Detailing Part 2: Polishing, Waxing and Drying

** after claying, the next step in the detailing process is polishing, what polishing does is it evens out the paint surface to remove scratches and to give a car a bigger shine

** polishing can be done by either machine or hand, it is recommended by many that cars be polished in the shade or under cover

** I prefer to polish under direct sunlight, I use the heat from the sunlight to assist in the polishing process rather than generating heat manually and tiring myself through physical exertion

Detailing Part 1: Removing Dirt, Grime and Fall-Out on Paint

** wash cars on cool or overcast days, if not possible, wash vehicle under cover or shade

** start from the upper half of the car starting with the roof and work your way down, once the top half is done, do the bottom half of the vehicle, make sure detergent is clean and that sponge or wash mit is cleaned of debris or grit which can damage clear coat and paint

** after washing painted surfaces and hosing off detergent, DO NOT dry car as the water will help the following detailing steps

Wheels and Tyres

** Check tyre (tire) tread depth, the deepest groove in a tyre has a tread depth indicator which is a small hump in the groove, the side of a tyre also has an arrow or small triangle which shows where the tread depth indicators are located

** Most tyres start with either 10/32" or 11/32" of an inch of tread. When the tread depth indicator is level with the height of the tread (2/32"), this means it is time to change tyres. The usable amount of tyre is on most instances 8 to 9/32"

** When tyres are fitted to wheels, wheel weights are fitted to a wheel to help balance the wheel/tyre combo and to remove vibrations when driving, the less weight  fitted the better the build quality of the tyre and/or wheel in general. If many wheel weights are added, it means the build quality of the tyre or wheel may be poor

Oil Changes

Basic tips I follow when doing my own oil changes -

** Make sure the hand or foot brake is on. If car is auto, put selector in park, for manual leave in 1st gear

** Place brick behind either rear wheel

** Change oil when the engine is warm, wear disposable gloves so you don't get burned or get your hands covered in used oil, keep rags or paper towels close by in case of mess

** Remove the oil cap and dipstick when draining oil to drain oil trapped by engine vacuum