Charger SRT8- Complete Pro Detail Job
 

We are often facing the question of what is the best way to achieve maximum results using our product line. So I have decided to do a small write up of how “WE” do our detail jobs, I say “We” because there’s many ways to do a detail job, this is what works for us and doesn’t represent the only way to go about it. This is a system that we've used.

First Step- Vehicle placement,

To start your detail job, you want to make sure your car is not in direct sunlight and that the surfaces on the outside aren’t hot. If shade cannot be found, you can wait until late evening so the sun isn’t at its full intensity.

Florida Sun can be brutal and today was not an exception, so we put up the tent we used for our shows and demos.

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Step 2- Vehicle surface evaluation

One of the most important aspects of a successful detail job is the evaluation of the vehicle surface, this evaluation will allow us to prepare ourselves with the correct products and steps, things like light scratches, swirl marks and other paint imperfections can be evaluated at this time, from here we will have a plan of what products are needed and in what order.

You want to prep your washing materials first so you aren’t running back to get items from storage while water is on the paint or wheels. You can use a pressure washer usually with no problems, just use caution when doing so. You don’t want to get to close to any surface of the car with high pressure water, especially to pin strips or emblems, failure to do so can result in inevitable damage.

Not what we were expecting.

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Step 3- Rinsing Vehicle- Pre Wash

I start off by rinsing all the loose debris from the top of the car working downwards. You want to make sure to get all of the loose grime off of the surface so you don’t have to**your wash mitt. What I like to do at this point is just hit all the surfaces including, wheels and tires. I found out with this process we can avoid until a certain point swirl marks. Very often as you wash you may be dragging loose grime which will scratch the vehicle surface, these steps are by no means a solution, rather than a “preventative action”.

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Step 4- Washing- Tires and Wheels

Washing removes all loose contaminates from the exterior surfaces of the car and leaves a clean and prepped surface ready for other steps in the detail. You will always want to wash the tires and wheels first, so water doesn’t sit on your clean paint and get baked in by the sun.

For the tires, wheels and wheel wells you will only need a few things. You will need a separate set of wash materials so your paint does not get contaminated by the metal particles and dirt on your tires and wheels. Do not use the same wash water or tools on the paint as you did your wheels. I like to have just a simple soft bristled brush.

There’s a big misconception that all wheel cleaners will stain you wheels, all do in part, this is true, the majority of wheel cleaners will indeed stain and damage your wheels, BUT not with our Turbo Wax Wheel Cleaner and Brightener, it actually cleans the wheels without acids or other harmful chemicals, some of which can and will cause spotting or peeling of the clear coat on the wheels, our formula works well on plastic wheel coverings as well. If accidentally sprayed on the vehicle finish, just wash off, no harm done, our product is PH balanced and will not stain clear coats!

Starting with your tires and wheels first, don’t wet the paint. Prepare your wash materials and get started doing the wheels, tires and wheel wells one by one. Don’t do all of them at once, you don’t want any of these cleaners to dry. I like to start out by rinsing the heavy debris from the tire and wheel well area. Most of the time mud and loose dirt accumulate in these areas, and you don’t want to be scrubbing that dirt all over your wheels.

I start out by spraying down all areas with Turbo Wax Wheel & Brightener cleaner. By the time I’ve sprayed everything, it’s had enough time to sit and start working. I use the detail brush first to get to the backside of my wheels and get all that brake dust out of there.

Nothing looks worse than a clean wheel where you can see a dirty backside. After that step is done, I take my soft bristled brush and work on the face of the wheel. Light agitation is all that is needed. Last I work on the wheel wells with my long handled brush making sure to hit every part in the wheel well. Wheel wells are a really important step to a complete detail, and you have to make sure they are spotless. While you are washing, make sure when you dip your wash tools in the bucket, to dip them in the rinse bucket first to remove all the dirt, and then dip it in the soap bucket so you are getting clean soap. When you are done with each wheel, rinse the wheel and make sure the entire cleaner is off the wheel. Repeat for the other wheels. Make sure to get any undercarriage areas that are visible.

Product and tools to be used.

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After Washing wheel and tires.

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Step 4A- Washing- Vehicle painted surfaces

After the tires and wheels have been done and before wetting the paint, you will want to prepare your wash bucket and tools for the paint in this step you will use our Turbo Wax Car Shampoo, with its slick gentle suds, our highly lubricated formula with its unique foaming quality and quick rinse characteristics SAFELY lifts dirt and grime while helping to prevent swirls from washing.

