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RRUK
Site Supporter

Member Since: 08 Jun 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 6349

2019 Range Rover Vogue SE SDV8 Santorini Black

Car Detailing: How to achieve amazing results @ Home

Following my thread about working on my car to make the paint look amazing, I decided to post links and information for anyone who wants to do the same.

That thread can be found here: http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic563.html

I exclusively use the Meguiars range of cleaning products, I find them much easier to use than Autoglym and leave zero white powder afterwards.

My Obsessive Cleaning Routine

I doubt anyone goes to the lengths I do when cleaning cars, but over the years I have strived for perfection. When I sold my BMW M5 it was 4 years old, had done 74,000 miles and was still described by others as being in mint condition. My Range Rover received the same treatment yesterday.

For anyone who is interested, here's what I get up to!

This is aimed at UK people but the weblinks could still be used.

All web links for products at the bottom:

Equipment used for washing:

Process:

I hose down the car with a soft spray pattern hose gun, like a rose spray (Hozelock blue gun from Halfords with the big end on it) The soft pattern allows the water to wash down the panels and take off surface dust and dirt, whereas a hard spray simply bounces off and is less effective.

Fill the buckets as follows:
1st. Meguiars solution as per the bottle instructions (You CAN do the whole car with only 1 gallon as it says!)
2nd. Warm water for rinsing the mitt
3rd. Warm water for the chammy

After rinsing the car wash down a panel at a time with the mitt from the top down - cleanest to dirtiest. (The mitt's deep pile draws the dirt off the paintwork and therefore goes a long way to eliminate swirl marks made by sponges as they drag dirt across the paint surface)
After each panel rinse the mitt in the second bucket - prevents dirt ruining your wash solution bucket and of course cleans the mitt.
Don't forget the inside edges of the doors and boot.
Once the car is done rinse again with the soft pattern spray.
Dry the body work with the synthetic chammy (I find it doesn't drag on the paint like a normal one and MAYBE doesn't erode the wax finish as much)
Use the normal chammy for round the doors and boot where the other may get marked or dirty
Use remaining wash solution to do the alloys, I use a normal sponge to prevent the mitt being ruined by brake dust
Rinse and dry alloys with an old towel
Dress tyres with your preferred tyre product
Dress the black plastic work with Meguiars listed below

Equipment used for Waxing/ Polishing (Every 3-12 months depending on season)

Meguiars Clay bar (£12)
Meguiars 3 stage paint system 3 bottles all for (£24)
Meguiars Gold Class Clear coat liquid wax (£13)
Meguiars Gold Class Trim detailer (for all the black stuff inside and out , engine bay, wiper arms, boot shut area etc) (£6 )
Meguiars Gold Class Leather cleaner and conditioner (£7 )
Meguiars applicator pads (£3)
Cheap 100% Cotton towels (x3) (£10?)
Microfibre cloths (got a bulk pack in Costco for £14 for 36)
Porter Cable Random Orbital Polisher See below for prices (Shipped from USA)
Sonus pad kit for PC-ROP see below (Also from USA)
Rainex (£6) Halfords

About every 6 months I will clay bar the car to make the paint smooth as glass, I also do the windscreen.
Using the Random Orbital Polisher I apply the Stage 1 Paint cleaner to get the dirt out of the paint.
Then I'll apply the Stage 2 Paint polish to bring out the colour depth.
Then I apply either the Stage 3 Carnauba Wax or the Gold class liquid wax.

At each stage I use the machine to apply the product then wipe/polish off with a clean cotton towel, then final buff using the microfibre cloth. (Without the machine you'd use the foam applicator pads but it takes longer)
I apply Rainex to all the windows as it makes a phenomenal difference in the rain and winter months.
I apply wax polish to the alloys as this helps prevent brake dust build up and makes cleaning much easier

If you wish to buy all the kit I bought then here's how:

www.meguiars.co.uk

Some Meguiars stuff can be bought from Halfords in the UK now, but its a limited range - use the Meguiars forum from the website to hear about the best ways to use products etc. I have heard the new product called NXT Tech Wax range is good too.

Porter Cable Random Orbital Polisher 7424
(The Random orbital Polisher is NOT the same as those cheap ones in B&Q -they are not random orbital, they simply spin, which WILL cause scratching and can also burn the paint as they build up too much heat)

Web site:

www.autopia.com

the polishing kit with the pads and polisher you need are here:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/son-daspol-kit.html

Cost £99 plus shipping (mine was $68

Then, from Screwfix (UK only) you'll need the 110V power transformer and a 110V extension. The product codes are:

www.screwfix.com

16691 - 14mtr 110V extension cable £9.95

16158 - 3KvA 110V transformer £53.42

19947 - 110V plug to attach to the polisher £1.20

Total cost £ 64.57 (delivery free over £50!)

Total cost of the project is £ 200.

Meguiars now seem to have cottoned on that buying all the power transformer etc is a bit of a pain and so they now do their own UK version of the Porter Cable power polisher and it retails for about £150, the cost overall is therefore about the same but much less faffing about.

Meguiars DA Polishing Machine

The results are very much worth it and saves so much time.

Hope that's of interest to someone! Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

Last edited by RRUK on 18th Mar 2009 12:41pm. Edited 1 time in total

18th Mar 2009 11:14am

RRUK
Site Supporter

Member Since: 08 Jun 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 6349

I also want to point out that all of my advice is purely DIY at home stuff and there are people out there who specialise in doing this professionally and who are damned good at it.

