Bilt and Hamber Works Wonders!!
Discussion
Hi Peeps, Well thought i'd share my efforts with you on how good i've made our family's little runaround.
I went to pick it up a couple of month ago and the paintwork was really faded on the roof, bonnet and hatch (but no rust amazingly).
I tried alsorts of polish from T-Cut to Turtlewax but i couldnt bring it back to life. I then heard of Bilt and Hamber which i thought i'd give it a shot and it has really made it look brand new. I know its not a tiv or porshe etc... but i like making anything with a engine look great, As you can see its a 1987 Volvo 340 which has only done 29,500 and only cost £300! Pic's below...
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
And a Few Other's
I went to pick it up a couple of month ago and the paintwork was really faded on the roof, bonnet and hatch (but no rust amazingly).
I tried alsorts of polish from T-Cut to Turtlewax but i couldnt bring it back to life. I then heard of Bilt and Hamber which i thought i'd give it a shot and it has really made it look brand new. I know its not a tiv or porshe etc... but i like making anything with a engine look great, As you can see its a 1987 Volvo 340 which has only done 29,500 and only cost £300! Pic's below...
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
And a Few Other's
I shouldn't laugh, but I've been on a wee bit of a BH crusade recently after getting some (all!) of their products to test and 'review' for a few of the sites I frequent, including here, and you've usurped me!
Suffice it to say, I'm taken aback by the difference your photos show.
Did you use just the Auto Balm, or the whole shebang of Auto Wash, Auto Clay as well?
I used the Clay and was knocked out at what it done for the paintwork on my Accord, which hasn't been looked after at all.
With stonechips down to the bare metal, and swirls and scratches a plenty, I was looking for something that'd do the job needed to protect the metal as well as the clearcoat.
Once I finally get round to having it deswirled, etc, Auto Balm will be gracing mine too.
Sorry for the ramble OT, excellent job.
I'd never heard of B & H 'till I picked up your thread. Photo's look really impressive, and, yes I'd agree, anything with an engine has to look good. 
There's some good feedback elsewhere too and I've just contacted the factory - they are only just down the road from me - to see if I can scrounge a sample to do a back to back with Meguiars Gold Class wax.
There's some good feedback elsewhere too and I've just contacted the factory - they are only just down the road from me - to see if I can scrounge a sample to do a back to back with Meguiars Gold Class wax.
Guys
I bought the clay and balm combo. Clay works wonders and am a big convert, but the balm I have found to be a nightmare. Damp applicator pad, small dab in pot and apply evenly. Wait a few minutes then buff. I find the buffing takes simply ages and by the time I've done the bonnet, I have worked up a sweat and I can hardly be bothered going on.
Am I doing something wrong???
I bought the clay and balm combo. Clay works wonders and am a big convert, but the balm I have found to be a nightmare. Damp applicator pad, small dab in pot and apply evenly. Wait a few minutes then buff. I find the buffing takes simply ages and by the time I've done the bonnet, I have worked up a sweat and I can hardly be bothered going on.
Am I doing something wrong???
We stock all the Bilt Hamber products and they are all fantastic. I'd go so far as to say they are victims of their own low price - people think the can't be good, as they cost half what everything else does! The Auto Balm is difficult to shift after application on a car whose paint is in the state of the 340 ( seriously no offence intended) but so would anything else be...
I have tried it many times on a car with freshly machine-polished paint and it comes off easier than SwissVax Best of Show, that's the god's honest truth!! The key to ANY product like this is VERY thin even coverage; anything else is 1. Wasteful 2. makes it harder work to get off 3.chokes the microfibre you're using to get it off faster and compounds the problem.
I apply it via the Porter Cable using a medium pad and I had got two coats on the car before I finished what was stuck inside the lid!!
This time of year you cannot get better protected for the same money FACT
Finally the 340 looks amazing - This kind of work can double the value of some cars...
Cheers - Nick
I have tried it many times on a car with freshly machine-polished paint and it comes off easier than SwissVax Best of Show, that's the god's honest truth!! The key to ANY product like this is VERY thin even coverage; anything else is 1. Wasteful 2. makes it harder work to get off 3.chokes the microfibre you're using to get it off faster and compounds the problem.
I apply it via the Porter Cable using a medium pad and I had got two coats on the car before I finished what was stuck inside the lid!!
