution to prepping the paint for an LSP, yes you can make the paint feel smooth as glass but it can also inflict damage.

 

No matter how gently/lightly/softly/smoothly I have seen a car clayed using an ocean of clay lube I always see evidence of marring (even if it is light), particularly if you shine an inspection light on the paintwork.

 

This is after all a relatively hard block of material that you are running over the paint to in turn remove relatively hard particles from the paint which are carried in the surface of the clay until it is folded.  I have said this before on here - claying entirely has it's place within a full detail and is a hugely useful tool but I do feel people get a bit obsessed about claying without ever mentioning the draw backs.  Derv's routine above is great because it shows a full chemical decon before claying which will hugely reduce particle to be removed by the claying but I would suggest an inspection and then appropriate polishing of the paint (this may only need to be a single stage finishing polish via DA.)

 

If you don't have the time/kit to polish, I might limit the routine to the chemical decon only and then carefully work around the car with a quality paint cleanser.  

 

What I see a fair amount with people who clay and then go straight to wax is the wax fills and hides the marring so people think the paint is perfect but after a few repeats of the routine when the wax breaks down the marring starts to show quite badly.

 

Once again, I am a big advocate for claying, I just worry that people aren't explaining where it sits within a full detail.

 

I would certainly advise:

 

Claying is a slow job - if you aren't at least a little bored you are probably going too fast

Fold clay regularly to keep the clay face in contact with the paintwork as clean as possible

Apply lots of lube - chortle

If the face of your clay is filthy after a few passes, you need to stop and go back a step to chemical decon, you do not want to drag that across your paint.

A great way to examine the effectiveness of your claying is to put your hand into a plastic sandwich bag and run it along the paintwork, this amplifies any roughness.

If you clay - take a detailing light to the paint and examine for marring afterwards.

 

As above, this is just my opinion.

Citrus is a solvent by the way.

 

And for transport I would look at panel wipe rather than tar remover, but both work.

 

Agree with claying, if you clay you will need to get the machine out. 

 

Oh and if you are using a clay mitt, it WILL marr, and yes I have and do use them.

 

Sure I posted a few reviews on DW about them.

Edited 9 April, 201610 yr by MozzieOwner

Citrus is a solvent by the way.

 

And for transport I would look at panel wipe rather than tar remover, but both work.

 

Agree with claying, if you clay you will need to get the machine out. 

 

Oh and if you are using a clay mitt, it WILL marr, and yes I have and do use them.

 

Sure I posted a few reviews on DW about them.

Thanks Sparkly & MozzieOwner, I don't have a DA so am now thinking that I might skip the clay bar stage; have got a citrus-based tar/glue remover on order so with that I should have everything I need once the car gets here. I'm looking at having the car transportered up with the factory wrap still on, there seem to be one or two firms that do this.

anyone think i would need a DA with a brand new Fabia(delivered in factory wrap)? If you think yes i would, which machine would you recommend; have watched a couple of youtube videos and am quite happy that I could use one without damaging the car(would practice on old car first). DAS-6 range look a safe bet.

To be honest I would save my money and get it protected with a decent sealant and then all I would have to worry about is washing it and keeping ontop of the interior and alloys.

 

It may seem more expensive but it is alot less hassle.

 

If I didn't already have all the kit and was just starting out with a brand new car, that is the way I would go.

 

Also you could do it as part of a training day, learn to detail your car and have a top end sealant applied.

 

I would contact matt @ obsidiandetailing for the above.