rjt65

Hey Army of one. Good luck and hope your biz is booming. One suggestion, instead of a Porter Cable- A flex is more $$$ but a much better orbiter from all the posts i read on it versus porter cable. "FLEX___might wanna consider the Flex ROB ... twice the orbits of the PC and still much safer than the rotary. Its really useful ! Flex flex xc3401 " So a lot of stuff on how it is better. Another good u tube vid showing flex vs porter cable - quieter and about half time to get out swirls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yht1uHJLNlQ...feature=related Good luck.

First of all..Luv the Homey the Clown avatar...man I miss that show. 1) Someone advised that waxing the wheels give it too much dust attraction, your thoughts? are you referring to carnuba waxes? 2) Why the ONR after clean and wax? Seems redundant to clean wax than clean again 3) I have the upgraded alloy wheels and was not sure the acid based cleaners would not damage alloy wheels (they mention a lot of wheels not to use on in general Graphite-polished alloy wheels on the es 350 are they = to either Anodized, magnesium , uncoated or powder coated rims? As they are alloy I think not. I Use the Meguirs hot wheel acid which worked wonders on wifes expedition dirty wheels thanks

Actually I was browsing thru a main detailing post, thought it was current but than when i saw that message I said WOW didn't realise so old. took me like 5 mins to find it.... But have to say when work is killing me I luv browsing thru the site for a break, picking up gr8 stuff allover. Gee and it sounds like me too!! ha ha! But you know what, ddoc is still DA MAN! Something tells me though that I don't think I will be worthy of ddoc like admiration!!! Still, with this detailing bible forum, we might get part of the way there! Good job ddoc (and to you rtj, you have to get a life....finding that post probably took longer than detailing your car!!!! :D )

hahaha hey jgt new lex the guy who posted this (from 2007) sounds like me! " I just finished detailing my car. After all the swirl marks and scratches (inside and out) from the idiots at the car wash, I decided to invest on some detailing products and do everything myself. I bought everything from autopia and used mostly Sonus products. I love this stuff,......... I just had to post this here ... that was from DDOC in 2007.. hahahaha so in 2 years maybe we will be responding to newbies like us know!

http://www.autogeek.net/kleenwheeldu.html Any one use these? Where they worth it to install? cheers

All another good u tube vid showing flex vs porter cable - quieter and about half time to get out swirls

Thanks Again DDOC. ACC meant to spell out Accessories. Pads and polish (u answered thanks!) and I saw someone recommend the flex attachment for flex. do you use or just stick with basic 6" pad loop and hold. You store in a regular tool bag or really need the flex bag to store it. test the new Flex Adaptor specifically designed so you can use all sorts of pads ! Pads will be perfectly centered (so no more off center pads which cause even more vibration )to the machine which in turn wear the bearings out very quickly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FykiFauXtB4 1)Absoutely the Flex. It has better correction capabilities (which will come in handy at some point or another, trust me), it does not vibrate your hands to death as the Porter Cable and UDM do (huge factor here, after polishing a whole car with the PC or UDM, your hands will be numb and in pain for days), less annoying noise, and still fool proof. 2)acc? what do you mean? For pads I recommend the Lake Country CCS Pads or the DAS Pads. 3)For your Lexus, I recommend Sonus SFX 2 and 3. These are mild polishes that are pretty safe to use, but do the job on any Lexus because of their ultra soft paint. If you get the DAS Pads, I would start with the green pad with SFX2, if that does not work then move up to the Orange Pad, then finish off with SFX 3 and the blue pad (these two are more for increase gloss, they don't really polish) If you get the Lake Country Pad I would start with SFX 2 and the white pad, if that does not work then with the orange pad then finish with SFX 3 and the gray or blue pad. 4)For polishing that is all you will need for your Lexus Forget the G110.

DDOC and others: Thoughts on polishing? Saw a lot of good press for porter Cable orbiter, but further investigating revealed it is not that strong at removing scratches and swirls. Rotaries are stronger but in the hands of an amateur (Like me! ) could be dangerous as we could screw up our paint. Found a compromise I think in this: FLEX XC3401 VRG Dual Action Polisher - $279 autogeek versus the Porter Cable With minimal/no accessories $129 3600 more RPM's, more power. Is it worth it? For me I have hundreds of hidden scratches from that shatty car wash (boars hair brushes my ___) 1) I am leaning towards the flex to ensure I get full scratch removal, thoughts? 2) for polishing what acc. do u recommend- 1st what pads see a lot of choices in pads 3) What polish(s) - what brands or what grades -obvious some are rougher or lighter- for lots of car wash scratches what is best? 4) Anything else for polishing? Lot of excellent videos out there for how to polish,god bless the internet Alos saw a review that liked the Meguirs g110 more power same pricing as porter cable also complained about flex rotating opposite direction from most rotaries, and the numb vibration in hands after us, but recognized the improvement of flex over porter. G110 ($149.99) As a conventional DA polisher in the family of the venerable Porter Cable 7424 this baby shines - literally and figuratively. It is smoother in operation than the conventional PC and has a bit more power. There is noticeably less shake and vibration and it does the same great job of defect removal that a machine at this power level is capable of. For $150 with a backing plate and hard case I think it's a must have for any weekend warrior who cares about their vehicles. Definitely an improvement over the PC 7424.

