Wheels and Tires

Purpose: To deep clean extra dirty tires and wheels
Pro: Keeps wheels looking great and tires in healthy shape.
Con: If you use the wrong cleaner, it can be harmful to the Z’s painted wheels.
Frequency: Depends on how clean you keep them…every 4 weeks.

Products needed:
1-Soft brush or sponge, I prefer a small sponge for wheels, especially Griotsgarage.com 3-finger detail mitts.
1-tire brush.. should be firm but soft enough to scrub the palm of you hand.
1-Wheel/Tire Cleaner (sometimes they are separate) Should NOT be acidic, but most over the counter ones are. All cleaners at Properautocare.com are safe to use. I like Eiman Fabric Hi-Intensity.

Procedure: As I mentioned in the “washing” segment, if your wheels are fairly clean, you can just wash them with an old rag and some car wash suds at the end of your wash. But wheels and tires can get very dirty (BMW anyone?) and require special strong cleaner to keep them in good shape. If I notice that the wheels are just too dirty to clean regularly, then I like to clean them first (before washing the car) to get them out of the way.

Wheels: Hose down the wheel with cold water. Mist the wheel with the cleaner let it sit if needed (for no longer than a minute though). Then use a wet sponge to clean out all of the grime and brake dust, getting in all of the crevices. If you’re a perfectionist, use q-tips to get into the nut areas. Spray off with a strong stream of water.

Tires: Tires get very dirty. Between the oxidized rubber, road grime and brake dust, they are easily the dirtiest part of the car…that’s why the need a good scrubbing once in a while. Wet the tire, mist it with the cleaner, and use the brush to vigorously scrub the tire. Hose off the suds/dirt. Repeat until the resulting suds are fairly white and clean. If your tires are brown, that is called “blooming” and is the tires natural waxes, trying to protect itself from the sun, and from those shiny silicon based tire dressings such as Armor All. When tires have bloomed, they may need an extra scrubbing or two to get them back to their dark gray color again. Don’t worry that the tires after cleaning are a gray color, that’s normal, and need a protective Tire Dressing (non-silicon based of course) to make them look deep and black… but I will cover that in depth in the “Finishing Touches”

Wheel wells: Spray down the wheel wells with the cleaner and use an old rag to reach in and clean all the dirt out. Rinse with hose.

 

Paint Prep

Purpose: To clean and prep the paint for polishing/waxing
Pro: Gets paint super clean and baby-*** smooth
Con: Again, if done carelessly can scratch
Frequency: Depends...about every 6 months

Products Needed:
1- Jar of "Paint Cleaning Clay" (Griots Garage, Mothers makes a nice kit...Meguiars not recommended)
-or-
1- Auto International's "ABC system" (Autoint.com)

2- 100% cotton or "MicroFiber Towels
3- marked cotton wash mitts (ABC system)
1-Bottle of "Quick Detail Spray" (Meguiars Final Inspection, Eagle One, Mothers ect.)

Procedure: OK, as you may know already, there are two ways to go about doing this, "clay" or the "ABC system" Both are designed to deep clean the paint after washing and to prepare it for polishing. Clay is a silly-putty like material, that you gently rub along the body panel and it picks up the tiny specs of dirt and pollution or "IFO" (Industrial Fallout as its known). These mostly invisible contaminates are why older cars feel gritty, and new cars feel smoother than glass. The ABC system uses 3 very safe chemicals to clean the paint all the way down to the pores (yup, paint has pores) Its main purpose is to neutralize the pH of the paint...ie when a bird craps on your Z, its acidic chemicals seep into your paint, and stay there even after you clean the crap residue away. Over time, combined with sunlight and water, they will etch into the clear coat, leaving an ugly outline of the bird bomb in the paint. Clay DOESN'T neutralize the paint, thats why I recomend the ABC system. But there are times, like for paint overspray and stubborn sap, when you need clay, so having both is a good idea...if costs permit.

