When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Black is the best looking color(?), no question, but for a truck I could never do it.
It belongs on your sports car that can stay garaged, waxed, off the dirt road and out of the rain.
Gotta keep those swirl marks and scratches down to a minimum. Plus, that was recommended by the pro's so I thought I would give it a try. This is my 3rd Black truck. Glutton for punishment I guess.
Very nice!
It's not about punishment. Black just looks amazing. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Ward you did a great job! That Ford shadow black is a killer black indeed. The end result is well worth the time when you do clean it. It's difficult to get a good picture of how great they look when properly cleaned. I'm a little OCD and have slowed down 'cause some folks would tell me how clean my truck is and I'm thinking "It ain't clean." Then I realized that it's never going to be perfect so I sit back and just enjoy it.
Tell you what if i lived in an area where it didn't rain or snow so much i'd definitely go black.
But I've got magnetic which is also hard to keep shining.
After a couple hrs. of a wash 'n wax, i have to dodge the rain storms or park it in the barn or its all over again and again.
I use a California Car Duster which safely removes light dust coatings keeping it shiny between washes on a rare string of sunny days.
So, today I did a pressure wash rinse to get off all the loose dirt and bugs. Next I used a foam cannon and turned the black truck white, loving the foam cannon. Next did a mitt wash using 5 different wash mitts. Rinsed the soap off with regular water from a water hose. Then followed up with a rinse with DI water from a homemade filtration system that I saw on YouTube. And lastly, took a electric leaf blower that I got for $40.00 bucks and dried everything off. I then rolled her into the garage and put on 3 coats of Black Light Radiant Finish Glaze and then 1 coat of Black paste wax. The whole process took 4 hours, but I think it was worth it. the finish looks amazing, even in the sun ( which is a black truck's worst enemy). The products ARE a little pricey, but I wanted to get this right the first time before acid rain, bug guts, bird poop, etc. got to the clear coat. I did apply the glaze with a polisher rubbed off by hand. I applied the wax by hand and removed by hand. Here are a few pic's of the final finish product.
Grit guard plus two bucket system (rinse mitt in bucket 1, get new soap from bucket 2)
And dress those tires!
^^^^^^ This.
Some months of the year, we have a decent amount of pollen and other dust that shows up noticeably on black or dark paint. In between washes, I've found a California Duster to be a very handy tool if the car/truck has just fine dust/pollen and no gritty dirt. Some detail guys don't like them, but I've yet to see any marks left by using mine, even on a black car.
Yeah I don't do the 5 mit thing - but I'm careful - and I use a grit guard in my bucket. best 5 dollars I ever spent.
what you didn't do and should do is a clay bar run. every new cars needs it atleast once. after that I'm still a fan of a light swirl remover run and any of the polymer based machine finish compounds. I like Optimum Products but to be fair I also like Meguiars Tech Wax 2.
Zaino and the other uber expensive stuff I don't think is worth it. - and if you are going to keep a proper actual show car then it needs 3 or more coats of proper clear coat.
anywho - back to the bits. I do this on my black daily driver about every 3 years. in between I wash it, and use optimum products spray wax as a rub down after it's dried.. I also use a filter setup because I don't deal with water spots after. In fact I rigged it to a seperate hose - with a y adapter so I have both going when I wash. I can wash a ford exploder is under 30 minutes top to botton and do the wax wipe down in under 20. Oh and get you a squeegee for your windows if you haven't gotten one.
05-22-2018, 06:47 PM
