[isflojo]

You can take off the housing of the center brake light to have a little more room for vacuuming. There is also a window cleaner tool you can buy at Bed Bath & Beyond, that makes it easy for reaching.

 

[krell]

You can take off the housing of the center brake light to have a little more room for vacuuming. There is also a window cleaner tool you can buy at Bed Bath & Beyond, that makes it easy for reaching.

How does one go about removing the brake light housing? Is it easy?

Ugh, I hate BB&B (I call it Bed, Bath & Beyond Your Budget), but that might be worth a visit.

 

[isflojo]

How does one go about removing the brake light housing? Is it easy?

Ugh, I have BB&B (I call it Bed, Bath & Beyond Your Budget), but that might be worth a visit.

There are two buttons on both sides that you press simultaneously to take it off. The guy that did my tints showed me.

LOL! You might be able to find the cleaning tool at your local Pep Boys, Kragen, or Autozone as well.

I believe you can also take out the rear headrests to make room, I'm not sure.....I'll take a look later.

 

[2URGSE]

Sorry for the delays in this thread guys, my life has been pretty crazy. I bought my first house, and selling both of my cars.

I ended up with an 06 Honda Accord V6 coupe, which is actually pretty nice. I hope to join the ranks of the ISF sometime in 2012-2013 if things workout right, maybe earlier, who knows.

I'm in NorCal, if anyone would like a private lesson with detailing their cars, please let me know.

 

[2URGSE]

Thanks, Peleg. Along with a carbon fiber license plate frame/cover, I just ordered the 5-gallon bucket with gritt guard from AutoGeeks.

I have only owned my Obsidian IS-F for 2 months, but there are some minor, minor swirls (probably from dealer washes). If I give it a good treatment with clay bar, wax, etc., will it get rid of those??

Krell,

Minor swirls can be taken out with an orbital polisher. Before that can happen though, you need to wash the car, claybar the paint and once the paint is clean and dry, then you can tackle the swirls.

 

[2URGSE]

What should I use to clean the chrome exhaust tips? See below.

An old rug, soapy water (automotive soap ofcourse) and some elbow grease.

Once it's clean and dry, get some metal polish (Adam's metal polish is pretty good) and use a clean towel (and make it your metal polishing towel) or some paper towels and bring the metal into a nice shine.

 

[2URGSE]

Here are the wheels off my WRX STi, yes, they still look like that after 6 years of ownership and have no curb rush either.

My favorite wheels cleaner is P21S, it eats away Brembo brake dust and will not harm the wheel finish.

A pressure washer is a must if you want to achieve good results.

You'll also need a good wheel brush made from teflon, a cardboard box to place the wheels on so they don't scratch on the floor or wherever you're working.

For wheel sealant, I use Poorboy's wheel sealant (don't let the name brand fool you).

I do this once a year, taking off all 4 wheels and cleaning them by hand.

A good pair of dish washing gloves will keep the brembo dust off your hands. (Brake dust is not a very healthy substance)

Spray each wheel with the pressure washer to get off the dirt, then spray it with P21S wheel cleaner and let that sit for a bit.

Get the brush wet with some water and start scrubing.

Hose off the wheel.

Repeat until the wheels are clean.

Dry the wheels with a towel.

Now you can apply the wheel sealant and buff.


2. I also use this as an opprotunity to detail the wheel wells, brake calipers.

For wheel wells you'll need P21S general cleaner (red/white bottle) or Adam's all purpose cleaner.

Hose the wheel wells off and then spray them with some cleaner. Scrub with the teflon brush and hose them off.

Dry them with a towel and then you can apply some plastic/vinyal spray to make them shine a bit.

 

[phlabrasca]

Vouch for P21S wheel cleaner. It's the best you can get.

 

[2URGSE]

Vouch for P21S wheel cleaner. It's the best you can get.

Yup, get the 1000 ml (1 liter) bottle concentrate and have another spray bottle to mix with some hot water.

The P21S general purpose cleaner is my choice for engine degreaser and cleaning the wheel wells. (also 1000 ml bottle)

 

[2URGSE]

For wheel sealant, I like Poorboy's wheel sealant. It comes in plastic can, it's pink and smells sort of fruity. :lol:

Once a year wheel treatment will keep your BBS wheels like new.

At the same time, you can detail the wheel wells and clean the calipers with a teflon brush. Since the Calipers are painted, I like to give them a small coat of wheel sealant as well.

 

[SMARTWAX]

What should I use to clean the chrome exhaust tips? See below.

well you can use a couple of things - metal polish from mothers or blue b gone from smartwax... they both work well i use it on my engine bay...

 

[2URGSE]

Wheel detail

If you are like me (obsessed), and want your wheels like new, I highly recommend putting the car on jacks once a year and cleaning the wheels by hand.

I really can't stand looking at wheels that are clean on the outside, but the inside is dirty.

What you'll need:

1. P21S Wheel cleaning gel

2. A wheel detailing brush made from teflon.

3. Poorboy's (don't let the name fool you, I will come back to this awesome brand shortly) wheel sealant.

4. Water hose with an attachment such as this:

http://www.autogeek.net/high-flow-fire-hose-nozzle.html

5. A cardboard or plastic sheet to lay the wheels down as you clean them. (Laying them on concrete will scratch them)

* This kind of detail also allows you to wash and clean the inner fenders and brake calipers.

* Do the wheel detail after you wash the car.


Step 1:

Take the wheels off the car. You should work 1 wheel at a time.

Hose down the wheels, if you have a pressure washer, the better.

Step 2:

Spray the inner part of the wheel with P21S, let that sit for 5 minutes.

Step 3:

Scrub with a brush until all the brake dust is gone.


You may need to repeat steps 1-3 twice, but it will be worth it at the end.

Step 4:

Dry the wheel with microfiber towels, I like the yellow ones from Costco.

Step 5:

Apply the sealant with a microfiber pad and then buff off.

During this process, it's also the time to check the wheels for any nails.


Here are the wheels from my previous 2004 WRX STi:

 

[2URGSE]

Wax

To this date, when it comes to dark colored cars (black, dark blue, Matador Red, Gray) from all the waxes I've used, nothing comes close to this one:

http://www.autogeek.net/poorboys-nattys-red-wax.html

It's very easy to work with. Apply with microfiber towel to the car after it has been washed and dried.

* Do NOT wax in direct sunlight.

The old beast. (Man, she was FUN)

 

[2URGSE]

Before polishing and waxing

Wash and claybar!

My favorite is Wolfgang clay and claybar lube.

Never clay bar before?

http://www.autogeek.net/detailing-clay-bar.html

I clay bar once a year.

 

[koretol]

When I bought a used car, it was very dirty and unkempt - I had to clean it up, but I didn't want to pay for washing and detailing. Decided to do it myself. It's good that I was advised to read the article Steam extractor vs. Steam cleaner | Which is better? in which they helped me choose a steam cleaner. Here, professionals share their vision and give advice on steam cleaning cars and any other coatings. I liked the fact that steam cleaner is a universal tool that can be used not only to clean the car, but also it disinfects surfaces from germs, which is very important.