CLAY: After washing the car, feel the paint with your finger tips. Is it slightly rough. If so you need to clay it. Spray the clean, dry panel with the "quick detailer". This acts as a lubricant for the clay. Now pull a piece of clay off of the bar, and knead it into a small patty, and GENTLY run it over the wet panel, until the dulcet sound of of the clay picking up dirt vanishes. Dry the panel, and repeat. After every section, pull, fold over, and knead the clay to expose a nice clean piece again. If the clay leaves sticky residue on the paint, then your not using enough lube.

ABC System: There is no need to wash the car first , and then use the system, (like you do with clay) you start out right away with it on a dirty car. The procedure is similar to washing your car three times in a row (same rules for washing follow here, use two buckets etc). The included directions are in depth so I will just briefly outline it here. Mix up "A" with correct proportions in bucket, cover entire car with suds. Let the suds dwell for 5-7 min, no more and no less. Rinse Car and quickly dry. B needs no mixing, so I just put it into a Ketchup bottle, squirt it onto a mostly dry car, and spread it with the cotton mitt. Let dwell 5-7 min. Rinse. C is just a regular, pH balanced car wash, used to wash away any chemical residues. The C is great to use regularly to wash the car without stripping wax. The whole procedure takes about 25-30 min.*

*If you are dealing with gritty contaminates more than a year old, clay is recommended since ABC system wont remove contaminates that have really imbedded themselves in the paint.

Which ever procedure you use, you should be really happy with the results. Not only will the car look great, it will feel nice and smooth and make polishing and waxing MUCH easier.

 

Polishing

Purpose: To use an abrasive to polish away small marks and swirls and to shine.

Pro: There’s nothing like the look of a polished car.
Con: Can, especially by hand, be time consuming.
Frequency: Only if you need to (if your car has swirl marks ect.)

Products needed:
2-Polsihes of different abrasiveness (3M and Griots make the best polishes)
2-cotton towels
1-Orbital polisher (Preferably the Porter Cable Polishing machine) (DON'T get a "rotary" polisher unless you have LOTS, and LOTS of experience)
3-pads of varying aggressiveness

Procedure: Polishing a car gives it its shine, and the wax is the protection. That sums it up. Publishing’s main goal is to remove surface imperfections such as mild scratches and swirls. Problem is to REMOVE them you NEED to have a machine. Your hand just doesn’t generate enough heat to remove them, that’s why all hand polishes out there merely fill them in with oils. AND if you tried to use a machine polish with your hand, you wouldn't generate enough friction or break down the tiny abrasives in the polish and end up hazing you finish.

I recommend the Porter Cable Orbital polisher. Why? Well, its orbital polisher, meaning it moves in many directions at a time (the head spins and moves), rather than a rotary polisher, which just spin. Rotaries IN THE HANDS OF PROFESIONALS will take out swirls with ease, but in the hands of anyone less experienced, it will cut right through the finish. I don't use a rotary. Most orbitals like the "Waxmaster" and other over the counter ones are low powered and are really just time savers. The Porter Cable, which can be found at Griotsgarage.com, properautocare.com, topoftheline.com, (shop around though, it can be found online at hardware stores heavily discounted) is much higher powered and with the right polish, can really lessen, and is some cases, completely remove the imperfections. I highly recommend Griots Garage machine polishes...easy to use, made just for the Porter Cable. All three of those places have the pads you will need.

If you go this route, some simple guidelines to follow are this. Choose the least aggressive pad and polish needed to do the job. Put a ring of polish around the pad, PRESS TO THE CAR, and THEN turn the machine on to prevent it from slinging everywhere. Choose a slower speed to start, and slowly increase the speed, and then, decrease your pressure. Take your time and work in small sections. Once the polish begins to haze over, turn off the machine, and use a towel to clean up the residue. Repeat if needed.

