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Any tips on detailing a Roadster?

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#61
There are already several Zaino recommendations, but since the topic is open, I'm cutting and pasting an email reply I'd made to a couple roadster owners that had asked about what I used to detail mine.
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Here’s the best products I’ve found so far, along with my notes on them:
First off, the Zaino stuff is from zainostore.com

I picked up their ZKIT-2 since it was a good bundle of their stuff, along with a few extra items. The final list was:
Zaino Ultimate Protection Show Car Kit (that’s the ZKIT-2):
ZFX Flash Cure Accelerator Additive (sounds fancy, but it’s just to harden and cure the individual coats so you can multicoat faster)
Z-2 Pro polish/wax (this is the fine stuff that gives the most mirror-like shine, but will not do anything about swirls, etc.)
Z-5 Pro polish/wax (this is what I use to start with, after claying if needed, to dress the paint and remove/reduce any little swirls and dust marks - you could just use it, but if you follow up with a coat or two of Z-2, it’ll really pop the shine and make it look deep)
Z-6 Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray — long name - but this is the “detail in a bottle” stuff I used on your car at the meet. It’s great for between wash/waxes for random pollen, dust, etc. Combined with a soft touch and good towel, you won’t need to wash the car much unless you get into mud or something. As long as it’s just light dust, pollen/poop type stuff, this’ll keep you looking good.
Z-7 Show Car Wash (it’s just a good, non wax stripping car wash. Want to make sure you use something like this (vs. Dawn dish soap, etc.) unless you are stripping the wax for a full redo)
Z-9 Leather Soft Spray Cleaner (I have microfiber, so haven’t used this on the Tesla, but it works well on my other vehicles)
Z-10 Leather in a Bottle (after you use the Z-9, this reconditions and protects. Not as much experience with these, like I mentioned, but they seem to do well on the other cars)
Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss — this doesn’t clean the tire - use Simple Green or just soap and elbow grease (lots of it!) to get prior dressings and grime off the tire first (this is hard if there’s a lot of build up!). Afterwards this will give the tires a slick, matte, clean look. Won’t give a “wet” look like some dressings, so that’s a matter of taste. The nice thing is that the finish is dry and doesn’t collect dust and junk as much as the Black Magic or Armor-All does.
Z-18 Clay Bar — Good thing our car is small. Claying doesn’t take too much time, just be sure to go easy and follow the directions. It’s a pain in the ass to get the fundamentals all done great the first time, but afterwards you won’t need to work as hard at it. Claying can be done once or twice a year. You definitely want to do it to start with though. You won’t believe the difference in *feel* (look too - but the feel of the finish is what gets me)

Also part of the kit is a decal (yay?) and a polish applicator.

Other stuff I picked up in addition to the kit:
Zaino Blonde Borderfree Towel: 3 Pack - these are just good towels. The borderfree part is so you avoid the harder thread used in stitching the edges on a lot of towels. Those stitched edges can leave marks. Sucks to scratch your finish when you’re trying to clean it. I also use good microfiber towels too. Not sure which I like best. I tend to go with these for the waxing, and microfiber for the washing/drying. I just be sure to separate out those I use on the wheels from those I use on the lower surfaces from those I use on the upper, and make sure there’s no rough stitching, nor random crap picked up (as microfiber tends to do).

Z-CS Clear Seal - After doing the multiple rounds of Z-5 to get all the marks out I could, and topping with 2 coats (I think - may have been 1 because my arms were getting tired!) of Z-2, it was looking great, but then I used the Z-CS as a final topcoat to finish it off. The theory is that the work will last longer with it on. I don’t know if it did, or if it would have stayed as smooth as it did for as long if I’d skipped it. Doesn’t take much of it though (use very sparingly), and after all the earlier work, figured I might as well.

Z-8 Grand Finale Spray Seal - this is kind of the step of from the Z-6 you saw. Use it on “special occasions” to make the finish deeper and shinier, but it’s really optional. Supposedly it will protect for longer and give a slicker result than the Z-6, but the Z-6 is a bit easier to apply, is cheaper, and what I’d use for day-to-day wash replacements. I’d use the Z-8 as the final shine at or before a meet or some other place I was specifically trying to show off. It definitely does make the car look good and the finish feel silky, just not sure really how much more than the Z-6.

