*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

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The usual rule of thumb is: if it catches your fingernail when you rub over it, it's too deep to polish out...

It also depends how thick the clear coat is. You don't want to rub it back so far that the paint gets exposed.

Do you know anyone who's got a polisher and could give it a go?

If it is too deep and you don't want to respray the whole thing you could do a decent repair job with some time and effort.

Paints4u do a kit for £15 which includes a little bottle of paint (OEM colour match) a little bottle of lacquer, a bottle of G3 rubbing compound, a small cloth to use with the G3, 2500 grit wet-and-dry sand paper, a rubber block to use with the sand paper and 5 mini-application spears (think tiny ear buds).

You apply the paint with the application spear, leave it to cure, rub it back with the wet-and-dry, apply the lacquer and let that cure, rub it back again until it's all flush, then finally use the G3 to polish out the sand-paper rash.

It's a brilliant kit for £15 but I did find that I needed the rotary to finish it off.
 
Panzerbjorn said:
The usual rule of thumb is: if it catches your fingernail when you rub over it, it's too deep to polish out...
Click to expand...
****

Thanks for the info.
It's hard to tell if it's down to metal or not because the car's silver. I suspect it is. It'll cost a ****ing fortune to respray the door and rear quarter panel :(
 
A few cars I've got my hands on recently:

My Edition 30 Golf wearing Auto Finesse Spirit:


P1060397 by RussZS, on Flickr

Audi A3 wearing Auto Finesse Tough Coat:


P1060381 by RussZS, on Flickr

Mondeo Zetec-S wearing AF Spirit:


P1060356 by RussZS, on Flickr


P1060340 by RussZS, on Flickr

Rubber Seal test with Auto Finesse Revive:

P1060290 by RussZS, on Flickr

50/50 on BMW Le-Mans Blue with Megs MF System:


P1060222 by RussZS, on Flickr

Lupo GTI finished in Auto Finesse Passion:


P1060191 by RussZS, on Flickr

50/50 on Lupo GTI with Megs MF system:


P1060137 by RussZS, on Flickr

911 Carrera finished in Chemical Guys 50/50:


P1050919 by RussZS, on Flickr

50/50 on 911 with Scholl A15+


P1050895 by RussZS, on Flickr

Menzerna Powerlock on a Nissan 370Z:


P1050792 by RussZS, on Flickr

Menzerna Powerlock on Golf R32:


P1050731 by RussZS, on Flickr

Chemical Guys 50/50 on Golf Edition 30:


P1050409 by RussZS, on Flickr
 
It's a huge thread and the answer is probably here but easier to ask a fresh question ;)

Use Bilberry on wheels and generally happy with it but there are some tiny stubborn specs in the corners that I cant shift

Is Bilberry still one of the better cleaners ? also is there some sort of one off stronger thing I could use to shift the stubborn bits ?
 
Rotty said:
It's a huge thread and the answer is probably here but easier to ask a fresh question ;)

Use Bilberry on wheels and generally happy with it but there are some tiny stubborn specs in the corners that I cant shift

Is Bilberry still one of the better cleaners ? also is there some sort of one off stronger thing I could use to shift the stubborn bits ?
Click to expand...

You need to use a product like Iron-X or Wolf's Decon Gel, which will "melt" the brake dust or fallout you are seeing built up on your wheels, for example:


P1060444 by RussZS, on Flickr
 
RussZS said:
You need to use a product like Iron-X or Wolf's Decon Gel, which will "melt" the brake dust or fallout you are seeing built up on your wheels, for example:
Click to expand...

cheers

do you use these for regular cleaning too to should I stick with bilberry for that ?
 
Nope, you would only use these products as and when you require them - usually a couple of times per year, similar to claying and tar removal (you would do all three steps at the same time, generally)

Have a scroll through this thread of a 911 I did. It's amazing the amount of "fallout" which can be removed from paint. See the reaction on the Silver car:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=228838

I would recommend you seal your wheels with an appropriate product, allowing you to generally get them 90% clean with a quick blast with a pressure washer, then follow this up with a quick shampoo wash. With a wheel sealant in place, you would not need to use chemicals such as Bilberry on your wheels very often, as brake dust will not be able to bond to them as it currently does.

A good wheel sealant is something like GTechniq C5 (have a look on YouTube!) or for something a bit cheaper, Auto Finesse Mint Rims.
 
Russ where are you based?

IS there anyone around the manchester/west yorkshire area with a machine polisher? My new car is more swirly than I'd like and I want to get it looking pucka!

Cheers

Tom.
 
Hey,

Sorry to disappoint but it's not an m3 I'm afraid! Just a 335D M Sport Coupe. It is Le Mans blue, so yes the same colour :)

Obviously not even remotely clean here but the only proper pics i have of the car thus far:

TWP_0055.jpg


TWP_0058.jpg


TWP_0064.jpg
 
I cleaned my car for the first time the other day, had it about 3 months and I loved doing it, found it a very rewarding experience, Spent some £££ on cleaning products, shampoo, wax wheel cleaner and interior stuff.

Now onto my predicament. my windscreen has loads of little scratches on it, Started to notice it when the sun is low and its ****ing annoying! Ive cleaned the windows thoroughly but the just stay there! is there anything I can do, short of replacing my windscreen to get rid of these?!
 
Ahh, my mistake, but equally beautiful and arguably a better all-round car!

My friend has an SE 335D saloon, yours looks so much better than his.

I've sent you some examples of darker cars I've recently detailed, for you to have a look through.

What do you use protection wise? Is it a daily driver through Winter?
 
DiCe! said:
I cleaned my car for the first time the other day, had it about 3 months and I loved doing it, found it a very rewarding experience, Spent some £££ on cleaning products, shampoo, wax wheel cleaner and interior stuff.

Now onto my predicament. my windscreen has loads of little scratches on it, Started to notice it when the sun is low and its ****ing annoying! Ive cleaned the windows thoroughly but the just stay there! is there anything I can do, short of replacing my windscreen to get rid of these?!
Click to expand...

You can polish glass, but its very hard going. Do you have any pics of how bad the scratches are please?
 
RussZS said:
You can polish glass, but its very hard going. Do you have any pics of how bad the scratches are please?
Click to expand...

At work at the moment so no sorry :( Cant seem to find anything that represents it properly on google.

Also my insurance doesnt cover the windscreen......so can one of you guys put me out of my misery...how bad would it be to replace an 03 Corsa windscreen?
 
RussZS said:
Ahh, my mistake, but equally beautiful and arguably a better all-round car!

My friend has an SE 335D saloon, yours looks so much better than his.

I've sent you some examples of darker cars I've recently detailed, for you to have a look through.

What do you use protection wise? Is it a daily driver through Winter?
Click to expand...

Where have you sent it to mate? I've not received anything

At the moment i dont clean it myself! I get a local car wash to do it who snowfoam and use a spray wax, which is from when I had a silver car!

On my old metallic red car i used to use SRP and some kind of megs wax, and i have a load of wonder wheels too.

Tom.
 
ah ok that's just an MSN address buddy, although i have added you.

[edited out] is the correct address for me :)
 
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