CleanGSR

You won't get any paint correction out of a wax whether you use a buffer or by hand, so you really don't need any elbow grease. Trying to correct the paint by hand is where you would need elbow grease......and you still wouldn't get too great of results.

Drying it with a "drying" microfiber towel or I even use the good ol absorber, will not swirl your finish. Once your car is washed and rinsed at the end, there should be no dirt on the car to swirl the paint. You could also use a leaf blower to dry it, but that tends to blow up a lot of dust.

I covered all that Dan. There's no science in how to properly clean the wheel wells (since you can't swirl a wheel lining), that's why I didn't waste time on it. I did give a good tip on how to dress them after cleaning to make them look like new. Also, if you wash your car regularly and always have a good wax job on the car, bugs will wipe off with no needed assistance. It's when they sit for a week or two that it gets hard. What prep work are you talking about as far as a car wash? There is no prep work unless you're talking about wheel wells and such....I covered that....and like I said prepping for bugs is not needed if you stay on top of things......tar is not an every time thing, so not covered in this basic wash how to. Steel wool on the windows is such overkill when doing a basic 2 bucket car wash, that I can't believe it was even mentioned in this thread. Again, this isn't a 2 hour guide to making your car ready for a show.....it's a guide to how to wash your car in less than an hour, make it look great, and not swirl your finish.

Pics would help. You'll probably need to machine polish it. Go browse on autopia.org and you'll learn everything you need to know to restore it yourself. The good buffer to get is the Porter Cable 7424 or 7336. That machine with the right combo of pads and polishes, can bring it back great. Just browse autopia and you'll find out exactly what is needed, but it will cost you about $250 in equipment/pads/polishes to get everything you need.

I could have sworn I'd posted this before, but couldn't find it and it wasn't in the FAQ section of the I/E section. Maybe CRG7 can add it in there.

'm going to go through the steps of how to wash your car using the "2 bucket method". This is a sure way to prevent swirling your paint through the washing process. A foam gun is another safe method, but more expensive and more timely IMO. 1. Fill 1 bucket with 2 gallons of Rinse Water (no soap) 2. Fill a 2nd bucket with 2 gallons of water/soap solution (your choice of car wash soap) Let me explain the logic on this real quick. Using 1 bucket, every time you wipe a dirty panel and re-dip into your soap solution, you're putting that grime into your soap solution. As you go through the wash, your soap solution will get contaminated and you'll be spreading grit and grime on your car's finish. By adding a second rinse bucket you can rinse your mit after each pass on the car, before dipping it into the soapy bucket, thus keeping the grime out of your clean soap solution. So..... 3. Wet down the entire car 4. Dip your wash mit in soap solution and make one swipe on a panel. 5. Flip the mit to the other side and you can make a second pass 6. Dip the mit into rinse bucket a couple of times and ring out 7. Dip the mit into your soap solution bucket 8. Repeat 3 through 7 until finished with the car 9. Rinse your car completely 10. (neat trick here)..... Turn off the water, spray out excess water, remove the nozzle so it's straight running water...turn on the water. Now run just straight running water over the car, from the top down. The water will sheet off and leave you very little to dry (this step only works if you have a good wax/sealant on the car). 11. Dry using 1 of two methods. First is a good Microfiber Waffle Weave drying towel. These hold a lot of water and won't scratch the finish. Dry lightly with no pressure on the paint. There are good Microfiber drying towels that are not waffle weave, but they seem to trap dirt and grime more than a waffle weave. Second option is to use a leaf blower. If you use a leaf blower, then step 12 is a requirement as the leaf blower will blow off the water, but some minerals will be left behind that need to be wiped up. From here on out is completely optional (unless you blow dry) 11. Quick Detail the car with your favorite Quick Detailer and Microfiber detailing rag. I've used Megs. Last Touch (order only product) and it works great but lately I'm using FK1-425. This stuff is ridiculously slick and has anti-static properties that keep your car from attracting dust (it's not a dust repellent, it just cancels the attration of dust that you get with most carnuba waxes. FK1-425 is really slick to and you can order it from www.fk1usa.com in a gallon size for around $30. That's really cheap if you add it up. Don't forget your windows, wheels, tires, and wheel wells. Spray down your wheel wells with tire wet to get them looking new again. I think that covers my basic washing process using the 2 bucket method. Any questions, feel free to ask. This process, start to finish takes me about 45 minutes now that I'm used to it, so it's not much longer than a conventional wash.