For reference, I hadn’t used the Z-8 before our meet, and in fact hadn’t washed the car for a week or two, nor waxed it for at least 6 months and probably a full year (think I last did the full production right before the last rally in Santa Monica. What you saw was just Z-6 wipe downs and the lingering finish. I was unhappy with some of the marks in it at that stage, but didn’t have time to do anything about it.

Other non-zaino items I use:
Mother’s Back-to-Black trim cleaner : I tend to avoid Armor-All type things, and mostly I just use a damp microfiber, sometimes with just a hint of the Zaino soap to clean the doors and entry area, etc. but I wanted to try this too for the UV protection and for the times it seemed like more than water was needed. It is supposed to just clean and not leave a real shiny look or any film that’s going to attract crud afterwards. My exerience with it has been mixed. It’s better than an Armor-All type thing, and definitely leaves a dry surface rather than a tacky one, but it *does* leave a bit of shine, and if not careful it can look like you’ve spread something onto the surface and let it dry, rather than it just being a clean surface. To get it to look just plain clean take more buffing and rubbing than I was expecting. I’d give it a B-, but don’t have a better alternative for the times you have to go beyond dusting and cleaning with a damp microfiber.

California Wonder Duster (or some silly name like that - can buy on Amazon and elsewhere). Sounds cheesy, but it’s a nice quick way to sweep off the dash, etc. and keep it from getting too dirty in the first place. Can just use a microfiber of course, but the kit I got:
Amazon.com: The Original California Home and Auto Detailing Kit: Automotive
works well. The little one is great at getting right up in the corners by the windshield, and in general it’s just a quick “swish swish” and your set type thing for day-to-day use. I still spend longer cleaning the area by hand with a microfiber when actually *cleaning* the car.

Raggtop Convertable Top Care Kit - Fabric : Amazon.com: The Original California Home and Auto Detailing Kit: Automotive
I don’t have a lot of experience with this yet. Came from good recommendations from others. Have used it once I think and it didn’t dissolve anything or burst into flames :)

Simple Green : Use to get crud off the tires. More gentle than some of the tire soaps. I might try something else later, but this was laying around and you do need to be careful of the wheels too. At the least, a lot of the cleaners would strip any wax or sealant off the wheels (actually Simple Green probably would do the latter too, so be sure to reapply afterwards).

I think that’s basically it. Yell if you have questions or alternate suggestions.
G’luck.
Click to expand...
 
#62
[email protected] said:
I will be putting the Pirelli's on as well and driving all winter - except the couple weeks we get a foot or two of snow - in which I kept my gas guzzling Hummer for this reason.
Click to expand...
Your Hummer drinks "gas"? Mine drinks biodiesel :cool:

As for detailing, here's what I've been doing for 21 years:

Brand name products are not really needed, but they sure make money for certain companies - especially given the human propensity for anecdotes. There are some good products out there, but the basics can be generic or general purpose.

I use the same bulk, organic soap that I use for dishes. Car buffs claim that this is horrible, and I assume that's because they use organic wax products that get washed away. After 21 years of using organic dish soap on the same car I've never seen any ill effects. The only blemishes on my clear coat are where I got too aggressive scrubbing road tar and never hired anyone to buff it out.

I have never waxed a car in my life, at least not more than once. It seems like a complete waste of time, and I don't particularly like the white build-up of wax in every crack. I imagine this would be even worse with the paint armor, which already collects foreign matter all around the edges. I especially don't like the idea of repeating a process that is not accumulative - the wax eventually melts off or is washed off. I never even heard of a clay bar until I started talking to Tesla folks. Instead, I have had good results with Finish First, a synthetic material that permanently fills in the tiny scratches in clear coat that cause swirls. Except for new scratches, every application of Finish First makes your car more mirror-like than the previous application. It's entirely different than applying organic wax for a temporary shine. That said, I have not tested this product on my Tesla, just the S-2000. The Tesla is still less than 3 weeks old!

