How to shine up my car?

PatrickO

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I've got a 5 year old Vectra (don't laugh, I like it!)

It's dark blue and over the years it's picked up loads of tiny scratches and a few bigger ones, but nothing very deep. The top coat seems really thin and any tiny little mark shows the white undercoat. Especially around the door handles. Wish I'd bought a silver one, but too late for that now.

So my question: what's the best way of restoring the paint without a respray? Is there anything lasting I can do, or do I just live with it being a bit tatty?
 
www.detailingworld.co.uk

I have a black vectra. the paint is actually quite thick about 145 microns thick from that era compared to the corsa my sister bought a few years later which was about 70microns. Unless its the flat blue the paint is made up of 3 layers primer which is white on the ultra blue and prestige blue, the colour coat and then the top clear coat which is usually about 2/3rds of the total thickness.

To get to primer your scratch isnt a surface scratch, you have probably just scratched the top coat which the edged will go white, put some water on there and it the whiteness goes then the chance of polishing it out are quite good.

Anyway your best option is to find a detailer who will do it for you, the kit costs about the same to buy as it does to pay a detailer, yes there is the satisfaction level of doing it yourself but 2 days at the side of a car in winter is not pleasurable. cost you about £250-£350 depending on the detailer.
 
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If you've got plenty of time and elbow grease.....

Give it a good wash, clay the paint, polish with some Meguiars scratch X, Meguairs compound or metalic t-cut (I'm assuming it's metallic based on your comments relating to top and undercoat) and follow up with some like Meguiars NXT wax

Alternatively you could clay and use Autoglym Super Resin Polish but this will mask the defect rather than remove them ;)

The best way to polish is to use a proper rotary or dual-action polisher, however these are quite expensive once you add up the applicators on top of the equipment itself.

A pro-detailer will charge £200+ for the job (I tend to charge in Vodka :lol: )

It might be worth taking a look on www.detailingworld.co.uk to see if anyone in your area would be willing to give you a hand in exchange for a few beer tokens ;)
 
I'm guessing you're a fellow OCD'er Little John? :lol:
 
autoglym! Its amazing stuff for the reasonable price and its often on offer in halfrauds. It brought the paint up on our 25 yr old escort a treat, it now looks diamond white rather than cream :)
 
I'll 2nd autoglym - Resin polish followed by gloss finish Spring and Autumn keeps our vehicles as new. :0
 
Be care with polish

my son has a couple scoobies think he over polished this one, he went mad with T Cut lol

Riches_Subaru_engine.jpg
 
I use Bilt-Hamber Auto Balm on my silver car. Works very well in filling up the scratches but needs elbow grease
 
I'm guessing you're a fellow OCD'er Little John? :lol:

Yep. I have been out of the detailing side for a few months due to lack of time since getting a full time job rather than self employed but working 1 or 2 days a week got boring and wasn't doing me any good.

And I am still trying to get over the fact you have used the word t-cut in recomendations. :nono:

I do love the "use autoglym" replies, which product? screen wash leather balm? Autoglym Super resin polish (srp) is a very good product, it is an all in one product that cleans, fills scratches and protects. the problem is the filler part does come out or wears away so you end up almost back where you started a 6 months down the line after all your hard work.

to get perfection has quite a few steps
Wash the car twice changing the water between washes you always miss bits and use 2 buckets one with shampoo solution the other a rinse bucket to keep the crap of the car away from the car.

all sorts of stuff gets stuck to the surface from tree sap to tar thats what theose black spots are behind your front wheels, washing doesn't remove these so we use detailing clay to pull them off the surface. I also prefer to use a tar remover before to get shut of all that (the autoglym tar and glue ios good but very expensive)

Next another wash as tar remover isnt a nice product really

Then paint cleanse
Next a day or so polishing the car 35cm by 35cm at a time with an abrasive polish to remove the scratches and swirls, I have different grades of polishes depending on how bad the scratches are. I do have a machine polisher and it takes that long not a buffer thing you buy in halfords.

After all the hard work you want to protect your it so a nice wax or sealent so the water beads off nicely.

A few examples of what can be done
a pink astra converted back to red.
n673418386_873946_3017.jpg


A black corsa left unpolished right side polished, it was the toughest job ever it was further refined after that photo was taken.
n673418386_658693_5267.jpg


A mitsubushi lancer the guy had put a box on the spoiler leaving it like this
n673418386_1123438_523.jpg


A bit of work later
n673418386_1123436_9864.jpg


tcut is the devils spawn leave it on the shelf
 
In my defence I did say metallic t-cut ;) I know it's far from idea but for the average person with no detailing experience I don't think it's that bad..... if it was then I don't think it'd still be on the shelves in Halfords.

I'm a car care adviser on another forum and written a few brief How to items to help people on their way but I don't know if you need to be a member to get to it http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=102

Probably one of the toughest cars I worked on was my mates ST170 estate......... This is what it was like before I started:

IMG_9080_Resize.jpg


IMG_9078_Resize.jpg


But I was quite happy with the end result

IMG_9086_Resize.jpg


The proud owner's reflection

IMG_9089_Resize.jpg


IMG_9082_Resize.jpg
 
Hey Russ and LittleJohn, those are amazing results. Now I know why dealers have all those lovely shiny cars on their forecourt!