Website: fox-stock.com I ordered Omni-Sleeves about 2 months ago and his website did NOT say that these were backordered. This is the only reason that I ordered from him as only one other place was not backordered and fox-stock was slightly cheaper. A week after my order is placed, I'm told that they are on a 2 week backorder. 2 1/2 weeks later I email to find out what's going on and he says they're on backorder for another 2 weeks. 2 1/2 weeks later, I email him for another update. He says he's having a hard time getting them from Omni and I've spent that last 1-2 weeks trying to get a straight answer. I've requested my money back and he's beat around the bush about that. So here we are about 2 months after my order was placed (not listed as backordered) and still no product. At first I didn't care since I was saving up for illuminas before installing the sleeves, but now I'm getting ready to order the shocks and will be sitting here with no coilover sleeves. Merry Christmas to me. Thanks for the run-around fox-stock.

Yeah, it's already been stated that the list is way off. It's a super old list too. I think this should be locked or a mod should edit the first post with accurate information.

Sounds good. Let me know. It will have to have a valid title though. I won't purchase a car with a Bill of Sale and if he was able to do a repo, it sounds like he may not have a title. In any case, let me know what's going on.

To be honest, if it was in incredible condition with under 100,000 miles or right at it, I'd even consider paying around 2 grand. Having a good stable platform that I don't have to worry about is worth a few hundred to me.......plus the 1st gens are incredibly hard to come by, especially in great condition.

^^ That's exactly what I'm looking for only a 1st gen. However, I'd consider spending 2k for one that had no body damage or rust, really good interior and ran great. For 2 grand though, I shouldn't have to do much of anything to it.

Yeah, let me know and make sure he's got a good title to the car. Sounds like some wierd stuff going on in the past.

Any chance he'd be willing to put the stock rims back on and remove the bolt on's and put stock parts back on and drop the price accordingly? I'd rather not have one modded since it would be wasted money (it will all get replaced with stuff I have planned). Arizona is just a one way plane ticket and a really long drive, so I could deal with that if the car could handle the road trip.

No, I'm actually looking for the hatch lid from a 98+ Integra 2 door, not another entire car. I'm not selling my car. I'd like to find a running 1st gen teg in decent shape to get as a daily driver and also make it a long term project car.

Oh, well there you go. The F20C is the 2.0 liter that came in AP1 S2000's and the F22C is the 2.2 liter that came in the AP2.

You can buy mine. Of course it's probably too high since I'd have to have retail price on it. Seriously though, pm me if you're interested. If not then...... Looking for a 98-01 Integra 2 door hatch. Perferebly in FBP and within 100 or so miles of 65559. (I know it's a long shot) Also kind of looking for a 86-89 2 door Integra. Must be manual, good body condition and must run. Also must be a good price.

They put an F20C or F22C in the S2000. I'm not sure what you're asking beyond that. Every aspect of the makeup of that motor is what gets it to 240 hp.

Well, I don't have a high client base so have the cheaper price helps with getting started. I also offer a basic package with just wash, wax, wheels/tires and interior, etc.... for all the people who don't really care about their car but want it to look decent. I can nail out one of those pretty quick....about 2 hours for a compact. Plus I use my car as an example of my work. 7 year old paint with no swirl marks or hazing kind of shows that I know how to do a good detail. Especially since it's black and wouldl show the smallest imperfection.

Yeah, it depends on where you go. A full multi stage polish and the full works I charge $200 for a compact car like a civic or integra. $250 for a mid size car. I figure on a compact car it takes me about 7-8 hours for the full detail so I'm making $25/hour minus supplies. Plus I'm a good bit under the normal price around here so it helps get me business. That includes engine and interior, etc.... too. Probably nothing can be done about the cracks in your hood without re-spraying it.

