Automotive Detailing Manual: Interior and Exterior Care and Restoration - by Haynes

• How to properly wash and wax your vehicle
• Buffing and paint renovation
• Wheel and tire care
• Engine detailing
• Paint and/or finish repairs
• Rustproofing
• Long-term protection
• ... and much more!

Our basic wash-polish-wax procedure in Chapter 2 covered taking care of 75% of your exterior detailing, the paint itself. However, there is a myriad of other areas o be addressed too.

With paint cleaned and protected, your attention can then be turned, as your own schedule permits, to details such as the bumpers, chrome trim, grille area, lights, window glass, exterior rubber parts and even weather-stripping.

An additional consideration if your vehicle is a convertible would be the care and cleaning of the convertible top, including it's plastic rear window, or care of padded vinyl tops on hard top cars.


BUMPERS AND CHROME

It used to be that "bumpers" and "chrome" would be synonymous in terms of detail procedures, but cars in the last ten years show more of other materials such as plastic, rubber and even plastic-coated steel.

Some cars have a basically chromed-steel bumper with a vinyl or rubber "rub-strip" insert and a plastic panel between the bumper and body, while other models exhibit just the opposite treatment, they have a no-chrome basic treatment with perhaps a small chrome trim strip added through the center.

Regardless of the materials or style of bumpers you have, you must use the detailing materials and techniques that are matched to the surface material you are working on. most chrome cleaners, for instance, are designed for chromed metal and don't work best for the chromed plastic trim many cars feature today.

Always read the instructions on the back of the product before you buy to make sure it's compatible with the surface you are working on.

While a detailing "kit" could have at one time contained just chrome polish and paint polish/wax, there are now many kinds of products needed to keep pace with the upkeep of the variety of surfaces now on cars.

The main purpose of detailing we have already described for the paint applies equally to bumpers and trim - get the surface as clean as possible, then protect it with wax or other protectants.

As with paint, when you get a good "baseline" the car will be much easier to maintain in the future. For standard chrome-plated metal bumpers and other similar trim, there is a variety of chrome cleaners on the market.

Check the instructions for how abrasive the product is. Many of the products we'll describe later for wheel care can be successfully used on chrome trim to get down to a really clean, shiny surface.

Those motorists who open their hood only when smoke or steam is escaping, the idea of detailing under the hood may seem like carrying things too far, but we're intent on showing you all of the processes in a total vehicle detailing.

You have to decide how far you carry it for your own needs. Before you decide that the engine compartment is one area that you can skip, let's look at engine detailing from a strictly practical standpoint.

First, a clean engine is one that is much easier to maintain when more than a few miles have clicked through the odometer. An engine coated with grease may tend to run hotter than a clean engine, and, when clean, moving parts like linkages tend to work much smoother.

Also, battery connections need to be cleaned on a regular basis, or one day you'll hear that dreaded "click-click" that means you are not playing with a full 12 volts.

After 20,000 or 30,000 miles, every engine has the potential for a variety of leaks, such as water, oil, power steering fluid and transmission fluid (nothing to do with the engine, but the transmission cooling lines run through the engine compartment to the bottom of the radiator).

Most maintenance experts will tell you that any mechanical problem should be addressed as soon as it is noticed, on regular under hood inspections, preferably once a week.

On an engine covered in road grime and grease, leaks can be very hard to spot. If spotted at all, they can be difficult to trace to their sources when everything is greasy.

A clean, detailed engine and compartment makes leak spotting and sourcing easy by contrast, and when engine work must be done it is a pleasure for you or your mechanic to work on an engine that is clean.

In fact, we bet most mechanics will do a better and cleaner job on an engine that they see has been maintained fastidiously. They know they are dealing with a car-owner who takes some pride in his machine.

The other main reason people detail their engine compartment are to keep up the resale value of the car and to shoe they take pride in its overall look and condition, everything from bumper to bumper.

You may have noticed if you have been shopping at any used car lot that under the hook of every car is quite clean and shiny, as if it were 1000 miles old instead of several years old.

It doesn't imply hat everyone who turns in a used car to a used-car lot had been meticulous in their under hood maintenance. It means instead that the car dealers know that they can get a better market price and an easier sale when the engine is just as detailed as that rubbed and waxed paint job.

• Introduction: Protecting Your Investment | Save on Buying a Used Car | Professional Detailing
• Body Exterior: Cleaning Paint | Buffing | Waxing
• Buffing
• Using the Coin-Op Carwash
• The Three-Hour Pro Detail
• Exterior Details: Bumpers and Chrome | Rubber and Plastic | Glass Cleaning | Convertible and Vinyl Tops
• Paint Repairs
• Interior Detailing: Vacuuming | Carpet Cleaning | Upholstery Cleaning | Vinyl | Leather Care | Small Interior Details
• Engine Detailing: Engine Washing | Hoses and Small Details
• Chassis
• Tires, Wheels: Basic Washing | Painted Wheels and Hubcaps | Cleaning Specialty Wheels
• Long-Term Protection
• Sourcelist
• Index