Best Polish for a 1980 R107 sl ?

[richlynch]

I have just bought a 350sl and want to give it a good polish up and to keep the condensation at bay through the winter months. Can any one recommend any really good brands / products with waterproofing capabilities. Will it do the chrome work as well? I'm a first time buyer of classic car so a bit unsure. Any other tips generally?? Thanks

 

[AMGeed]

You don't mention the colour of the car, but AutoGlym Super Resin Polish gives a good finish to most colours. I also seal the paintwork after polishing with a decent wax.
For chromework, I still use Autosol which is sold in tubes in Halfords.

If you buy the polish and wax at the same time I believe Halfords are still doing a 3 for 2 offer on cleaning products where the cheapest item is free.

 

[David404]

Getting a good finish is all about the prep. The AG products are good, not too expensive and generally well regarded. BUT I would always recommend claying the first this really will make a difference and its not hard work. Probably only need to clay once or twice a year.

What I did on my W211

Wash
Clay
AG Super Resin Polish
AG Extra Gloss Protection
2x coats of Collinite 915

Still beading well 4 months later and when washing sponge just glided over the paint.

 

[markwibbs]

By 'waterproofing capabilities' I suspect you are referring to beading, and 'polish' I suspect you mean a waxing, rather than abrasive polishing most likely using a machine ?

So you really want a clay bar kit, a non-abrasive pre-wax cleanser to apply by hand (ensure the wax sticks, adds oils to paint, cleans the surface ) and a wax.

I'd therefore recommend Race Glaze Signature PreWax Cleanser, 250ml £15, and 55 wax. The shine will blow your pants off. Its all dead easy to use, no abrasives nor fillers, will last 6 months on cars kept outside. And its exactly what I will be doing on Saturday, if the weather is good, after collecting our new (to us) CLK tomorrow.

I honestly cant recommend AutoGlym products, they are old hat and things have moved on. The SRP is chalky, dusty and leaves white marks all over any black trim, and lasts 2-3 weeks. Thats why you need wax.

Vertar clay is well regarded and low cost/good value, you can get the Race Glaze stuff off there too: Car Care, Car Covers

 

[optimusprime]

After cleaning cars for 50 years or more .I find only 2 polishes to create a water proof shell for out door protection. No polish will last for ever so its a thing you need to do every few weeks . The name of the one is Simonize Original Wax ,hard to put on as its like furniture polish .And even harder to polishing it up to a nice gloss finish The other one i find is Turttle Wax . My friend has a Morgan sports car .He said what do you clean your car with .I told him Turtle Wax in the grey bottle .Not long after he said he had used lots of wax polish ,but was happy with the Turttle Wax. But for a car thats inside the garage , then you only need to look at ,and use Autoglym and the hard shell one to cover it after .But i never used hard coat on my car .This was because any spare time i had i would pop in the garage and do one wing ,or i might do the boot .I never even give it a 1 star for out door protection .After 5 days the rain water is no longer beading up anymore. Thats just my thought .

 

[alabbasi]

I think that you might be expecting too much for a Polish. What you really need is a garage. If you're looking for a wax, Autoglym, Meguires, Sonax polishes and wax all do a fine job.
I"ve become partial to the synthetic glaze as they are easier to work with and don't mark black rubber.