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A Guide to Detailing your new S550

derieuz

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How to detail your 2015 S550 by Derieuz!

Products I will be using:
Blackfire Wetdiamond Conditioner
Blackfire Gloss-Enhancing Polish
Blackfire Wetdiamond Finish
Blackfire Midnight Ivory Carnuba
Chemical Guys Mr Pinks Soap
Chemical Guys Mr Pinks EcoSmart Waterless Wash and Wax
Chemical Guys Glass Cleaner
Armor-All Tire-Black
Hotwheels Tire-Cleaner and Degreaser
Turtlewax Black Polish
Turtlewax Black Sealant
Turtlewax Black Synthetic Blend Wax
Standard Degreaser
Cobra Guzzler Waffle Weave Towel
Chinchilla Plush Microfiber Towels
Millions of normal Microfibers
Detailing Rim Foam Brush
Dense and Soft Foam Hand-Applicators
Hairy Wash Mitt!

Short-Text Version of this post:
Wash -> Dry -> Claybar with lubricant -> Dry -> Finishing Polish/Glaze (optional) -> Buff Clean -> Paint Sealant - > Buff Clean and Allow for advised cure time -> Wax of Your Choice along with Tire Dressings

It took me a combined amount of 10-14 hours total to finish this properly. You want to make sure you do not create further paint defects while detailing a car! Once this is done, you can proceed to use quick-detailer to revive any "dull" areas from dust and small contamination, or using a ph-balanced wash when there is an average amount of dirt on the car followed by quick detailer.

One thing I did not use that is optional is a black-plastic restorer-type product. I personally don't have one and was too lazy to go out and buy one, but these are okay as well, they are usually just wipe on without buffing off (similar to tire-wet). If you want your exterior-plastic trims to be darker and blacker when preparing your car, go right ahead!

Requirements:
(1): Detailing Products of your choice!
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(2): Buckets, and Hose Attachment of your choice!
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(3): Last but certianly not least, a good attitude and patience!


The first day of doing this on the Stang, I did not have much time (about 3 hours). What I got done was washing and drying the paint followed by a full-car clay bar for all of those nasty watermarks from the rain. The car is now fully prepped and ready for polish, paint sealant, and CARNUBA!

Here is a picture of what I am referred to, not pictured is some other gunk residue from stickers as well as BIRD S**T, just my luck right?
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I forgot to take a picture of the car all suds'd up, but here is after a full wash and rinse down, prior to drying. I used a sample I received for Blackfire Wet Diamond Shampoo, It smells good and seemed to do the trick!

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Post drying, Used a cobra guzzler waffle weave drying towel, followed by a super plush chinchilla dense microfiber towel. Temperature was low, so streaks did not fade as fast, but they are completely gone and the car looks much better!

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Darnit, I thought the car was perfect. One battle scar from the dealership... Small barely through the clear coat scratch on the bottom, driver's side door. Someones boot probably knicked it. I will try and use a rubbing compound or more abrasive compound to level out the scratch, other then that not bad!
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After the sun started to fade, the clay bar came out and I went to house trying to get it done properly so I could get inside and study, here are some pictures of the flakes. Wow do these things pop. The car looks good with the vette in the garage as well! More pictures to come, this has been a fun prep for the S550! My clay bar of choice was Mother's California Gold, Easy to use and smells very good! I also used Chemical Guy's Ecosmart Waterless Wash and Wax to prep up area's as well!

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The next day, I started the Polishing Process. Looking at the paint, I only had to use a more aggressive rubbing compound on the small scratch I found from earlier. After using an aggressive polish, you always finish up with a more refined polish to get back that shine we all desire. Anyways, for the majority of the car I used Blackfire Gloss-Enhancing Polish with a Medium Density Foam Applicator. Remember to be extremely careful when applying the product as far as keeping your applicator clean and the surface clean! I always pre-wipe any panel I am doing to assure that there is no dibris! You will scratch up your paint if dirt gets caught in-between the polish and the paint, polish is ABRASIVE!