Turbo Wax Car Shampoo safely removes dirt and grime without removing waxes or sealants. The shampoo is specially formulated to be absolutely harmless and safe for your car surface.The use of the wrong shampoo that doesn’t remove the grime and dirt combine with a low quality sponge/applicator will eventually leave Swirl Marks in your paint surface something that all of us try to avoid.

Turbo Wax Car Shampoo is PH 7 Balance, something that you don’t find on those purple gallon jug’s at you local store for $2.99 - one of the most common mistakes that customers make is to invest in a good quality wax only to use an inexpensive /low quality car shampoo, using the wrong type of car shampoo will remove the wax that you had previously applied to protect your investment. Turbo Wax Car Shampoo will remove dirt and grime without scratching and will NOT strip the wax like other brands do.

We used a 5 gallon clean bucket of water mixed with a ½ of a lid of car shampoo. During the washing process we have incorporated one of the most revolutionary products that we have created, our Oxidation block.Our oxidation block is a product intended to be used to quickly and safely to remove bonded contaminants, droppings and insect grime from automotive finishes. For automotive paint finishes, this product has the same function and environmentally safety as clay-based stain removers. (Clay bars) benefits are endless but we will skip that information right now.

With a new high quality washing mitt on the bucket with the car shampoo we will work on sections, we wash the surface and immediately rinsed right after we then dip the oxidation block on the bucket which has the soapy solution, after that we proceed to pass the block with a horizontally motion to all the painted surfaces one section at the time.

Do it section by section so the soap doesn’t dry. If it does dry, just re-soap the area and rinse again. I do the rear of the car and the front bumpers last, as these have the most grime. You want to wash in long sweeping strokes, don’t wash in circles as this can induce marring of the paint. Also be sure to re-dip your mitt into the soap bucket frequently, rinse your wash mitt often to remove any dirt from it. You want to make sure you have as much lubrication on the surface as possible. We repeat that process to the entire vehicle surface.

With that process not only have we washed the vehicle but we have removed all bonded contaminants, droppings and insect grime from the surface, we have accomplished the most important task of a detail job. Surface preparation.

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Step 5- Drying Vehicle surface

When you are done rinsing the car of all the soap, you want to remove the nozzle from the hose and do what’s called the “flooding” method. Flood the surface of the car from top to bottom with the hose. This turns those thousands of little beads of water into one big sheet, and it helps dry the car faster. After that is done, use you waffle weave drying towel from the top down to dry the rest of the car.

There should be very little water left on the surface of the car left at this point. Make sure if you see a spot of dirt you missed, or loose debris on the car, don’t touch it with your drying towel, re-wash the area and then dry.

I usually use a couple of inexpensive micro fibers to dry the wheels and tires. Wheels can get water spots as well, so you want to make sure you dry those along with the paint.

Using the proper drying tools is also important. I like to use something called a “waffle weave” towel for drying which is one of the safest way to dry your car. Another common tool is the chamois and we can go as far as using leaf blowers to completely remove all the water from all the tight spaces and trim.

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Step 6- Tapping

Since we are going to do a full detail job the use of power tools will be needed, as safety measurement we will tape all the trim areas and delicate areas, the main purpose of this step is “in case” that we make contact with the power tool we will not damage the trim area, not taking the important step while using a power tool could result on leaving “scuffing marks” on the unprotected surfaces. We like to use 2’ masking tape and at times we choose bright colors so they stand out.

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Step 7- Swirl Remover/ Light Scratches and paint corrections

In this step you should tackle all of the above problems; this could be a very long section which can be addressed with many different tools so we will concentrate in the Swirl Remover and the Porter Cable for tool.

What is a Porter Cable- General Speaking?

The Porter Cable 7424 dual-action car polisher started the pro-consumer car polisher market life more than a decade ago, the Porter Cable 7424 is the industry standard which is a dual-action car polisher. A machine that operates by orbiting the polishing pad around a center spindle while the pad freely spins on its own axis. A counterweight on the opposite side of the center spindle dampens vibration for smooth operation. The tool head action, often called orbital, prevents the creation of holograms (symmetrical buffing marks), paint burns and other forms of paint damage often associated with high-speed buffing machines. The polishing action of a dual-action polisher closely mimics that of circular hand polishing.

