2nd Genner Detailing Advice
06-05-2004, 11:47 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 367
2nd Genner Detailing Advice
Hey everybody. I have some questions about detailing, and I hope you guys can help. There's ALOT more of you then the 2nd gens. I already posted there, but didn't get too much help.
Anyway, I'm mainly concerned about cleaning up the engine. I can do the rest of the car fine. But I'm not sure what type of cleaners can be used on the different surfaces, i.e. the the fenders and firewall, the painted valve covers, rubber hoses, etc. Can the engine just be hosed down? Can the alternator and starting components get wet if they're allowed to dry before starting the car? What products work best?
BTW, my favorites are:
Wheels - Eagle 1 All Purpose Tire and Wheel Cleaner, A-Z (the aluminum wheel cleaner is garbage.)
Interior - Armorall Ultra Shine
Exterior - Eagle 1 Wax as you dry. Also Armorall for rubber trim pieces.
Tires - Eagle 1. Also DuPont Teflon tire spray-not quite as shiny, but lasts longer
Windows - Turtle Wax window cleaner
Anyway, I'm mainly concerned about cleaning up the engine. I can do the rest of the car fine. But I'm not sure what type of cleaners can be used on the different surfaces, i.e. the the fenders and firewall, the painted valve covers, rubber hoses, etc. Can the engine just be hosed down? Can the alternator and starting components get wet if they're allowed to dry before starting the car? What products work best?
BTW, my favorites are:
Wheels - Eagle 1 All Purpose Tire and Wheel Cleaner, A-Z (the aluminum wheel cleaner is garbage.)
Interior - Armorall Ultra Shine
Exterior - Eagle 1 Wax as you dry. Also Armorall for rubber trim pieces.
Tires - Eagle 1. Also DuPont Teflon tire spray-not quite as shiny, but lasts longer
Windows - Turtle Wax window cleaner
06-05-2004, 03:52 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 808
i have been detailing cars professionally for only 3 years but have cleaning engines and cars for 11.
-Steam cleaning an engine does help for tough dirt and grease, and baked on oil.
-engine brite is a detailing spray, works very well and lasts about a week. This does not clean the engine, simply makes it look wet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-The products i recommend are:
interior:
armor all or black magic or meguires Gold Class Dash & Trim Foam Protectant
tough stuff carpet spray/cleaner (get it professionally cleaned from a local carpet cleaning company for spotless)
use alcohol free windex (use this on tint to stop from turning purple)
exterior
The Obsorber shamee
meguires Natural Shine Vinyl & Rubber Protectant (for trim)
meguires Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax
meguires Deep Crystal Polish
tires
meguires Hot Shine High Gloss Tire Spray
Hot Rims /Cool Care All Wheel Cleaner
wheel brush
Engine
never dull all metal polish (even works on wheels!)
castrol super clean degreaser (good in wheels wells also)
follow with engine brite or similar
**also people when drying your car take a shop rag and clean and dry your door jams! this is the major cause of rust in 3rd gens and cars in general!
**also you can get a small paintbrush and use this to clean your vents =)
-Steam cleaning an engine does help for tough dirt and grease, and baked on oil.
-engine brite is a detailing spray, works very well and lasts about a week. This does not clean the engine, simply makes it look wet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-The products i recommend are:
interior:
armor all or black magic or meguires Gold Class Dash & Trim Foam Protectant
tough stuff carpet spray/cleaner (get it professionally cleaned from a local carpet cleaning company for spotless)
use alcohol free windex (use this on tint to stop from turning purple)
exterior
The Obsorber shamee
meguires Natural Shine Vinyl & Rubber Protectant (for trim)
meguires Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax
meguires Deep Crystal Polish
tires
meguires Hot Shine High Gloss Tire Spray
Hot Rims /Cool Care All Wheel Cleaner
wheel brush
Engine
never dull all metal polish (even works on wheels!)
castrol super clean degreaser (good in wheels wells also)
follow with engine brite or similar
**also people when drying your car take a shop rag and clean and dry your door jams! this is the major cause of rust in 3rd gens and cars in general!
**also you can get a small paintbrush and use this to clean your vents =)
06-05-2004, 10:21 PM
#4
Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 189
You mentioned drying door jams. I also like to dry the trunk and hood jams. Moreso the trunk, because there's a drain channel all around it and I don't like the water pooling in there. Granted, it gets water in there during the rain, but after you wash and dry your car, it's annoying when you go for a drive, and water drains out of your trunk drain channel and gets all over the back of the car.
Another product I like is Mothers Back to Black. It's a cleaner for black trim, which takes off oxidents and restores the black colour. It's a cleaner, rather than other products that have a black die and just cover over the dirt.
The best way to wax a car is to use a 3 step system. The two products listed above are part of that, but before you use those, you might want to consider a cleaner, which cleans off old wax and other contaminants from the surface. This will then prep the surface for polish, which brings out the shine in the finish. Then, the last step, the wax or sealer seals in the shine and protects the finish. There are products out there called cleaner waxes, which claim to clean and wax at the same time, I've never used them myself, and don't know how well they work, but it makes sense to me that it's hard to do more than one of these steps at the same time. I could see cleaning and polishing at the same time, but cleaning and sealing seems a little more unrealistic. Just watch what you're buying, because some stuff is good, but there are also a lot of marketing gags out there, so stick with good brands, talk to people in the business, and you should be okay.
