Quick question for you pro's out there. My Z will be in its first major "outing" at an indoor event (IAS in Atlatic City), and as such, I want to wow as many people as possible.

What do you all recommend I buy product wise (and towel/applicator wise) that I can do comfortably in a day, and that will give me the depth and consistent shine I am after? Also any recommendations for glass cleaner/polish as well would be great!

Finally, what are you guys recommending for applicators/towels for these products?

is there one place I can buy everything from to save time?

I have searched, but it seems like there is just too much info out there!

Thanks in advance!

Adam

 

For IAS - your car should be 100% spotless..

http://www.properautocare.com/brushes.html

That website has all the detailing tools you could need.

Back to cleaning the car.. Personally.. I'd wash it twice to make sure you get all the dirt off and apply atleast 2 layers of waxes and polishes. The hard part about cleaning for shows is cleaning the small unnoticable areas, where the judges usually always look. Clean the inside of the rim. Taking the rim off and powerwashing is the easiest way. Clean between where the bumpers meet fenders, doors->quarter panel, every little crack.

Don't forget about when you open the hatch, the rubber and painted area all around the edges there. Then comes the engine bay, use a degreaser, then I sprayed armor all on a towel and wiped the hoses. DO NOT spray armor all directly onto the hoses!!

And if you are driving to NJ, I suggest you get wall tape (blue tape used for edges of walls when painting) and put it all over your front bumper, so you don't get nicks/bugs and such on the drive up there. It won't leave and glue residue either.

I spent 10 hours detailing for a show.. so if you have any questions just give me a holler

 

Oh yeah, the most unnoticable but one of the most important parts to clean, the fenderwells! If you just want to do a basic clean, spray soap in there, let it sit, and then hose it off with a hard jet stream, but if you want to go all out, when your rim is removed for cleaning the inside, just armor all it down. Again, spray on a towel first, not directly on. When you spray directly on, it could leave a spots. Believe it or not, a lot of judges look there to see how clean your care truely is.

 

Ricky made some good points as far as precedure but he didn't mention n e products so i guess i will. First off, www.properautocare.com is definately the right place to buy from, now its just a question of which products. That part depends on what color your paint is. If you have a lighter color like silver or white, then I would get Klasse AIO and the Sealer. The AIO will clean and protect and then a couple extra coats from the Sealer will really give your car a brite shine. If you have a darker color like blue, red or black, then I would get a carnauba bassed wax, since they are known for their depth and liquidity. Properautocare.com offers two that I'd recomend, P21s and Pinnacle Souveran (although I've never tired it, Ive heard only great things and will likely get it soon). With either of those two, you should get a polish to use before you wax. Also, I would clay the car after you wash it NO MATTER WHAT wax you decide to use. Hope this helps. I never had my car in any type of show but I am a detailing nut and Ive had lots of experience and have also tried a wide range of the products out there, so if you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

-Charles

 

well, there is no judging going on at this show for me, as the car is going to be in one of the manufacturers booths (Cusco), but I do want it to be spotless.

Thanks guys....I thought for sure I was going to get many replies saying that I should use Zaino, eat Zaino, and bathe with Zaino before, during and after the event Not that I have not seen great results from Zaino, but I ahve also seen great results with other stuff too, so its neat to try a bunch of things to get the right combo.

 

im a zaino user...and i was planning on detailing cars this summer so i decided to do some research on autopia.org.....there is a crazy amount of info on there and i learnt that you can def get good results from other products

for you..i might suggest klasse products...they are easier to use than zaino and from what i read they give great results....plus ive started to notice that zaino is a dust attracter and thats not what you want for a car show

your car is fairly new and it prob doesnt have a lot of swirl marks plus silverstone is a great color to work with...try the klasse system and let us know how it comes out

 

thanks man - appreciate it!

there are no visable swirls in my car at all.....I have been pretty good about keeping wax on it (though I ahve none on it right now, just polish, as I got lazy last week!)

Guess I have to spend tomorrow night before Sopranos reading that website!

 

If I were you, I'd go with Meguiars personally.

They have a full show car set up. The 3 step paint cleaner and wax, then use show car gloss 7 and 26. You're car will be SPOTLESS afterwards.

Bring "Glosser" wipes with you, those will be a life saver. Those work very well on rims too.

 

I've tried every polish,waxes out in the market.If you're goin to do it yourself and kinda lazy to remove all the swirls i would suggest get some 3m glaze or any polish with fillers to fill those swirls,Top if off with klasse AIO and then wax it with S100 or P21S or just bring it to NYdetailer.com

 

Use Meguiar's Final Inspection. It'll give you a deep, deep gloss. Also, use the claybar, as Sopranos said. Also, do you have an orbital buffer? Get one unless you like having gorilla arms.