Hi George!

Thank you for all the time you've put in to helping the members on this board!

I've been looking on your site, and I was wondering which product(s) you recommend to clean / maintain the engine bay.

Thanks so much!

Jin

 

Jin,

Good question. I like to use a good degreaser when cleaning the engine bay. We just got in Chemical Guys Bare Bones degreaser, which I heard works quite well in the engine bay. I usually use P21S Total Auto Wash or Poorboy's Bio Degradable APC when I degrease engines, but I'm looking forward to trying the new CG stuff. The Total Auto Wash is the safest of them all since it's a citrus cleaner.

Basically my process is to wet the engine bay area with a stream of water. Mist degreaser starting from the bottom of the engine bay and working up. Then for stubborn areas, I'll agitate the surface with a brush or a towel. Rinse down the engine bay. Blot dry with a towel. Then follow up with your choice of dressing. I typically use 303 Aerospace Protectant as my dressing. If you have painted areas or polished metal, you can polish those as well to enhance the look of your engine bay.

Here's a link to an engine bay detail similar to the process I use.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

George

 

Thanks so much George!

I'll be sure to put in my order today...and follow your guidelines. Very thankful for your help!

 

Love the website you guys have, George. Definately a superb how-to section and advice on different products.

What's your take on the following process:

- wash with Zaino car wash
- Zaino claybar w/ zaino car wash + water mixed in spray bottle for lube
- quick wash with Zaino car wash
- Bad swirls: Menzerna Intensive Polish P091E, okay or light swirls: Menzerna Final Polish P085U
- 2-3 layers of Zaino Z-5 Swirl polish w/ layers of Zaino ultra gloss in between the glaze
- finish off with Zaino Z-8 grand finale spray seal

My friend passed the advice on to me so I wanted to get some opinions on it from other pros and experienced detailers (so anyone else feel free to chime in on it). Sounds legit. I have a OB coupe that's swirled up the a**. Oh, and I'm definitely buying from you guys from now on.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback

The process you have outlined looks pretty good. The most important thing is getting the detailing process and techniques down. Polish recommendations are great, however, if you'd like even better results, I'd recommend going with Menzerna PO106FF finishing polish.

Also, for maximum results, you'll want to apply polishes with a quality buffer such as the Porter Cable 7424 or the Flex XC3401VRG.

Also, if you'd like to add some more depth and gloss to your paint, you could top Zaino with a carnauba wax. Since your car is black, you will definitely experience more of a wet look with a good wax. A great bang for the buck wax that works great on darker colored vehicles is Poorboy's Natty's Blue Paste Wax. Another great wax with slightly more depth and gloss would be Chemical Guys 50/50 wax. This wax is actually a pretty good value considering you get 16oz of product compared to most waxes are 8 oz or less.

Keep us posted on what you end up going with and what you think of your results.

George

 

Thanks for the advice, George. I will take a look how these turn out and possibly get the other polish to try out later. I think I'll get the wax though. Speaking of that; so it is totally fine to put carnauba on top of the spray sealant (z-8)?

Could you also recommend some good cleaning products for the following:
- engine bay and other mechanical parts (undercarriage, suspension, etc)
- cleaner/polisher for polished steel/chrome
- claner/polisher for plastics (headlight and tail light housing)

I was wondering if you know of any good shade solutions. My driveway is not in the shade and my garage is too flat to wash my car in; it just floods and the water stays inside. What time of day and weather do you usually end up detailing in? Seems like it's either too hot (direct sunlight) or rainy here where I live. Is it worth getting a retractable car port or something?

 

I have the the ultimate detailing machine and used the Paint prep Plus from Ultima and wasnt able to remove the swirls on my car. My G is black so the swirls drive me crazy. What do i have to do to get rid of the swirls.

 

I don't have too many recommendations for shade, other than to start the detail before the sun is fully up or do a quick wash at sundown. The only step I do outside is the wash & dry or cleaning the engine bay, then move it into my garage for the rest of the detail.

If the UDM & Ultima combo isn't cutting it for you, you have to step up the level of aggressiveness. Your options are:

a) Use a more aggressive polish. I haven't used the Ultima line of polisher, but the general consensus of pro detailers is to stick with the Menzerna line of polishes.
b) Use a more aggressive pad combo
c) Invest in a more powerful buffer, like a Flex XC3401VRG or learn to use a rotary buffer.

You should be able to correct a good amount of swirls and imperfections (maybe not 100% of them, but a majority of them) with your UDM. How aggressive is the polish or pad you tried? Technique has a lot to do with your results on a UDM / PC. I'm assuming you ran the buffer at full speed and were applying some decent pressure on the unit? Also, how slow were you moving the buffer? and how many times did you go over a single area?

One thing you can do is to work in smaller areas, like 12" x 12" until you're getting the results you're looking for. Another option is to use smaller pads, like 4" pads for more cut out of your UDM. If you thought you were moving the buffer slow enough, slow it down even further. A general rule of thumb is to move the buffer at a speed of 1" per second and make sure you pass over each section of your 12" x 12" area around 6 - 8 times.

Hope this helps.

George

 

Have Bugs been discused yet? Whats the best way to get em off and keep em off?

