How To: Create the Perfect Paintwork Show Car Shine (UK Style)

[sparkyspost]

Pammy,

Where did you end up getting them from? Halfords / t'internet

Were they the maguiars ones?

Am in need of some car care stuff, so bought a sponge, chamois, polishing cloth, and some latex gloves, but they all feel a bit 'mickey mouse' after reading Goldfish's exploits!

Time to get the wallet out and buy some decent cleaning products...

Goldfish, thanks for the info on how to do the perfect shine etc, I shall be trying this myself and passing it on to my dad, and friends if it works out. Though I may end up bulk ordering the PCs from the states now.

Cheers

Sparky.

 

[pammy]

Pammy,

Where did you end up getting them from? Halfords / t'internet

Were they the maguiars ones?

.

got them from ebay - this guy

hoping to use them this weekend - weather permitting

 

[sparkyspost]

Thanks Pammy!

Now where did I put my wallet.



Cheers

Sparky

 

[Goldfish11]

Ambient Temperature is rising

Take a look at the weather forecast It looks like this weekend will be over 10Celcius so I guess it it time to get ready for serious after winter cleaning and polishing

You may have seen I got busy this weekend after picking up Wifeys new Honda FRV. Gave it a complete protection inside and out rather than paying the garage £300 for a "SuperGuard".

Used 303 Fabric Guard and 303 Aerospace protectant on interior. Klasse (Carlack) on the exterior. Autoglym Alloy wheel seal on the Alloys and Meguiars Extreme tyre gel on the tyres. Looks far better than the boys at the dealership could do.

Anyway I think is time for everyone to get set up for the car care season.

Autopia is doing a good bit on Spring Cleaning Car Care

http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+MBWu4u+index.html+

Dont forget if you are interested in Power Polishing this season to check out that thread, you can import the Power Polishers from Autopia using the above link.

You can also download the new updated "Guide to Car Care"

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/lib/autopia/goldfish.exe

Don't forget I am trying to get a free polishing pad by Christmas so if you use the Autopia links I get "brownie points"


Dont forget Mike at www.thepolishingcompany.com and the deals he has put together for us.

All we need now is nice GTG to take all these nice clean cars to

 

[Goldfish11]

P21S Carnauba Wax for £19

Just spotted that www.cleanandshiney.co.uk is doing P21S Carnauba Wax for £19. (P&P is about £3) This is nearly matching the price you can import from the USA so is a bit of a bargain. (and far cheaper than Zymol )

UPDATE: Just spotted that www.seriousperformance.co.uk/ is doing P21S for £17.99 and the P21S cleaner for £9.99 (not sure about postage)

This wax produces a great "wet look" finish and the top coat of the perfect paintwork shine. I did my black E Class with it this weekend and Wifeys "vivid blue" car. What is nice is you use a little sponge to apply and then you wipe off before it has dried so you can do a car really quickly. You could also put this on your SuperGuard/Diamondbrite finish as it is very mild.

Ofcourse you do need a good paint finish before putting the stuff on but the shine is great .

 

[Goldfish11]

Lambs Wool Wash Mitt £7.99

Just popped into Halfords for some screen wash. They have some really nice lambs wool wash mitts for £7.99

If you need one it may be worth checking them out, they are 100% lambs wool with a good cuff, and seem equivelant quality to many I have bought over the internet.

If anyone has already used one, are they OK?

 

[pammy]

I saw them the other day when I was in and agree - they look really good!!

 

[Heebeejeebee]

if your looking for a good wax, id recommend Harly wax from Knightsbrooke Autodesign. Its awesome. It leaves a deep wet look shine, the beading is very good and its far cheaper than P21s. check out knightsbrooke.co.uk. they also sell Einsezett stuff which ive heard is really good. might try that next!

 

[zakh]

Advice Needed!!!

Hi guys,

I wonder if you can give me any advice on how best to go about detailing my car.

Firstly its blue/black metallic...

This is the process that im thinking of going through, what are your thoughts on this...and how much of each product should i use?

