*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

[MikeHiow]

Rotary first timer.

Well, I had a crack at it on Saturday - being my first time using a machine polisher with cutting compounds, I decided to go easy this time, and just aim for correcting the swirls, as I feel these take the most from the overall finish, leaving the more severe RDS etc for now. With several interruptions throughout the day, I only managed to get just over half the car done (Bonnet, Off-side and boot).

Starting off with the poor mans snow foam

I had completely forgotten to take any before pictures, but needless to say, it was caked in mud, I also forgot to take a picture of it covered in foam, until it had nearly all run off, but at least it had done its job, most of the muck was gone without having to touch the paintwork or use any pressure.

I then proceeded to wash it off, classic two bucket method with a mix of Megs NXT car wash for a bit of lube, 25ml mild citrus shower gel and 10ml of APC to ensure all wax and lighter contaminants are well and truly stripped.

Wheels were cleaned with Megs Hot Wheels wheel cleaner, and agitated with a wheel brush.

Looking pretty shiny when wet

The car wasn't clayed that long ago, but with the recent weather, heavily bonded contaminants can build up quickly, so the car was wiped over with tardis, left for one minute and then rinsed, followed by a clay to get whatever may have been left over, as I expected, not much left to remove

The car was then rinsed again, using just a plain hose to allow the water to sheet off, making drying easier. Car was then pat dried with a waffle weave drying towel.

I first set to my test subject - as you can see, a big difference made quite quickly, this was just one pass with Megs #80 on the Polshing pad

Then it was time to move onto my car - first up was the bonnet, and it was quite a state to begin with, various holograms, swirls and RDS, although not the best of pictures

I first tried with Megs #80 on Megs v2 Polishing pad, and knowing a bit about Ford paint to begin with, as I expected, it didn't have much effect. So onto Megs #83, again on a v2 polishing pad, this gave better results

A huge improvement, a few very minor holograms left, which I put down to my inexperience, but these were sorted quite easily with #80 on Megs v2 Finishing pad.

From this point on, I was getting hungry, and just wanted to get as much done before having to stop, so photos slowed down/stopped.

Before picture of the door:

And an after of the whole side done:

All this was then protected with a quick coat of Natty's Blue paste wax.

More next weekend, hopefully.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Right, done. Pads ordered, and some 203S. Thats it, decision made

 

[Fett]

I first tried with Megs #80 on Megs v2 Polishing pad, and knowing a bit about Ford paint to begin with, as I expected, it didn't have much effect. So onto Megs #83, again on a v2 polishing pad, this gave better results

You should've posted a puddle of black paint and twisted steel

Tell me to **** off, but maybe try working the #80 longer, over a smaller area. I know it's your first go and all but the above pic looks exactly like my brothers first go with black paint and Megs. The swirls go but no clarity improvement, same after #83. It's got a big working window but if you are outside and doing more than a square foot at a time it turns into a ball ache. Well, did for him anyway.

Divide the bonnet into eight sections, peeling off as you go for overlap, gave him a much better idea of working time and it came up like glass.

 

[MikeHiow]

That picture was after the first go with #83, the passes with the #80 on the finishing pad did improve things a lot, but your suggestions are duly noted, and I will put them to use next weekend when I go over it again, as there are still some minor holograms left in the bonnet that were evident today.

To be fair, my camera isn't the best either :/

 

[agw_01]

I think I need a stronger cut as I went over the car today in the light and still have some visible swirling. Nothing like it was and if you compare the roof (just washed so far) to the treated panels you can really see a difference. Also gave the faded trim a coating of back to black which has smartened them up nicely.

Very happy with how it's turned out so far, but at the same time annoyed with myself for not doing it sooner. The results have been outstanding. Really brought the colour to life, such a nice shade of red. Goodbye horrible faded 15 year old paint!

Still got the wheels, arches and sills to clean which I'll hopefully do tomorrow. Then I'll clay and polish the roof and give the car a layer or two of wax. I can't imagine how much depth that's going to give the paint if it's this good already Also got the new plates fitted when look excellent.

Anyway, as I know how much you guys like looking at my Rovers, I'll leave you with a few half-decent pictures of the current progress.

