Team-BHP - A superb Car cleaning, polishing & detailing guide

This Gentleman writes a step by step guide on how he polished and restored his cars paintwork to look as good as new. The article is really detailed and has pictures to explain each step as well. A real eye opener and a fun read, i think, for anyone who is really serious about taking care of their car. Enjoy...

here's the link: 2006 Acura TL in Nighthawk Black Pearl (part 1) – Detailed Image

NOTE: Idiot's guide at this link

Nice article Rudraji. For the wax I guess it's a better idea to get the liquid wax or gels. They dont leave the white dried up marks.

The turtle wax leather polish is excellent. It does not shine the leather it gives it a nice dull finish. That's the one which has aloe vera and cocoa butter.

Even the armorall protectant gives a nice dull finish rather than shiny tyres.

Excellent Sir..!!!!

The two things i would like to clarify (Pls correct me if i'm wrong)
1.Putting Engine oil on the black bumpers to make the bumpers jet black
2.Clean tyres with Pepsi ...It makes it black but dunno if its harmful to the rubber

Regards
KP

Great writeup Rudraji. I'd saved your earlier article abt car maintenance, altho I've a technique developed that gives eye-watering(mine) results. I'll share it when we meet up next for that closet fear of being riduculed publicly otherwise :)

Quote:

1.Putting Engine oil on the black bumpers to make the bumpers jet black
2.Clean tyres with Pepsi ...It makes it black but dunno if its harmful to the rubber

Engine oil is meant for the engine. Agreed it will look black but imagine how sticky it would be. Try leaning against you car and you'd get it all stained.

Pepsi....for tyres. 40 bucks for 1.5L and the shine wouldnt last even a day. Tyre foam costs around 150-200 bucks and one spray would last for around 10-15 days. And the whole can would last for around a year depending on the frequency of the usage. Pepsi has an expiry date of 3 months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon (Post 380113)

Engine oil is meant for the engine. Agreed it will look black but imagine how sticky it would be. Try leaning against you car and you'd get it all stained.

No its only sticky for one day .....once u clean it with a dry cloth next day it becomes smooth n shiny.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon (Post 380113)

Pepsi....for tyres. 40 bucks for 1.5L and the shine wouldnt last even a day. Tyre foam costs around 150-200 bucks and one spray would last for around 10-15 days. And the whole can would last for around a year depending on the frequency of the usage. Pepsi has an expiry date of 3 months.

Ya u are right n plus get some firing from parents for wasting pepsi lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrashok (Post 380116)

............:Shockked:.............

Even i was :Shockked: when someone told me this....

Note : its all desi jugaad i dont recommend this to anyone

I ordered Turtle was products from The professional car care centre 2 weeks back & did a complete platinum wax paste on my Fiesta, of a month old.
I started out with first washing the car with the turtle wax car wash & then drying it out completely.
Then proceeded to waxing the whole car which tool about an hour.
The whole process took me 3 hours & it was worth it. The paprika red is now looking really dark & only fine dust seems to settle unlike earlier when it was really full of dust after one nite.
I shall soon post pics. Im trying too but after my digi cam starting acting funny Im left with no options except my phone cam!!!

For the black rubber or plastic trims on the door as well as bumpers of my ikon, i use the same tyre shine spray, although i do not remember the name of the brand. Spray it on in patches, and wipe with a dry cloth, thus reducing the shine, while at the same time giving it a nice look. The ORV mirrors on the ikon do tend to look dirty pretty fast, and use the same on those too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen (Post 380068)

1.Putting Engine oil on the black bumpers to make the bumpers jet black
2.Clean tyres with Pepsi ...It makes it black but dunno if its harmful to the rubber

Regards
KP

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen (Post 380122)

No its only sticky for one day .....once u clean it with a dry cloth next day it becomes smooth n shiny.....

The whole idea of polishing is to make your car look clean & to prevent dust from settling. Oil would attract dust & would only make your bumper look dusty. There are fantastic polishes for the black plastic parts like the bumpers, handles, beadings etc. They work quite well in giving the car a shiny look & preventing dust from settling on them and they also make the job of cleaning your car that much easier.

Hi,
I too got inspired and coated turtle wax premium and it looks glossy now. I have used it on my Santro earlier. But the colour being silver coulnd't get much detail out of it. I have used Turtle wax black/n/flash (something like that) for my santro bumper, mirrors etc. I think its better to keep tyre foam for tyres only. This might work but might harm the plastics in long term.
Rudra Sir,
Could you kindly elaborate on mainitaining after waxing? I have no idea on how frequently one should wax. Some one told me that once you wax, then you should wax again after 3 days or so. For daily cleaning, spalsh water without wiping to remove dust etc. And once its dry, use dry cloth to make it shine. I have found that the wax looses its smooth surface very soon.

Normally, once you wax the car, there is no need to use water to clean your car for the next couple of days unless there are sticky grime sitting on the car. Just dusting the car with those fancy coloured dusters that you get, will do. If necessary soak the blue cloth in water & wring it well until there are no water droplets & just wipe the car part by part. this should do for normal city dust. For sticky dust & grime, Rudra's procedure is fine. But certainly waxing is not recomended for the next couple of months. thats from my experience.