If ou doont want to spend the money on the machine, don’t worry, there are alternatives. Go out and buy 3M "Swirl Mark Removal for Dark Cars" This you can use with your hand with decent results, but it will mostly just be filling the in. Same guidelines follow. Put a little on a terry cloth, take you time and REALLY work it into the paint, like a facial cream. Slowly decrease pressure and increase your speed. Wipe up with a clean towel. Don't get discouraged if you don’t see great results right away, it takes time.

You ALWAYS have to wax/seal after polishing as it removes any wax/sealant you had on there before.

 

Waxing

Purpose: To protect the finish and enhance shine.

Frequency: Wax: 0-3 months Polymer: 4-8 months

Pro: Protects finish, helps deepen shine
Con: Some can stain plastic trim.

Products needed:
1-Tin of wax
or
1-bottle of polymer sealant
1-foam applicator pad
1-microfiber towel

Procedure:
So, you just spent a lot of time getting your car to look fabulous, now you need to protect it from the elements. By this time, your probably a little tired, but the wax is the icing on the cake. Plus, you need to have some sort of protection on your bare naked finish.

Wax: Car wax is basically a mixture based on #1 yellow carnauba wax. This is a very hard wax, and unlike most others, it’s mostly clear, not hazy and white (think beeswax). In fact, carnauba is so hard, that in its pure form, its well, brick hard. So if you see any wax advertised as anything more than 33% carnauba, they are flat out lying. Modern car wax, like Darth Vader, is not as pure as it once was. Now, it’s a mixture of carnauba, various waxes, oils, and loose polymers. These modern waxes are easier to apply an remove and last longer (0-3 months) Quality wax has a very deep and warm look, enhancing certain colors (especially red), and making black cars look deep and wet. My favorites are Blitz Wax, S100, Mothers "pure carnauba", and Pinnacle Souveran (awesome but to expensive). I recommend you stay away from Zymol and Turtle Wax. Also, don't buy liquid waxes, always buy the paste form, they last longer and are just as easy to apply.

Polymer Sealants: Anything advertised as a polymer, resin, or acrylic sealant are all essentially the same thing. What are they. They are much more purposeful and to the point. Their motto could very well be "If you’re putting something on your car to protect the finish then it better damn well protect it". Polymer is chemistry talk for plastic, so the name is pretty self explanatory. Plymer sealants are made up of polymers suspended in a liquid, that when applied, "cross-link" to each other and to the car. In other words, instead of relying on wax and a few loose polymers to protect the car, your are using a pure polymer that monds to the finish*, which will last much longer, along the lines of 4-8 months. Polymers are also more durable, standing up to heat much better than waxes, and various pollutions that will come in contact with your car (remember IFO). Wax for instance can often melt right off your car on a hot day when it's surface temp will exceed 170º (carnauba's melting point) Polymers do have shortfalls. Some are temperamental to apply and remove. And their shine is not as "mature" as good waxes. (Technically speaking, wax has a higher "jetting" quality) They may offer a very bright shine, but will often give black cars a "silver lining", where as a good wax's shine will appear to come from within the cars paint. Favorites are: Blackfire, Klasse, Zaino. Klasse and Zaino are the most durable, but Blackfire looks the best IMO.

Applications: Simple guidelines to follow. Always use foam applicators. No need to apply in the "wax on, wax off" circles, its better to rub the wax/poly on in straight up and down lines. Most shouldn't be applied in the sun. If the wax is supposed to haze over before buffing, what I do is rub it onto the whole car first, then come back and buff it off. For buffing off, I highly recommend a microfiber towel, but cotton terry will suffice. Layering wax/poly can enhance its shine and its durability (except in a wax where it just increases shine). For a wax and fast cure polymers (Blackfire, Zaino w/ ZFX), you can layer right away, but less sophisticated polymers require 12-24 hr cure time. Always use a proper car wash mixed properly to maintain the wax. Also, the use of quick detailing sprays in between or after washing will enhance its longevity.