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Following the Polish, I then began the sealing process. My product of choice was Blackfire Wet Diamond All-Finish Paint Protectant. This is the final step other than topping it with a Carnuba Wax. It bonds to the paint and protects the newly refined clearcoat from the step above. It claims to be good for 6 months, so I recommend doing this before and after winter if you are daily driving your car! I used a very soft foam applicator along with chubby microfiber buffing towels. Again, be sure to keep the towels clean and free of dirt, shake them out multiple times and feel for debris in the towel with your fingers before buffing off! Allow the product to "Flash" (or activate with a hazing effect before buffing off.) This product has an 8 hour curing time via instructions, so don't expose it to any sort of water after you complete the car!

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(Here some 50/50 shots of the hazing on a panel vs a clean panel)
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Its hard to see on the hood picture as the lighting is bad, but the hazing is clearly there.

After the sealant, I worked on those ever-so-fun gloss black wheels that we all love... I used Armor-All Tire Shine along with Turtlewax's black carnuba wax on these bad boys. I used a degreaser along with a wheel-cleaner to prep the wheels before applying any product. Make sure you use a different towel for the tires, as they get black really fast. I suggest keeping a few towels strictly for tires, another few strictly for rims, and then the rest for strictly paint work. These pictures don't do justice!

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Here is the finished product for the day (BEFORE THE CARNUBA), I had to wait for the paint to cure to apply the carnuba the next day, but man does this thing pop!

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I didn't get pictures of this step, so I apologize! These next pictures are taken from various photographers during the xceedspeed BBQ car meet I attended, the paint and the car attracted a lot of attention! I used Blackfire's signature Midnight Ivory Paste Wax, all of the reviews are right about this wetfire-over-ice combo between all of these products, amazing is an understatement.

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Conclusion:
You can't go wrong with any group of reviewed products nowadays, but as a first time user of the blackfire line, these products were very easy to use and remove (noob friendly for every type of user!). If your goal is a new car that is protected and orange-peel free along with amazing clarity, shine, and a very deep depth to the paintwork, doing this properly definitely pays off.
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svt93style

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If there was an Oscar for post's, this one sir, would win!

Well done - come down to Texas anytime and do this for me!
 

Todd15Fastback

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Great job and write up!!
 
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derieuz

derieuz

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Thank you, hopefully this will help anyone who is a "noob" to maintaining the condition of paint so we can keep our mustangs in tip-top condition
 

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Todd15Fastback

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Thank you, hopefully this will help anyone who is a "noob" to maintaining the condition of paint so we can keep our mustangs in tip-top condition
It will for sure!

Since I have an Ingot Silver on order, I will be using the Opti-seal along with Optimum Spray wax as my sealant and LSP.

Not sure of which Polish I will use. I was a huge fan of Menzerna as I used that on my 03 Cobra. Might try an OPT polish and see.

I used to use only Zaino on my Silver 01 Cobra but will use a different brand on my '15GT.
 
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derieuz

derieuz

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Generic Hose nozzle, nothing special; picked it up from Harbor Freight.

Opti-Seal is a quality product, a lot of good reviews about it
 

kulfyur

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Does clay barring actually mar your paint? Like do i need to buff out marks caused by a clay bar moving contamination around on the paint? I'm a super noob when it comes to clay baring but I would really like to properly seal the paint but I'm scared of doing the clay bar and needing to buff the paint. So can i clay bar and not buff without having damaged clearcoat and paint?
 

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If used correctly, clay bar doesn't mar your paint. It can, if you use too much pressure, don't lubricate enough or you don't kneed it in between panels, but you can avoid it pretty easily. Clay bar is one of the easiest steps to detailing a car.
 
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derieuz

derieuz

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You will not marr your paint if you lubricate properly, you can never over-lubricate so just be heavy if you want to be extra cautious. The clay should slide with no resistance over the paint until it hits contaminants, then it will
feel like you are hitting some friction, go over that spot until it feels smooth like the rest of the panel.

Also, this is why i use a very fine polish afterwards, so I can remove any slight marring I may have caused (I don't believe I did, I just wanted to further refine the clear coat) hopefully this helps
 

kulfyur

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I think it did. I need to just hold my breath and give it a shot. When i get it i'll take it straight home and give it the works. I really want my car to have a beautiful shine and let the metallic flakes work like yours! :thumbsup:
 

Flak

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Ah , to live in an apartment complex. Guess it's $15 swirl maker washes for me. :(
 

kulfyur

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I do too... but I'll be taking it home (to my parent's house) and washing it there. Just a thought.
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