[tovi]

I am really looking forward to my car being shiny shiny! Just read the forum on blackening the plastics, so i think i am gonna find me some stuff to do that!
I have read a lot of stuff about detailing etc, and it all seems a bit confusing! But i was just wondering if there is any way with it just being freshly painted, how best to keep it looking like that.
I would also like to know if anyone has any tips n tricks on how to bring my propellor wheels upto shiny standard, my front wheels are terrible for being covered in break dust, I did actually consider having them coloured black, but unfortunately my bank balance is just about stretching to the paint job!

Terri

[downhuman]

Firstly, give it a little while to fully cure before doing anything other than carefully washing it.

To answer your points though...

1) If you have mint paint, the first thing to to keep it that way. That means wash carefully....! Ideally, rinse with a hose or pressure washer... then foam with snow foam (try valet pro), then rinse again! Move onto bucket washing with correctly mixed shampoo and water in one bucket, and clean water in another with a grit guard at the bottom. Dunk your mitt (not sponge) into the soapy water, wash a panel, then rinse in the clean water, dragging the mitt on the grit guard to clean it. Then move back onto the soap and repeat til the car is done. Then rinse (again). Dry the car with a microfibre towel (not Chamois, defo not a 'blade)

2) Apply a nice sealent or wax (polish shouldn't be necessary if the paint finish is spot on). Layer this to achieve depth.

3) For your wheels, buy a good wheel cleaner (Billberry is my choice) and mix to correct ratio. I use a garden chemical sprayer to apply to wheels. Dwell for up to 10 mins on cool wheels. Agitate with wheel brush. Rinse off.
Dry with microfibre and then apply wheel polish / seal (again in layers) such are Poorboys wheel seal, or my choice Jetseal 109 by Chemical Guys (which is good on paint too)

If you layer this, your brake dust will rinse off next clean

Cheers

Rob

[grayfox]

sound advice

[pumapilot]

I've got fresh paint on my Kat, as above gentle wash then a good polish.

As for your wheels, wash/rinse them, apply wheel cleaner, then give them a very thourough going over with a toothbrush, then rinse again.

9 spoke after this treatment.

This post has been edited by pumapilot: 16 July 2009 - 10:07 AM

[PumaJoJo]

Firstly, give it a little while to fully cure before doing anything other than carefully washing it.

To answer your points though...

1) If you have mint paint, the first thing to to keep it that way. That means wash carefully....! Ideally, rinse with a hose or pressure washer... then foam with snow foam (try valet pro), then rinse again! Move onto bucket washing with correctly mixed shampoo and water in one bucket, and clean water in another with a grit guard at the bottom. Dunk your mitt (not sponge) into the soapy water, wash a panel, then rinse in the clean water, dragging the mitt on the grit guard to clean it. Then move back onto the soap and repeat til the car is done. Then rinse (again). Dry the car with a microfibre towel (not Chamois, defo not a 'blade)

2) Apply a nice sealent or wax (polish shouldn't be necessary if the paint finish is spot on). Layer this to achieve depth.

3) For your wheels, buy a good wheel cleaner (Billberry is my choice) and mix to correct ratio. I use a garden chemical sprayer to apply to wheels. Dwell for up to 10 mins on cool wheels. Agitate with wheel brush. Rinse off.
Dry with microfibre and then apply wheel polish / seal (again in layers) such are Poorboys wheel seal, or my choice Jetseal 109 by Chemical Guys (which is good on paint too)

If you layer this, your brake dust will rinse off next clean

Cheers

Rob

I wouldnt rinse then snow foam, would just (in fact do) just snow foam. Prefer BH & Espuma for that job, not the cheapest foaming TFR but hey.

You can use a sponge, not the normal 4 for a £1 jobs, but zymol or even a grout sponge (going to try a grout sponge when the weather lets us), but using a mitt is better if just starting.

As for the 2BM, agree with most but I wouldnt rub the mitt against the grit guard, but rather dip the mitt just under the water and rub hand thru it to loosen any dirt that was missed with the snow foam. If you drag the mitt across the grit guard your running the risk of agitating the dirty water back onto the mitt.

Drying towels are fantastic to use, if you have the time, and the pat down method whilst longer reduces the chance of towel marring. We have a leaf blower for the shuts, mirrors etc (£20 off ebay). Some people use blades and dont scratch, but few and far between, so use with caution.

Hundreds of waxes and sealents avaible, we have many different ones, some like fk1000p for protection and some like P21 just for bling. Its a big market so if your just doing 2 or 3 cars in the family I would go for collinite or fk1000p and maybe a sample pot of raceglaze.

Wheels, if they are freshly painted then I would just seal with a wheel sealant or if you have fk1000p for the car, then use that.