Cali 'duster redux After more severe rain we have continued major dusting from Pollen. A lot of green maples so green pollen on black gives it a nice fluorescent glow. I broke and tried my Cali duster and it worked gr8 no scratches and just lightly dragged versus pressing hard. Figured, heck i got mucho swirl scratches (not easy to see, but owner eyes lock in) so y not try. Looking on Vette forum found this http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1998085 Lot black vette owners feel it is safe too, obvious washing is best but in NY with Pollen and black that would mean 5 washings a day. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1998085

OK just sent another order Detail Doc will you please send me a money order to help put my kids in college (few years away so I have to buy this stuff now) My first order with autogeek (grit bucket, p21s wheel cleaner, ez detail brush, ONR) , used the coupon code ' ago ' saved me the 15$ shipping ('Clubmember' saves 10% but u cannot combine with ago so use whatever makes more savings to u) Also orded 2 bottles Zaino Wheel Gloss - z16. from zaino so another 100$(75$ autogeek-$5 zaino) to the Detailing kitty! :cries: But I will not lose sleep not knowing if my meguirs or eagle wheel cleaners (store bought) ruins my alloy wheels (I will use them on my wifes truck hahahah) the p21s is water based I think I have all now except my future orbit polisher, polish and accessories for orbiter, clay lube...I will try to wait till next year...but if those scratches annoy me enuf I might invest in a few months! Viva Detailing Kings!

DDOC: Be careful posting as I always will come back with 4 ?'s to one statement. SO dirty I have ONR in my cart right now still finagling my orders over 3 sites. Your statement on hosing it down first when dirty, I planned to use ONR in the Winter. So if the car is (I Live in NY) is dirty from snow, salt et al, and I cannot hose down (Freezing pipes and all ) than use ONR, what to do? I am panicking now on this one there must be a solution!!! :o Rain hah. No excuse man, time to get yourself some sweet ONR, so you can ONR in your garage (if available). Before ONR though, I like to hose down the car at full pressure to get rid of all the dirt.

Hmmmmm u think I got seperate dealer moldings not OEM? y is that? regardless I like 'em, very small and subtle. Saved me from some !@#$% door-ping already I don't believe those are the OEM moldings...

OK, We will give you 1 more week to ge the PG+! than u must post! I did the 3 coats PG+ buffing with MF towel after the last coat, than added on my Ps21 carnuba (I didn't pick up on the 100% piece, but this wax is gr8 and cheaper) Just washing 2 x week since (3-4 weeks ago) with one Quick detail (Ultima Detail Spray +) and the constant Rain (we are like Noah up in NY) Raining every day this month, and still beading like a champ!! I plan to wash later this week, and do just PG+ to see how that works. PG+ is so easy.. take u like 5-10 minutes to do the whole car. Make sure u have the correct applicators too put on. good luck! I have not detailed yet, I have the Carnuba but not the PG+. I don't know if I want to use the combination of both or just try with the wax first. I washed it on Sunday and the paint still looks great, but the AZ sun soon will start scorching it, so I better find time to protect it!

Ok DDOC, We soon will have to chip in to pay you for answering endless lists of ?'s from us newbies. But I plan to get over 100 posts all on this thread ! 1- do u do 3 coats of PG+ every month? 2 - Ever just wax? or do the PG+ and no wax? 3 - Would One coat PG+ and MF buff work, and protect and bead up rain and such just as good as a wax in your opinion? I might try this time and see for myself. 4- as JGTNewLEx asked if the car is outside between 12 hour multi-coats of PG+ and gets dusty or dirty from driving or sitting, should you wash between coats of PG+ and if so should you buff with MF after each PG+ coat than? As always thankee SAI! Yes, I do wax sometimes without the sealant underneath as it is a different look. Depending on the wax though, if you do wax only, you might have to do it more often as durability is less (except for waxes like Collinite #845, Clearcoat Carnauba Moose Wax, and others that last 2 -3 months). You don't have to seal every month, I just like to do it just to make the car more reflective and since UPGP is so easy to apply, it is no big deal, but 3-4 times/year is fine. You can also add a fresh coat of wax every month without adding a sealant. If you want to do wax only, you would have to strip off the UPGP by cleaning with with the Sonus Paintwork Cleanser, although I am not so confident that doing it by hand would strip off the UPGP. A great wax for black car is Pinnacle Souveran Paste.