Regarding those hand-held spray wash facilities, I think that they're fine. I believe that a manual car wash is technically the same as a hand wash - the only real difference is the soap mixed into the water and perhaps more pressure. In fact, they save the environment because the waste water is filtered of most petroleum and other chemicals before it drains into the earth. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have storm drains that feed unfiltered waste water directly into salmon streams, so I always either use a manual car wash or drive onto my lawn instead of the street or driveway so that the lawn filters the chemicals locally.

Speaking of the environment, wipes just end up in the landfill - better to use washable rags and liquid soaps or leather conditioning products. It seems a shame to drive an electric car but still participate in the mindset of single-use disposable consumer products. A lot of these products leave a gloss that screams 'amateur' in my aesthetic. Just say no to disposable wipes.

In my opinion, shiny tires look ridiculous. I've never treated my tires with Armor-All, and my high performance tires have never blown out or even shown signs of problems. By the time I've cleaned the wheels, the tires are already clean enough that a quick spray is sufficient. I always buy quality tires and always replace them in sets of 4 (except the S-2000, which seems to go through rear tires twice as fast as fronts). They always look brand new, so why grease them up with the equivalent of hair gel?

Rather than pressure wash the wheels, you can buy a bristle brush designed for cleaning wheels that will fit into the various crevices. Just be careful not to get any in your eye or on yourself as those bristles can fling brake dust mud everywhere.

The fact that the Tesla Roadster has a carbon fiber body should not be an issue of concern at all. It's still the same auto paint and clear coat as any other car. It's really the clear coat that you're cleaning, not the paint or body material. If you get down to the actual paint or carbon fiber then you have a serious problem on your hands!

If you live in a cold area, consider using plastic dishwashing gloves or mechanics gloves while washing your car. Dry hands are much warmer than wet hands. I actually started using the gloves because my cloth car wash mitt bleeds black dye so badly that my hands would be stained after washing my Berlina Black S-2000 (so much for cool-looking car wash accessories). Then I noticed that I wasn't nearly as cold when it's raining or windy. In Seattle, it rains so much that you sometimes have to (hand) wash your car while standing in the rain - unless you don't care about what you car looks like at all.

As for the car cover in the garage: Be mindful that dust still falls in a garage given enough time. That's true even if you don't live in a construction area. My old roadster sat in the garage over this past winter, and I had to wash it when I took it out for a drive recently - it was covered in fine dust that detracted from the finish. One of those dry brushes that was recommended in this thread might work as well as a car cover, though.
 
#63
I use the Zaino products and have been satisfied with the results. Here I've typed up some tips that are about techniques rather than products.

I wash and rinse the wheels first, then dump the bucket and rinse it out. I've been just using Dawn on the wheels since I don't polish them. I use an old terry-covered car wash sponge that I had before the Tesla for the wheels to keep it separate from the one used on the body.

A tip I learned from Bob Sexton is that if you turn on the A/C full blast while you wash the car, this will make the fans run and keep water from collecting in the condenser. This avoids the problem of having water blow up on the windshield and front louvers when you start driving after the wash.

For the main phase of washing the car, I start with the top and work my way down, as most guides suggest. I use a non-loop microfiber covered car washing sponge. I have not used the two-bucket approach (one with soapy water and one for rinsing the sponge), but that sounds like a good idea.

I dry with two microfiber towels, one that gets soaking wet and wrung out periodically, and one or more others that pick up the water that remains from using the first cloth as a squeegee. I do the top first, then the glass, and then move to the front or back. In my driveway, on a sunny morning the back will get sunlight first, so it needs to be dried first.

When working toward the front, I open the bonnet and dry both the inside and outside in the open position, being careful not to push too hard against the hinge stops. If you do the whole front first with the bonnet closed, and then open the bonnet, to dry underneath, the wet inner surfaces will just drip down onto the nose. Also, there is a channel underneath the bonnet that collects water, and it is hard to keep the towel out of that water when the bonnet is closed. After opening the bonnet, the A/C can be turned off. With two people, one does the outside and inside of the bonnet while the other dries the surfaces under the bonnet with old junk towels.

