As today was fine and dry I though I would have my first go at detailing, prior to today I class what I have been doing as nothing more than a thorough wash.

After getting some advice on products to start my detailing kit off a few of the guys on here I decided the best way to get the products I was after was to put them on my Xmas wish list.

Santa was good to me and brought some Auto Finesse avalanche snow foam, Auto Finesse clay bar and glide and some Finish Kare 1000p.

I was wanting to move away from the usual Auto Glym products I had been using however a miss communication somewhere between myself and the in-laws via SWMBO resulted in a large Auto Glym Kit ( see pic 1).

As it turns out this was not a bad thing as it means I could start with product I'm used to and add in a few new ones as I go.

My car was professionally detailed back in October just after I bough it with the intention of giving me a good base to start from so it probably did not need me to do all steps I did but I though what the hell lets give it a go :D

So onto the process I followed ( interior was just a quick hoover and wipe over with Autoglym vinyl cleaner as it was recently done) concentrating on exterior:

Jet wash with my Karcher 400

Snow Foam with the Auto Finesse avalanche left to dwell for 5-10mins

Rinse using hose.

TBM using Auto Glym PH neutral shampoo

rinse using hose.

Dried with Auto Glym Hi tech drying towel

clay barred car with Auto Finesse claybar

Polished by hand ( I don't have a DA or the balls to use one yet lol) using Auto Glym super resin polish

Coat of Auto Glym extra gloss protection left to cure 30mins as per instructions

Thin coat of Finish Kare 1000p

Wheels done cleaned with Auto Glym clean wheels then a coat of Finish kare 1000p

Tyres done with Auto Glym Tyre Dressing

Took me just over 5 hrs and now I feel like I have ran a marathon, time for a well earned beer I think :beer:

My intention was to take photos from start to finish but I forgot so below are the one I managed to take, all car pics are after so no before pics but to be fair it was not to bad as it has been having weekly maintenance washes.

I'm quite happy with how it has turned out, its supposed to rain here overnight so I'm looking forward to the beads in the morning.

Edited 8 January, 20179 yr by Dave3283

Looks clean, time well spent :thumbup:

 

A couple of questions, did you rinse the snowfoam off before the actual wash stage?

Any reason for hose rinsing not pressure rinsing after wash stage?

Could save some time by skipping the Extra Gloss step - SRP + FK is a great combo when no machine polishing is involved.

 

cheers

 

Chris

Hi Chris,

Thanks.

Yeah forgot to add in I rinsed between snow foam and wash edited now.

I had put the pressure washer way when I hooked up the snow foam Lance thing I have forgetting I needed to rinse so just used the hose I normally use the pressure washer.

Top tip cheers, I used the extra gloss as I had not used it before and it was in the Xmas pressie kit,that would definitely save some time I'll try that combo on my next big detail.

Cheers Dave.

As today was fine and dry I though I would have my first go at detailing, prior to today I class what I have been doing as nothing more than a thorough wash.

After getting some advice on products to start my detailing kit off a few of the guys on here I decided the best way to get the products I was after was to put them on my Xmas wish list.

Santa was good to me and brought some Auto Finesse avalanche snow foam, Auto Finesse clay bar and glide and some Finish Kare 1000p.

I was wanting to move away from the usual Auto Glym products I had been using however a miss communication somewhere between myself and the in-laws via SWMBO resulted in a large Auto Glym Kit ( see pic 1).

As it turns out this was not a bad thing as it means I could start with product I'm used to and add in a few new ones as I go.

My car was professionally detailed back in October just after I bough it with the intention of giving me a good base to start from so it probably did not need me to do all steps I did but I though what the hell lets give it a go :D

So onto the process I followed ( interior was just a quick hoover and wipe over with Autoglym vinyl cleaner as it was recently done) concentrating on exterior:

Jet wash with my Karcher 400

Snow Foam with the Auto Finesse avalanche left to dwell for 5-10mins

Rinse using hose.

TBM using Auto Glym PH neutral shampoo

rinse using hose.

Dried with Auto Glym Hi tech drying towel

clay barred car with Auto Finesse claybar

Polished by hand ( I don't have a DA or the balls to use one yet lol) using Auto Glym super resin polish

Coat of Auto Glym extra gloss protection left to cure 30mins as per instructions

Thin coat of Finish Kare 1000p

Wheels done cleaned with Auto Glym clean wheels then a coat of Finish kare 1000p

Tyres done with Auto Glym Tyre Dressing

Took me just over 5 hrs and now I feel like I have ran a marathon, time for a well earned beer I think :beer:

My intention was to take photos from start to finish but I forgot so below are the one I managed to take, all car pics are after so no before pics but to be fair it was not to bad as it has been having weekly maintenance washes.

I'm quite happy with how it has turned out, its supposed to rain here overnight so I'm looking forward to the beads in the morning.

Excellent mate. It came up really well. FK1000p is excellent value and will serve you well. Especially on silver. I miss my silver vRS!!

Thanks Hunty278,

I'm really pleased with it, took ages but I think I'll get quicker as I learn more, the tip Chris gave would probably save me 1hr straight away.

Thanks Hunty278,

I'm really pleased with it, took ages but I think I'll get quicker as I learn more, the tip Chris gave would probably save me 1hr straight away.

That's it mate. Before you know it, you'll have trimmed that time right down. I'm still learning and I've been detailing nearly 10 years as a hobby.

Nice work Dave :thumbup:

 

Thanks for taking the time to share and do a great write-up!

 

FK1000P is a superb purchase - great value and performance :rock:

Looks good - just to say that I usually leave AG extra gloss protection on for as long as possible, a few hours normally. Seems strange pouring what smells like petrol onto freshly polished panels doesn't it!

JRJG

Ah that's an interesting tip JRJG, I followed the instructions on the back of the bottle which advises 30 mins, something I can experiment with next time I use it.

Yeah I know what you mean, it certainly has the smell of a chemical that would do damage to paint rather than enhance it.