I present: The cleanest my car has ever been*

"PowderHound" (PowderHound) 08/19/2013 at 18:39 • Filed to: Maintenance Monday

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*Since I have owned it**
**The interior is also really dirty until tomorrow as are the wheel wells, engine, and underside

But let's not spoil a good thing here. This is the first time I have ever claybared…claybar'd, claybarred…something, as well has waxed. Before my car was always just wash it and it looked fine. This right here took me something around 4 and 5 hours. It was a pain but worth it. Until I drive down the dirt driveway and it just gets dirty again.

Hopefully the claybar and wax make things easier that time though. I also realized, after spending all that time up close, that my car is a mess. Ton's of scratches, scrapes, everything. I like to think it would come out with a polish but who knows.

I'm not terribly concerned now as there are dents and the whole thing needs a respray anyway if I was to bring it to top notch condition.

Here are the products I used:

Meguiars Gold Class Soap with a wool mitt from advanced auto and the two bucket method
Mothers Claybar Kit
Meguiars Black wax
Meguiars glass cleaner
Armor all tire foam: found it at my grandparents and seems to work for the price of free.99
Eagle 1 Mag wheel cleaner
A slew of cheap microfiber towels from advanced auto
Wheel brush from advanced auto

Sorry about the less than quality pics. Used my slide phone. This is maintenance monday right?

Agrajag > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 18:53

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Nicely done. What do you intend to use to clean the engine. I'm always afraid to douse my engine with a hose, especially on an older car?

Big Bubba Ray > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 18:55

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What wheels and tires do you have on there? I'm looking for a new set in the near future for my OB and I really like what you've got.

PowderHound > Agrajag 08/19/2013 at 18:57

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I've read a lot that simple green and having the hose sprayer on mist works perfectly fine. As long as you don't sit with the water on the alternator/battery/electrics forever. The car was designed to be able to get wet. It's not like they put something in the engine that the second it gets wet is ruined. Also with the simple green you don't let it sit too long. I will have to read up on it some more before actually undergoing it

PowderHound > Big Bubba Ray 08/19/2013 at 19:01

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The wheels are the stock subaru snowflakes, I know they came on some of the 99ish legacy's and probably some others. The tires are Cooper Trendsetter SE, they were already on the car when I got them with 95% tread or so. Decent tires for all seasons. I'm not much of a tire guru but for all around they have done really well for me

Agrajag > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 19:11

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I suppose you're right about them getting wet anyway. I think I'd need something stronger than simple green, I'd almost need a scraper to get some of the gunk off.

PowderHound > Agrajag 08/19/2013 at 19:20

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I have never cleaned an engine bay before. Figured since I was going all out with the claybar and wax I might as well spend a little time on the engine tomorrow as well

MountainCommand > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 20:08

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Very good job. Black is a tricky mistress.

Ever thought about painting the sideskirts the matching color? I think it would complete the look you have going on.

And what amount of tint do you have on there? All windows the same? Hows night driving with that amount on there?

PowderHound > MountainCommand 08/19/2013 at 20:23

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The black specific wax from meguiars seemed to do a great job, we will see how it holds up.

I have thought about getting them to be the same color but need to spend money on other things so maybe once I get some spare cash I will do that. At least it is black and a different shade of black. Really what I need to do is respray the whole car. There are so many paint chips and nasty things going on.

As for the tint, I have no idea it was on the car when I got it. It is starting to peel and it is clear it is two separate layers. It really isn't that bad at night though, I have no issues except maybe backing up in real dark places i sometimes have to open my door but thats no big deal. All windows are the same as far as I can tell except for the windshield has nothing on it

MountainCommand > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 20:33

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Nice! My Friend uses the turtle wax black box stuff. And he swears by it.

Also look into wrapping the sideskirts. Depending on what kind you might be able to get pretty close to a color match, and possibly have that reflective surface. And for a lot cheaper, and its reversible.

Haha, i actually open my door every now and then when im backing up into spots regardless of the time.

PowderHound > MountainCommand 08/19/2013 at 20:49

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I read that turtle wax was shit once and being the internet and no one lying on the internet just never tried the stuff.

I will look in to wrapping as I also need to repaint my spoiler. Damn thing looks terrible, all kinds of layers of black paint scratched away. tis no good.

MountainCommand > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 21:40

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Sometimes the interenetss dont lie. Sometimes people who have no idea what theyre doing say somethings wrong because they couldnt get perfection from a five minute wax job. I dont think the wax is the biggest variable. Its the user. Id say get a few different brands if they are on sale, and try them out every other week.

(similar to how when people say they are die hard manual trans fluid buyers of product X, when they only changed their MTF once. Genius, putting any new oil will make your trans feel infinitely better than years old junk... Sorry, i got carried away right then.)

Yeah for items like a lip kits and high wear areas, wrapping could be a good option. Id paint the spoiler though. That should be matched.

PowderHound > MountainCommand 08/19/2013 at 21:47

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I have never waxed before in my life so I know nothing. I will say that after using the stuff I got today, I won't have to buy wax for at least 5 years

MountainCommand > PowderHound 08/19/2013 at 21:58

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Have you watched any of that /Drive clean stuff on youtube. He has some great info on what to do.

Make sure you get LOTS of microfiber towels and wax applicator pads.

PowderHound > MountainCommand 08/20/2013 at 14:09

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I have a little. I will have to watch more for my next go at it

A Self Loathing Mustang Guy > PowderHound 08/21/2013 at 09:47

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Your car looks great. Makes me wish I had time/money to get my bugeye wagon project running.

Matt@ShiftCarBlog > PowderHound 08/21/2013 at 10:50

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I would do some research on tire shines, a lot of Armor All products will turn your tires brown when the shine wears off. I have a Meguiar's Tire Gel (it's purple, don't remember the exact name) that works beautifully and doesn't spin off onto your freshly cleaned car.

PowderHound > A Self Loathing Mustang Guy 08/21/2013 at 11:14

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Thanks! It has 150k miles so it isn't as nice up close but I still love it. Favorite car I have ever had so I'm trying to make it last.

PowderHound > Matt@ShiftCarBlog 08/21/2013 at 11:15

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I am moving to a tire gel soon. I got this stuff for free and have used it a few times and it really isn't any good. Definitely going to a tire gel of some sort very soon

A Self Loathing Mustang Guy > PowderHound 08/21/2013 at 11:22

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150k really isn't that much for a Subaru, especially if it's been taken care of. And you'd be amazed at how many of those little scrapes and scratches will disappear with a good buff.

PowderHound > A Self Loathing Mustang Guy 08/21/2013 at 12:07

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Yeah it still runs great so I expect to get a lot more out of it. As for the buffing, I thought it would but I have never done it before. Debating on whether to try and tackle it myself sometime or actually pay some one to do it.