In the rear, one problem is drips running down from the spoiler when you open the trunk lid. You can avoid that by pulling the edge of a towel taut and sliding it down in the crack between the end of the spoiler and the spar of the trunk lid.

Also in the second phase is the inside of the trunk hatch. Since a lot of dirt collects on top of the battery box and the PEM, I just use the damp junk towels to clean off those surfaces. Also don't miss the top surface of the plastic rear wheelwell liners. The tricky part here is that there are several painted surfaces around the hatch hinges and to the rear of the trunk. You need to be careful not to use the dirty towels on those surfaces, or to get your good towels dirty on the adjacent surfaces.

The body panel underneath the door is always a problem spot to clean. Plus, there is a significant cleaning job to do on the door jams after you open the doors. Therefore, I treat the door jams and the body panel under the door as a separate wash phase to be done after the rest of the car. I usually wash the body panel under the door in the first phase, too, but I don't bother drying it.

Be very careful about dirt that collects under the rubber door seal just above the (optional) triangular logo panel on the door sill. It is very easy to wipe along there and continue the wipe in an arc out away from the door sill, leaving a big scratch.

One trouble spot that I did not notice until recently is dirt that collects on the door gasket on the lower half of the outside of the A pillar (at the edge of the windshield). It causes scratching of the mating painted surface on the door.
 
#64
Steve details on his detailing is much like my exterior proceedure. I would add:

Park on a slight upslope so water rolls off the back of the trunk lid.
Use a spray bottle with water to pre clean off gravel on door sills. Clean the underpanel with the door open.
Be extra extra careful around TESLA letters on the back. They come off easily.

Junk towels also for inside top of trunk lid, inside charge port and under diffuser.
 
#65
I also use the Zaino products to wash/wax my car. One thing I do to minimize how wet my drying towel gets after washing the car is that I use a leaf blower to "blow dry" the car. This gets water out of the channel under the hood as well as other areas where it tends to collect. Then I come around with a towel to dry whatever the leaf blower didn't get. That way a single towel will dry your car with out getting soaking wet, then you're ready to wax. The leaf blower is actually pretty quick and if you maintain a good wax finish on your car, it does a surprisingly good job at getting most of the water off.
 
#69
Another UPDATE:

I made a trip to the store to pick up a new shammy, and I saw an orbital applicator/buffer. I've never used one before, but I know the pros use them. I thought back to my previous washing sessions, and my shoulders were getting tired just thinking about "wax on & wax off." So I splurged on the $20 buffer. OMG!

Because I've never used an orbital buffer before, I cannot compare my results to non-Zaino, but what a difference! First I'd like to comment on how much easier it is. Plus it is a huge time saver. If it is 100F where you live like it is here, it is sooooo worth it. As for results, WOW! Like glass! I feel like such a 'tard for not getting one sooner. I always figured they were more expensive, but for $20, it is worth it. The only thing easier is paying someone to detail your car for you.

So, to summarize (all this can be found in the pages before this): Lint brush to softtop, california duster to dash, vacuum, interior protectant wipe-down, 2 bucket wash, shammy dry, clay bar, re-wash, wash wheels, shammy dry, apply Zaino Z5+ZFX with orbital applicator & get hard to reach spots by hand, orbital buffer, wash windows. Sounds like a lot longer than it is. The car is pretty small, so each step goes pretty fast.

Next purchase... the leaf blower!
 
