The owner of this car contacted me because of a recommendation from a friend. She wanted the Camry (her baby as she called it) looking great for her trip home to Georgia next week. Since the car had not been detailed in quite some time I was worried what it would look like. I was however pleasantly surprised at how she had done a pretty good job of taking care of it. She also said she hated the automatic car washes but when I opened her trunk to clean it I was like :yikes:. She had every OTC product we make fun of on here in a box that I think she had been using to maintain it. Well I had promised her it would look better than the day she bought it so here's how I went about doing that: Wheels/Tires/Wells: The wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener and a variety of brushes. I used a lug nut brush, green foam finger pocket, Black Magic wheel brush bent to 90 degrees for getting behind the spokes, HD brushes for the tires and wheel wells, Auto Zone wheel brush and EZ Detail brush. I used the AZ one for the areas behind the calipers because the clearance was so small. I'm not sure how many more uses this brush has in it as its starting to get flimsy like the others did before they broke. For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer, and some of the brushes I got from Home Depot. The tires were first dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with a TW tire applicator and my new Tropi-Care tire dressing. Again if you haven't tried this dressing and you like the look of brand new tires this is a product you need to buy. Wells were dressed with my combo of MS Mr. Natural/Megs ASD. I then coated the wheels with MS Enviro Shield. Her wheels will be 100x easier to clean for at least 6 weeks, as Phil at Majestics told me I could at least expect this kind of durability. Engine: I gave the engine a quick rinse, and sprayed it down with MS SGS. There was a lot of dirt and dust in just about every crevice there was so I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1 in a Solo 418 handheld sprayer. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it looked brand new. It still amazes me how impressed clients are when they see under the hood looking brand new. Exhaust: The exhaust got Megs WB and #0000 Steel wool. Then I used a product that I have just started using here lately. One of the car dealers here in town that I know gave me a can of this stuff and told me to try it. I looked at it and it says it's Fukken Wax!!! He said I just love telling people that its the best Fukken Wax you'll ever use. The stuff is supposedly like a rinseless wash and wax product sort of like CGs One. Only difference is it's in an aerosol can. Well the first time I used it was on a chrome bumper and it left the bumper so shiny I could hardly stand to look at it. All you do is spray it on let is set for a few seconds, wipe it off and then it hazes. When it hazes (which is very quickly) you buff that off and it leaves an incredible shine on chrome. Its suppose to leave some protection behind as well. Well since it worked so well on the bumpers I've used it on all chrome on cars I do. The stuff never lets me down delivering an astounding shine after use. I decided to use it on the tips and the door handles on this one. As a side note I used it on my Jeep the other day to get off a bird bomb and it did remarkably well and didn't leave any marring behind. So far this product has impressed me. Wash: I really didn't think there was any LSP to speak of but to be sure I went with an LSP stripping formula in the foam cannon of 1 oz of CGs Citrus Wash Clear, 1 oz of Tropi Care Citrus Wash ver. 2, and 1 oz of MSs Power Prep. As good as this combo cleans I knew nothing was going to be left behind. Put that in my foam cannon with the Karcher. I used the two bucket method with Poorboys Super Slick and Wax in my Griots bucket with grit guard and rinse bucket with grit guard. I washed the truck with my boars hair brush. The bugs got CGs Strong Wash @ 4:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer, and a Majestic Solutions bug sponge. The entire wash including wheels and engine were done with the CR Spotless System. The car was then dried with the leaf blower, and a Vroom drying MF. Clay: Well my mainstay for clay has become and always will be the Bilt Hamber and this detail was going to be no different. This is the best clay I have ever used and the only one I use now. Of course as always the lube was water from the CR system. Glass: Glass inside and out got Sprayway Glass Cleaner. I used a MS blue huck window towel to apply and a Walmart WW to buff off. The outside of the glass was treated with MS ES. Interior: Like I said the interior wasn't bad at all. Just regular everyday dirt you see from a daily driver. She had asked if I thought I could get the bluish dye like color on her