 

[RoboCod]

Looks fit AGW! I am really lucky to have received my car detailed already by the previous owner (he was a professional). Waxing her up now is too easy!

 

[Steedie]

Looking at buying this today

Couple of questions though, first, as long as I'm careful with it, is it pretty much idiot proof in terms of nto damaging paint etc or should I really spend a lot of time reading up on technique first

Secondly, it says about applying wax with it too? Is that just a case of applying wax to the pad and going over it? Seems brilliant if so as surely that's a far easier way than doing it by hand

Will the polishing products I get in that kit be good enough also?

 

[MikeHiow]

Yes, the DAs are pretty much fool proof.

You can apply wax with one, but why would you want to? Applying wax is the easiest bit, and given the right wax and applicator, you should be doing a better job by hand, too.

 

[Steedie]

I thought applying wax was pretty solid, especially for the first time? But ok cool, sounds good to me. I keep meaning to wax my car but I'm so scared about making it look worse than when I started

 

[MikeHiow]

I find a decent Caranuba wax is really easy to apply, and not much more difficult to remove once you've got the hang of spreading it thinly and evenly.

I use Poorboys World Nattys Blue (Better for dark cars, they do another one for lighter cars iirc) and a Meguiars applicator pad, it takes me about 10 minutes or less to apply to the whole car, and less to remove.

One thing worth mentioning though, be sure to invest in a clay bar before putting a DA to your paintwork, the last thing you want to do is be dragging tar or other contamination around your paint.

 

[Steedie]

Cheers for that, will look at getting a clay kit, totally forgot about that

10 minutes for the whole car? There's me thinking a good wax would take a couple of hours for the whole car

 

[hux]

Mike with regard to black cars, i use jeffs prime strong followed with either collinite 915 or blackfire wet diamond, i've tried nearly all combinations out there and this for me works best, jeffs doesn't like plastic but it's not too bad.

 

[MikeHiow]

With the wax, all you need to be doing is applying it (as thin and even as possible).

 

[Steedie]

With the wax, all you need to be doing is applying it (as thin and even as possible).

I thought you then had to buff it off though, which is the tricky part?

 

[wassap]

I got my silverline rotary out yesterday, and coupled with Menz IP its really bought out the best in my white 15 year old mazda, I really should have taken some before and afters, but im shocked at how much deeper it looks now (Menz IP/SRP/915).

I will say you really need something like a rotary to get the best out of Menz, nice thing is, a little goes a long way, and you just add a mist of water and you can keep working it into the panel.

 

[MikeHiow]

I thought you then had to buff it off though, which is the tricky part?

If you spread it thinly and evenly, buffing off should be a doddle. It is the application that you'd do with the DA. I guess you could buff it off with a buffing bonnet, but that isn't something I'd want to do.

 

[NeverWinter]

Is Bilberry completely safe on all alloys?

 

[Participant]

Waxing alloys

Who bothers? Does it need to be specific wheel wax, or will normal car wax do a similar job? I'm thinking about protecting the wheel from brake dust and tar to make them easier to clean in future.

The wax I'm currently using is Turtlewax Platinum Series. It doesn't say anything about using it on alloy wheels on the packaging.

TIA

 

[Dup]

Who bothers? Does it need to be specific wheel wax, or will normal car wax do a similar job? I'm thinking about protecting the wheel from brake dust and tar to make them easier to clean in future.

The wax I'm currently using is Turtlewax Platinum Series. It doesn't say anything about using it on alloy wheels on the packaging.

TIA

I used Colinite 476 (I think) on my CTR wheels which helped but I dunno howwax reacts with heat as the wheels can get rather warm/hot which may need a specific wax. I certainly wouldn't expect it to be as durable as it would be on the bodywork.

 

[chipperhead]

Who bothers? Does it need to be specific wheel wax, or will normal car wax do a similar job? I'm thinking about protecting the wheel from brake dust and tar to make them easier to clean in future.

The wax I'm currently using is Turtlewax Platinum Series. It doesn't say anything about using it on alloy wheels on the packaging.

TIA

I use Collinite 845, not sure how effective it is tbh but don't have much of a problem when it comes to cleaning them next wash.
I was thinking about buying a specific alloy wheel protectant but I think you've got to be careful with this detailing lark when to call it a day with products.