Anyone would be thrilled to receive a trophy at a car show. Imagine yourself smiling with pride as you receive that trophy for your baby.
All the hard work is worth it. If you haven’t won any before, you might be wondering why it’s so elusive. What are the secrets to winning that prestigious trophy? Well today, we’ll reveal them.
The Biggest Secret In Winning At The Car Show
Winning a trophy at the car show will depend on the judges. They are experienced and will scrutinize every detail. Some may be impressed with the flashiness of your car but others could be looking for something more. If you’d take a closer look at the trophy-winning cars, you’d notice that they are not just clean, they are immaculately clean. And that my friend is one of the best, not-so-secrets of winning a car show.
Hours Of Cleaning
If you’re car just came out of the painter’s you might be thinking that it would only take a while more to prepare because of the beautiful paint. Well, that’s where you’re wrong. That newly painted car will still require a lot of buffing and polishing.
After spending hundreds of hours doing that, you still have the job of keeping it that way until the day of the car show arrives. Sure you can use a dust cover over it but once you’d remove that, you’d have to clean it again before you replace the cover. That gleam and shine are one of the first things that judges see and you’d get a better chance if you could get that first impression and make it last.
Washing And Waxing
There is really no special product recommended to wash and wax your vehicle. It’s really up to your preference. The important thing is to make sure it is thoroughly washed. That’s just not before the show but through the years. Regularly washing and waxing helps make sure the dirt doesn’t accumulate.
Additionally, you should also look out for wax build-up. It could happen and that could make the car look unsightly. When that happens, you should make sure you use a wash that could strip off the wax entirely, then just wax it again.
Don’t Forget The Wheels
Thoroughly cleaning means going through every nook and cranny. One of the areas people could forget is the backside of the wheels. Some people do an impressive job of cleaning the wheels on the outside. However, the inner sides shouldn’t be forgotten and be as speck-free as the outside. One way to prevent the wheels from getting too dirty is to avoid driving the vehicle to the show.
Rubbing Then Re-rubbing Again
One of the best ways to make things shiny is to rub them over and over again. Buffing the car isn’t only for the exterior. It should also be done for the interior as well. However, you can only buff so much. You’d have to make sure that the paint is good enough for the buffing or else all your hard work will be useless. Extra clear coats should be applied to ensure this.
Focus On Hard To Get Areas
Judges are experienced and they can tell whether you’ve done well. As they approach the vehicle, they can easily see if you’ve carefully detailed the vehicle. Then, they shift their focus to the hard-to-get areas. Some of these areas would include the door hinges and the door jambs. Carefully inspect your vehicle and use a flashlight because judges will use them too.
Pristine Interior
To make your interior look pristine, you’d have to select a powerful vacuum to help you with the cleaning. Get the industrial types because they really have a lot of power to suck the dirt, dust, and other debris that could be wedged between the seams. Your leather interior should also be properly conditioned.
For your carpet, use a damp chamois to clean it up. Just make sure you don’t use that chamois for anything else. Some cleaners can worsen the appearance of your carpet so make sure that you have one chamois specifically for your carpet only.
Clean The Glass Last
The last thing you should clean is the glass and you should do it twice. Make sure that you don’t forget to roll down your window first so that you could clean the top first. Then once everything is cleaned, have someone look carefully if there are any missed spots.