Over the summer we received a call to detail something a little special. Honda had partnered with the One Republic Concert Series and was bringing their Honda Type R Serial #00000 on tour with them. Honda requested we come out to clean and protect the Type-R for a concert that night. We didn’t want to pass this one up!
This particular Type R, was a pre-production car but was extremely close to what the production model was going to look like. The car underwent a pretty cool transformation before it left for the tour. It was Honda jet black with matte black painted accents and graphics to promote the concert.
We knew going into this detail that we were not going to have access to water or power, so we planned on conducting a rinse-less wash process followed by adding protection. The goal of this detail was to remove any dust and grime from the transport across country in the safest manner, followed by adding gloss and slickness to the paintwork.
Our Process:
- Paint and wheels cleaned using rinse-less wash method (for step by step instructions on mobile rinse-less wash techniques check out our article on Car Wash Maintenance)
- Sealant applied to paint, wheel and gloss black trim
- Tires cleaned and dressed
- Exterior and interior glass cleaned
- Light interior vacuum
- Interior plastics cleaned
We started this detail by filling a 5 gallon bucket with water and adding 3 caps of Optimum No Rinse (ONR). We then placed about eight DI all-purpose towels in the bucket. We let the towels soak in the bucket on the drive over to the venue. These lubricated towel would act as our wash media during the wash phase.
Our first step was to spray a diluted bottle of ONR directly onto the paint. We then followed up by wiping the paintwork with multiple ONR pre soaked microfiber towels, flipping to a clean side often. This process allowed us to the remove the dirt safely without any access to water. Once every side of a towel had been soiled we grabbed a fresh one from the bucket. This method coincides with the thought process of never reintroducing dirt removed from the vehicle back onto a different part of the car.
The wheels received a similar rinse-less wash process but with wheel specific towels and foam swabs to clean the intricate parts of the calipers.
Once the paint was clean and dried with CarPro BOA drying towels, it received two generous layers of Modesta M2 Blast. A quick detailer designed to add gloss and maximum slickness.
The tires were cleaned using Stoners Tarminator to remove any browning and prepare the rubber for the dressing. We chose Gyeon Q2 Tire for a rich dark satin look.
The interior plastics were cleaned with Nextzett Cockpit Premium and interior specific towels.
This detail may have been for a show car but it’s a great example of what can be done with limited access to traditional wash tools.