- Wash with Zymol Auto Bathe
- Dry
- Zymol HD Cleanse the car
- Rinse and Dry
- Clay the car using Sonus ultra fine detailing clay
- Rinse and Dry
- Take care of any stone chips using fine artists brush
- Allow to dry for 24/48 hours
- Klasse All In One x1 Coat (use minimal amounts)
- Klasse Sealant x2 Coats (use minimal amounts)
- Zymol Carbon Wax as final step (use minimal amounts)

I'd appreciate any input, modifications to this process if needed!
Many thanks...


Zak

 

[Will]

Doesn't sound a bad approach, although it depends on what state the paintwork is in at present. The most difficult thing to avoid (and rectify!) on a dark coloured car like yours are swirl marks. I'd say that unless the paint is already pretty much swirl free I would be tempted to machine polish it with a proper polishing mop - something like G10 and a pink foam head should give great results and would be worth the extra effort prior to waxing IMO :bannana:

Good luck and I'll be looking forward to the pictures

Will

 

[Flash]

The most difficult thing to avoid (and rectify!) on a dark coloured car like yours are swirl marks.

With Zymol, when applying the wax it never leaves any swirl marks as you buff the wax of in a series of staright lines and are not supposed to do it in circular motion (which would leaves swirl marks). The Zymol HD Cleanse process removes minor/mild scratches and swirl marks.

Zymol is "swirl" free.

 

[Will]

With Zymol, when applying the wax it never leaves any swirl marks as you buff the wax of in a series of staright lines and are not supposed to do it in circular motion (which would leaves swirl marks). The Zymol HD Cleanse process removes minor/mild scratches and swirl marks.

Zymol is "swirl" free.

When I say 'swirl marks' I am talking about the small scratch marks that 99% of cars will have, normally caused by washing etc.

Some waxes can mask these temporarily by 'filling' the top coat of paint to level it, but will quickly return. The only permanent solution is to cut the paint back carefully to remove the swirl marks as much as possible.

Certainly on a car of the age in question it'd be worthwhile prior to waxing for best results (unless the paint is already in immaculate condition)

HTH

Will

Edit - I see you mention the HD cleanse, I am thinking of Zymol wax!

 

[Flash]

Edit - I see you mention the HD cleanse, I am thinking of Zymol wax!

The Zymol process is hard work but in my opinion is not as "long" process as the Meguiars three stage process and the results are just as good. HD Cleanes leave sthe paint work feeling silk smooth as well.

You are correct though as just washing the car normally always leaves some sort of blemishes/marks onto the paintwork and its looks worse on dark coloured cars and shows on them the most.

 

[glojo]

There are some extremely knowledgeable folks on this forum that have posted their ideas and no doubt yours is up there.

My main observation on your procedure is the stage where you leave things to dry for 48 hours and then apply:

Klasse All In One x1 Coat (use minimal amounts)

Leaving something to dry for 48 hours risks allowing particles to fall onto your bodywork. If you leave the vehicle to dry in a garage you risk particles of grit falling from the roof etc. If it is left outside then take your pick from what land on the bodywork.

Before applying anything with a cloth would it be advisable to make sure the car bodywork has been freshly washed?

Perhaps: Wash the car, dry it then apply Klasse All In One x1 Coat (use minimal amounts)???

There is absolutely NO problem with leaving something to dry for 48hrs. It is the thought of rubbing a cloth over a car that might have very fine particles of grit on it.


These are just my thoughts and hopefully you will see that my remarks are more a question than a suggestion.

John

 

[zakh]

Hi Will,

I was going to buy a Porter & Cable polisher, but in the end decided against it for now...

I have been detailing for about 12 years...but been out of the loop for a while, im looking forward to to see the results myself!

Will definitely post pictures soon...just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, lol...

Also im thinking of taking care of the few stone chips first...to give them maximum time to dry...

Nice one,


Zak

 

[zakh]

Hi John,

I looked at my post and was about to edit it...In hindsight im going to take care of the stone chips well before i even detail the car...this way drying time wont be an issue...

