S
Skant
Guest
I've been rather apprehensive about all this care and detailing stuff. There's so much information about it all... and so much comes with warnings and very intricate instructions. The way it's written, it sounds like if you don't use every recommended product and apply each one exactly right, the paint will fall off your car within hours.
What I've found is that your car will be fine without all these techniques. Very basic car care... washing and quick waxing type stuff like you find at your local economy auto parts store... will work dandy. Just that much is a lot more care than most cars get, after all. There's nothing wrong with this stuff. It will preserve your car, and it will look nice.
That doesn't mean that the more advanced techniques and car care products aren't useful. They take the car beyond just being an average clean car. They make it sparkle.
There's more than a little difference there. The car care tips like the ones typically discussed on this forum make your Corvette look like it's popped straight out of a magazine photo spread. It gains a sort of supernatural look.
It's neat.
I started out doing very basic care myself. And as I've gone along, I've tried dabbling in more and more advanced methods. None of it has been as scary as it sounds. My towels aren't top of the line. I'm not using diapers. The materials I use are pretty basic. I just try out some of these advanced products using basic instructions, and they work just fine. Really great actually.
What I've found is that there's nothing (that has to be) complex about this. But advanced methods take a lot of time and effort to apply. So it's just a matter of sweat.
I tried using a clay bar for the first time the other day. I was quite apprehensive about it since there's been a lot written about them and very careful instructions and all that. Really scary sounding stuff.
I don't think I've ever had so much fun. Clay bars are _EASY_. No, I mean rediculously easy. I bought the Meguiar's quick clay system ($15) and followed the.. what... 2 lines of instructions?...
It just takes a long time to do the whole car. The process is not at all fast. But it doesn't take much sweat. It's not physical like waxing. It's just time consuming.
But it's fun. And it's so tactile. You can feel everything the clay bar is picking up. And when you've successfully cleaned a surface, you know it because the clay glides across with no friction at all.
This makes the biggest difference around the bottom of the vette. Especially the panels behind the rear tires. I thought they were just doomed to being a little rough even after washing and waxing because of the roar debris they get hit with. But after the clay bar, they're just as smooth and nice as the rest of the car. Neat! And it didn't really take any extra effort either.
So after the whole process was done with claying, paint cleaning, waxing, and all that... I discovered that I could take a clean towel and brush it across the hood, and it was just completely frictionless. It feels unreal! The paint had less friction than the glass. Wow. And it sparkled like it wasn't real.
Just... wow.
That whole process took me about 6 hours though. And I was quite tired afterwards. And that's with the aid of a 10" orbital buffer.
I use all Meguiar's products, btw. I know there's exotic stuff out there which maybe can make it even more unreal looking (?!), but the Meguiar's stuff is all really good and is readily available at local stores. It works great. They have quality across their entire line. No lemons to avoid. And no false claims. Their products do exactly what the instructions say they will do.
Anyway... I'm writing this for other people who were like myself. Getting started with something like this... seeing all this information from people who were obviously _REALLY_ into it to the point of being a religion. And thinking to myself, "Okay. That's just over the top. All this couldn't possibly be required just to keep my car nice."
You're right. It isn't. Your Corvette will look hot without this level of effort.
I'd recommend going about it something like I did. Just start dabbling with the more advanced products out there a bit. See if you think the additional looks are worth that little more effort. And a little more. And a little more. Find the level you're willing to put up with. The more sweat you put into it, the better it will look.
You might notice, btw, that I haven't even talked about longevity of the paint. I'm not a believer in garage queens, myself. I drive my vette. Chips and scratches happen... especially to a car that's so low to the ground. Little rocks that get tossed up only a few inches high by other cars will take chips out of the low slung vette. It's my feeling that even basic care will make the finish last long enough that it will need to be repainted due to chips and major scratches first, not oxidation or the like. No wax will protect your car from this.
Anyway... that's enough from me. I definately appreciate the advice on this forum. It's been quite helpful! Especially the tips about pulling small pieces off the clay bar to use instead of the whole bar. Because you will drop it! I dropped the clay three times, and I was being very careful not to! Thanks to that tip, I only had to throw away a small piece rather than the whole bar!