Ken sent me some details which I feel are important to include:

Re the polishing machine you use the random obit part is just because the weekend cleaners do leave swirl marks because the retail chemicals available just don’t cut it (Sorry for the pun)

The machines we use cost in excess of £400.00 each but they don’t have any form of random as this causes loss of control they have ultra soft start and the first thing a proper guy does is remove the handle as they need finger tip control (In fact this is the acid test of a pro when we try them out if they leave the handle on they are bluffing).

The Sticky is a great DIY gauge but please put a caveat about Swage lines and edges, these parts have the thinnest paint and are extremely easy to damage should you apply a little too much pressure for the incorrect amount of time you’re down to the base coat (Main cause is the centre of the pad over the swage edge as this is the most powerful part of the machine )

So, try it, enjoy it, but if you prefer, get someone professional in. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

18th Mar 2009 12:40pm

Full fat not diet

Member Since: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Herts
Posts: 1209

2004 Range Rover Vogue Td6 Zermatt Silver

Great Post RRUK

What a great forum we have

18th Mar 2009 3:09pm

dan_uk_1984

Member Since: 12 Nov 2008
Location: Bude, Cornwall
Posts: 4014

2006 Range Rover Supercharged 4.2 SC V8 Tonga Green

Great post, I too use the two bucket method! And all the negs products. I've never had good results with the gold class wash though, I prefer the NXT Gen Wash, have you tried it?

6th Apr 2009 11:31pm

RRUK
Site Supporter

Member Since: 08 Jun 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 6349

I had a free sachet once but never bought a bottle of it, perhaps when the GC one is empty I'll try that one instead.

What do you find better about it? I like the fact the GC produces so much suds even in hard water. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

7th Apr 2009 8:30am

dan_uk_1984

Member Since: 12 Nov 2008
Location: Bude, Cornwall
Posts: 4014

RRUK wrote:

What do you find better about it?

Mainly the smell!

I liked reading the blerb, where it says it contains unique lubricants that protect your paint from dirt sliding over it as you wash....

7th Apr 2009 5:28pm

RRUK
Site Supporter

Member Since: 08 Jun 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 6349

Meguiars products DO smell fantastic in a bubble gum candy bar way. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

7th Apr 2009 8:31pm

rory_mcw

Member Since: 08 Apr 2009
Location: Angus - Scotland
Posts: 113

great post, i have a meguiars clay bar kit etc sitting in the garage, its been there for a while

after seeing the results i will def get on the case next weekend, your car has come out beautifully!

10th Apr 2009 11:03am

nbunney

Member Since: 10 Aug 2008
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 2031

I got someone else to do it.

http://www.polishingbooth.com/range-rover-vogue

See the above for the results.

9th Dec 2009 2:00pm

XXXAngelXXX

Member Since: 25 Mar 2007
Location: Stuttgart
Posts: 4989

2013 Range Rover Vogue SE 5.0 SC V8 Havana

link not complete.. nhoney All my spelling errorz are belong to me!

2023 FFRR L460
2020 Range Rover Velar

9th Dec 2009 2:06pm

nbunney

Member Since: 10 Aug 2008
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 2031

Works OK for me

9th Dec 2009 2:18pm

itguy

Member Since: 08 Dec 2009
Location: Melton Mowbray, UK
Posts: 113

Two questions if I may....

1) How do I best remove the white polish that has been sprayed everywhere over the plastic areas on the car by the LR dealer when they were prepping the car ready to sell to me?

2) What's the best method of stopping the windscreen smearing? My rain sensor isn't working brilliantly at the moment as the passenger wiper is leaving a bit of 'after-wipe smear' - the wipers are a week old BTW.

Thanks

10th Dec 2009 9:57pm

dan_uk_1984

Member Since: 12 Nov 2008
Location: Bude, Cornwall
Posts: 4014

itguy wrote:
Two questions if I may....

1) How do I best remove the white polish that has been sprayed everywhere over the plastic areas on the car by the LR dealer when they were prepping the car ready to sell to me?

Which plastic bits are we talking about? If it's things like mudflaps you need to use a terry towel or something bobbly, then I can highly recommend Mer rubber & vinyl bumper cleaning gel

itguy wrote:

2) What's the best method of stopping the windscreen smearing? My rain sensor isn't working brilliantly at the moment as the passenger wiper is leaving a bit of 'after-wipe smear' - the wipers are a week old BTW.
Thanks

Were they genuine wipers? I they aren't sitting properly pop the plastic cap off the hinge, loosen the bolt off and have a wiggle, move it up or down on the shaft to adjust the angle. Failing that, I can highly recommend Sonax Screenwash for getting rid of greasy smears, It's possibly the best screenwash I've ever used!

10th Dec 2009 10:25pm

itguy

Member Since: 08 Dec 2009
Location: Melton Mowbray, UK
Posts: 113

Its the plastic light guards and rubber trim such as the weather strips etc

I'll have a go at altering the wipers a bit - yes, genuine ones.

10th Dec 2009 10:37pm

dan_uk_1984

Member Since: 12 Nov 2008
Location: Bude, Cornwall
Posts: 4014

In which case, apply the Mer and then Buff it off. You can get it in Halfrauds or eBay.

10th Dec 2009 10:40pm

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