With this tool(s) many different foam pads can be used, they all come in many sizes designs and colors, the color is the industry standard rule of thumb for a certain job, all do recently more and more colors are appearing in the market.

Yellow Foam Pad- Use for Heavy duty Compound
Orange Foam Pad- Use for Light duty compound
Green Foam Pad- Use for Compound/Polish
White Foam Pad- Use for Polish
Black Foam Pad- Use for machine Glaze
Blue Foam Pad- Use for Polish/Sealant

Those are the most popular ones when using such of tool; in our case we will use the Orange foam pad and the White foam pad. Through our own R&D we have come up with our own foam pads, Orange, White and Black are our available from us.

Turbo Wax Swirl Remover is one of the most advanced swirl remover products on the market today. It's part of our Professional Body Shop line that we make available to the general public. In just minutes, you can get rid of those ugly swirls and enhance the glossy appearance of your paint finish. Our swirl remover is safe on Carbon Fiber Hoods.

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With brand new foam pads we like to spray a very light mist of water or detailer, only when they are brand new pads.

Extreme care must be taken when working on near the taped areas, I personally like to start with a speed of 4 and from there work up to the speed # 6 but I do most of the work at 4, I believe this is a personal preference same as the machine in use, products, pad brand and technique, I also recommend to run the porter cable power core thru the shoulder to avoid any contact with the work area and surface area.

To accomplish this task we have found out that the systems that works for us is as follow: Use with an air or electric Random Orbital Buffer, preferably with a 3/8 stroke. With electric use a medium to high setting. With air, make sure 90 psi is maintained at the tool when in use. Shake well before using product. Apply product either to surface to be buffed or directly to pad, we like to apply it to the pad, we like to put 3 dime size drops in the pad after that buff using a light to medium pressure. We like to work on a 2x2 area always monitoring the process and results.

Buff until most of product has disappeared; decreasing to light pressure as buffing is finished. Wipe off any excess left with a dry micro fiber towel. If excess product slings onto adjacent panels or moldings, wipe off with a damp micro fiber cloth before going to next panel to be buffed. Pro detailers often use the aid of high powered lights to follow their work, this tool allows them to completely see all areas in need of correction.

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Step 8- Pre Wax
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We have not only completely stripped all the old wax via our oxidation block, while the vehicle surface has been corrected with our swirl remover I still like to go and apply our pre wax as part of the entire system.
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Pre-wax is just as the name implies, to get the surface ready for wax to be applied. Tar spots, some tree saps and various other surface contaminates are usually not taken off by a product that is termed wax only. Your better pre-cleaners have a small amount of abrasive in them, and a lot of the wax/cleaners on the market have a very high content of solvents in them. The wax/cleaners with high solvent content in them need to be avoided, as they will eventually deteriorate the surface to which they are applied. Turbo Wax Pre Wax doesn’t contain any of those solvents.
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Pre Wax Cleanser is especially formulated to be used prior to applying Turbo Wax Car Wax. If you're trying to get a really incredible deep, vibrant shine from your wax, you need to use a pre wax cleanser to properly prepare the surface prior to use Turbo Wax Car Wax. After much advanced research and testing, Turbo Wax has designed a Pre Wax Cleanser that creates a surface conducive to polymers properly adhering to the finish, The benefit of Pre Wax Cleanser is that is prepares the surface after you wash it, so that the paint surface doesn’t get contaminated by dirt or anything else that may keep you from getting the ultimate protection.
The process is very close to the one done with the swirl remover, on this step we like to apply the Pre Wax by hand but will remove it via porter cable with a white pad and touch it up with a high quality super soft Micro fiber towel, again extreme car must be taken with trim areas and delicate areas.

Applied by hand

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Step 9 - Car Wax

We now move to the final step, the application of the car wax, through cutting edge technology and research, Turbo Wax has created a unique water-based tri-polymer emulsion formula, designed exclusively for today's cars paints. Turbo Wax Car Wax provides the deep quality shine identical to a carnauba wax, but lasts almost TWICE as long, and it’s very easy to use! Hands down the durability of our Polymer wax will outlast Carnauba wax products, (again subject to choice Carnauba lovers feel different) but for us thru our 8 months of extensive research and development in the Reno Nevada Desert we are fully convinced of the performance of polymer’s made car waxes.

