I was just giving you crap!

Haha, it's okay, I know! It doesn't bother me. :p Sorry if I seemed defensive or anything, I was dirty and tired and had just come inside from some semi-final detail things.

Just explaining why it's taking so long this time, as it has never taken me this long before. To be honest, I don't want to see this car again for a loooooong time.

on to the interior?

Wax and other final stuff!

If you've never waxed your car before, I cry for you. Waxes come in several different forms, but for the purpose of this guide, I'm going to give the spotlight to the basic liquid bottle stuff. It's basically the same process as cleaner and polish, with one difference. Most waxes will advise that you let the wax dry for a few moments before you wipe it off, unlike the wipe-on wipe-off approach to the other things we've done so far. This isn't true for ALL waxes, so be sure you read the bottle. If it happens to be the kind that you do let dry, then you can wax some pretty large areas before you wipe it off, so get to it!

You really want to preserve that shine you've finally gotten, so more than one coat of wax is definitely advisable. And stay in keeping with getting to every place that has paint on it!

Once you're through with that, congrats! You're done! .. With that part at least. :p

There's a couple of last basic things before we start focusing on the things that really make a detail what it is. And the first thing is .. wheel cleaning!

Depending on the form of cleaner you got and what your rims are made of, how you go about this may be different, so I won't say too much. If your rims are REALLY bad, arm yourself with a toothbrush and make that brake dust go crying for its mother. If you're trying for a real show quality detail, go ahead and jack the car up and take the rims off.

If you don't clean them like this regularly, you'll find the insides are probably caked in brake dust.

[img]http://www.theunknownbrewer.com/gallery2..._serialNumber=2[/img]

If you have rims made of cheaper and less refined material like I do (stock alloy five stars!), getting some steel wool and LOTS of water will take care of the brake dust inside the rim. I DO NOT advise this method be used on the visible parts of the rim, and ESPECIALLY not on the hi-po versions. For that stuff, you're better off with a finer-grade rubbing compound or a brush. Not a toothbrush; I don't want you to kill yourself. Now remember, this is ONLY talking about the inside, or if your rims are really ridiculously dirty. If this does not apply to you, then you'll be fine with whatever wheel cleaner you got.

On the outside, visible parts, just follow the directions on whatever wheel cleaner you got. Once again, do not do this in direct sunlight, as the cleaner can bake into the finish of the rim and ruin it completely. I cannot stress enough that all products are different, so you MUST read and follow whatever directions are given to you.

[img]http://www.theunknownbrewer.com/gallery2..._serialNumber=2[/img]

There is finish under there! If you have the wheels off, now is a great time to scrub the insides of the wheel wells with a stiff brush. Get all that road grime, dirt and dust off the insides. Once you have them somewhat clean, take your tire foam to them, it will do a good job of restoring them to a clean black color. Look twice! TIRE foam. Switching products on you! If you get any on the paint, wipe it off ASAP. It's best to always have a towel on hand to clean up your inevitable messes.

If you don't take your wheels off, it will be a little more difficult to reach in the wheel wells to do this, especially if you're lowered and have bigger tires, but it can be done with some perseverance. And ingenuity.

[img]http://www.theunknownbrewer.com/gallery2..._serialNumber=2[/img]

Once you've got everything looking nice, it's a good idea to put the wheels back on.

Yay! Most exterior things are done now! The only thing we have left is window cleaner, which is very self-explanatory. There was a method I read about some time ago that was pretty involved and used RainX, but I'll have to find it again. If you've ever seen the effect of RainX on windows, you'll know the extra effort will be well worth it. Pretty much the only tactic I can advise that might not be obvious is, you can be lazy on the windshield and sit inside the car and just clean it with the windshield wipers and fluid.

If you're not liking the window cleaner you have, you can use wiper fluid on the windows. Just make sure that if you have to dilute it, that you do. I also can't really recommend using it on the inside as I'm not sure what it could do to anything it dripped on. Dry the windows and mirrors off with a microfiber towel to minimize any possibility of streaks. You might have to clean them more than once to get a good result.



Once that's done, woo! Your car is clean! .. On the outside. Mostly. Now we start focusing on the details.

Very nice write up... Looking forward to the pictures.

You didn't see if your key would unlock it first?

I did, actually! It didn't work. I really hoped it would since it seems to work for some people, and since it's PassKey that really does all the work .. but I didn't get lucky this time.

Is there pictures of the finished ride?

seriously...Herc or Bobby...I think this needs to be added to the FAQ section or linked to a DIY page...the girl did a bang up job

some finished pics would be sweet tho :rolleyes:

Just a few little touch-up things left.

Whatever wax residue is left by now has probably dried and turned white, leaving little deposits of junk in the crevasses and crannies of your car. You need to remove these; don't leave them there, because they can bake into the finish and become difficult to impossible to remove.



For this, I recommend some sort of detailing pen made specifically for this kind of application. Black Magic makes a three-pen detail kit, the one you'll be looking for has a rubber tip. I'll get a pic of mine later.

Please, do NOT use your fingernail, anything abrasive or anything with a hard edge to remove these things. A detail pen will remove it completely with no effort whatsoever, and trying to remove it with aforementioned other ways can damage your paint. So don't do it!

Take care of all those little things, be picky about it, this is all about making the car look it's best. Give it another one-over will a clean microfiber towel or polishing cloth, just to buff it out and get any places you missed.

Once you've given it The Eye and are happy with it up-close, you can step back and let the whole picture come together.

Trust me, when you've spent this much time on it up-close and personal and pored over every little detail, the sum of its parts will come together and make it VERY worth the time.

Take the time to refresh yourself on what the car looked like in the beginning .


And this is what it will look like now that you've cut yourself, dropped things on your toes, bled over it, cursed at it, wanted to cry everytime you found a dent, rubbed your knees raw and agonized over every little thing to the point of tearing your hair out ..

She drove it to work before this, so anything that looks dirty isn't my fault. X( I don't see anything though, so ignore this block of text if you desire.








Sorry for quality on this one.

Interior guide in the works! Haven't had the time yet, probably won't this weekend, but I promise I haven't forgotten!

I've heard, haven't searched yet, but should I use a specific wax for dark cars specifically black ones? Planning on doing my buddies dad's 2003 Z4 the is black and has tons of swirl marks from his crappy wax job awhile back.

dammit...thatlooks HAWT!

An awesome job as usual!