*The one clinker. Polymers, unless they have cleaning abilities (Zaino Z1, Klasse AIO), can be applied over a wax or an oily, filler type polish (3M Swirl Mark Remover). The polymer can’t bond to the finish with these oils in the way.

 

Engine

Purpose: To keep the engine dust/grease free

Pro: Its much easier than you think
Con: Nothing really...IF you use a silicon based rubber dressing, it can block the O2 sensors.

Frequency: Degrease: Once a year Clean: Every month or so

Procedure: Keeping your engine compartment clean is much easier and more important than you think. For one, the Z has on hell of an engine, you should keep it presentable to show off your car buddies. Second, mechanics treat a clean engine much better. Why, they know that you spend time in there so if they half *** it, you will know. Also that’s where they work, and they appreciate a clean work area, it’s respectful. So how do you go about this. It’s very simply. The Z's engine, like every modern one produced today, is water resistant, meaning you can sorry water into the compartment and not worry about it shorting anything. BUT, if you want to be extra cautious, you can cover any exposed electrical pieces with a plastic baggie or shrink wrap and a rubber band, though its not completely necessary. Keeping it clean is a simple as using a rag and some car wash suds and wiping the whole compartment down after washing, then rinsing, and drying.
De-greasing is a little more tricky, though it’s quite easy as well. First, you need a non-caustic cleaner. Like every other aspect of car cleaning, I don’t recommend Simple Green. My favorite is Eiman Fabrik's Citrus De-greaser from properautocare.com. Simply spray a warm (not hot) engine with the de-greaser, let it sit for 5-10 min, then come in with a wet cloth, wipe everything down, then rinse. Now you should be able to see any spots you missed. I like to now go in with a rag sprayed with the cleaner, and clean up these areas by hand, then rinse. Finally, dry the compartment.

Once everything is clean, its time to dress all of the plastic and rubber pieces. This not only looks great, it keeps them protected and flexible. As I mentioned earlier, never use silicon based dressing such as Armor All and Tire Wet. If you’re not sure, if its really shiny, then don’t use it. My personal favorites are 303 Aerospace Protectant, and Vinylex. (properautocare.com). Simply spray a towel with the stuff, and wipe down all of the rubber/plastic pieces, let them dry 5-10 min, then buff. Now you have a very presentable engine compartment, and it only took 10 min to get it there.

 

Interior

Purpose: To keep the interior looking, feeling, and even smelling new for many years

Pro: Well, your interior will look better than you thought it could
Con: Nothing serious, again, silicon products should be avoided

Frequency: To broad, covered in procedure

Products Needed:
1-Bottle of Griots Garage Interior Cleaner (griotsgarage.com)
5-cotton towels
1-leather scrub brush (properautocare.com)
1-bottle of Rubber/Vinyl Protectant
1-vacuum

Procedure: There’s nothing like a freshly detailed interior. It goes beyond being just clean. If you keep up with some simple maintenance inside your car, you will be surprised how great it will look and smell years down the road.

Vacuum: Vacuum all the surfaces thoroughly (sp?). Use a soft brush attachment for the headliner and dash. Careful not to scratch and shiny wood trim (not a worry in the Z). Use crevice tool for seat crease and in all the crevices. Vacuum the interior every week. This is the best thing you can do.

Clean/Shampoo: Sometimes, surfaces may need to be cleaned beyond just simple vacuuming. I HIGHLY recommend Griots Garage Interior Cleaner; it does everything and does it pretty damn well. Just spray this onto the surface to be cleaned, then wipe of with a damp towel, then dry. That simple. Armrests and seats do tend to accumulate more dirt, and then a simple scrubbing with the leather brush and interior cleaner will do. This brush is great for hard to get out stains. This should be done about 3 times a year.