While some synthetic waxes do not provide shine and gloss, Turbo Wax Car Wax has an unmatchable quality that will make your paint shine within minutes of applying! Get the best of both worlds! Shines like the finest carnauba based waxes, and has the durability of a polymer sealant! You can see the difference immediately!
Purple in color and Pina Colada smell our wax is one of the easiest to apply/remove on the market, will not stain moldings or create and powder residue, our products are*very popular amongst female users. Again we like to apply the wax by hand and remove via porter cable using a white foam pad and finished with a super flush Micro fiber towel. With our car wax you don’t need multiple products to accomplish astonishing results, it doesn’t get any easier. The use of porter cable is not necessary for the pre wax and wax steps but for an extreme detail they help a lot.

Applied by hand, I like to use the porter cable with a Microfiber towel to remove the wax, it seems to work great for me.

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Step 10- Tire Dressing

I like to apply our tire gel last, using our no mess applicator with a very thin layer of tire gel to the tire sidewall if more shine is desired a second coat can be applied, most of the time one coat is enough, Turbo Wax Tire Gel is a UNIQUE gel formula that clings to the tires surface, unlike sprays and foams that end up on wheels and painted body panels. Our Tire Gel also prevents premature sidewall dry rot and cracking.

One of the biggest complains of today’s car enthusiast is the “Sling” created by many of today’s inferior products used to dress your car tires, Turbo Wax Tire Gel has solved that problem with our unique tire gel formula that will NOT SLING! Leaving behind those days, during our own Research and Development we monitored the durability of our tire gel and we have seen up to 3 weeks of long lasting protection.

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Step 11- Final Touch

At this time all the tape can be removed, any areas in need of a touch up can be done now, for this step I like to use a brand new high quality Micro fiber towel. From here relax and enjoy your accomplishment.

Before-as found

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Final

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nice write up. i learned a few things

Great job!


hmmm how did my post end up in the middle there, let me delete it

Great job! Wish I lived in Florida...

:lol: I use a leaf blower to get the water from around the tail lights, side mirrors, grille, and from underneath the spoiler. It works great on all but the latter, which can keep water trapped between where the spoiler mounts to the trunk for weeks :thumbsdow

sweet jesus.. lol this is what i need to do to my car to regain some of my lost love for it.. GM effed up my paint job pretty good after they attempted to repaint my door a few times.. we wont go there though.

How much would all of these products run me?

Thank you guys,

you can PM and we can see what are your needs.

a little trick that we scions use is clear sealant around the seams....


hey ill be doing you guys a write-up thursday

TW compound vs Optimum Compound
TW swirl remover vs Optimum Polish

You forgot step 12: Stage 3 weight reduction.:lol:

The srt-8 is like the drunk fat girl at a party on speed. Dodge and their 4k pound gas guzzlers.

me too, and i do this all day long. these products look close to if not better than the products that we use at our dealership. this no sling tire shine looks interesting I've never used anything that didn't sling.

Looks good like always!! I didn't get a chance to try the compound out yet I have been really busy, I am gonna try to use it next weekend on a 99 grand am

Nice write up. I will try this one day. Winter is coming up so maybe I'll wait till next spring to do complete detail with Turbo Wax products :)

This is very interesting! As a total car newbie some of it is over my head, but there is a lot of great info that is also good for me.

I think I will order some Turbo Wax products after I get my old car sold!

Turbo Wax never disappoints..... I gotta get my hands on one of those Porter Cables. Wax on, wax off leaves my hand useless for the rest of the day.

Thank you guys, maybe the moderators will consider the thread to be sticky ? we could change the name to "Detail Guide" any thoughts on this ?

^^^ X2. There's one similar already but this is more detailed.

hey turbowax do you just take a microfiber towel fold t over then put it on the PC to buff off??

Great write up! Where the hell are you guys in Florida?

The way I do it :) I apply the wax by hand, then I use the best microfiber that we have which is the super flush, I don't fold it at all, I remove all of the wax then I make one more pass with the other side of the towel, for this I use the speed setting at 6 on the porter cable.

For the final step, I go around and touch up by hand with a new or clean towel.

It really does wonders :twothumbs I hope that helps, any other questions I will try my best to help out :)