TheAnswer

Regarding the blower, does anyone think its bad to blow out your wheels after washing them? I blow the wheels out but hand dry the car. I feel like it helps prevent rust from dripping in the wheels. I have standard wheels (2014 991 standard- very open and hard to clean). I feel like I need to plasti dip them black though so I won't be so picky about dirt on them.

LexVan

I leaf blow my whole car. Been doing so for many years. Won a few Concours along the way, too.

jlanka

I tried the sheet rinse yesterday. It's pretty cool, I guess I have to learn how to do it more efficiently. I had trouble on the roof (flat surface) and on the doors parallel to the door handles (thats where the curve is) which would still pool up bubbles no matter what I did.). But I like it, and I'll keep at it till I get better at it. Thanks Chuck

TheAnswer

I've never polished before, does the standard 991 come with a clear coat over the paint? How do you polish a car that has a clear coat?

LexVan

Yes clear coated for about the past 20 years.

TheAnswer

ok thanks so when you polish you are actually removing the clear then? The Griot's videos only talk about removing microns of the paint to get scratches out. This is the part I don't understand. If you polish off the clear coat that is ok or expected?

chuck911

Water flows slowly off the roof because its not sloped much. The trick is to keep the hose far enough from the edge of the sheet that water flows off, but not so far that big puddles form and leave islands of water behind. Doors are opposite, very steep, so stay near the curve at the top just below the windows directing the flow at nearly right angle to the car. Not sure what you mean by bubbles, but areas like around door handles are one of the few places you'll need to towel dry when you're done anyway.

There's definitely a learning curve here which is probably why almost nobody does this. Certainly there are zero YouTube videos, possibly making this the one niche of human behavior not documented on-line! But once you get it down it is well worth it, as I know of no better/faster way of getting the job done. And as you probably noticed it is also just so darn satisfying to watch!

Jerry991

I am an old guy and have had bunches of cars, some show cars and some street cars. I have a 2004 BMW 330 Convertible in Saphire Black metallic that I have never waxed and I am always getting compliments on how great it looks. I also have a 991 Cab which I have never waxed. Wax washes away pretty quickly while polish does not. Clear coat is much harder than the paints used years ago and using a swirl remover takes off an inconsequential amount of clear but gets ride of the ugly swirls. First clay bar to get rid of the junk on the surface and then swirl remover to get rid of the swirls and then polish which will last for 6 months or more if you use a mild soap. The first think to remember is never take your car to a drive through car wash as you never know what kind of soap they are using and if they have brushes they will swirl the paint. I have seen all types of wax demonstrations but I have never seen one that convinces me that it looks better than polish and most of the time it looks good because of lighting. Forgive my rambling but I see so many people spending so much money thinking that they are getting something really special but it simply isn't so.

TheAnswer

Whats the difference between swirl remover and polishing that you are talking about? I thought polishing was swirl remover and I'm confused what you are saying how polish lasts 6 months, what exactly are you talking about? Polishing I thought was just to get swirls out, that's not a coating.

stealthboy

Polishing involves removing clear coat to level it out down to the bottom of the scratches. That's how you "remove" scratches and swirls.

Wax adds a layer on top of the clear coat and can fill in some of the scratches temporarily.

Ezkill

Yes you are essentially removing some of the clear coat when you polish it. You are smoothing out the micro scratches.

It's not something you want to do very often. That's why I'm a little crazy with using 2 buckets, grit guards and really expensive micro fibres. It all minimizes if not eliminates micro swirls.

A medium compounding on a car will remove 3 microns of clearcoat with half a dozen passes...typical clear coats are 30ish microns thick. A sheet of paper is something like 85 microns thick to provide reference. That's an example. There are so many variables with polishing that you may not remove near that much or you could remove a lot more. Clear coat thicknesses also vary wildly. The above numbers are just an example of what you can expect.

Money2536

So after reading this thread, I should never polish, use wax, pressure wash, or blow off the water with a leaf blower. This is probably the worst "detailing" thread I've seen to date.

Team Plutonium

Lol! All the dead bugs protect my paint. Washing is for suckers...

Money2536

Organic Unclear Bra!

JamesKen

I am a big fan of sheet rinsing you car. I have learned a lot from the videos on this site. I buy most of my detailing stuff from them since they are in the Denver area.


I forget the name of the tall thin guy from NY who does the best detailing videos I have seen. I was also under the impression wax always goes on by hand and and sealant goes on with a machine. Wax is not as hard but offers a deeper shine. Sealant is good for cars that you park outside since it is harder and lasts longer.