 

George,
Thank you for the wealth of knowledge you provide this forum. I have learned a lot about car care thanks to you. However, I have a quick question for you, as I hope to learn more. I am picking up a brand new car from the dealership tomorrow, and would like to know the best course of action for protecting and taking care of the car. I am aware of the full process of washing, polishing, waxing, etc. (as I have read some of your tutorials), but does that also apply to a brand new car with less than 10 miles on it? I guess what I am asking is if all the other steps aside from washing and waxing are excessive for a brand new car, or if it should be clayed, polished, etc. right away. FYI, the car is Platinum Graphite in color. I appreciate the help, I just wanted to get off on the right foot.

P.S.- I plan on ordering the Porter Cable from you and some other necessary items, but didn't want to go overboard, because I know it would be easy to do.

 

Geo . . . . need your opinion on waxes please sir. Just so you'll know - gonna put you on the spot a lil bit. I'm looking for a priority list of the BEST carnauba waxes you carry. If you want to break them out between dark vs light colors feel free. I'm trying to choose between :

- p21S pure carnauba
- CG 50/50
- Pete's Black Pearl

Criteria is longevity + wetness.
Assume adequate prep with sealing.

Thanks .... that's probably enuff pressure for now.

 

Hey George do you guys sell the Ultimate Detailing Machine? I would be interested in an advanced kit from you if you had that particular machine. What do you think about it, anyway?

 

My '07 G35 has 15,000 miles on it. Recently, I noticed my front left wheel has what looks like stains on their clear-coat finish. I'm guessing a car wash / detail place sprayed some type of chemical on the wheel and didn't rinse it off in time and the wheels were damaged. I tried a little rubbing compound on it to no avail. I didn't buff or rub that much. I'm wondering if working with a coarse rubbing compound makes sense... or maybe a Dremel tool with a polishing pad... or ??? Thanks for any ideas.

 

If you have excessive bugs on your car, the best thing to use is some sort of pre-wash degreaser. Something like Stoner Tarminator helps dissolve and loosen bug, tar, sap, etc. This is one of the stronger products out there and is sure to strip down any protection you may have on your paint. After washing and drying, be sure to reprotect the area with your choice of sealant or wax. Some less aggressive options would be Poorboy's World Bug Squash, P21S Total Auto Wash, or Chemical Guys Grime Reaper.

The best thing that you can to help minimize additional work is to make sure your paint is always protected with a quality coat of sealant and/or wax. If you were to wash soon after the bug splatter occurs, it should rinse off pretty easily. There's nothing you can really do to prevent bug splatter though.

There's no easy answer to this question, I guess my best answer is it depends on what the dealership does. I highly recommend performing your own new car prep if it's alloted in your time allocation and budget. If you let the dealership prep your vehicle, chances are they can ruin the paint by adding swirl marks and minor scratches from a poor prep job. Dealerships often use products that utilize oil based fillers so that when you pick up the car, it looks great, but after a few washes, it can reveal swirls, holograms, etc.

I always recommend claying a new vehicle for a few reasons. The main one is to get any embedded contamination off of the paint during transit of the vehicle. A lot of cars are at some point transported via train and you can often find specs of rail dust on your paint. Using a clay bar will also properly prep the surface to ensure that your sealant and/or wax gives you the longest durability possible.

Polishing a new vehicle is completely up to you. If you inspect your paint and see no swirls or other imperfections, then there's no need to polish with an abrasive polish.

I personally performed a head to toe detail on my own vehicle, as well as performed my own new car prep and instructed the dealer not to detail it. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Between those waxes, the best in terms of longevity would be either of the Chemical Guys waxes. Pete's Black Pearl wax will give slightly deeper depth and gloss over the 50/50 but may sacrifice a week or two of durability. 50/50 is becoming one of the more popular waxes out there for the overall durability, wetness and value, considering you get 16oz of product instead of the typical 8oz (or less *P21S is only 6.2oz). P21S is very easy to work with and works best on lighter colored vehicles. Durability will certainly be less than either of the CG waxes though. My vote goes to 50/50 for any color between the 3.

We don't carry the UDM, we thought about it, but decided against it. There's not that much benefit over the PC and the PC has proven itself to be reliable and has many service centers across the US for years of use. There were a few issues with the UDM that supposedly have been resolved by now (switch, power cord, etc.). Ultimately the build quality and lack of serviceability turned us off to the UDM. A significant upgrade from either machine would be the Flex XC3401VRG, which we did decide to carry. Many people who own the UDM swear by it and have not had any problems. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either of the machines mentioned in this reply.

I'd start with a less aggressive polish than some compound first. Start with a light abrasive (something local would be ScratchX) but give it a little bit of elbow grease. Abrasive polishes need pressure to be properly broken down so just applying it and removing it won't yield much results. Another alternative could be some sort of metal polish even if the wheels are clear coated. Metal polishes are a usually consist of chemical cleaners or micro-abrasive particles or a combination of both. I usually turn to P21S Finish Restorer or Wenol when I'm trying to correct imperfections in wheels. Mother's Billet Polish is a good over the counter metal polish to try as well. I usually work the product in with a foam applicator pad and remove with a microfiber towel.

Hope this helps.

George

 

George, you rock! Thanks for all the advice.