Frost white and red brake caliper cleaning advice

[notax]

Really loving my Vantage S Roadster and guided a very nice mini hoon of six cars around some of the best roads in Dorset and Hampshire today - including Zig Zag hill

Anyway, the car was caked and I've just finished cleaning it. Is there a technique for getting rid of the dirt around the edges of the plastic protection film by the rear arch etc? On my previous meteorite car it wasn't as issue but frost white isn't good at hiding things!

Any advice on keeping red brake calipers clean too? Don't really want to remove the wheels every time I wash it, is there any paint guard you can apply?

[drofnavi]

I wash my V12V wheels (carbon brake discs) and wheel arch areas with soapy water and a good power wash every time it gets dirty. So far it's still nice and clean.

On the clear film. I (carefully) run my thumb nail along the edge after polishing, it removes any residue that the micro fibre cloth misses.

[notax]

Thanks, I've got a power wash but I don't use it to clean my cars as they seem a bit brutal to me, but I guess using it for the wheels and brake discs should be ok, simple idea re arch protector, but they're often the best!

[Far Eastender]

Can anyone recommend a company that can change the colour of my calipers in Kent?

[notsaV8V]

Eastender,

never heard of county-specific calliper colours - what will you do when drive into, say, Sussex?

[Cockernee]

notsaV8V said:

Eastender,

never heard of county-specific calliper colours - what will you do when drive into, say, Sussex?

that made me chuckle on a monday.

[jeremydb9]

I wanted to get Boxter callipers painted once and I got a sharp intake of breath and a shaking of the head from the body shop with murmurs of ....expensive .... difficult ... special paint ... so did not bother. Would be interested to hear if it is economically possible.

[paddy328]

The best thing to do is dust off the pressure washer you have. The best thing to do is to buy a foam lance attachment and some snow foam and snow foam the car, rinse it off and wash the car. If the car still has dirt around the film, foam those areas again and use a soft brush to go round the edges. That should work, just don't get any of that nasty autoglym polish around the edge, as its a pain to remove.

Here is he link for the foam lance and snow foam:

http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/bestsel...

Brush:
http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/long-re...

You really should use a pressure washer. It's the safest way of removing loose dirt from the car, don't be scared to use it.

What do you use to clean the wheels?

You can use a few different sealant for the calipers. These ones are the best ones at the min:

http://www.detailedclean.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/22...

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/gtechniq-c5-wheel-ar...

If you need any other advice, just let me know.

Francis

[yeti]

jeremydb9 said:

I wanted to get Boxter callipers painted once and I got a sharp intake of breath and a shaking of the head from the body shop with murmurs of ....expensive .... difficult ... special paint ... so did not bother. Would be interested to hear if it is economically possible.

Two approaches... Had my Maserati 4200 and DB7 Vantage calipers both done in red.

Maser indie approach; remove calipers and clean. Paint red with high-temperature paint. I got 'MASERATI' stick on script on eBay (£1.50) and laquered. They looked fantastic, cost 300 quid to do.

Aston indie approach. Remove calipers and clean, powder coat in red and apply ASTON MARTIN script. They looked fantastic, cost 900 to do.

So there are a couple of ways, it's not cheap but then you hopefully wouldn't expect it to be.

[notax]

paddy328 said:

The best thing to do is dust off the pressure washer you have. The best thing to do is to buy a foam lance attachment and some snow foam and snow foam the car, rinse it off and wash the car. If the car still has dirt around the film, foam those areas again and use a soft brush to go round the edges. That should work, just don't get any of that nasty autoglym polish around the edge, as its a pain to remove.

Here is he link for the foam lance and snow foam:

http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/bestsel...

Brush:
http://www.autobritedirect.co.uk/index.php/long-re...

You really should use a pressure washer. It's the safest way of removing loose dirt from the car, don't be scared to use it.

What do you use to clean the wheels?

You can use a few different sealant for the calipers. These ones are the best ones at the min:

http://www.detailedclean.co.uk/wheels-and-tyres/22...

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/gtechniq-c5-wheel-ar...

If you need any other advice, just let me know.

Francis

Excellent, thanks. At the moment the wheels are still mint so I haven't needed to use any wheel cleaning products (although I have a few) I've heard about the snow foam before but always been a bit concerned using the same pressure washer I use to blast my decking clean on a car! I guess it does avoid the swirl marks from a sponge (not that I've ever had a problem, using two sponges, wash mitts etc on my nice cars) So do you literally jet wash the whole car? If the car is really filthy isn't there a risk the dirt will harm the car as it is blasted off?

[paddy328]

You foam the car up, let it dwell for a few mins and then rinse off with the pressure washer. The lose dirt will be trapped in the foam and will be safely washed away by the pressure of the water. Then you can wash the car as normal and dry with a couple of fluffy towels. Having the car/roof well protected will speed things up too.

Take a look at the cleaning guide I might have had a hand in in the faq's section for more help and ideas.

Francis

[notax]

Will do, thanks again!

[nomisc]

Pressure washers are fine, just make sure you don't use the specialised "dirt blaster" head that's specifically for patios as that could do some damage. My Karcher has a variable pressure lance which is great for the different areas. Full pressure on all the main body panels, wheel arches and wheels, then dial it down a little for areas such as windows and mirrors.

[notax]

nomisc said:

Pressure washers are fine, just make sure you don't use the specialised "dirt blaster" head that's specifically for patios as that could do some damage. My Karcher has a variable pressure lance which is great for the different areas. Full pressure on all the main body panels, wheel arches and wheels, then dial it down a little for areas such as windows and mirrors.

That's a very good point. I'm not sure I have an 'ordinary' head on my Karcher or even know what one looks like! There is what i think is the patio cleaner attachment with a cone shape of the end and the only other thing I've used in the round yellow patio blasting head. I'll have a dig around and see what I can find...