When the dash is finished, get up off your butt and do the seats. If you have cloth seats, clean them as you would the carpet, only gentler. If you have leather use a leather cleaner and conditioner. The leather was once alive and protected by natural oils, and if you don’t replace the oils it will dry and crack. For Lightning owners, we would not recommend using anything on the suede inserts.
Once the interior is finished, it’s time to evaluate your paint so you will know what products to use. First, you must know if you have a clearcoat or single-stage paint. Most trucks these days have a clearcoat finish, but if you’re unsure, take a small amount of a mild polish on a terry cloth towel and rub in an inconspicuous area like the doorjamb. If you pull the paint color onto your towel you’ve got single-stage paint. Our truck has a clearcoat, so that is what we will concentrate on.
Now you need to find out the condition of your finish. Pennington says there are two ways to do this. The first is by sight. You want to look closely at the paint (a magnifying glass helps) for things like scratches, swirl marks, oxidation, and those little gifts from Tweety-bird. The second is by touch. With clean hands, rub the surface of the paint. You will be able to feel any contaminants stuck to the surface, like overspray or fallout. All of the things you will be looking for fall into two categories—above-surface contaminants or below-surface defects. Above-surface contaminants are dust, dirt, road grime, tree sap, tar, oil, fallout, water spots, bird droppings, and overspray. These are usually minor and are easily removed. Below-surface defects are acid rain etching, scratches, swirl marks, oxidation, chips, and stains. These are fairly major and are more difficult to remove. If you find you have some below-surface defects, you might want to leave them to a professional. It will take a rotary buffer to remove the defect, and these machines can burn through your paint if used incorrectly.
We are going to focus on the above-surface contaminants. The wash should have removed the loose stuff, but for the harder, more stubborn contaminants we will start with a clay treatment. To use the clay, Pennington formed it into what looked like a hamburger patty, sprayed the truck with the Quick Detailer, and then rubbed the clay in a circular motion. The clay will grab anything stuck to the paint and hold it, leaving your finish nice and smooth. When the clay becomes dirty, fold it over and knead it back into shape. Take your time and be thorough.
When you are finished with the clay, you need to apply some protection. Pennington advises using a cleaner wax to remove small stains and add protection in one step. When it comes to waxing, he recommends applying all waxes evenly and in small, overlapping circles. Wax the entire truck and wait for it to dry. The best way to tell if the wax is dry is to wipe it with your finger. If the wax doesn’t smear, it’s dry. Once it is dry, wipe it off with either a 100-percent terry cloth towel or Meguiar’s new Ultimate Wipe.
When all the wax is off, it’s time to dress your tires. Pennington showed us Meguiar’s new Endurance tire gel. Since it is in gel form instead of a spray you apply it with the provided applicator sponge, which cuts down on the mess and the frustration of cleaning that stuff off your freshly polished rims.
Now put your stuff away, wash yourself, and hit the road to show off your finely detailed ride.