Mazda Detailed

[juan ruiz]

Very often our customers asked how can they get the results that we get? What is needed to obtain those results? The answer is very simple: 1. Surface preparation is the secret; if the surface is not prepared correctly you will never be able to obtain great results. 2. The most important thing is time and patience, without them, detailing a car can become very frustrating, not to mention that you need the correct products and the correct tools.

As a continuation of the above, we are providing step by step on how to obtain such results.

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.

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 won't be 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.

Now let's evaluate the surface condition of the vehicles paint, if you pass your bare hand on the surface chances are that the surface will feel good and free of defects, however a simple test is to use a very thin clear sandwich bag over your hand ( using it as a glove) and pass your hand very gently over the surface, you will feel what appears to be very tinny bumps, that's an indication that your surface is contaminated and that you will need to prepare the surface better, if you have any doubts simply go to your garage and do this test. If you feel any of those bumps you will need to apply correct that if you don't feel any of them you can proceed with your wax.

Sample of the test



Another tool that we have is 500x magnified digital light which will allow you to see imperfections on the vehicle surface.



Surface with Defects


After correction



Tires and Wheels Washing

I prefer 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.

*Pre Wash*-
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 use 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 ca*using swirl marks, at least to a certain point. Very often as you wash you may be dragging loose grime which will scratch the vehicle's surface, these steps are by no means a solution, but rather a “preventative action.

Wash

During the washing process we have incorporated one of the mo*st revolutionary products in the market today, the Oxidation block. The 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.



Drying Vehicle surface

If you have air available this is by far the best way to dry the vehicle if not 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.



Taping
Taping 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.



Paint Correction

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 The Porter Cable 7424 or (7424 XP newest version)

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

For Heavy imperfections a compound will be needed.

Car Wax
Car Wax We now move to the final step, the application of the car wax, 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.

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 and finished with a Microfiber towel to remove the wax, it seems to work great for me.



Tire Dressing I like to apply a tire gel using an 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.

[juan ruiz]

Tire Dressing and Wheels Waxed




Final Touch Step 12-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.

Final Results with this procedure.

[LeeH]

Looks great! I'd love to have you give my car the same treatment. Unfortunately, you're a bit far away.

That being said, I pretty much gave up on keeping cars super clean, ding/scratch/chip free, etc. years ago. Too many uncontrollable influences working against that goal.

Oddly enough, I just sold my 2006 Mazda5 with 80K miles on it to the first looker. The couple declared it THE nicest six year old vehicle they had seen in weeks of looking. It was mostly kept outside in Arizona and mostly washed in gas station automatic car washes.

[azasadny]

Beautiful! You need to detail my Velocity Red MazdaSpeed3!!!

[Instrument 41]

I washed and clay barrred my truck today but I still see water spots in the paint. How do you get rid of those water spots?

[juan ruiz]

What is Water Spot?

What is a water spot, it is a calcium deposit left when the water evaporates. Now this calcium has a tendency to etch into whatever surface it is on, be it clear-coat, glass, etc. Left long enough, it will go very deep into the clear-coat or glass, many times so deep they cannot be taken out, they are all the way through the clear-coat..

Now, a clay bar many times will take out a lot of them if they aren't too deep, some that are a little deeper, can be taken out with a R/A and swirl mark remover or even a light cut compound, ones that are a little deeper can be taken out with a high speed, light cut and then go back over with a R/O and take out the buffer marks. In some cases, you must color sand, then buff to take some of the very bad ones out.

How to prevent the water spots?: Starting with a clean non-spotted surface, you must put some kind of protectant on the surface that the calcium will not penetrate. Not many products on the market do this. Neither of these products by themselves will take out calcium deposits but they will prevent them, especially if a good regular program of use is put in practice.

Of course the ideal thing would be to never let the automobile never be subjected to in climate weather or regular water systems, but let's deal with reality and provide a solution for it.

I hope that helps

[onewhippedpuppy]

Juan, beautiful work as always. You've mentioned the oxidation block in previous detail threads and I'd like to give it a try the next time I detail instead of my usual clay bar. Just so I understand your directions correctly, you wash and rinse a section, then immediately use the oxidation block on the panel with the car wash soap as the lubricant?

[juan ruiz]

Correct

[HardDrive]

Smoooooooth. Nice work.

[DonDavis]

Beautiful, as always.

[Oh Haha]

As always, that looks amazing Juan!


I'm sorry if this is an already asked question but where can we get an oxidation bar?

I use a clay bar but would like to try one of those.


BTW-nice garage floor! Is that ceramic tile?

[tyro]

What products do you recommend to prevent water spots/calcium deposits? I have a car with single stage paint that is affected easily by water on the surface.

