First time detailer...(NBP LX Sedan MT - many pics)

[Skyline]

I drove my baby through a snow storm on the way home from Cincinnati earlier this week, so the time had come for my first top to bottom detail. Wash/clay bar/scratch x/wax.

Before:



These look like nasty swirl marks, but it's just dirt (and a few paint chips from flying rocks )


This picture gives me nightmares:


During Wash:

I've got a few of these where I experimented with different angles and depth of field, but my wife assures me this is the best:


Post Wash:



















Products used:

Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner
Clay Magic Clay Bar
Meguiar's Scratch X
Meguiars Gold Class Wax (Paste)
Stoner's Invisible Glass
Meguiar's Quick Detailer
Meguiar's Tire Shine

As I said this was my first time detailing a car, and other than online guides I was pretty clueless. I certainly plan to do better next time. I did all the polishing/waxing by hand which took about 6 hours total. My arms and legs are feeling it today for sure. Needless to say, a ramdon orbital polisher is now #1 on my wish list!

[m1k3]

6 hours!! =0

but damn that car is freaking show room clean.

how exactly does a clay bar work?

my usual routine was wash car, then i would take the meguiars cleaning wax and apply it, then shine tires etc.

but i hear everyone talkinga bout clay bar but i have no idea what it is

[CivicDude]

Looks awesome now that its clean,

But the before pics is exactly why i will never own a black car!

[pointbrink]

i think black is worth it... but why.. WHY.. is the only interior color for the non si's IVORY!!??

[BantamSLK]

Oooh, wow, nice job cleaning! You can definitely tell that you put some real time into it, way to go. :)

[dotcom173]

hey skyline, do u happen to have a larger size of the picture with the civic emblem and the soap on it? that would make an awesome wallpaper. if not, thanks anyways. sick car, i think u just made me go with black rather than gray....except the before pics scared me.

also, sorry for the dumb question, but what are swirl marks. the way people talk about them around here, it seems like theyre permanent or something. arent they just swirls from washing and not drying thoroughly? thanks again

[Skyline]

Clay bar question: Read this link: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-clay.html

This site goes a little overboard sometimes, so take some of what he says with a grain of salt, but it's really great information overall.

Swirl marks: really tiny scratch looking things in your finish. They aren't deep at all, but when the sun hits them right you can really see them (especially on dark colors). The scratch x didn't get them out as well as I had hoped, but I think it's because I did it by hand. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time doing it by machine.

Logo picture: see if any of these work...they look kind of grainy this large, but it's the original size. They should look a little better when you shrink them a tad for your desktop.

Here's the one I posted:
http://static.flickr.com/36/116989978_83dedab771_o.jpg

This is the sharpest one I took, but I couldn't get the whole logo in while still keeping focus:
http://static.flickr.com/50/116990131_31355b34ac_o.jpg

This one is relatively clean, but it has my reflection in it. I guess I could photoshop it out, but I've been too lazy. It's also a tad overexposed, but that could be fixed with photoshop as well:
http://static.flickr.com/19/116990373_a77a89f3ef_o.jpg

Thanks for all the positive comments, folks :)

[Skyline]

Originally Posted by pointbrink

i think black is worth it... but why.. WHY.. is the only interior color for the non si's IVORY!!??

I kind of like the ivory. Wanted grey at first, but now I kind of like it the way it is.

[2fast4u2]

Hey Skyline, great job! Car looks awesome. Thanks for the pics.

[Celcius]

Remarkable detail job, dude! Too bad you live in TX. Here in California, Meguiars holds a detailers day every weekend that you can go to and they'll teach you how to use their products. From what I hear, it's awesome.

[Skyline]

Originally Posted by Celcius

Remarkable detail job, dude! Too bad you live in TX. Here in California, Meguiars holds a detailers day every weekend that you can go to and they'll teach you how to use their products. From what I hear, it's awesome.

TN, actually, but that still doesn't help with the California thing, haha.

[Celcius]

Originally Posted by Skyline

TN, actually, but that still doesn't help with the California thing, haha.

lol - sorry, I misread your info. My girlfriend lives in TN so maybe I'll make it out to a TN meet one of these days!

[CameronJr9]

I have no idea how I missed this thread. Great job on the detailing.

Originally Posted by Celcius

lol - sorry, I misread your info. My girlfriend lives in TN so maybe I'll make it out to a TN meet one of these days!

You'll have to let us know. I'd drive down to TN for that. What part of TN does she live?

[Skyline]

Originally Posted by CameronJr9

I have no idea how I missed this thread. Great job on the detailing.

Haha, thanks. Can't wait til round 2 in a few weeks. I'm going to give 3m swirl remover and zaino a shot this time.

Too bad I'm still stuck doing it by hand