2001 First Detail

[Goliath]

Just recently bought a 2001 Alero and decided I'd detail it. I started off by washing it with Blackfire Shampoo and paint conditioner, followed by a very lengthy clay bar! After that was done I used a Porter Cable 7424XP to lay down some Meguiar's #105 followed by Meguiar's #205. Finally I put on a coat of Black Fire Wet Diamond Sealant. I think it came out pretty nice:

http://i54.tinypic.com/rl002u.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/4v3g9l.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/vpb4lj.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2lcqn0i.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/w01et4.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/14mvv52.jpg

Sorry if the pictures look a little bad. I just used my phone to take them. I'll take some with a real camera tomorrow and post them!

[spc2125]

ive never seen silver mirrors before. nice and cleannn

[jhubbz]

Looks good! A LOT like mine lol. I've been wanting to save up for one of those porter cables for a looong time. how do you like it?

ps, take your door guards off!

[Goliath]

Thanks guys!

Looks good! A LOT like mine lol. I've been wanting to save up for one of those porter cables for a looong time. how do you like it?

ps, take your door guards off!

I love it! Does a real nice job and it's very easy to use. Only con from my experience is the handle design. It's off to the side, making it very easy to torque the whole polisher (won't damage the paint, but it becomes very inefficient). I just don't use the handle at all.

Check out this website. (http://www.autogeek.net/) I buy all of my supplies here. They also have some good info on detailing.

And I didn't know the door guards were removable. Are they just glued on like the badges?

[spc2125]

And I didn't know the door guards were removable. Are they just glued on like the badges?

yea. a flat head screwdriver (or razor) and some goo gone will do the trick
just take your time

[jhubbz]

NO!!!!!!!! they come off easily, DO NOT use anything sharp!!! Use goo gone or something like it and a hair dryer/ heat gun. they will come right off.

be very very careful if your use something sharp. I learned the hard way

[spc2125]

just use a flat head to start it then peel it off with your hand

[Williamleo]

ok, go ahead make fun of me for this question... door guards? Huh?

oops, sorry! Your car looks great. A clean freak myself has to love something so nice and spiffy clean!

[03Sleepr]

just use a flat head to start it then peel it off with your hand

your seriously telling him to take a flathead screwdriver to his door?? :wtf2: :nuts:

the door guards are the trim running down the middle of the doors along the car..to take them off take a piece of fishing line under the end, then pull it out far enough to grab it then slowly peel it off.

[Williamleo]

cool. Thank you!

[Williamleo]

my neighbors are looking out their windows right now saying... what the hell is that idiot doing to his car at 11 o'clock at night! lol

[spc2125]

your seriously telling him to take a flathead screwdriver to his door?? :wtf2: :nuts:



careful hands and if you know what you are doing then it wouldnt be a problem

[03Sleepr]

careful hands and if you know what you are doing then it wouldnt be a problem

if you knew what you were doing then you wouldn't take a screwdriver to your door :banghead:

[spc2125]

if you knew what you were doing then you wouldn't take a screwdriver to your door :banghead:

different methods, same results ;)

[whiterider00]

pretty sure i used a small flathead to break thru the adhesive on the end of the trim. not using it to pry the thing up, using it flat against the door to break the adhesive. that shit can be tough to break at first.

[That01Olds]

Car looks great man very nice and clean.

[lonnie]

You missed a spot!...lol

[sleepyalero]

NO!!!!!!!! they come off easily, DO NOT use anything sharp!!! Use goo gone or something like it and a hair dryer/ heat gun. they will come right off.

be very very careful if your use something sharp. I learned the hard way

i used a flat head with mine to remove the door gaurds, the car looks so much better without them. get a small enough flat head it will fit between the trim and the door without touching the paint. as long as you have steady hands, you'll be fine. and as spc said, start it with the flat head then use your hand for the rest of the way, then goo gone to clean up the adhesive and give a nice wax after words.

one bad thing about doing this is if the car has ever been repainted to a different color then once you take off the door gaurds you'll be in for a surprise... but im positive no one has changed the color of the car or repainted it.

very good work on the detail job btw.

[03Sleepr]

one bad thing about doing this is if the car has ever been repainted to a different color then once you take off the door gaurds you'll be in for a surprise... but im positive no one has changed the color of the car or repainted it.

my drivers door was repainted, now I have a gold stripe until I can get it repainted again

[Malibu369258]

Very nice!

[Papa Rad17]

sweet ride! looks clean, lol. i agreed, take off the door trim and clear those corners!
after reading this i just got up and took mine off like iv been wanting to, just wrap a flathead screwdriver in a cloth, pry one end up,and rip it off. then remove any tape that decided to hang around. only took like 5 minuets. except I have some pesky lines from where the top and bottom of the tape are, whats the best way to go about those other then hours of scrubbing? and it does indeed look WAY better.

[JLw7123]

looks good.

[sleepyalero]

sweet ride! looks clean, lol. i agreed, take off the door trim and clear those corners!
after reading this i just got up and took mine off like iv been wanting to, just wrap a flathead screwdriver in a cloth, pry one end up,and rip it off. then remove any tape that decided to hang around. only took like 5 minuets. except I have some pesky lines from where the top and bottom of the tape are, whats the best way to go about those other then hours of scrubbing? and it does indeed look WAY better.

Goo gone and ALOT of elbow grease..... I had to deal with the same problem.

[sleepyalero]

my drivers door was repainted, now I have a gold stripe until I can get it repainted again

I knew somebody here talked bout that one day. That sucks :(

[Goliath]

Thanks for all the compliments guys! I appreciate it! :)

As for the door guards, I was planning on using a hair dryer and a piece if fishing line to run along the back. That's what I used to remove the "Oldsmobile" lettering on the trunk and it worked pretty good. If not, I'll CAREFULLY use a flat head.

[sleepyalero]

There was a guy on here that did pretty much the same method.

[Goliath]

There was a guy on here that did pretty much the same method.

Yeah, I just re-read the thread and saw 03Sleepr suggested that. Missed it the first time...

Thanks Sleepr!