drivers seat left bolster off. It looked like it came from the dye in her clothes and figured Majestic Solutions Extraction Plus at 10:1 could handle it. I sprayed it and then took my Sanitare extractor to it. In no time all the bluish dye was gone and the seats looked brand new. I also used the Extraction plus to get out various small stains on the carpet. the vinyl and plastic was protected with Scholl Concepts Purple 9000 interior protectant. This stuff is great. It gives a great matte finish with a nice smell as well. It also has one of the best if not the best sprayer that I have ever used. Only thing I can't figure out about it is why Scholl says to NEVER use it with a Microfiber, well I used a yellow foam applicator. This stuff has some cleaning abilities as well which was evidenced by it removing a few spots of dirt here and there. I have yet to use a Scholl Concepts product that didn't truely impress me. I cleaned the door jambs with a mixture of MS SGS and CGs Total Green Clean in a pressurized sprayer while washing. I used a Swissvax brush and rinsed with the pressure washer. Paint: Well I went with my favorite paint cleaner first, DG 501. I decided to use my Cyclo with a couple of white LC CCS 4" pads. I removed it with some of the Danase Phat MFs that I bought from Cooter. I really like these MFs. Protection: Well she wanted a sealant and wax so I knew what my wax was going to be and was just having to decide what sealant to put under it. Normally it would be a no brainer and be Jetseal since it can be topped so soon after application. Well I also had the Tropi Care Sunburst Sealant XP and Steve at Tropi Care had told me that it could be topped 30 minutes after removal. So now my dilemma and which to choose. Well I figured why not go ahead and try the Sunburst and see how it looked. Steve had told me that it was a straight sealant look. The thing with Jetseal and my liking it so much is because it has more of a warm look to it as oppose to a straight sealant look. Well I applied it via my Cyclo and two blue LC CCS 4" pads. After application I left it to haze for about 15 minutes. I then buffed it off with more of those Danase Phat MFs. It went on easy and came off just as easy. Application was very much like Jetseal. Now for the look I must admit that it didn't have quite as good of a look by itself that Jetseal does by itself. It still looked great, don't get me wrong, but just not as good as Jetseal. However when I topped it with my favorite nuba it looked BETTER than Jetseal topped by my favorite nuba.:yikes: I know I can't believe I just said it either but it did look better than Jetseal when topped. LSP: Well the paint looked great but I wanted to put it over the top so why not use my favorite wax, Rubbish Boys OE. I applied with a 4" LC CCS pad and polishing pal using my hair dryer method to pre-heat the pad. I let the OE cure for about a half hour and buffed it off to a magnificent shine with a CGs Edgeless MF. Needless to say it didn't disappoint me and gave me a stunning finish. I was completely amazed at how much better the RBs OE over TC Sunburst Sealant looked than RBs OE did over Jetseal. Well I took it back to her and she was thrilled. Only thing is pollen has started to set in here and in a couple of days the car will be covered in a hue of yellow. She was so thrilled though she booked me to just wash it up before she leaves. Well here are the before and afters: Couple of Random shots:
Thanks Reflect. She had the usual Armor All, Turtle Wax, No Touch Tire foam, AutoZone Glass cleaner, a California Duster, and some Kit stuff I think. Thanks mate.
My man JL, the car looks astonishing bro!!!!! That aerosol rinseless wash sounds interesting, any info on where I can pick up a can to give a try?
Nice work. Normally, I don't pay much attention to Camry's since they're so common but what you did to the car made it unique if you know what I mean. It stands out among the thousands out there
Lookin pretty sweeet there JL!! U need to order the raceglaze XL wheel brush from ken (911fanatic). Best buy for sure!!!!
JL..yet again, another stunning job from you. The 501 did a nice job on that paint. Were the pads dirty? I need a small wheel brush for behind tight caliper spaces, I'll need to look into that for a durable one. I wish the EZ brush made a small size. Thanks for sharing!!:applause2:
Nice Work JL! Another diamond in the rough, transformed into a fine gem... Those tires looks awesome. Is your key to apply some of the Meg's Hyper-Dressing to let that work it's magic some and then top off with the Tropi-Care dressing? So far I've been using the Optimum Opti-Bond and like the look also as it gives me a similar "new tire" look with a touch more shine. But I'm interested in the Tropi-Care if it's not too many steps. How long have you seen the dressing last in real world conditions?