Another product I like is Mothers Back to Black. It's a cleaner for black trim, which takes off oxidents and restores the black colour. It's a cleaner, rather than other products that have a black die and just cover over the dirt.
The best way to wax a car is to use a 3 step system. The two products listed above are part of that, but before you use those, you might want to consider a cleaner, which cleans off old wax and other contaminants from the surface. This will then prep the surface for polish, which brings out the shine in the finish. Then, the last step, the wax or sealer seals in the shine and protects the finish. There are products out there called cleaner waxes, which claim to clean and wax at the same time, I've never used them myself, and don't know how well they work, but it makes sense to me that it's hard to do more than one of these steps at the same time. I could see cleaning and polishing at the same time, but cleaning and sealing seems a little more unrealistic. Just watch what you're buying, because some stuff is good, but there are also a lot of marketing gags out there, so stick with good brands, talk to people in the business, and you should be okay.
06-06-2004, 05:14 PM
#6
Originally Posted by turboast4
Cool. Thanks for the advice. Keep it coming 
There's actually an entire section of the forums dedicated to detailing maximas of all generations. Check it out!
06-06-2004, 05:23 PM
#7
Here's a writeup I did on Autopia for cleaning 3rd Gens:
a) Like the 5th Gen, the wheels are clearcoated. However, the wheels are usually polished aluminum. The best way to deal with them is to clay, polish with either Wenol or Mothers, and then follow with Klasse Sealant Glaze.
b) Do Not use EF HI or any all-purpose cleaner Full strength when cleaning the interior of these vehicles. The lettering on the switches will be destroyed.
c) Periodically Plexus or polish the taillights, reflector, and corner lamps to ensure that the luster remains.
Another thing, for 92-94 Maximas, you will need a decent brush to clean the grille because of its design.
Taken from 4DSC's post in the thread on Autopia
And a can of compressed air to blow water out of there! I also use that (or just blow with my breath) the water out from infront of the front turn signal housing in the bumper, which tends to pool quite a bit of water. I also run a (clean!) hand under the lips in the bumper where the air inlet and fog lamps go because they hold lots of water droplets due to its perfectly horizontal design.
Door window trim and rear taillight/valence housings can also hold water in them and lead to annoying drips later so I hold my WW up to the corners to "wick" away water trapped underneath.
I suppose this is a general tip for any spoiler-equipped car, but I have to thread my WW towel through the spoiler and "floss" it to dry under there.
If anyone has some tips on cleaning/vacuuming down inside those wierd interior door pulls I'm all ears... I lost a dandelion fluff down there once!
Oh yeah, one last thing: SE rims suck to clean. GXEs should be a bit easier....
4DSC is correct in that the 3rd Gen SE rims are quite difficult to clean without the use of a small brush.
a) Like the 5th Gen, the wheels are clearcoated. However, the wheels are usually polished aluminum. The best way to deal with them is to clay, polish with either Wenol or Mothers, and then follow with Klasse Sealant Glaze.
b) Do Not use EF HI or any all-purpose cleaner Full strength when cleaning the interior of these vehicles. The lettering on the switches will be destroyed.
c) Periodically Plexus or polish the taillights, reflector, and corner lamps to ensure that the luster remains.
Another thing, for 92-94 Maximas, you will need a decent brush to clean the grille because of its design.
Taken from 4DSC's post in the thread on Autopia
And a can of compressed air to blow water out of there! I also use that (or just blow with my breath) the water out from infront of the front turn signal housing in the bumper, which tends to pool quite a bit of water. I also run a (clean!) hand under the lips in the bumper where the air inlet and fog lamps go because they hold lots of water droplets due to its perfectly horizontal design.
Door window trim and rear taillight/valence housings can also hold water in them and lead to annoying drips later so I hold my WW up to the corners to "wick" away water trapped underneath.
I suppose this is a general tip for any spoiler-equipped car, but I have to thread my WW towel through the spoiler and "floss" it to dry under there.
If anyone has some tips on cleaning/vacuuming down inside those wierd interior door pulls I'm all ears... I lost a dandelion fluff down there once!
Oh yeah, one last thing: SE rims suck to clean. GXEs should be a bit easier....
4DSC is correct in that the 3rd Gen SE rims are quite difficult to clean without the use of a small brush.
06-06-2004, 05:39 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 580
I don't know if this is true for other 3rd gens, but mine seems to love Turtle Wax Caranuba Blend (paste). It seems to really bring out the lustre of 3rd gen paint.
For the engine bay, I use a bottle of Simple Green and a toothbrush for problem spots that refuse to hose off.
As for the interior, I'd say Armor All. Works good, the only drawback is it only lasts about 4-5 weeks, less if you have no tint like my car.
For the engine bay, I use a bottle of Simple Green and a toothbrush for problem spots that refuse to hose off.
As for the interior, I'd say Armor All. Works good, the only drawback is it only lasts about 4-5 weeks, less if you have no tint like my car.
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