The official "Ask a Detailer Thread"

Scuderi said:
How should I go about giving my engine bay a good cleaning? Should I power wash it? What do I cover? Thanks!
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I use a chemical product called "Bike Bright"(made to be sprayed on most things without damage, as opposed to sprays that are made to only contact unpainted surfaces), I'm sure there are things for car engines, but I've been using this long enough not to gamble on something new. Just spray under the hood on everything starting while it's dry, and the engine is cool, let it sit for a couple minutes, then rinse with a mist type control of water, if using a spray wand at a coin wash use on lowest power and hold away from(as in not close to), and rinse everything.

As long as you don't blast it with water it's not going to hurt any thing...... If you were to want to blast something, don't !
 
I like cycle cleaners too, my favorite is S100... Watch around ur plugs tho, and really anything electrical. I've also used "gunk" too... Definitely not a pressure washer tho, like monk said only mist/rinse on a cool engine and use as little water as possible.
 
hi i just removed the emblems off the trunk of my 2012 si and i used goo gone to remove the left over adhesive. well the rag i used it with made a bunch of tiny light scratches and it looks terrible. i have a makita buffer with a whool pad and 2 foam pads but im unsure of what compounds to use. what is the best off-the shelf compound for buffing out scratches and de-swirling?
 
Without seeing it and from your description: This is my guess.

That wool is going to be way too aggressive. It'll leave the area looking hazy. Also a rotary is a pretty aggressive tool on its own. I would suggest getting a backing plate, a much much less aggressive foam pad like a Lake Country White, and Meguiars 205 should do the job for you. The meguairs 205 is pretty widely available at pep boys/autozone type places. If the area is small enough you could possibly do this job by hand with a foam applicator and the 205 if you are careful.

That rotary tool with a wool pad will make the problem worse.
 
I skimmed through a lot of the questions but I don't think I saw this question: any tips on cleaning an Si interior? What can I do to clean out stains in certain spots? What should I do to keep the fabric clean in general? (Like a monthly clean to keep fabric fresh)
 
So I am looking for a smaller DA polisher, preferably a 3". Any recommendations on a good 3"? I'm looking at the Griot's garage 3" random orbital with orange, white, and black foam pads. I'll more likely going to buy a microfiber cutting pad as well.
 
I'd guess that one would be good. Rasky told me to get the 6" griot's da polisher when I was looking for one.
 
webby said:
I'd guess that one would be good. Rasky told me to get the 6" griot's da polisher when I was looking for one.
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Thanks. I just bought the 3" Griot's DA. I might get the 6" when my current Harbor Freight one fails. I also bought the Yellow, White, Orange and Black Lake Country Pads from Detailed Image.
 
Dar-Dar said:
So I am looking for a smaller DA polisher, preferably a 3". Any recommendations on a good 3"? I'm looking at the Griot's garage 3" ..
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Can't beat the price on it. That used to be much more and the $100 price was a black friday/super sale deal you could score once a year. I've been using a 3" on my xp7424. I felt like it didn't have enough oomph with a 5.5" pad. The Civic has so many curves around the front fenders and the shape of the ***-end you almost have to do both those sections with a 3" pad. Takes a while but it comes out really nice.

I've been thinking about picking up one of the Rupes Mini polishers now that I'm going to have a work space again..... ah toys.....

http://www.autogeek.net/rupes-75-hd.html
 
I have begun a small detailing business on the side, using all chemical guys products. Except their polishers, since they are complete garbage. Any reccomendations where I can educate myself on actually buffing and polishing/wetsanding properly?
 
Dennis Rockholt said:
I have begun a small detailing business on the side, using all chemical guys products. Except their polishers, since they are complete garbage. Any reccomendations where I can educate myself on actually buffing and polishing/wetsanding properly?
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You will find out that some of there stuff is great and some is garbage, I will say from learning (been a detailer for 10 yrs now) that a lot of it is trial and error I use to by cheap body parts and learn on or sometimes local places have classes for you to learn (also worked at a few dealerships and side detail shops). If you have anything in particular you want to attempt id be happy to give you tips or suggestions for wet sanding and buffing and paint correction in general.
 
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TF_FB6 said:
You will find out that some of there stuff is great and some is garbage, I will say from learning (been a detailer for 10 yrs now) that a lot of it is trial and error I use to by cheap body parts and learn on or sometimes local places have classes for you to learn (also worked at a few dealerships and side detail shops). If you have anything in particular you want to attempt id be happy to give you tips or suggestions for wet sanding and buffing and paint correction in general.
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Would love a reccomend for equipment, as far as polish and actual tools!
 
Does anyone use detail king products? If so are they good? I want to buy a couple of things from them but Im not sure if its worth it.
 
I only buy stuff from Detailed Image. Mostly generic stuff like Griot's Garage or Meguiars.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
 
Well...I bought the 6" Griot's Polisher too.
 
Nix said:
Can't beat the price on it. That used to be much more and the $100 price was a black friday/super sale deal you could score once a year. I've been using a 3" on my xp7424. I felt like it didn't have enough oomph with a 5.5" pad. The Civic has so many curves around the front fenders and the shape of the ***-end you almost have to do both those sections with a 3" pad. Takes a while but it comes out really nice.

I've been thinking about picking up one of the Rupes Mini polishers now that I'm going to have a work space again..... ah toys.....

http://www.autogeek.net/rupes-75-hd.html
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I'd have to be a baller to own Rupes DAs. :giggle:
 
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What about the best way to correct swirl scratching? My S2k seems to love it. and it bothers me beyond belief.
 
Dennis Rockholt said:
What about the best way to correct swirl scratching? My S2k seems to love it. and it bothers me beyond belief.
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Probably need to do a multi step detail to get rid of the swirls. Use some cutting compounds(depending on how bad the swirls are), then polish and wax/seal it all up.
 
You will need fine polish and soft pads. The Honda paint is pretty soft and black tends to be the softest out there. (most of the time)

Multi-step if you really want that paint to shine. Try a Meguiars 205 / white pad combo and then after use an even finer polish like a Menzerna FF3000 or SF4000 on a black or red finishing pad.

The 205/white is a great combo for most OEM paint. It should take care of the majority of the swirls but black paints are finicky and hard to finish down perfectly, hence needing a second finishing step.

@ClearCutSi is a far better detailer than I. He may have another suggestion.
 
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