I haven't cleaned the car for ages, it was absolutely filthy! The front wheels were black with brake dust! I don't get a lot of time off, but I have had this weekend free so set about attacking the car! I started it late in the day, too late really.
This was after a jet wash - still really dirty.
Lots of dead bodies and bloody!
Jet washed it off, then snow foamed it. I cleaned the front wheels with Meguiar's Hot Wheels and an Auto Glym brush to agitate.
I then washed it, but because it was so warm outside and the car was so dirty, by the time I finished it, the water had dried and left black streaks all over it! I clay bared the worst areas at this point. I started with the roof, but literally nothing came off on the bar and the bonnet was the same. The boot and doors were a different story though! Pulled lots of tar etc off. I want to get some Iron-X type stuff to use before the clay bar, but I haven't looked in to it yet.
After the bar, I washed the whole car again, doing a bit, swilling it off and then doing a bit more. I then dried it off with a Waffle towel. Added some tyre gel to give them the more black look, although I'm never that fond of the stuff.
Then I used Meguiar's 3 stage process stage 1 Paint Cleaner, which is supposed to remove light swirl marks and other bits off the paint. A good job it did too, even removing some of the light scratches. Then stage 2, Polish. By this time I was loosing the light, but I carried on and ended up at the last stage in the dark, wax.
I use Meguiar's Ultimate finish paste wax. Applied it and buffed it off best I could and this was taken just after I finished (completely pitch black outside)!
I tried to capture how good the paintwork looks to me, but I couldn't really. All things considering, it looks damm good.
Then this morning I dusted the car off and applied a second coat of wax and used some trim reviver on the plastic parts of the door mirrors and the window seals using Auto Finesse Trim Reviver. Great stuff, as is most of the Auto Finesse range.
This is what it looks like now!
Some beading from the rain shower we had.
I haven't done much with the wheels, they're in shocking condition. I'm going to try and get a new set out of Mazda under warranty, they're corroding all over on every wheel. I haven't got any metal polish either and the Brasso is at my parents house, so the exhaust isn't all that clean either.
I really need to invest in a DA machine, it would have made it so much easier to do the work.
Any comments, thanks.
This was after a jet wash - still really dirty.
Lots of dead bodies and bloody!
Jet washed it off, then snow foamed it. I cleaned the front wheels with Meguiar's Hot Wheels and an Auto Glym brush to agitate.
I then washed it, but because it was so warm outside and the car was so dirty, by the time I finished it, the water had dried and left black streaks all over it! I clay bared the worst areas at this point. I started with the roof, but literally nothing came off on the bar and the bonnet was the same. The boot and doors were a different story though! Pulled lots of tar etc off. I want to get some Iron-X type stuff to use before the clay bar, but I haven't looked in to it yet.
After the bar, I washed the whole car again, doing a bit, swilling it off and then doing a bit more. I then dried it off with a Waffle towel. Added some tyre gel to give them the more black look, although I'm never that fond of the stuff.
Then I used Meguiar's 3 stage process stage 1 Paint Cleaner, which is supposed to remove light swirl marks and other bits off the paint. A good job it did too, even removing some of the light scratches. Then stage 2, Polish. By this time I was loosing the light, but I carried on and ended up at the last stage in the dark, wax.
I use Meguiar's Ultimate finish paste wax. Applied it and buffed it off best I could and this was taken just after I finished (completely pitch black outside)!
I tried to capture how good the paintwork looks to me, but I couldn't really. All things considering, it looks damm good.
Then this morning I dusted the car off and applied a second coat of wax and used some trim reviver on the plastic parts of the door mirrors and the window seals using Auto Finesse Trim Reviver. Great stuff, as is most of the Auto Finesse range.
This is what it looks like now!
Some beading from the rain shower we had.
I haven't done much with the wheels, they're in shocking condition. I'm going to try and get a new set out of Mazda under warranty, they're corroding all over on every wheel. I haven't got any metal polish either and the Brasso is at my parents house, so the exhaust isn't all that clean either.
I really need to invest in a DA machine, it would have made it so much easier to do the work.
Any comments, thanks.