If wheels are dirty then Bilberry, AG Acid Free, Espuma Revolution etc etc will do it, I prefer the viken wheel brushes as well as the EZ Brush, then seal. You might need a tar & glue remover and clay to get them spotless, but without seeing pics of wheels cant say.

Once sealed they should be able to be cleaned just with APC or shampoo rather than a wheel cleaner.

Best thing to do is join detailingworld and goto regional section and ask for samples/help. If you where in manc then you could try all our stuff (free of charge) then buy your own once you have a fav choice.

Of you forgot glass cleaner, we have AG stuff which does for us.

(we have cg trim gel and espuma rd50 for tyres as well as duragloss)

[happy-kat]

How long though to let the paint cure when it is fresh before applying any finish (none abrasive top coat stuff) as a rough guide please?



A grit guard sounds intereting, off to see what I can find.

Eek! I am not paying that for a bucket! including P&P £20 is not enough for a bucket that normally costs like £2.

So I will go to Jessops and buy a circular drain guard, which I think will do the same job when placed in a bucket and I bet it is like £5 or less.

[grayfox]

What you want to do with fresh paint is actually avoid protecting it with waxes, sealants as this will prevent the paint from breathing and can cause damage during the curing process... completely depends on the paint system the bodyshop have used though in regards to how long you should wait, best to ask them. If they say not to wax it, have a look at something like Chemical Guys PG Hand Glaze for use on it until you can wax it, it's designed for fresh paint and is breathable and will leave a nice little bit of extra gloss and wettness by hand.

[PumaJoJo]

Find the price for a pinacle bucket with dolly

Ikea have clear buckets, too small for the patent protected grit guards but you can argue that you dont need them (each to their own).

Also use B&Q buckets for wheels and interior. (99p when we got them).

Whilst in B&Q get yourself a sash brush (think thats the name) which are a bit more expensive than the Envy brush but are local. If you have the cash then the megs slider brush is also handy to have. Oh and a radiator brush is always handy for things like door shuts and engine bay.

Lidl etc are doing sprayers cheap.

As for letting the paint breath, not bodyshop trained so cant answer that, but for me I would leave it 2-3 months to let the clear coat harden properly.

But again, best ask around.

(we have bromco wheel sealer to try, problem with that is you have to wait 24hrs for it to cure before using car)

[pumapilot]

What you want to do with fresh paint is actually avoid protecting it with waxes, sealants as this will prevent the paint from breathing and can cause damage during the curing process...

Years ago you were told not to even wash a new car for at least 3 weeks, or it may have even been 3 months.

[PumaJoJo]

reading detailingworld, PaintGuy says weeks/months?

[downhuman]

I find one of the most useful things to have is Isopropyl alcohol - £15 buys you a gallon which you can cut 50/50 with water as a good glass cleaner. Also good as panel wipe after machine polishing to remove any oils etc to see the true finish to the paint...

[Shilly]

love this feeling when your car looks like candy







shame that it has bee painted yesterday after someone hit it and the repair paint shop is awful woke me up yesterday morning to se the worst paint job ive ever seen i just left the car with them and said sort it out

This post has been edited by Shilly: 17 July 2009 - 10:20 AM

[happy-kat]

This place sells the bucket grit guard on it's own
http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/meguiars/grit-guard.aspx

[Pumastarman]

Hi Can anyone give me a ballpark figure for a full respray for a Puma please?

Also, can you buy any of the products mentioned above eg: gritguard etc from Halfords?

[happy-kat]

I have not seen that sort of thing in my Halfords.

[downhuman]

Nope, only detail stores at the moment....

[Pumastarman]

Nope, only detail stores at the moment....

I live in Middlesex; anyone know of a good detail store around here? Thanks.

This post has been edited by Pumastarman: 18 July 2009 - 07:56 AM

[Shilly]

Hi Can anyone give me a ballpark figure for a full respray for a Puma please?

Also, can you buy any of the products mentioned above eg: gritguard etc from Halfords?

my car was 1200 to get the outside re-sprayed with a few dents fixed

dont think halfords do it

also another good product to use is 3m hand glaze gives it an amazing shine

[downhuman]

I live in Middlesex; anyone know of a good detail store around here? Thanks.

Not sure but internet shopping wise there are loads - cleanmycar, seriousperformance, cleanandshiny, elitecarcare....

[Pumastarman]

my car was 1200 to get the outside re-sprayed with a few dents fixed

dont think halfords do it

also another good product to use is 3m hand glaze gives it an amazing shine

Thanks Shilly, did you get your car resprayed at an offical Ford garage, or an independant shop? Was it a full respray and if so, how good was the finished article? Like new?

Not sure but internet shopping wise there are loads - cleanmycar, seriousperformance, cleanandshiny, elitecarcare....

Thanks, I'll try..