I read the detailing guide about a month ago and began researching products I could use at my apartment's shared closed garage; I couldn't wash the exterior but I could do anything else.

I had lights installed on top of where I park my car, think showroom (I'll post a phone camera pic if I can find it). Ordered from autogeek --again, found it from your list of sellers, just got the stuff today.

I used Meguiar's Aloe Cleaner and Conditioner on the seats, center console, e-brake, shift knob, steering wheel, and the inside of the doors.

Used Meguiar's quick interior detailer on the plastic parts, then topped it off with 303 aero protectant.

Also, my MuZ mats arrived today... so basically, the interior is cleaner than it was when I picked it up with 5 kms on the clock, and I just wanted to thank you guys for that.

You also saved me from accidentally pouring leatherique over my seats and possibly ruining them.

thank you all =D


(The quality of the image doesn't do justice to how it looks in real life, I'm hoping to get a decent camera down there as soon as I can, but until then...)

 

Looks like a setup you can live with. Can you add a couple of lights to light up the sides?

Because of local water use restrictions and the fact that my Pantera lives in the basement, I find myself doing the cleanup on all the other cars in a 20' X 20' carport after 10:00 PM. The original lights are centered over the cars. I could not see anything but the roof so I put four flourescent lights on the ceiling - about a foot away from the edges of the ceiling. Now I can almost see!

 

If I were you I would consider investing in a rinseless wash. This way you can wash your car yourself in your building's garage. See the chapter in the guide about rinseless washing.

 

good post, and i would like to see more pics please!!

(and badge awarded from your pm- welcome to the club!!)

 

I put the top down when I'm cleaning up. As I said in my OP, the low quality phone cam doesn't do the setup any justice. The car is actually very well lit with the lights on--I had absolutely no problem seeing anything today while I was working.

The whole interior took me about 90 minutes btw.

(thanks!)

 

I would totally go for a rinseless wash if I was in that situation. Optimum No Rinse is a good one. All you need is 2 buckets and a couple of gallons of water from your sink, and that's it

 

FYI, anyone looking for a rinseless wash soap, I'm selling some QEW in the for sale forum.

 

What type of lights did you install and where did you purchase. I would like some for my Garage.

 

The setup is fairly simple, I doubt you would need to imitate the exact brand to get the same look/performance.

3 sockets per rail, 2x rails.
60W / socket.

I bought it all from IKEA, the rails were something like $20/ea, bulbs $1/ea.

Good luck -- post some pics if you actually go through with it.

 

Lighting in my 20' X 20' carport.

I started out with a couple of four foot flourescent shop lights front and rear. They had indoor ballasts so they were not at full brightness below 40