Protecting new paint that has been around a while?

[tegwin]

Someone has re-sprayed my TVR (badly) at some point in the past (about 6 years ago) and then left the car in pieces in their garage to gather dust and surface scratches...Finaly its almost ready to come out into the sunlight....however...

Theres a fair bit of grease on the car from just being in the garage for so long... As well as a few very minor surface scratches (almost like swirls... but not quite that bad).... and one or two major dings which will need touching up....

The bonnet has some bad scuff marks where a nylon rope has rubbed where it was used to tie it down in transit... that looks like a machine polish job..



What is the best way of cleaning the car up and then protecting the paintwork so it will last for a while?

Its a driving car, not a show queen, but I would like it to stay as shiny as possible for a long time! (although the quality of the paint is questionable)


I have a collection of Autoglym shampoos and waxes/polishes that I use for my daily-drive, but the results from them seem to be poor.. (maybe its just my technique..)

Thoughts and advice are much appreciated!

(are there any detailers/experts in the Malvern area per-chance?)

[mneame]

Personaly I'd go for the following:

rinse with pressure washer,
spray all over with citrus degreaser and leave to soak,
rinse with pressure washer,
foam with good shampoo (if you have access to a foam gun)leave to dwell,
rinse with pressure washer,
refoam with lighter mixture and wash 2bm,
rinse with pressure washer,
dry with drying towels,
claybar the car,
rinse with pressure washer,
foam with light foam and wash 2bm,
rinse with pressure washer,
dry with drying towels.
if working polish by hand the AG srp is good or go for menzerna intensive polish, if access to a machine polisher then menz all the way, followed up by menz final finish,
prep the paint with a good paint cleaner (lime prime / light, hd cleanse etc),
if you want wax to last a while i'd go with a a couple of layers of collinite 915. it lasts ages. personally i'd rather top up every few weeks with Dodo supernatural.

if however you're a stickler for AG then go for their extra gloss protection. I've not tried their new wax yet so can't comment on how good it is.

[tegwin]

Sounds pretty comprehensive... Thanks :-)

Would you suggest that for an amateur, using a polishing machine would be a bad idea? The damage where the rope has rubbed on the bonnet might require a bit of working...

Im just worried that using a machine I could mess things up big time!

[mneame]

In general if the machine used is a dual action (da) it's far safer than a rotary. This is because the heat build up is less and the speeds are lower. Which ever you use, be sure to start off with a soft pad and polish combo and move up. Don't start with the really heavy stuf. Basically you may not need anything more than a finishing polish and pad combo. Once you've got your ideal combo and worked over the whole pannel / car, then repeat moving back down through to the softer stuff. This way you'll be sure to remove any buffer trails, micro marring etc (mainly get these with use of a rotary due to high speeds, heavy polishes and not finishing down) and get the best possible depth and shine.

Which machine was you going to use? It's always worth spending a tenner down the scrappies and getting a bonet to practice on before going head first onto your car.

[tegwin]

To be honest I had not thought about what machine I could use... Any suggestions on one that wont break the bank?

Good idea about heading to the scrappy for an old bonnet...

Can you use a polish compound to blend the edges of old and new paint where the colour and levels are not quite the same?

[mneame]

tegwin said:

To be honest I had not thought about what machine I could use... Any suggestions on one that wont break the bank?

I'd go for the kestral das-6. I've just bought one of these as a back up for my rotary (plus it's handy as you can put the spot pads on it). mine get's a tonne of abuse and is used in a couple of full details a week. only thing i would say would be to extend the lead as the one it comes with is a bit short. http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/kestrel-da...
although they are currently out of stock you may be able to get one from elsewhere. such as www.elitecarcare.co.uk

if you wanted to spend a bit more then the megs g220 da is a good machine. very similar to the above. http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/meguiars-g...

If you want to go for a rotary then the silverline orange model (available all over the place. ebay is a good place to look) is a good start. I've had mine for a couple of years now and it gets a real hammering. once it dies though i'll move onto a makita.

tegwin said:

Good idea about heading to the scrappy for an old bonnet...

it's the best way to learn. practice, practise, practise. that's how i started. i now detail part time! so beware it's disease lol.

tegwin said:

Can you use a polish compound to blend the edges of old and new paint where the colour and levels are not quite the same?

yes if it's the colour layer ie single stage paint. be careful though as you don't want to go through. if it's been lacquered then you won't be able to. if you can borrow a paint thickness gauge (ptg) to give you an idea how much paint you have to play with. If the pannels are fibreglass however you need to find someone with a real nice piece of kit. most gauges will only measure paint / coatings on stell / aluminium.