A couple of days with nothing to do... So I cleaned the car!

evileye_wrx · April 7, 2007, 21:00

Well, having been for an impromptu spin yesterday up into Northumberland I decided to clean up the car. I'd used Megiuar's Car Wash, followed by Quick Detailer and claybar, then gave it a coat of Tech Wax followed by Polish.

I got bored again today so nipped up to Halfords and picked up some Turtlewax Sealer and Tyre Wet n Black. When I got home I washed then waxed again followed by the sealer. I'm hoping this will keep the shine so that just a wash is all that will be needed for a while.

Anyway, with all the NW Blatting going on this afternoon I got jealous so went out north of Newcastle and took the camera with me. Here's the results...

Phil

northernalex · April 7, 2007, 22:56

Very sexy phil s:)

s:) likey likey s:)

s:)

Wanna wash mine?

evileye_wrx · April 7, 2007, 23:13

Quote from: "northernalex"Very sexy phil s:) s:) likey likey s:) s:)

Wanna wash mine?

Of course I would, but I ran out of Car Wash, Quik detailer and Tech wax and all my cloths are dirty. So if you have a spare 30 quid and some soap powder pop down s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Phil

Draggon · April 8, 2007, 10:25

very nice....Like those side vent covers too s:)

s:)

I am staring at the 2 thinking ..hmmmm...garden or car, garden or car s;)

s;)

MRMike · April 8, 2007, 10:34

What's the Turle wax sealer like? It gets good reviews but I can't ever bring myself to buy any turtle wax products

scottish_turbo · April 8, 2007, 12:49

Still my favourite looking 2 (other than mine of course!)

Chris_h · April 29, 2007, 23:13

Quote from: "scottish_turbo"Still my favourite looking 2 (other than mine of course!)

Ditto - must say the carbon side vents looks like a quality act (having seen them last week)

If I wasn't so tight, I would buy some for my beast. They do seem perfect against sable, not so sure on other colours.

Anonymous · April 30, 2007, 14:25

wow thats looking well there evil!!! s:D

s:D

roger · April 30, 2007, 14:34

Sorry Phil, you'll have to do it again. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Wax should be the LAST thing you put on. That keeps all the hard-work weather proofed.

If you put polish on after wax, then all the polish does is take the wax off. You might end up with some form of weather-proofing if the polish contains waxes, but certainly not as good a coat as a specialised wax, like the Tech Wax.

northernalex · April 30, 2007, 16:09

Quote from: "roger"Sorry Phil, you'll have to do it again. s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Wax should be the LAST thing you put on. That keeps all the hard-work weather proofed.

If you put polish on after wax, then all the polish does is take the wax off. You might end up with some form of weather-proofing if the polish contains waxes, but certainly not as good a coat as a specialised wax, like the Tech Wax.

Thats what I thought too.. clean, polish then wax..

evileye_wrx · April 30, 2007, 20:57

Well, I've obviously mis-read some information on the order of coatings. If the weekend is good I shall be re-doing it in the correct order, altho I'll have to restock on a few items.

Also, it turns out my angle grinder also has a buffing option so will have to try that out too. Anyone have any thoughts on the best wax to use with my angle buffer? And what works best on carbon, now that I've fitted bonnet and lid.

Phil

DannyN · April 30, 2007, 21:17

ooo phil - can we have photo's of your new 'fibre bits

rtbiscuit · April 30, 2007, 21:26

would love to see pics of your carbon bits s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

roger · May 1, 2007, 11:06

Quote from: "evileye_xc"Well, I've obviously mis-read some information on the order of coatings. If the weekend is good I shall be re-doing it in the correct order, although I'll have to restock on a few items.

Good lad

Quote from: "evileye_xc"Also, it turns out my angle grinder also has a buffing option so will have to try that out too. Anyone have any thoughts on the best wax to use with my angle buffer? And what works best on carbon, now that I've fitted bonnet and lid.

Phil

Phil, got this of detailing-world.

Quote from: "detailingworld"I recently detailed a car with a Carbon Fibre Bonnet and found Chemical Guys Spider web scratch and swirl remover perfect, applied by PC using a finishing pad and regular application of QD during the process

Finished with Poorboys EXP then Megs#7 and P21S

Looking at other posts, it seems that you treat carbon-fibre no different from ordinary panels, but just remembering it is much softer than plastic or metal, so you have to be careful with machine applications.

Also I would be very wary using an angle grinder for polishing / buffing unless you consider yourself an expert. The fixed disc can do some awful damage if you attack it wrong.

In any case, machinery is best used for the polish process where you are trying to "cut" through to a shiny layer of paint. Certainly you can buff the wax after you have applied it, but I find it much better to apply and take off by hand, then use the buffer as a final touch.

There are plenty of waxes available. I like products that contain carnuba wax, like nattys blue or meguiars #16. Whilst wax will enhance your finish remember at the end of the day you are trying to put a nice protective layer over all you hard work of polishing, glazing and the like. You can't get the finish without the preparation.

