Ultimate Auto Detailing Projects

It's never been easier to make your car, truck, or van look its absolute best! Ultimate Auto Detailing Projects will be your most powerful detailing tool, giving you the direction and common-sense advice you need to keep your vehicle looking new from top to bottom.

Full-color photography and a practical, project-by-project approach make this the most useful detailing book ever published. Each project is accompanied by a table explaining exactly what the job requires in terms of time, skill, tools or products, and expense. By breaking the task into bite-sized pieces, you'll find it easy to maintain your vehicle in the midst of your busy life.

From washing and waxing, to wheel and tire care, to engine bay and interior refurbishing, not a surface is left uncovered in Ultimate Auto Detailing Projects.

Table of contents

Section 1—Getting Ready.

Section 2—Preliminary Washing: basic vehicle wash; doorjambs, hood and trunk edges; removing tree sap, bug splatter, and the like; grille, brightwork, and running boards; tires and wheels; vinyl tops and convertibles; removing stickers and decals; underbody.

Section 3—Interior Detailing: vacuuming; cleaning the interior and dash; doorjambs and panels; vinyl and rubber dressing; vinyl seats; cloth seats; leather seats; shampooing carpets; interior extras.

Section 4—Under the Hood: initial cleaning; initial cleaning without water; detailed cleaning; engine block painting; painting other engine parts; removing paint overspray; polish and shine; extras.

Section 5—Exterior Shine: removing severe oxidation; clay bar; buffing with a machine; hand polish; hand wax; removing polish and wax residue; paint blemishes and ships.

Section 6—Underbody Detailing: steam cleaning; through rinsing and cleaning; fenderwell painting and undercoating; frame members and tailpipes.

Section 7—Glass, Trim, and Moldings: removing stickers and decals from glass; glass cleaning; glass polishing; removing buildup from window edges; trim cleaning; chrome, rubber, and vinyl; moldings; windshield repair; plastic window care; all the little extras.

Section 8—Tires & Wheels: whitewalls and raised white lettering; dressing and tire black; chemical wheel cleaners; wire wheels; mags and other special wheels; painting wheels.

Section 9—Finishing Touches: trunk rejuvenation; parts replacement; just nice or new car smell; bra care and car covers; concours d'elegance considerations; final inspection; paintless dent removal.