Finally was able to detail the FiST - Pic Intensive

[cgm9999]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd post some pics I took after I was finally able to give my car a proper new car detail. Here's how I did it:

Wash
-Optimum Car Wash

Decontamination
-CarPro Iron-X

Clay
-Optimum Opti-Clay Towel (Fine grade)

Correction
-Wolfgang Finishing Glaze with Lake County White pads

Coating Prep
-Pinnacle Black Label Surface Cleaning Polish

Coating
-Pinnacle Black Label Paint, Wheel, and Glass Coating

Before:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Hey guys, Thought I'd post some pics I took after I was finally able to give my car a proper new car detail. Here's how I did it: Wash -Optimum Car Wash Decontamination -CarPro Iron-X Clay -Optimum Opti-Clay Towel (Fine grade) Correction -Wolfgang Finishing Glaze with Lake County White pads Coating Prep -Pinnacle Black Label Surface Cleaning Polish Coating -Pinnacle Black Label Paint, Wheel, and Glass Coating Before:

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Not bad from a few feet away...

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Waterspots...

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Swirls...

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Grime from a overfilling during a recent fuel up...

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More minor swirls...

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General nastiness from Colorado winter...

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Not too bad...

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But not great either

Con't

 

[cgm9999]

During

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Jacking up the car accomplishes two things: One, it allows you to completely clean, detail and coat the wheels, inside and out. Two, it makes it much easier to clay, polish, clean, and coat the lower parts of the car. Your body will thank you...

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After

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Thanks for looking!

 

[STephen]

Great stuff! I wish I had that kind of dedication, lol.

 

[FistSt215]

Don't have that kind of time and patience lol. Great job man !! It looks great and brand new from the dealer!

 

[CanadianST]

Very nice! as others have said, wish i had that kind of patience. Most of mine was run out by the time my wheels were cleaned though

 

[CanadianGuy]

Great job!

 

[FocusMike]

Great job! How often do you do this?

 

[shook sez]

that's beautiful. did you use a buffer?

 

[cgm9999]

Great job! How often do you do this?

Something this intensive I probably do twice a year. For one, you always want to limit how often you do a correction step (i.e. polish) because there's only so much clearcoat on your car. Thus, a light polishing once or twice a year is fine. Also, this took me about 15 labor hours to complete; I'm in no hurry to do it all over again. In fact, despite the dedication, the money I spend on good products and the time, I actually get very little enjoyment from detailing. Quite frankly, we're talking about physical labor after all - I'd much rather spend my weekends doing something leisurely. Hence the reason for the coatings I applied - not only do they give you a great glassy looking finish, but just as importantly, they're supposed to protect and last much, much longer than wax and really cut down on the amount of time it takes to upkeep your car's cleanliness. For example, I've already since cleaned the wheels after applying the coating and it was like a godsend; the brake dust came right off with a very light once-over with a wheel woolly and regular water and car soap. No expensive wheel cleaner needed. I highly recommend it.

 

[cgm9999]

that's beautiful. did you use a buffer?

Yep. All I used was a Griot's Garage "6 DA polisher.

 

[SirSlaughter]

I myself just finished detailing my Fiesta. Used Sanction'd metal polish on the Cobb tips as the salt from winter season was actually causing rust.
Now it looks way better. But good job on the detailing job. You made the car look good as new.


Question, how long do you guys normally take to do this kind of detailing. I take a few hours because I get OCD and clean every single little itty bitty thing I can get my hand son. That includes the engine bay sometimes.

 

[Hwy9FiST]

Question, how long do you guys normally take to do this kind of detailing. I take a few hours because I get OCD and clean every single little itty bitty thing I can get my hand son. That includes the engine bay sometimes.

I have got it down to two hours. Wash+Wax. I watched lots of videos on how to wash a car before buying a new car. If you want to know how to properly wash a car, without getting the fine scratches, watch AMMO NYC on youtube. Its fun to watch because he goes into intense detail. A full detail for him is 100 hours, takes him all week. The cars he details range from 200k to 2million.

 

[rexdriver85]

Awesome job man. I was thinking of getting that Griots as well, but my detailing friend told me they put up a teaser over at Autopia and around June 6th they all think a new polisher is going to be announced.

Going to wait and see.

How was that Pinnacle coating to work with?

 

[cgm9999]

Awesome job man. I was thinking of getting that Griots as well, but my detailing friend told me they put up a teaser over at Autopia and around June 6th they all think a new polisher is going to be announced.

Going to wait and see.

How was that Pinnacle coating to work with?

Thanks for the kind words.

The Griot's is a great tool. Before the Griot's I was just like most other people, hopelessly hand polishing cars. Not only is this long, grueling work, but it doesn't come close to achieving the results you get with a polisher like the Griot's. So, what I'm trying to say is that I've never once used a polisher on a car before and I was incredibly worried about damaging the paint. After using the Griot's just once, I soon realized that my fears were unfounded; this thing is absolutely dummy proof. I honestly don't think you could damage the clear coat with a Griot's even if you tried.

That said, the Griot's is great for beginners. Once you feel comfortable with it, you'll pine for something like a Flex 3401 that will allow you to correct even more severe swirls in less time than something like a Griot's. I liken the Griot's as a necessary tool for beginners much like a Kawasaki Ninja 250 - both allow you to learn the basics, but soon you'll outgrow them for something with more capability.

As for the Pinnacle products, they're fantastic. I was worried about the application of the coatings since I've read horror stories from others online (although, not from Pinnacle), but much like the Griot's, application was truly as easy as it gets. Incredibly easy to apply; no joke, I've applied waxes that were way more difficult to deal with than the Pinnacle coatings. In fact, now that I think of it, the coatings kind of make waxes obsolete - this one applied so well, and shined so deeply that there's really no incentive to apply a wax since it won't protect nearly as good or last nearly as long as a coating.