If you are re-stocking from Halfords or similar I suggest you have a good browse through the basic Megs range. Very good products IMO, unless you want to go further into the detailing bug. This is likely to require substantial reading and buying by post. Poorboys world is doing a good job for us, and I strongly recommend the Poorboys EXP sealant after your polishing.

Draggon · May 1, 2007, 11:37

Hope this is not too off topic....but i washed the car at the weekend and polished and waxed (I was shocked too )

Karcher foamer was cool with normal car wash
Then I used Zymol (Coconut and lemon thingy) to wash again
Then I used a black colouored polish (with a black lipstick stick thingy, technical i know s;)

s;) for the chips etc)
Then I used the Meguiers tech Wax...v expensive but halfords had 3 for 2 offer on.

When the Tech Wax went on......it did not give me the finish i thought, the polish was much better. it didnt streak but it did sort of smear, and was a bugger to wipe off. I left it to dry for 5-10 mins.

Any ideas why this happened or was it just my impatience and crap technique?

Sorry if on wrong thread.

Ernie Ball · May 1, 2007, 11:53

What kind of polish was it?

Draggon · May 1, 2007, 12:30

*cough* colourmagic i think *cough*

roger · May 1, 2007, 12:36

I would hazard your

Quote from: "Draggon"impatience and crap technique?

Wax needs to be applied thinly. If you think you need more then you do a second coat. How did you put it on? If it was with a cloth then these tend to spread very unevenly. Round foam applicators are the thing. Also if it was out in the sun, the wax could have baked on.

Also it is important that the applicator is absolutely clean, otherwise you could have added some contaminant to the wax. I always machine wash all cloths and applicators after every time I use them.

All is not lost, yet. What I would do is give it another wash as soon as possible (to get all dust etc off) with the smallest amount of shampoo (or a very mild one). Then you need to decide, are you reasonably satisfied that you have a 100% wax covering. If so then it is just a case of attacking the car with a polishing cloth (micro-fibre are best) and getting all signs of the wax off. If you have any doubt about the covering, I suggest applying another coat and doing the whole car again.

Buffing off is not a quick job. Do a panel at a time, and keep on at it until you are satisfied that that panel is OK. Only then move on.

Tech Wax is good, so I don't think you can blame that, though as Steve intimated, the polish you used may be causing a problem, but as you think it looked better after the polish, maybe it hasn't.

At the end of the day, there is no easy way to do a proper job. Just hard work. Best of luck.

<edit> Just saw your reply. Colourmagic is very much a blended product. It shouldn't be a problem, but since it contains "colouring" maybe the wax was showing up a bad job on getting the polish off. <edit>

evileye_wrx · May 1, 2007, 13:32

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll pop some pics up when I've cleaned the car, and gotten the engine lid to fit!!

Phil

Draggon · May 1, 2007, 13:42

I used the foam apllicator it came with and did it after 6pm (sun on other side of house, so no direct sunlight)

I think I may have used too much...although I did feel that it was not enough at the time...just a light thin layer as it were.

I may try a panel and leave it longer...see what happens.

the polish went on rather well and looked amazing...managed to get a lot of the swirls out s:)

s:)

roger · May 1, 2007, 14:28

Quote from: "Draggon"I may try a panel and leave it longer...see what happens.

the polish went on rather well and looked amazing...managed to get a lot of the swirls out s:) s:)

Leaving it longer is unlikely to make any difference on a wax. As long as it is dry then you are OK to start rubbing.

The colormagic gets swirls "out" by filling them with polish. For a permanent job you need something thats rubs the paint down to a lower level than the swirl bottoms - if you understand what I mean. Having said that you get the same effect, so the choice is yours. Probably even more important you have (and keep) a good wax layer, or it soon washes out.

evileye_wrx · May 1, 2007, 21:16

Quote from: "dpn1"ooo phil - can we have photo's of your new 'fibre bits

Okay then, I couldn't resist. Here's the first shot of the bonnet. Given the detailing nature of this thread please excuse the nasty streaks and general dirtiness of the car.

Carbon Phil

Draggon · May 1, 2007, 22:15

That bonnet looks awsome......yours is my favorite looking car so far s:)

s:)

Anonymous · May 1, 2007, 22:40

Quote from: "evileye_xc"
Quote from: "dpn1"ooo phil - can we have photo's of your new 'fibre bits

Okay then, I couldn't resist. Here's the first shot of the bonnet. Given the detailing nature of this thread please excuse the nasty streaks and general dirtiness of the car.

Carbon Phil

Phil, have you thought about hood pins? and how did washers fit on, were they ok?

evileye_wrx · May 1, 2007, 23:02

Quote from: "bossman23780"Phil, have you thought about hood pins? and how did washers fit on, were they ok?

I'm going to pop up to Envy Performance in the near future for some bonnet pins. They quoted me £60 - £80 for fitting. The Aerocatch pins cost about £30 for non-lockers.

The washers were quite easy. Once the pipes have been pulled off they pop out with pressure applied by point nose pliers and just push into the new bonnet's pre drilled holes. I had to tape down the pipes as the inside of the new bonnet is set up differently and there was no other way to secure them.

Phil