5 hours of detailing paid off!

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
04/07/2018 at 20:33 • Filed to: None

Yesterday one of my main tasks was doing a proper detail on my STi for the first time since purchasing the car. After driving it for a few months, the car was pretty dirty even with regular washes 2-3 times each month. This process included the high pressure soap and rinse from a coin op car wash to start. Then I did a bucket wash with a Turtle Wax product and a microfiber wash mit. After that I went home to do the full detail from the comfort of my garage. This would allow me to have food and bathroom access since I knew I had hours to go. I immediately started with some Meguiars clay and that took well over an hour to thoroughly cover the whole car. Right after finishing the clay, I used a Chemical Guys product called jet seal in order to seal the paint work and protect it for reportedly up to a year. That needed to settle about a half hour before microfiber polishing so I had some lunch and then got back to it. The final stage was a Chemical Guys Caranuba paste wax applied after polishing the sealant. Finally, I was done after 5 hours of grueling labor (plus an hour of downtime waiting for the sealant and wax). It is entertaining always to me, but man does it take long to scrub every inch of paint on the car.

These photos are from the same spot I stopped with the Miata yesterday, but today the ocean was not visible just yet since the Marine layer clouds were still over Malibu. However, we did go hiking and found some wonderful overlooks to get some nice photos from.

Also bonus shot of my girlfriend trying on my Autocross helmet. She says it’s too heavy and squishes her face.

DISCUSSION (21)

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 20:57

So when are we going to go to a track day? Bro.

Jet Seal should last hopefully about six months, if we don’t get any rain. Rain really screws with things, though, and can talk most of the life out of it. If you haven’t already, apply Jet Seal to all of the windows too. It’s flipping magical because then you can actually see when it rains, even without using your wipers.

My new favorite sealant, at least currently, is CarPro Reload. You can apply it to a wet car, so it acts as a drying aid. And a coat of Reload can last about three large rain storms. Ask me how I know that.

But I have many litres of that stuff so I put it on during every wash. So every time I clean the cars (at least every two weeks), it always looks amazing, and water never sticks to any surface.

Old Red Wagon > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 20:57

Nice. Just a heads up though. Jet seal is a final step product. It’s a sealant which is like a wax. It’s a synthetic product which is more durable than a carnauba wax. Should be wash, clay, polish, then sealant/wax. You could use either or both. If you use both always sealant first then wax. Only reason I say this is because you mentioned you applied jet seal then polished.

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 21:04

May 12th for $150

random001 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 21:18

If you’re interested in a nice wax, try chemical guys white wax. Holy hell, does it make white pop. It’s awesome.

And I want that car.

Svend > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 22:15

She looks fantastic.

The only reason I don’t like doing white cars, is when doing them in the sun you can get pink spot, where looking at the glaring white causes slight cornea burning and you get a large pink dot in the middle of your vision after a couple of hours which lasts for about 20 minutes or so.

So do it in the shade or while wearing sunglasses.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Old Red Wagon
04/07/2018 at 22:33

Yes I used the jet seal and then wax. By polishing the jet seal, I only meant buffed it. It was in the instructions on the bottle so I figured it mattered to some degree.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Svend
04/07/2018 at 22:34

Yup I would have went blind haha. That’s why I did the whole thing indoors. Definitely is blindingly bright to look at now.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > His Stigness
04/07/2018 at 22:35

It doesn’t rain in LA lol. Winter is over so I should be good until like December.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > random001
04/07/2018 at 22:40

Well I have plenty of this was now, but yeah I figure a white specific wax is probably not a bad idea to try. And somehow I found this car in stock condition. I was soon to give up hope on that and just buy something with as few mods as possible and hope for the best. The spoiler delete I think was a wonderful mod and I’m glad the previous owner did it properly.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > His Stigness
04/07/2018 at 22:43

Hmm that sounds awesome. I’d definitely be interested. Not sure which day but I like the sound of it. Miata brakes are working right now. I’ll get working on the oil leak and then I’ll be ready. I’ll post it to the email list as well. Either day work better for you?

Old Red Wagon > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 22:48

Ahh okay, it threw me off because polish is doing exactly that. You’re polishing the paint as in getting rid of scratches using a polish or a compound.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Old Red Wagon
04/07/2018 at 23:09

Ahh yeah makes sense that my terminology made no sense. I figured the jet seal isn’t applied perfectly in one even layer so smoothing it out with the cloth at the end made sense. The wax was a usual wax on, wait for it to haze, and then wax off. I figure I’ll reapply wax every month or two to keep the seal going until somewhere around the end of summer.

LACarReviews > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/07/2018 at 23:53

I just spent 4 hours today detailing haha. Used all the Chemical Guys Products - Clay, wax, sealant, glaze, compound, tire shine, trim shine, interior shine, interior cleaner, carpet cleaner, just the hold works haha. I have to say after doing this for the first time ever on my 2011 tundra, the results were more than awesome. Such a proud feeling

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > LACarReviews
04/07/2018 at 23:59

Midway through it, it never feels worth the effort but once it’s finally complete it’s always so clean that it’s surprising. It’s instantly apparent when a car is properly detailed versus just sent through the gas station car wash occasionally.

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/08/2018 at 03:30

Even though I’ll lose a day of work I think Saturday would be better. I’ll have to get up at the crack of dawn to get out there so I still want one day of sleeping in and relaxing lol.

His Stigness > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/08/2018 at 03:32

Haha probably. I really hope it rains more, though, and for a few weeks straight. It was nice during that last few storms I didn’t have to wash the cars for weeks since it kept raining.

I also don’t want us to go into a new drought and have my water use get restricted.

random001 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/08/2018 at 09:31

If you want to try it, I can send you my tub to try. I know it’s pricey, but damn if it isn’t worth it.

Yes, let me know when you’re planning to sell it for something new!

Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead. > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/08/2018 at 09:54

Detailing is a hobby of mine:

Kinja'd!!!

Your next step is to buy a good DA.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > random001
04/08/2018 at 10:57

Haha I already think this car is too new. If anything id be buying something older! But I find this to be a goldilocks year where it’s new enough to have modern safety but old enough to still be somewhat simple. Until I run into reliability issues, I could see keeping this car for a long time.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead.
04/08/2018 at 11:00

I always feel so worried messing with power tools and paint. I have a DA attachment for my cordless drill which helps for doing my headlights as well as polishing out minor scratches. But yeah if I try to self paint my Miata, that would be a useful skill to learn.

random001 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
04/08/2018 at 13:33

Well, yeah, but you know....if....