Auto Detailing – How to put your car into better than showroom...

Auto Detailing – How to put your car into better than showroom condition

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Autodetailing: Making Your Car Look Better Than Showroom Condition

Have you ever seen some very nice cars and wondered how they got that way? No, it is not always the result of a good paint job, as I have recently learnt. According to Darren Chang, the young and enterprising owner of Autodetailer Sdn Bhd, even the most expensive paint job will not look good unless and until some auto detailing work has been done on it.

“Even the most meticulous spray job will have some defects on them,” says Darren. I would think so too, as most cars are sprayed manually. Inevitably there will be variances in paint thickness, invisible perhaps to the untrained eye. The effect of inconsistencies in the paint will result in defects such as ‘orange peel’ effect, or ‘teardrops’. In some cases, one might even see dust particles trapped under the paint if the spray booth is not clean.

It all started when my friend Karl brought his Audi to my place to fit a ‘piggy-back’ ECU. I marveled at how glossy his bonnet was, so glossy that I could comb my hair using it as a mirror. He told me that it was the result of many hours of hard labour at Autodetailer. Not convinced at that time, I attributed the shine to a very expensive paint job.

Then Karl traded up to a used, turbo charged A4, and I could not help but notice that the paintwork was shoddy, the car having been repainted recently, and done poorly. Two weeks later, he drove by, and it seemed like a miracle had happened; the car looked great, possibly better than it had ever been.

Naturally, Karl introduced me to, and after a quick once over, Darren said that he could make my seven-year old Putra look just as good. “Give me three days,” said Darren, “because your paintwork is really bad, and the clear coat is uneven, so we will have to do quite a bit of work before we even start to polish your car.” Looking at the then sorry state of my car, I said, “Take all the time you want.”

The first thing they did to my car was to give it a careful wash. “You need to use the proper cloths to wash your car; they must be clean, so that there is no possibility of any residual dirt in them that may scratch your paint,” he said. “ You should also start from the highest point, the roof, and work your way down, leaving the wheels for last, and use a different set of cloths for them,” he adds. Autodetailer stocks special car wash cloths for sale. After the car wash, he did a second inspection, and this time, he showed me the ‘swirl marks’ on the paint made by dirty washcloths.

Apparently, soaps and dishwashing liquids also take away the wax that protects the paint; Darren recommends the use of a gentle car shampoo. Many good brands are available in the market. He uses Meguiar’s.

After the wash, using a massive contraption that squirts steam at high pressure (to cut away the road grime and grease), the car is dried, and the glass surrounds, headlights, and orifices are taped up using masking tape to prevent possible damage by the machines that are to be used in the next process. Then a very thin layer of the clear coat (transparent coat protecting the paint) is ‘cut’ away using a special sanding machine, leaving the surface dull and unattractive. The sanding pads are ultra-fine, specially developed for automotive detailing work. The end result after ‘sand down’ is a dull, unattractive looking surface. Nothing to worry about though, because after that, special polishes are applied, and the surface is buffed using mechanized ‘buffing pads’ attached to a rotary buffing machine. According to Darren, the key to not having ‘swirl’ marks is to use the machine properly, and to clean the pads regularly. Some auto detailers claim that machines should not be used, but knowing my car, and having witnessed the entire process, it probably would require at least 50 or more manhours to sand down my car. For cleaning the pads, Darren uses what he refers to as his ‘thousand dollar bucket’, a special bucket with a pad cleaning mechanism that can clean the buffing pads properly. The secret in this thousand dollar bucket is that as the pads are cleaned, the dirt from the pads are directed to the bottom of the bucket, and they stay there, ensuring that no dirt comes back up and contaminates the pad. No prizes for guessing the cost.

Once the polishing is done, Darren applies a special wax on top to seal in and protect the shine. All this seems very easy, but believe me, it took many hours of hard work, but the result is really worth it. My pictures show the state of the car before and after; I certainly have never seen my car in such a beautiful state before. I almost do not want to drive it around anymore, for fear of spoiling the gloss, but Darren assures me that if I send it in once a week for a wash, and do a re-wax every three to six months, it will remain like this.

In addition to the exterior, Autodetailer also cleaned up the interior of the car, applying stuff that re-juvenates the dull and faded plastics, and he also cleaned up the engine bay. For those who might be interested to check Autodetailer out, you may send YS an email at yskhong@autoworld.com.my, or simply click on “AskYS”.

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