- Skant
What I've found is that your car will be fine without all these techniques. Very basic car care... washing and quick waxing type stuff like you find at your local economy auto parts store... will work dandy. Just that much is a lot more care than most cars get, after all. There's nothing wrong with this stuff. It will preserve your car, and it will look nice.
That doesn't mean that the more advanced techniques and car care products aren't useful. They take the car beyond just being an average clean car. They make it sparkle.
There's more than a little difference there. The car care tips like the ones typically discussed on this forum make your Corvette look like it's popped straight out of a magazine photo spread. It gains a sort of supernatural look.
It's neat.
I started out doing very basic care myself. And as I've gone along, I've tried dabbling in more and more advanced methods. None of it has been as scary as it sounds. My towels aren't top of the line. I'm not using diapers. The materials I use are pretty basic. I just try out some of these advanced products using basic instructions, and they work just fine. Really great actually.
What I've found is that there's nothing (that has to be) complex about this. But advanced methods take a lot of time and effort to apply. So it's just a matter of sweat.
I tried using a clay bar for the first time the other day. I was quite apprehensive about it since there's been a lot written about them and very careful instructions and all that. Really scary sounding stuff.
I don't think I've ever had so much fun. Clay bars are _EASY_. No, I mean rediculously easy. I bought the Meguiar's quick clay system ($15) and followed the.. what... 2 lines of instructions?...
It just takes a long time to do the whole car. The process is not at all fast. But it doesn't take much sweat. It's not physical like waxing. It's just time consuming.
But it's fun. And it's so tactile. You can feel everything the clay bar is picking up. And when you've successfully cleaned a surface, you know it because the clay glides across with no friction at all.
This makes the biggest difference around the bottom of the vette. Especially the panels behind the rear tires. I thought they were just doomed to being a little rough even after washing and waxing because of the roar debris they get hit with. But after the clay bar, they're just as smooth and nice as the rest of the car. Neat! And it didn't really take any extra effort either.
So after the whole process was done with claying, paint cleaning, waxing, and all that... I discovered that I could take a clean towel and brush it across the hood, and it was just completely frictionless. It feels unreal! The paint had less friction than the glass. Wow. And it sparkled like it wasn't real.
Just... wow.
That whole process took me about 6 hours though. And I was quite tired afterwards. And that's with the aid of a 10" orbital buffer.
I use all Meguiar's products, btw. I know there's exotic stuff out there which maybe can make it even more unreal looking (?!), but the Meguiar's stuff is all really good and is readily available at local stores. It works great. They have quality across their entire line. No lemons to avoid. And no false claims. Their products do exactly what the instructions say they will do.
Anyway... I'm writing this for other people who were like myself. Getting started with something like this... seeing all this information from people who were obviously _REALLY_ into it to the point of being a religion. And thinking to myself, "Okay. That's just over the top. All this couldn't possibly be required just to keep my car nice."
You're right. It isn't. Your Corvette will look hot without this level of effort.
I'd recommend going about it something like I did. Just start dabbling with the more advanced products out there a bit. See if you think the additional looks are worth that little more effort. And a little more. And a little more. Find the level you're willing to put up with. The more sweat you put into it, the better it will look.
You might notice, btw, that I haven't even talked about longevity of the paint. I'm not a believer in garage queens, myself. I drive my vette. Chips and scratches happen... especially to a car that's so low to the ground. Little rocks that get tossed up only a few inches high by other cars will take chips out of the low slung vette. It's my feeling that even basic care will make the finish last long enough that it will need to be repainted due to chips and major scratches first, not oxidation or the like. No wax will protect your car from this.
Anyway... that's enough from me. I definately appreciate the advice on this forum. It's been quite helpful! Especially the tips about pulling small pieces off the clay bar to use instead of the whole bar. Because you will drop it! I dropped the clay three times, and I was being very careful not to! Thanks to that tip, I only had to throw away a small piece rather than the whole bar!
- Skant
