I'm Michael, the web guy here at Proper Auto Care. This past weekend, I gave my wife a full detailing on her 1993 Jeep Cherokee as a Mother's Day gift.
This Jeep still has the original paint and we have tried to take the best care of this vehicle as possible. But, this SUV is used constantly. It takes lots of road trips. The paint, therefore, has suffered slightly. As you can see from the picture below, the paint on the roof was quite oxidized. We had thought that we might have to get the top of the Jeep repainted.
This was what we thought until I decided to attack it with an assortment of our products. The end result, was like giving the Jeep a face lift. I literally took 5-8 years of of age off the paint. Needless to say, my wife is a very happy camper.
Here's how I did it:
Since any good detailing starts with a clean vehicle, I gave it a good wash with Menzerna Auto Shampoo. Menzerna Auto Shampoo gave me tons of suds. I began with washing the tires and wheels first. While you may prefer starting from the top and working down, this is just a personal thing with me. I like to get the brake dust and such off the wheel first. The Jeep has a basket-weave sort of wheel and I used our E-Z Detail brush to work around the spokes. The brush was great in getting the tires clean also.
Now, onto the bodywork. I started from the top down. Using our Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt, and our Grit Guard insert in a 5 gal bucket, I had at it. The Grit Guard worked like a charm. When I was finished washing, there was no grit on the mitt..all of it was beneath the Guard.
After giving the Jeep one last rinse, with the nozzle set on "Shower" to make the rinse nice and gentle, I moved her into the garage to dry, polish, etc.
Using our Big Blue Towel III, I dried a four door Jeep Cherokee in about 5 minutes...and with one towel!
The hood was next. The hood's paint was in better shape than the roof, but had swirl marks. The polish helped reduce those swirls almost immediately. I worked the the sides and rear and moved on to the next step.
Now, I finished with Blackfire Wet Diamond All-Finish Paint Protection. This is a sealant. What I'm doing here is enhancing the gloss and the depth of the gloss on the Jeep. I used three coats of this product. I know....but hey, it's my wife's Jeep! Nothing is too good for her. I used a Lake Country CCS 6.5" Red Finishing Pad. I also used a micro fiber buffing cloth the buff out any residue.
The results were nothing short of stupendous. Check out the picture below. See the reflection on the roof? Check out that cloud in the hood.
I dressed the wheels with Wheel Wax to protect them from brake dust and to make my next cleaning of them much easier. The tires were dressed with Blackfire Long-Lasting Tire Gel. This gave them a nice matte finish. Not "liquid shoe polish" shiny. Just a classy finish.
For those of you thinking that your car's finish is just---finished, think again. We have the technology...you have the ability. It can be done!
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