As some of you know i have been looking into detailing and buffing and wanted to try it myself. So i went out and got a buffer, some pads and some product. I figured i would start on my truck because its got some beat up pain and i dont care.
so this is it, my 05 ram
before the buff, used meguiars swirl remover, not the stuff you get at auto zone though haha
and the after
and this is a shot of the whole bumper, only did the left side
I know they arent the best pictures but i am liking the results. Granted, the truck had some bad scratches, lots of neglect from the previous owner. I am happy with the results though. When its sunny ill try to get better pictures
i did not clay, im just messing around with it right now. Its funny that you said that because i started the hood and it came out ok and i touched it and said “i shouldve clayed it first.” But whatever, this is just to learn.
^Yup. A clay-job is kind of like a reallyyyy good wash, it gets 100% of everything off of the paint before you start throwing all sorts of polishes, compounds, waxes, whatever at it. Just a good clay-job can do WONDERS on paint that hasn’t been properly taken care of.
Word. Detailing is something that takes practice for sure.
I just polished and waxed my car by hand. It doesn’t get as deeply into the paint, and of course takes lots of time and elbow grease, but the car looks pretty good considering. I used turtle wax polishing compound and then this 10 year old turtle wax 2001 polish I had lying around which worked amazingly I must say. Worked much better than meguiar’s 3 step, probably due to the abrasives in the compound.
Oh, and if you’re like me, you will go out to your freshly detailed car in the morning and find bird shit on it. Happens EVERY time I detail a car. haha
I want to invest in an electric buffer but for the one or two cars a year I detail my hand works good enough.
Yep. I love the fact my car is black too. I finish a detail, go inside to grab a beer, and some bird that had been holding it for fucking DAYS just lets a heaping, steaming pile of the whitest bird shit ever all over my hood.
I had one bird when I lived with the parents that would wait till I finished washing/waxing to land on the side mirror, look at itself, and shit down the door. He didnt do it anymore after I shot him 3 times with a pellet gun.
I need to get myself a buffer too. Keep posting pics, it helps motivate me to see your truck clean up!
rofl