This time of year you cannot get better protected for the same money FACT
Finally the 340 looks amazing - This kind of work can double the value of some cars...
Cheers - Nick
Edited by Nico G on Tuesday 2nd October 19:29
So
It would appear that the issue is my applying the product too thick. I popped in and bought me some foam applicator pads on the weekend so am going to try those with a minute amount of product and see how they go.
As I said, love the finish, just hate the buffing. The cloth gets clogged in about 0.2 seconds and I find myself getting nowhere fast.
It would appear that the issue is my applying the product too thick. I popped in and bought me some foam applicator pads on the weekend so am going to try those with a minute amount of product and see how they go.
As I said, love the finish, just hate the buffing. The cloth gets clogged in about 0.2 seconds and I find myself getting nowhere fast.
Nice work!I am a recent BH convert too. They hah (may still have) a deal on for the wash, clay and Auto Balm - all in for about £30.00.
I too found the Auto Balm to be hard work at first. It is quite a thick viscous 'wax', but found that I had not wet the applicator pad enough. Last time, I held it under a warm tap to thouoghly wet it out, then wrung it, then the balm went on very nicely and thin, so much easier to wipe off. I don't think the balm tends to bead water as much as traditional waxes, but it does seem to be quite resilient. I just need to clay and balm the other side if my car now, then it is set for winter.
As said above, good products that have an industrial robust feel to them.
I too found the Auto Balm to be hard work at first. It is quite a thick viscous 'wax', but found that I had not wet the applicator pad enough. Last time, I held it under a warm tap to thouoghly wet it out, then wrung it, then the balm went on very nicely and thin, so much easier to wipe off. I don't think the balm tends to bead water as much as traditional waxes, but it does seem to be quite resilient. I just need to clay and balm the other side if my car now, then it is set for winter.
As said above, good products that have an industrial robust feel to them.
Another Bilt Hamber convert here. First clay and 'proper' polish I have ever tried, so I cannot compare with anything else of the same type, but it seems truly excellent.
I bought the clay and auto-balm a while ago, and it does seem to go a long way when you have got the trick of how to use it. For me, the best bit is that a good polish with auto-balm will leave the car looking good ... until it gets dirty again, and yet a simple wash will restore 95% of the good-looks for a good 4 or 5 months hence.
Do it once, well, and you won't need to do it again for a while.
That old volvo is transformed!
Oli.
I bought the clay and auto-balm a while ago, and it does seem to go a long way when you have got the trick of how to use it. For me, the best bit is that a good polish with auto-balm will leave the car looking good ... until it gets dirty again, and yet a simple wash will restore 95% of the good-looks for a good 4 or 5 months hence.
Do it once, well, and you won't need to do it again for a while.
That old volvo is transformed!
Oli.
Watch that Lime Prime - a couple of users on DW have found problems with it after final polishing. It seems to be creating fresh swirls, which it shouldn't, even though it has abrasives in it.
So, be careful, as even a machine application results in lesser marks, there are still some.
Whether it's a batch issue or something else, no-one knows, and DoDo themselves haven't said anything in the thread, which is a bit surprising.
So, be careful, as even a machine application results in lesser marks, there are still some.
Whether it's a batch issue or something else, no-one knows, and DoDo themselves haven't said anything in the thread, which is a bit surprising.
LP has abrasives in it - it's a glaze/pre-wax cleaner, designed to remove minor scratches and fillers from the polishing compounds used to remove the deeper scratches and swirls, etc.
As I said, it might be just a batch issue or a couple of rouge bottles, but 2 users on DW having the same problem and verified it with further testing, suggests LP and soft paints like Honda Civics' don't get on, so caution is advised.
You may not see anything in the garage, but outside or with the likes of a Brinkmann light, you can easily see any marks - and after polishing with a final polish to give that glassy appearance to the paintwork, the last thing you want is to have LP spoil it.
Hope that helps clarify what I said above.
As I said, it might be just a batch issue or a couple of rouge bottles, but 2 users on DW having the same problem and verified it with further testing, suggests LP and soft paints like Honda Civics' don't get on, so caution is advised.
You may not see anything in the garage, but outside or with the likes of a Brinkmann light, you can easily see any marks - and after polishing with a final polish to give that glassy appearance to the paintwork, the last thing you want is to have LP spoil it.
Hope that helps clarify what I said above.
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