Dirty, Filthy, Grimy, Brake Dusted Wheels: Clean Again!

Do you hate dirty wheels as much as we do? Wheels that are grimy from brake dust and road dirt can make even a clean vehicle look like a clunker. We decided to write up a short tutorial of our wheel and tire wash process to really deep clean the filthiest wheel so it turns out spotless. Below is a picture of the wheel of an Audi A4 that received a full exterior/interior detail from us.

Pretty nasty!


Here are the steps to our process:

1. Wet wheel/tire with water (We use triple deionized filtered water for a spot-free rinse).

2. Spray tire with tire cleaner (We prefer Westley's Bleach White).

3. Scrub tire ONLY with tire brush to loosen dirt and previous tire shine if applied.

4. Spray Wheel with wheel cleaner. In most cases we use Meguiar's Wheel Brightener diluted 4 parts water to 1 part product.

**NOTE** Meguiar's Wheel Brightener is safe on most factory and clear-coated wheels ONLY. Attempting to use this product on a bare aluminum/aluminum alloy wheel can result in marring to the point of permanent damage or where the wheels will have to be multistage polished back to their original state.

5. Use a boar's hair pastry brush to clean face of wheels (spokes/anything facing you, including the lip of the wheel).

6. We use SM Arnold's professional wheel brushes, both the large and small depending on the type of wheel to get in the wheel drum or split spoke wheels and also for caliper cleaning.

7. Rinse wheel and tire with water and dry wheel with a clean microfiber towel/compressed air.


Using these steps, the wheel in the picture prior turned out to be beautiful after all, minus a little curb rash!

- The Detail Boss

 “Select-Team Members of The Air Force One Detailing Team”

    “Official Detailers of the Museum of Flight”

2012 Mastercraft X25 Detail: Sometimes Brand New isn't in 'Brand New' Condition

     This brand new 2012 Mastercraft X25 was shipped to the owner in less-than-satisfactory and what one would consider a shameful appearance for a brand new boat from the factory. Mastercraft is a very popular brand choice for those who love wakeboarding with the ammenities and customization Mastercraft offers their clients; these include custom stereo systems, color scheme, gel coat colors, decals, towers, you name it, they build it. This one particularly had an option we thought was pretty unique; A custom "power tower" was installed. Where most Mastercraft boats come standard with a manual tower, our client upgraded to a fully powered tower that folds up and down with the flip of a switch.

     So back to the "details".  Our client wasn't satisfied with the condition that he received the boat, so we told him we could make it the way it should be from the factory. On the exterior, we performed our Stage 1 Deluxe Exterior Detail for boats, this includes washing, claybar, single stage polish, and a durable sealant applied to all gelcoated surfaces on the exterior of the boat.

     Next, we moved onto the gelcoated surfaces of the interior. 2-3 hours of prep work was performed to mask off all carpeted areas as well as storage bins underneath the seats to keep compound dust and gelcoat dust out of places it shouldn't be. We take every precaution here at Detail Boss to ensure no damage is caused to both the areas that we work on and don't touch.

After 2 rolls of tape and a mile of plastic, we began to inspect the interior for scratches in the gelcoat and began sanding some of the deep scratches by hand. Other deeper scratches needed to be sanded by machine. The scratches, scuffs, and imperfections in the gelcoat were on both visible and non visible surfaces. Yes, underneath the seats were sanded and polished as well. Below you will see before and after shots of some of the scratches we sanded and polished to a perfect finish:

 

      When it comes to restoring paint or gelcoat, brand new or old, our work speaks for itself. Below we've posted a video we put together of this 20 hour detail project to give you another perspective. Thanks for watching, and don't forget to schedule your restoration detail today.

- The Detail Boss

 “Select-Team Members of The Air Force One Detailing Team”

    “Official Detailers of the Museum of Flight”

Classic Ford Mustang Lovers' Dream

We're now located in North Scottsdale, Arizona, and have had the pleasure of detailing a fleet of 5 classic 60s Mustangs. Each vehicle was restored, from interiors including upholstery, carpet, and moldings, to engine rebuilds and paint jobs. The owner contacted us to clean each one thoroughly and prep them for shipment to Australia where they were sold to. Each Ford received our Full Express Detail Package as well as an engine detail.

Four of the stangs had aluminum wheels which can't be washed using acid-based wheel cleaners due to the fact that acid oxidizes bare aluminum; so we had to use either a non acid-based wheel cleaner or soap/water to safely and effectively clean the wheels.

This is just one of the many projects we've done, we'll be updating the site regularly throughout the rest of this week to keep the news coming with what we're doing to satisfy the detailing needs of the Scottsdale and Phoenix area!

- The Detail Boss

 “Select-Team Members of The Air Force One Detailing Team”

    “Official Detailers of the Museum of Flight”