Carpets also need to shampooed from time to time. If you are lazy, throw your mats into the washing machine (though the trunk mat probably won’t fit). This cleans them VERY well and you don’t have to work at all. The only downside is that over time the corners of the mats might start to fold up. That’s why you try to keep shampooing to a minimal...to prevent carpet wear.
For hand shampooing, spray the Interior Cleaner onto the carpet, lightly scrub, then rise with a towel damp with WARM water. The use of warm water is to make sure all of the surfactants are rinsed out of the fibers...if left, the carpet will be a little stick after drying, and get dirty again quickly. Finally, dry with a clean towel. Stubborn stains may require the use of a stain remover. These can be found at just about any detailing store. This goes for the carbon cloth seats as well. Shampoo the seats/carpets only when necessary.

Leather: The leather in your Z, along with 95% of auto leather produced today is clear-coated. Meaning its sprayed with a thin, breathable coating of vinyl. So, leather should be treated like vinyl. Just use your Griots Interior Cleaner, to wipe down the seats, and again scrub if necessary. (You should clean the seats more often than the rest of the car because they get quite a bit of salt and dirt on them...if left there, the friction from your *** and back will abrade away at the finish of the leather. This will lead to that shiny leather look.)

Protecting: You should use a water based, silicon free protectant to dress up the plastic, leather and vinyl surfaces in your car. Some of my favorites include 303 Aerospace Protectant, Black Magic DASH protectant, a Vinylex (the shiny-est of the bunch). Just spray onto a cloth and wipe down just about all of the surfaces (excluding of course the metal trim, clear plastic, carpets etc)in your G INCLUDING the leather. Again, no special leather conditioners are needed, just a quality vinyl and rubber protectant. In fact, using an oily leather protectant isn't good for the vinyl clear coat. You can purchase a carpet protectant if you want, to prevent them from being stained again easily. 303 makes a good one, but it does smell bad for like a day.

Windows: Don't use an ammonia based cleaner (Windex). These aren't good for the vinyl and leather in your car. Instead use special car glass cleaners which are made from alcohol and such. These can be found at properautocare.com among other detailing stores.

 

Finishing Touches

Ok, so you've likely spent many hours now on your baby, but you not done yet, here's where the fun begins, where you separate a clean car from a detailed one. So what does this involve. Well just a bunch of easy little things.

First, walk around the exterior inspecting it. Have a microfiber (or cotton) towel with you and clean up any wax/sealant residue in the seams, and around that beautiful 350z emblem. Sometimes, a VERY old, VERY soft toothbrush will work if your having trouble with a cloth or q-tip. Its sometimes easier to prop the hood/door to clean the the seams free of residue. While the doors are open, detail the door jams. Clean up any water spots with a "quick detailer spray" and to make the paint shine, and use a little vinyl/rubber protectant (such as 303) on the plastic kick plates.

Rub the tires down with a vinyl and rubber protectant (303, Vinylex, Meguiars #40 etc). NEVER dress the tread part of the tire. Don’t wipe it yet.

After you’ve cleaned up all of the seams and dressed the tires, its time to use your vinyl and rubber protectant to dress up any plastic or rubber trim exposed. Lightly spray the corner of a folded up towel and rub it onto the trim, careful not to get any on the paint. Let it set 5-10 min, then buff dry. One of my favorite finishing touches is to spray a little of the protectant into clean wheel wells to dress them up nicely. Dark black wells look much nicer than bright tan ones. Remember any plastic that may be where the front wipers reside. And don't forget the front grille area.

Wipe down the exhaust tips with some quick detailer, or metal polish if needed.

Clean the windows with either a "quick detailer" or a non-ammonia based window cleaner. My favorite is Stoners Invisible Glass with a crumpled up news paper. The ink in the paper acts as a mild polish. Works great. Inspect for streaks afterwards.

INTERIOR: Make sure all the trim is clean and shiny, and all the pedals are clean. NEVER treat rubber pedals with a protectant, they tend to make the surface more slippery. Make sure the volume control is at a reasonable volume before turning on the car.

NOW, after you’ve done everything else, come back to the tires and buff them dry with a paper towel. This gives the protectant ample time to really soak into the tire.