Last edited:
#71
tdevince said:
kgb,
so how long is your entire process and how much time do you think the orbital buffer saves?
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to time it, but it doesn't seem like long. I have the car broken down into segments: Driver side front, driver door, driver side back, the trunk/boot, passenger side back, passenger door, passenger side front, PEM & rear well liners. (8 sections) I'd be surprised if the 2 bucket wash takes took more than a minute per section. I probably spend about a minute per wheel. The clay bar probably takes the longest the first time (5-10 minutes), but the second time I did it, there weren't many spots that needed it. Wax application (sans buffer) took just about a minute per section, but it seemed like a lot more due to the effort. On the other hand, the orbital buffer seemed like it took 10 seconds per section. The real time and effort savings is in the wax removal/buffing. I could buff a section in 30 seconds per section with the orbital buffer, but by hand, it seems like a couple minutes per section. But now that I am typing this... and reading what I am typing, I think I sound full of sch*t . I'm going to have to actually time this. If this takes me more than 30 minutes, I will pay to have my car detailed.
 
#72
Just to be clear K, you're using a random orbital, right?

kgb said:
Another UPDATE:

I made a trip to the store to pick up a new shammy, and I saw an orbital applicator/buffer. I've never used one before, but I know the pros use them. I thought back to my previous washing sessions, and my shoulders were getting tired just thinking about "wax on & wax off." So I splurged on the $20 buffer. OMG!

Because I've never used an orbital buffer before, I cannot compare my results to non-Zaino, but what a difference! First I'd like to comment on how much easier it is. Plus it is a huge time saver. If it is 100F where you live like it is here, it is sooooo worth it. As for results, WOW! Like glass! I feel like such a 'tard for not getting one sooner. I always figured they were more expensive, but for $20, it is worth it. The only thing easier is paying someone to detail your car for you.

So, to summarize (all this can be found in the pages before this): Lint brush to softtop, california duster to dash, vacuum, interior protectant wipe-down, 2 bucket wash, shammy dry, clay bar, re-wash, wash wheels, shammy dry, apply Zaino Z5+ZFX with orbital applicator & get hard to reach spots by hand, orbital buffer, wash windows. Sounds like a lot longer than it is. The car is pretty small, so each step goes pretty fast.

Next purchase... the leaf blower!
Click to expand...
 
#73
Jaff said:
Just to be clear K, you're using a random orbital, right?
Click to expand...

Yes, random orbital, specifically marketed for car washing (I forgot the brand, but it is some car washing brand). Today I timed myself with a 2 bucket wash/dry. The wash takes less than one minute per section, BUT the drying with the chamois (or shammy as I had posted earlier) takes a bit longer than I expected. I think I spent around a minute per section with drying. So, it was 2 minutes to fill the buckets and add soap and carry them to the car, then around 6-8 minutes to wash and about 8 or so minutes to dry. All I can say is that when I was done with wash/dry the timer said 19 minutes!!! That was just the car... no wheels, no clay bar, no interior wipe down... although those don't really take too long. So I would revise my estimate to approx 45 minutes for a whole car detail. But I might look into a battery powered leaf blower and see if that dries the car faster.

I washed my car in 105F sunny heat... 1 hour later, thunderstorms!
 
#75
Cleaning products/techniques?

I have just discovered that yellow is not a good color for a roadster. It looks great to be sure, but roadsters have to look excellent all of the time and yellow attracts dirt. I'm convinced of it. I even get bugs on it before I am done drying it!
Suffice it to say, I find myself cleaning this car every other day... I actually think its fun :) ... so far ;-)

I am using a Meguire's wash of some sort and it seems to work well enough. I am looking ahead to when I need to wax/polish it and am looking for suggestions. My brother-in-law (the one with a Ferrari) has suggested Speed Shine from Griot's. Anyone have any experience with this product?

Also, the car has paint armor on it and dirt collects (and sticks very effectively) to the edges. Any suggestions on how to clean this?

thanks,
Jordan
 
#77
Insects are attracted to the color yellow....(Think: "flowers")....

I use Armor All Wash & Wax Detailer for a quick spray, takes bugs and bird messages off in an instant. A quick spray on a cloth wiped along the paint armor edges will also help. I also use it to clean off dust and dirt collected on the door sills. I find it a really good product for in-between washes and detailing. Note: Use Microfiber cloths!

r_arm_wwd_0111.jpg

Hey, they even put a yellow car on the front!
 
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