Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Best way to make a black car look brand new?

Some time next week I want to take a whole day to detail every inch of my car. I have little scratches all over my car that are noticeable up close (because it's black), and right now I have some wax but that doesn't seem to get the job done good enough.

Is there anything I can buy to get rid of the scratches (or make them less noticeable)? I don't know much about polishes or clay bars or stuff like that, so help me out here guys.

https://celicahobby.com/ubbthrea...#Post1869944704

dont know if it will repost thread but i tryed for ya man.

heres wut you can do to make it look shiny enough.
first wash it with dish washing soap (you heard it right)
then after drying it nicely, make sure the surface is perfectly clean.
start using the claybar, whenever the claybard gets dirty, use the other side. go over the hood well since that place gets the worst of them all.
after doing the claybar all over (which will get you pretty tired) was the car with a car washing soap.
then wax ur car with a thin coat, and thatll look the best for its price and time.

exactly what stefanoc said

I heard you should never use dish soap to wash your car cause they are designed to remove grease and oil. So they'll remove the natural oil that's in the paint. Over a short time your paint's gonna look really dull and won't have that natural shine.

^^thats exactly why you use dish washing soap in the first place.
u wanna take all the old wax, dirt, oily stuff off the surface. the dishwashing soap basically gets ur paint bare naked. and then you work ur way with ur clay bar to dig the paint more for its dirt. and then you wash it with a good car washing soap so it leaves a little wax there, and then you wax with hand

couldnt have said it better myself

What i do is
1) Wash the car with Meguiars Gold Class soap
2) Clay the shit out of it "twice on the hood" to get all the gunk off ur paint with Mothers Clay Bar
3) Use Meguiars Scratch X to deminish the swirl marks
4) Use Meguiars Deep Cristal Paint Polish for that shiny wet paint look
5) And last but not least, Wax ur baby with Meguiars Gold Class Liquid Wax

Trust me, It will take you for ever but it really really really works
did it to my brothers Expedition, took 8 hours for the whole thing, my brothers centra, took 5 hours (it was really bad), and my friends camry which took 4 hours for all. The 3 cars are black and the paint is ten times better . Remember, this was done with 2 people and it was non stop. Also, remember not to do any of these steps in the sun, do it in ur garage or somewhere thats relatively shady.

Best of luck

yup, mothers claybar and 3 stage system will make it all good

I go to the automotive training center down in exton, pa...and everything this guys said is the exact truth and will work the best for your money. Seriously, if you want your ride new, listen to this man. Its TRUE

liquid luster car wax--brought my old black truck black to life--gotta buff it in--people thought i had it repainted--good stuff all i use now

use Meguiars deep crystal polish, then go over that with meguairs NXT wax
i used this on my black wrx and vwalah! took everything away (even though i had nothing to start with)

but seriously, it'll hide all those scratches and swirls you may have.
read up on www.autopia.org [autopia.org]

i just got my car out of the body shop with a new kaminari body kit on. The paint match seems to be a tad bit different, the guys at the shop told me to do this to get that natural color back to match the kit. I havent tried this yet, I hope it works, my body kits paint looks so fresh and new compaired to the rest of my car.

or just take it to get it detailed, gonna get mine done for 50 bucks, and its gonna be worth every pennie. to much work to do yourself if you ask me.

Wow, sounds like a shit load of work! Someone should take some pics and do a before & after!

I wash with dawn to prep the surface, clay bar and then meguiars mirror glaze. if it's bad, I'll rub it down a couple times with mirror glaze. Afther that, I'll wax the car. I find Meguiars gold class or Tech Wax work best on my car.

Do all this in the shade.

Swirl marks can be taken out with scratch X, but I try to avoid it, since it can rub out the paint altogether (it happened to me once, the paint is thin on the celica)

Usually a little buffer work with mirror glaze will give similar results, and less risk to the paint itself.

My bro's an auto body tech, and a great painter; he basically showed me how to do it.

Only wax occasionally, and only use car wash soap from then on, You only need to thouroughly clean the car using my method about once per year. The rest of the year, you maintain the finish through use of detail spray and a wax job maybe once a month.

Believe me, my finish is swirled and has a couple scratches here and there, but my technique keeps it looking sharp. The pic in my sig was taken just after I cleaned it the way I described above.

Hmmm everyone has their own way of getting it done. But yet I wanna try and get mine detailed. I mean I know you should do it yourself but I have done it myself and its hard work. But What about these detail guys and washing your Carbon Fiber hood (for the people who have one) thats what I am a bit worried about.

Here's what I would do..

1. look for a shaded area, or some where that is not directly underneath the sunlight.
2. grab 2 buckets. 1 bucket put water and mix with just a little gas. yeah gas, it will help losen up shitty stuff which soap and water can't. 2 bucket mix with dish washer soap and water.
3. wash your car using the 1 bucket. next rinse the car with water, then use the wash it again using the 2 bucket.
4. use pure cotton cloth to wipe you car dry( t-shirt, underwear, you name it).
5. get a hand glaze. 3m, meguiars, tutle wax, watever you call it...it's just personal preference.
6. rub your car with hand glaze using a clean cloth from side to side.
7. once the hand glaze is applied use another clean cloth to finish the glazed area.
8. keep doing this one panel at a time. don't rush yourself.

I know it's long and a lot of process but it's worth. swirls are removed and your car would look just like brand new. i used to have a lot of swirls in my car but now it's gone. after the wash the color of my car is more darker and the finish is just like looking at a mirror. the bodyshop told me exactly how to wash it to keep it show worthy or before going to shows. they use 3M hand glaze if you wanna know.

i detailed my car only to find out that it's gonna snow the next day. so my next detail will me around april or early may.

Here's what I did to make my black celica look brand new:

https://celicahobby.com/ubbthreads/thread.f0_1953531818_0_collapsed_5_14_1.html#1953531818

Full re-spray

YOU CHEATER!

I wish I had the money to do that.

Hehehe. I highly recomend it. It's just so damn sweet!!! :-)

not everybody has the luxury of repainting their cars 3-4 times a year.

Who said 3-4 times a year?