Now your Z is clean and protected. DON'T be intimidated by the amount of time it takes to FULLY detail the car (i.e., the first time you work on it). While this may take a full 4-7 hours, with a little maintenance here an there, you will never have to spend this amount of time again. If you keep the car cleaned by washing often AND safely, you wont have to prep and polish the paint as much. In fact, I plan on doing the full ABC wash every six months and don't plan on polishing ever...unless the real world catches up with my finish. If you paint is clean, a few months down the road when its time to renew the protection, you can just wax right after washing. Every other week, wipe the tires down with some protectant, and they will never dry out and brown. Keep the interior vacuumed, and you wont have to shampoo stains out of the carpet as often. Well, I hope you appreciated the detailing sessions, and I hope to see a lot of very shiny Zs out there.

 

Washing

Purpose: Wash off dirt and grime that build up over time.
Pro: Provides the most noticeable improvement in appearance of any of the steps.
Con: If done improperly, can cause swirl marks.
Frequency: weekly / bi-weekly, or when car becomes dirty

Products Needed:
2-buckets (1 with suds, one with clean water)
1-coton chenille wash mitt
2-100% cotton “rim rags”
1- Bug Scrub sponge (the yellow sponge with the white mesh around it)
2- 100% coton or microfiber drying towels ( I like the Big Blue Towel properautocare.com)
Wash Solution (Mothers, Meguiars Gold Class, Sonax, P21S, Auto Int)

Procedure:
Fill both buckets with at least two gallons of water.* Pour in proper amount of solution in one of the buckets and mix to get nice suds.** Spray down entire car with strong stream of water at an angle to get off loose dirt. Working in sections, from top to bottom, dip mitt in the solution, gently and thoroughly wipe down the section, saving the very dirty parts for the “rim rags”. If mitt becomes soiled use other side. Clean off the mitt in the bucket of clean water. Rinse section with hose and repeat for entire car.*** Save the rocker panels and wheels for last, being the dirtiest, and use the rim rags. Don’t forget wheel wells and door jams (keep those kick panels nice and purty). The key is to keep the mitt clean and full of suds. If the wash bucket becomes dirty, pour it out and fill again. Remember to was all the windows and wipers and to get into the front airdam. If there are stubborn bugs or sap, usually on the front of the car, gently use the bug scrub brush. Gently dry entire car, remembering the door jams and such.

* Try to find marked buckets, if not, you can measure and mark it yourself.
** A good way to get suds s to fill just below the mark, pour in the solution then spray with a strong stream of water up to the line.
*** After washing and rinsing the entire car, pinch the hose and use the gentle stream of water to sheet most of the beads off, this will save drying time.

 

Some other tips:

Use the sheet method to allow quicker drying(Try to sheet the water off you car by using no spray and just water straight from the hose). Also get a California water blade. To get water our of the crevices use a leaf blower or take your car on the freeway for a quick drive.

If you want to keep your car clean on daily basis, buy some quick detail spray and use a Microfiber towel to rub off. Also QD spray removes water spots.

Got dust? Get a california duster. Does wonders picking up dust.

Swiffer static dust cleaners do wonders picking dust on your dashboard. Still have dust problems in your cabin? Vaccum your car more often.

Got dirty windows? Try newspaper and windex. Works a lot better than paper towels that can leave lint. Micro fiber towels do wonders on aswell remember not use windex. They work better with no water or cleaning solution.

Have you conditioned your leather seats lately?

Misc Tips:
Don't park under trees. (Sap is hard to get off)
Clean your rims daily(Otherwise breakdust will bind to your rims)
Clean up bird bombs right away otherwise it will etch your clear coat. And don't rub it, blot it up since it contains sand and small rocks.

03 Black G35
Premium/Sports/Winter/Xenon/Aero

 

I posted this elsewhere (why I don't know), but this is a great print out. By the copy too if you like it, laminated etc, so you can keep it out.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/pdfs/DetailersHB_BW.pdf