I did a writeup for a Porsche blog about detailing -- gratuitous amounts of pics
http://993c4s.com/advise/concours-ca...r-porsche-944/

 

Are you sure it's not under a previous layer of wax that you haven't removed? Try washing with Dove dishsoap to remove the wax. I've had that happen once and thought my paint was fubar, but it wasn't

 

+1!!!!

Dishsoap removes wax, and does a great job on bugs too, very handy!

 

Btw, I meant Dawn, not Dove

 

mine is looking like this right now


so the easiest way to do this without a buffer?

Delta Sonic tried it, and it didn't work, but I think it's because they didn't want to

 

A lot (and I mean a lot) of elbow grease... See if you can borrow a buffer from someone. There is still a lot that you have to do by hand anyway(because the buff just can't reach - like bumpers, mirrors, behind mirrors, around the license plate, etc.)

 

Van, you make it sound so simple with that list. The pics are really show the difference before and after. Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing.

Boy does my car need that treatment. Now it is time to locate a Porter Cable without breaking the bank....

 

meh, so it really WILL take all day
so if I don't have any of these things you listed, time to buy; what about the cleaners/wax etc - anything from Autozone or order somewhere like Pelican or (name/link?)

 

If either of you were closer to me, I'd say stop by and use my buffer!

As for the products themselves, I think that may be secondary to being patient and using them properly. I've been using what I've gotten from Autopia (I think someone posted the link earlier). It's good quality stuff, and a little more than some, but I liked all of the "instruction" on their site so I felt good supporting them (plus I love mail order... it shows up at my door!)

Actually, my car wash soap is something cheap that I picked up at either an Autozone or Walmart or something. It's bright orange... (Someone mentioned Dawn for stripping the wax - but if you're going to buff the car, that will take the wax off.)

The clay I use is from Autopia and is green and comes with a bottle of Sonus "Glyde" lubricant. Then I used the Sonus swirl remover polish, and then the "ultima paint polish" that is supposed to be used with the "ultima paint protector" sealant. Both of these are overly expensive, but I have found that sealant to be VERY long lasting - which I think is great for a daily driver.

I think all the car show people swear by special carnuba waxes, and I'm sure they produce better results, but they don't last that long...

Realistically, though, I think you can pick up all of these products from either McGuiars, or Rain-ex, or Turtle Wax from Autozone, Walmart, Pep Boys, etc.

Other things I've found helpful: microfiber towels, a foam applicator to buff around the areas the buffer can't reach, good wheel cleaner, a "wheel" brush, and a good not-to-glossy rubber protector (Armorall is too shiny for me).

Again, the most difficult thing to find is the time. It's great if you have a free weekend and a garage. This isn't the type of thing you want to do out in the sunlight - and you can also do half one day and finish up the next.

The good news: after a major treatment like this, it is SO much easier to clean. Just a quick soaping up, scrub the brake dust off the wheels, rinse it off then dry it well. I think that for a daily driver (at least my daily driver - the 996) I'll give it the full treatment once a year and then just try to wash it periodically throughout the year. I gave it the full treatment in March, have probably washed it 3 or 4 times since then, and it still looks great! (I do get to park it in a parking garage when I'm at work - so it doesn't see too much rain - but it does get dusty.)

 

lol I just use dishwashing soap to wash the car everytime. Didn't know it strips wax, but it doesn't damage the paint and does a great job and cleaning dirt etc off the paint.

I have never waxed the car, I just use that once a year car polish, so i'm not sure if the dishwashing soap washes that off.

dishwashing soap also works great at getting my fuchs clean and getting the brake dust off easily.

 

hm after the first wash I started seeing lots of white in the paint for some reason; the wash was Delta Sonic (kind of automated I guess), after seeing the paint, I went and asked them to wax it - they did, twice, with a buffer, and it didn't do much good

but when me and a friend washed the car and clay bared it (liquid clay bar), the car started to look much better - untill it rained

so that's why I'm wondering about this now

 

I've heard that dishwashing soap is too harsh to use directly on paint. I have no clue to the validity of it, though.

 

Basically, it boils down to this (from what I've been able to figure out... so don't flame me): there are two things for paint - abrasives and fillers.

Abrasives are anything that can scratch paint - and they range from coarse like dirt to very fine like polish.

The fillers are things that "fill in" the scratches and make paint smooth and these are waxes and sealants.

Any kind of soap should do a decent job at getting the dirt off. Some soaps are more gentle to the fillers on top of the paint.

Any dirt that the soap doesn't easily lift off can usually be taken off of the surface of the paint with a clay bar (I've never used liquid clay bar, and frankly don't know how they can call it "clay" - since clay is a solid). The lubricant is used so the clay minimizes scratching the paint, but it DOES grab the stuff on top of the paint.

After the paint is smooth (which also means it's pretty clean), it's time to do something with the scratches. EVERYTHING scratches paint to some degree - from driving through dust to washing with a sponge to drying with a towel. Over time the paint gets scratched up and swirl marks develop and the paint looses its gloss.

Buffing with rubbing compound will "sand down" the surface to minimize the medium scratches in the paint. A swirl remover has a finer grit and it will turn the small scratches into very small scratches. A polish has a very fine grit and will make the very small scratches almost microscopic. And then a wax or sealant is used to fill in those microscopic scratches.

In addition to making the paint super smooth, the wax or sealant gives the paint that glossy shine and helps protect it by making a surface that less things will stick to (water beads up and rolls off, dust blows away, etc.)

And then, of course, driving, using and washing your car will create scratches and start the cycle all over again.

 

ok, here's a good shot of it:



some of the white you can see in the pics are from salt, but VERY little; on the first pic - the sun's reflection in the car makes it look a little MUCH worse then it really looks, but it will give you an idea (assume the worst?)

also, previous owner said that he mostly used Turtle Wax - but I didn't know that you would/should strip the car off of old wax, so God knows what's going on there - can this be plain old wax on the car? and for some reason, the rear of the car (doors - back) has clear coat on it but the front doesn't, maybe car was repainted at some point back there? makes me wonder ...

 

well I just put a little dishwashing soap in a bucket of water and it works great at getting the car squeeky clean and it's like 2 bucks for a litre of dishwashing soap and that lasts me like a year and I wash the car like once a week.

I"m not sure if it can damage the paint I doubt it but from what I heard here is that it strips the wax. I don't wax the car anyways.

I did use nufinish once a year car polish not sure if dishwashing soap would take that off.

I want to try waxing the car but I honestly have no idea how you wax a car lol. pur carnuba wax looks like a solid chunk of wax how the hell do you wax the car with solid wax?