Yeah, the waiting process is the hardest part. I know exactly what you mean.

If you're ever in Missouri, we'll detail your car together so you can learn and I'd only let you pay me about $20 for supplies. Good luck with your car, and hope it comes out as nice as you're hoping.

Cranny's method is what I would do on a freshly painted car with some orange peel, but not a 5 year old car. I've never seen a finish that couldn't be taken out with the right combo of compounds. Plus a compound is better since the abbrasives break down and end up polishing the paint up after you work it in.

Exactly. If you wash and properly detail your car then you will have very minor swirls come back. Nothing that a cleaner wax won't hide. I wouldn't reccomend Natty's Blue on a swirled car. Get some Meguiars M21 or M20 (you can get 20 at O'Reilleys). You'll want something that has cleaning abilities in it to at least help hide some of the swirls. Meguiars products have a darkening effect which really makes darker colors look insane. If you want you could top M20 or M21 with #26 yellow wax and it will only get better. Cranny - that would be so unneccesary on my car. My car has very few swirls on it that I can easily get out with SFX-2 which is a mildly abbrasive polish. If I ever need to step it up, I use SFX-1 which is about equal to 1500 grit, except it breaks down and removes it's own scratches. The process I use makes the car look like it's dripping, and I promise, I've never been able to find a bit of orange peel on my car. You can see the reflections in my car from accross the yard when I'm done. I'm not doubting your process and actually know some guys who do that to cars, but I grauntee it would be uneccesary on my car. Not to mention that honda's clears are pretty soft so it's not hard to get stuff out with an abrasive compound.

Order a Pakshak microfiber drying towel and you'll be amazed at how well they work. Well, the polisher I use was around $200 with the pads, each product varies in cost and has different advantages. For example a can of pinnacle sovergn cost around $80, but has the greatest shine that you've ever seen on darker colored cars, but only lasts about a month. Zaino gives great shine in depth when used in the process I use and gives 6 months of durability. Around $50 in Zaino Z2, Z5 and ZFX. Collinite is a great wax for durability that looks great....around $20, Natty's Blue wax is the best wax I've used in the $30 price range and is better on darker cars. S100 and P21S are incredible waxes for the price and give great reflection on lighter colors....about $20 each. Overall I've got probably around 500-600 in products, but (not counting the polisher) I only use about $5-10 on a basic detail. Most of the products go a long way and will do several cars, but since certain combos work better on different colors, I keep a wide variety of products on hand. Plus, I have to take into consideration if the customers car is garaged. If it's not garaged, I need a more durable combo, but if it's garaged, I can get away with a less durable combo and get better shine since it's not in the sun all the time. If you have swrils that need to be removed, it will be expensive to DIY. You'll have to get a high quality buffer and the right products to get them out and that gets pricey. If all you do is a basic wash and wax every 3-6 months then definately do it yourself.

Interesting that you've stuck with the same brand. I'll have to do some research on that brand. My full detail includes (on a badly swirled black car) spray front with bug and tar remover Spray wheels with Meguiars Wheel cleaner wash w/ 2 bucket method. 1 bucket for rinsing my mitt, one for soap dry with microfiber dry towel clay bar with clay magic Sonus SFX-1 by PC at speed 5 Sonus SFX-2 by PC at speed 5 Zaino Z5 by hand x 2 Zaino Z2 by hand x 2 Topped with Pinnacle Souvergn Paste wax Windows cleaned and sealed with M21 sealant Trim dressed with back to black tires dressed with dupont tire cleaner wheel wells wiped down and dressed with armor all Wheels sealed with M21 sealant Door Trunk Jams QD'd and sealed with M21 Interior Full vaccum on interior and trunk Brush out vents and crevices with Meguiars detail brush Clean inside of windows Wipe down dash, and all interior panels with Zaino interior spray Spot clean carpets and seats (if fabric) Clean and Condition Leather w/ Zymol Only microfiber rags touch any part of the car. I'm planning on getting a steam cleaner for interior fabrics and detailing the engine bay. Interesting to see how other people do a car.