I've tried a sealant followed by wax which seemed to help but it really only let the water bead and sit..still leaving spots that only a machine polish can remove.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by tyro

What products do you recommend to prevent water spots/calcium deposits? I have a car with single stage paint that is affected easily by water on the surface.

I've tried a sealant followed by wax which seemed to help but it really only let the water bead and sit..still leaving spots that only a machine polish can remove.

I've never tried it, but I bet vinegar would work.

[masraum]

My wife got my car detailed on Sun, their premium treatment. We had the daughters vehicle done by the same group a while back. It looked really nice when it came back. The premium treatment includes carnuba wax instead of the cheaper waxes. My car does look very nice now. I'm hoping that it stays looking good for a while.

I have 2 pet peeves that this place hit on. They apparently, didn't clean the windows last, so I have a couple of spots with some sort of spray that's not coming off easily. I'm guessing it's wax or something. There should never be overspray left on the windows. The windows should be spotless. The other pet peeve is that they coated just about everything inside the car with some sort of "protectant", the steering wheel, shift knob, parking brake handle, dash, door panels, and seats. It felt greasy to me which tells me that it's transferring from the seats to my cloths. The steering wheel and shift knob felt greasy. The parking brake handle and handle on the door panels felt REALLY lubed up. I'm guessing the leather absorbed some of whatever they put on, but it just sat on the synthetic surfaces. I really wish I had remembered to tell them to not put anything on the inside of the car. I went out with a mildly soapy cloth today, a damp cloth and a dry cloth and cleaned most of the surfaces.

Oh well.

[mikeesik]

Reading all this, I've come down to the conclusion that Ostioperosis and what causes it / are the best for water spots.

I will ask my Doctor.

[juan ruiz]

Vinegar is home made alternative to remove the water spots;

you can mix a 1:1 solution of regular white vinegar with distilled water. Apply the vinegar/water solution to the affected area.

[s_morrison57]

what is this oxidation block that you guys are talking about? who sells it? skip read the start of this, was pumped to learn a few tricks as I started to read, will be re-reading this for awhile.
I have to agree with the air dry, I think it was at the Zaino site were I first read about air and they suggested an electric leaf blower so I went for it, WOW did that ever work well to get the water out of places you can't dry, around the emblem, behind the glass on the mirrors, wheels, signal lens's. Told a buddy about it and he was skeptical so he came over to wash his new Cayman while I got the blower out, he dryed his car and I said "watch this" and went after one side of his rear lens , his eyes almost fell outta his head, he said "gimme that effen thing", he bought the same blower on the way home.
Juan do you have an air drier on your compresser? does it put oil in the air, most home handyman compressers do, thats why you never fill scuba tanks at home, Lypoid pnemonia will kill you. just wondering is all. Was that 500 times digital light expensive? who makes that.
Thanks for the info
Finn

[ErVikingo]

Juan, I'm gonna have to bring you my cars......

My SC is suffering from bubbling on the paint (wrong prep on galvanized tub perhaps), my 69 has very old paint, my Chevy sleeps outside.........

[juan ruiz]

Finn, A little more information;

a little side by side comparasion of the so called "clay bars"

The detail clay will remove embedded brake dust and fallout that penetrates the clear coat or paint as well as over spray.

Now if the surface has road grime, light oxidization and tar, a product like a pre, wax cleanser will be the product for that task.

Clay Bars are a great tool; however, although a lot of people think that a clay bar is a clay bar and that all of them are the same they are not. You must be aware that there's different types of Clay bars which differ in color and density but what is most important the type and amount of abrasive particles they contain. All clay bars will be labeled from "mild" to "strong" abrasive quality; it depends on the manufacturer. Also good to know is that, If the clay bar is dropped it must be discarded otherwise some serious damage will happen to your automobile surface, and I know that for fact.

Right now there's a new generation( new for many but I been using them for 3 years) of clay bars and those are the ones we are calling " Oxidation Blocks" many manufactors are calling then diferent names; this product will quickly and safely remove bonded contaminants, dropping and insect grime from automotive finishes. For automotive paint finishes, this product has the same function as clay-based stain removers.

The value and benefits:

1) Just use with water, no need to buy other tools or special detergents for rigid stain.

2) Reduce over half time of removing contaminants: Use friendly and it is very easy and quick to remove dropping, insect grime and containments, which bonded on paint finish and only operates with water.

3) This product also has same function of clay based bars.

4) Long lifespan of product: 20 to 35 times when properly used and stored.

5) If the block is dropped in the floor, simply rinse it down and re-use.

Now, the question is which one is the Best clay bar? I guess is all about choice.

ErVikingo


I can do magic, but I'm not Coperfield! bubbling on the paint will require a completely different process.

For the 69 and the chevy I would love to do them especially the 69! When do we start?

[s_morrison57]

Juan
You mention in the write up "our wax" is this what you use or what you sell?
Thanks for the info
Finn