EZ brush looks excellent and I intend to get that, some ONR for Winter and the Zaino Z16 Perfect tire Gloss- ..I hate Brakedust!!!! it is evil!! ? are the Graphite-polished alloy wheels on the es 350 = to either Anodized, magnesium , uncoated or powder coated rims? As they are alloy I think not need to see if i can use my Meguirs Hot rim All wheel cleaner *yah read fine print--cant do Anodized, magnesium , uncoated or powder coated ) anyone know?

Hey AZ08: Did u detail yet the exterior? any Pix? would Like to see the smokey Granite cheers

I will 2nd getting the detailing kit (Sonus Cockpit) use it (both cleaner and UV) every 2-4 weeks. Black interior (the pain of black on black) shows dust very fast so I find the anti-static cleanser here works excellent. Get (do not remember if it comes with MicroFiber applicator) the proper applicator (MF) to apply, do the whole inside in like 10-20 minutes for both coats. JGTNLO - I am aware of the potential to use either/or in combo or alone etc. Just wondering If instead of just waxing I should ALWAYS put one coat of the sealant on, (as opposed to my 3x a year 3 coats PG+) for the waxing in-between. Or just wax sometimes as the sealant should last months, or maybe just do one coat PG+ after a wash sometimes too, no wax. So how did the sealant only bead up with rain and how long did u wait to wax( or u have not waxed yet?) PS - the tail-Fin looks cool and subtle !! AZ, detaildoc and SW03ES are the experts but I used Sonus cockpit cleaner and UV protectant on all of the dash and the plastic and it seemed to do well. rjt, I used the SEALANT first since that is what ddoc said to. If you continue to read through the posts, where I asked this, he recommended to me that I take a pic after buffing out the PG+ the third time and then do the carnouba wax and take a pic to see what I like best. What I have gathered is you can use sealant OR wax OR both. It really depends on how you like the look of the results on your car. Apparantly, some think the carnouba wax gives a deeper color. I am going to do the wax next and then I will post pics....however, I really like the ease of the PG+ sealant. And, as I mentioned, my neighbor complimented me on how he never saw a paint job like this (it was like glass/a mirror). Also, if you look at some car care websites, they have sealants/wax in the same page.....kind of gives credance to the use can use either/or/both. My new pics are below from my 3rd detail with PG+(they were on an overcast day but you can still see the reflections...the spot on the trunk was rain on my camera lens, not the car..thanks goodness!).

DDOC: ? on Sealing Do you ever WAX without using PG + first? I am washing weekly (plus more due to pollen dust-hosing off only seems to move the pollen dust around not off!)), and planned to do another waxing (wax plan 2x or so per mo.) Rereading these posts I saw u stated that u always seal (Ultima PG+) first, but PG+ seems to say to use 3-4x per year. So what is the benefit to seal every mo versus 4 x per year ? Meaning if the paint is sealed and will be sealed for few months why seal 1-2x per mo versus 3-4 per year? Is that just wasting sealant or have you fund the sealent wears down with multiple waxing etc.. Wondering if i need to adjust my planned sealing ..as always thnakee sai for the advice

DDOC A ? on Wheel care kits I see Sonus and pinnacle kits (2 bottles each cleaner and gel 16 oz each i think), sonus one brush Pinnacle 2, Sonus one sponge applicator Pinnacle 2) but it still seems like a lot $45 for 2 bottles @ 16 oz, y r these superior to other tire cleaners/dressings? What about p21s tire cleaners gels, mothers, Optimum tire shine, etc. Wheel waxing, Si or no ? thoughts here all?

hey there nice pix.... ... Can you take one from behind to show the tail-fin? can see it a little from the side, but like all said subtle versus big and bling...

u da man... that detailing thread is the best thread on this board. Got me a shining...hey you should add (nice shine!!!!) yer pix to your own gallery...as a personal album. did you post your wifes car somewhere after detailing? TTFN = ta ta For now-- an instant mssg signoff..text mssg term....

I got the moldings front back and sides. With the black on black they add a look I wanted plus the tap protection. I also disagree about this making it a buick. The Lucerne seems like a nice car but no one has ever confused the 2. But that is what makes inet bboards good, different opinions. :D

Interesting thread guys. I don't have the ASL issue, But would say that the system on 20 or lower sounds bland, raising to 30 + and it sounds gr8. I have played with treble bass mid...EQ etc to no avail to get the music on low sounding better, any suggestions?

Ymmv = your mileage may vary, meaning It basically means your experience may be different. I too use them for it and find that should take care of any warranty issues. Bought the maint. package for 3 years at purchase but do agree some of the costs are very high for inspection. the service guy was honest and told me not to expect anything less than 500$ when bringing the car in for any repairs maint etc. Not too much more than my Nissan Maxima. Also, told on this forum not to have anyone wash it but myself I lose the free car wash !!!!! I too don't have the time for all this self care stuff, so tend to outsource these types of things. But I am detailing it myself to avoid scratches , so the money I save on carwashing can cover my yearly Maint costs. cheers all TTFN

thanks yep I have been doing that. easier than to just dial from my phone as my phone will do the Pauses..automatically