[Dogweed]

Hi all - at last found a Puma, picking it up tomorrow morning, and so now it needs a damn good seeing to, cleaning-wise that is...

I have a decent car shampoo that gives a good finish, but the car has quite a few carpark scuffs around the panels and I need a decent wax/finisher to hide these as much as possible.

What have people used and would recommend? I really want to avoid giving it the circular lines look as I hate that but have never really found the knack of a good finish... I don't want to go over the top, with a multi-tier cleaner that costs a bomb and takes 17 days to apply, just a good decent pack-o-gunk that will give me a good result for a few hours effort...

Oh - and also, do you get leather restorers that can add colour back to the leather in the seats? The driver's seat has the usual wear and tear on the outside edge that I'd really like to fill in. I've used normal leather cream stuff, are there safe and good coloured versions that won't remelt and colour me? Failing that a jumbo permanent marker pen mebbe... heh

All input welcome )

[megaboost]

Give the car a good wash (ideally 2 bucket method using gentle mitts to reduce extra swirls) and then clay the car if you can be bothered, this will give you a decent starting point and you only really need to do this once in a blue moon.

Wash again to remove any clay residue, dry the car (carefully) and then stick as many layers of Autoglym Super Resin Polish on as you can be bothered with to hide the swirls.

Top off with a wax that meets your budget (Collinite 476s might be worth a look if you aren't into cleaning every week) and then admire your work.

[Dogweed]

Thanks - was looking at Autoglym Super Resin Polish, which raises a question - wot's the difference between a polish and a wax? I always thought they were pretty much the same...?

[Pit Viper]

Thanks - was looking at Autoglym Super Resin Polish, which raises a question - wot's the difference between a polish and a wax? I always thought they were pretty much the same...?

Whole world of stuff could be written about this as the manufacturers muddy the waters by calling waxes 'polishes' and polishes 'waxes'.
In a nutshell, a 'polish' is generally designed with micro abrasives that 'clean' the paint of oxidisation etc. and add oils into the paint that it's lost over time to restore a glossy and deep look to the finish. A pure polish will have no protective qualities at all and needs to be topped with either a wax or synthetic sealant. However, some products labled as 'polish' do have some protective qualities and don't need topping (Super resin is one like this). There are also 'compounds' that could be described as 'polish' but some of these are quite agressive by hand application and need to be applied by machine to break down the abrasives. These often don't have the oils and paint 'wetting' agents in them like a pure 'polish' that I mentioned and some need a 'glaze' or pure polish to follow before topping with a wax/sealant.
Finally there are waxes - again several types:- there are 'cleaner waxes' that are not abrasive but do have paint cleaning ability. And there are the 'pure' waxes that have no cleaning ability and these need to be only used over a perfectly clean and polished surface.
All this might sound a bit complicated, but believe it or not, I've really 'dumbed it down' here and there's a lot more to it than I've described here LOL!

Just do what megaboost said and use AG SRP followed by the Collinite 476 and you won't go far wrong.

This post has been edited by Pit Viper: 17 June 2008 - 09:09 AM

[Dogweed]

What colour is your car?

As 'megaboost' says wash clay and autoglym is great, thats what i use too..

Meguires do a clay kit which comes with a polish and wax, personally i prefer autogylm super resin polish.

Once you've clayed you dont need to do it everytime, i polish mine once a week with autoglym and some megs wax if i have any energy left after lol

I definatley recommend the autoglym super resin!!

Dont forget some bumper gel for your black bits and some tyre shine, makes all the difference!!

Picked it up about 2 hours ago, a lovely Magnum Grey Thunder, and actually looks better than I remembered

I reckon Autoglym SRP is the one for me, topped off with their Extra Gloss, but I'll have a look into Collinite 476 to see what that's all about. And have already got some Armor All for th black bits, that seems to do the job although I think I'll pop out and get some better black-er for a better finish... any suggestions?

And I'd never heard of using this clay stuff before I started in this forum, does it pick out the dirt and stuff before you top over with the polish etc? Is it worth the effort? I think I might just skip that this time as I'm a lazy sod at times

[Dogweed]

Yeah - it looks really nice in Thunder grey - was always after that, the blue/grey or black, spent a long time looking for one tho!

I reckon clay is more than I need - just a good few coats of Autoglym to ease out the clear coat scuffs and get a good shine. My cars in the past have always just been 'clean' rather than 'shiny' so i thought I'd make more of an effort this time round

And the black products never like being touched (ooer) always leaves a trail, could try hammerite I guess lol

[Pit Viper]

You don't need to clay paint more than once or twice a year. To determine if you need it doing, get some thin clear cellophane like that which covers a cigarette packet or that you get greetings cards in. Put it over your fingers and run lightly over the surface - if it feels totally smooth and like glass then you're okay. If you feel any rough bits or 'pimples' and it needs claying - don't skip it and be rubbing 'polish' over a surface like this as if any of these bonded on 'bits' come off and get stuck under the pad you're using, you'll be scratching it all over the surface and they can be rock hard if they are old tree sap for example. A clay bar with suitable lubricant 'skims' these pimples off the surface ready for polishing & waxing. Claying is not the same thing as 'buffing' or machine polishing as it's called - you never machine polish a car without it being clayed first (unless you know the car's had it done very recently) otherwise the potential scratch damage that I talked about would be amplified massively.
It's up to you, but for the sake of a few hours to clay the car once or twice a year you'll have a far easier job for the rest of the year when applying polishes and waxes as they apply and remove so much easier on a smooth surface.

The pre packed Meguiars kit is okay, but I'd recommend the Sonus 'Green' clay which is very mild for a beginnner, or Bilt Hamber's clay bar which doesn't require a special lube and can be used with tap water.

This post has been edited by Pit Viper: 17 June 2008 - 01:03 PM

[chris3boro]

I'd recommend claying it and waxing it to really get the best from it. Then in future, you can just wax/polish it with it having been clayed.

Get some pics up of the results!