Also i know that HD cleanse is similar to claying a car (please correct me if im wrong) but doing both wont do any harm...

it will probably take two days as i understand you have to let the Klasse sealent cure for several hours, is this true?

Thanks!

Zak

 

[Goldfish11]

Hi guys,

I wonder if you can give me any advice on how best to go about detailing my car.

Firstly its blue/black metallic...

This is the process that im thinking of going through, what are your thoughts on this...and how much of each product should i use?

- Wash with Zymol Auto Bathe
- Dry
- Zymol HD Cleanse the car
- Rinse and Dry
- Clay the car using Sonus ultra fine detailing clay
- Rinse and Dry
- Take care of any stone chips using fine artists brush
- Allow to dry for 24/48 hours
- Klasse All In One x1 Coat (use minimal amounts)
- Klasse Sealant x2 Coats (use minimal amounts)
- Zymol Carbon Wax as final step (use minimal amounts)

I'd appreciate any input, modifications to this process if needed!
Many thanks...


Zak

Zak,

I have not been on the forum for a while. My lovely car is at the Car Doctors an idiot Lorry rammed the back of me on the outside lane of the M1 last week pushed me into a BMW. Lorry had smashed bumper, my car smashed front and rear and BMW very squashed back end. The good news is E Class did job and I am unhurt and I was able to carry on driving it. Bad news car somewhat damaged. Good news all my stone chips fixed as I get a new bonnet grill and front bumper (I am using a MB approved paint shop so I hope they do a good job!)

With regard to your approach it looks good. I would leave that 24 hours between coats. Use Klasse all in one and then immediately do coat of Klasse SG and remove a few hours later THEN leave 24 hours and do another coat SG, if you can do a third coat 24 hours later. You could layer it up say once a week, i.e. each week when you have washed the car put an other coat of Klasse SG on. When I did mine I kept the car garaged and did not use it for a few days but this is not always practical. Three coats of SG does make a noticable difference. Then when you are ready put on your nice Wax (leave 24 hours for SG to Cure before hand).

On thing to think about is weather, do not do this is ambient temp is under 10Celcius. These products need a bit of warmth to cure. I have been unable to do mine for a few months.

Clay will remove surface contaminates so if you want to check for swirl get a 500 watt halogen onto the paint work, or drive to your local garage to fill with fuel at night, the floresent lights will show the swirl. Once clayed all the protection has gone so do get something on the paint work to protect it.

With regard to Porter Cable. I use it to apply Klasse All in One and sonus products but I apply the SG by hand and also apply my P21S by hand. Invest in some good quality microfibre towls to remove the products you can get these from Autopia. Do get a Porter Cable it will shift the swirl if used correctly.

Have fun.

 

[zakh]

Hi Goldfish,

im so sorry to hear about what happened to you, the main thing is that your ok...
just make sure that you get a quality repair...
thats a great tip regarding leaving 24 hours between each coat...
im going to do that...
but like you said im going to wait till the weather warms up...
in the mean time i have a few niggling stone chips that i need to address, what is the best way to address these?
should i call in a specialist??? chipsaway?
also i have some scuffing to the off side wheel arch...it seems that the previous owner painted over it with a touch up stick...it does not look bad but im wondering if i can get it professionally done and at what cost???

many thanks!

and im glad your ok


Zak

 

[Flash]

i have a few niggling stone chips that i need to address, what is the best way to address these?
should i call in a specialist??? chipsaway?

Chips Away cannot do anything about stone chips as all they will do is paint ithe chips (s) and the chip is stilll visible as not filled in. Your better off getting a fine artist paint brush and applying MB paint from touch up stick and would probably get better results than Chips Away or at least just as good for just (all for under £10...).

 

[zakh]

thanks Flash i think i may just do that...

on another note i hace a very minute dent on one of the doors, im in the London area...who best is able to do this job? i have heard of dent wizard etc...but if anyone can recommend anyone else i'd appreciate it...thanks!