My car isn't as bad as either of those so hopefully it should shine up well.

Thanks for advice and getting me inspired.
 
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A mitsubushi lancer the guy had put a box on the spoiler leaving it like this
n673418386_1123438_523.jpg


A bit of work later
n673418386_1123436_9864.jpg

Please excuse my ignorance but how does this work?! Haven't you've ended up with nice black paint where there previously wasn't any paint? I've never understood how this works.

Collinite 476s gets my vote for wax once you've finished the polishing, and make sure you're not using a sponge to wash the car (or a garden broom as I have known to happen :eek: ) or you'll likely damage the paintwork and undo all your/the detailer's hard work.
 
Please excuse my ignorance but how does this work?! Haven't you've ended up with nice black paint where there previously wasn't any paint? I've never understood how this works.

Collinite 476s gets my vote for wax once you've finished the polishing, and make sure you're not using a sponge to wash the car (or a garden broom as I have known to happen :eek: ) or you'll likely damage the paintwork and undo all your/the detailer's hard work.

At a guess...... the spoiler was bonded on to the boot and the damage to the paint work was done when the spoiler was removed.

Provided a scratch isn't right through the clear coat it can usually be removed or reduced to a point where it's not as visible.

Polishing removes a small amount of the clear coat around the scratch which reduces the depth of the scratch and rounds off the sharp edges that catch the light and make the damage visible.

There is only so much correction you can do as you will eventually run out of clear coat ;) (although you would have to use pretty aggresive products to do this on most cars)

As a general rule, if you can feel a scratch with your finger nail then it's probably too deep to polish out BUT you can usually make it look better :)

As for using sponges on cars...... I physically shudder when I see them being used :lol:

You see someone with a brand new car thinking they're doing the right thing by cleaning it regularly with washing up liquid and a sponge :shake:

IMO, the safest way to wash a car is using the two bucket method:

1 bucket of car shampoo
1 bucket of clean water (and a grit guard is even better)
Lambswool wash mit (although synthetic/microfibre mitt isn't too bad)

The technique would be to rince the car down using low pressure then starting with the roof cleaning a panel at a time working down and round the car.

Load the wash mitt with shampoo, clean a panel using long strokes (not circular), rinse the wash mitt in the clean bucket, load with shampoo again and move on to the next panel.

If it's a warm day, rinse panels as you clean them and ensure they don't dry out before you're ready to do your final rinse.

If the car's particularly dirty, you may want to use a separate mitt to clean the lower parts.

NEVER clean the car when the paintwork is hot to the touch. You'll get away with cleaning it in the Autumn/Winter when the sun's out but never in direct sunlight during the summer. When the paint is hot it's softer and more easily scratched ;)

When the who car has been cleaned, rinse thoroughly using moderate pressure to remove the shampoo then rinse using an open hose.

If the car is waxed the water will pretty much drag itself off the bodywork meaning you only have to blot up the remaining water with a microfibre drying towel.

Chamois leathers are a big no no as they are likely to cause scratches/swirls :thumbs:
 
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I do love the "use autoglym" replies, which product? screen wash leather balm? Autoglym Super resin polish (srp) is a very good product, it is an all in one product that cleans, fills scratches and protects. the problem is the filler part does come out or wears away so you end up almost back where you started a 6 months down the line after all your hard work.

my apologies, i dont know which products it is that my OH uses on our car, but do know they are autoglym. However the autoglym products he uses may not be the correct ones for the OP's car anyway. Best to recommend a brand and the OP can have a look at them all and decide which ones suit his car best
 
Please excuse my ignorance but how does this work?! Haven't you've ended up with nice black paint where there previously wasn't any paint? I've never understood how this works.

Collinite 476s gets my vote for wax once you've finished the polishing, and make sure you're not using a sponge to wash the car (or a garden broom as I have known to happen :eek: ) or you'll likely damage the paintwork and undo all your/the detailer's hard work.

As Russ said there is paint there the part that was damaged was the clear coat as its clear when it is scratched it goes white in the groves, so polishing does 2 things. Removes the upper surface making the scratch disapear as yuo reach the bottom of the groove, think of it as a valley if you rub away at the tops of the hills either side eventually you will make it all the same height.
the other is that you round the edges of the scratch making them less visiable. These scratches weren't actually that bad but it still required some heavy abbrasive products like 3m fast cut plus which is almost like liquid sandpaper.

That can had been keyed down the passenger side also front to back wing front and read door and rear quarter an expensive paint job really to fix all 4 panels I was able to polish 3 of the 4 and he had to pay for the rear quarter as they chipped the paint as they came to the fuel cap and left the fuel cap.

and colly 476 is a great product, and to make the detailers slightly jellous. the last pot of wax I got.
67276_440680398386_673418386_5330904_5315474_n.jpg

a one of a kind pot by dodo juice the wax inside is their pruple haze pro.
 
Another vote for collinite here 476 is excellent and only around £15 to £17 a pot that many get 20 our more waxes from collinite 915 is better on darker colours or if you want more shine at expense of v slight loss of lengivity (contains more carnauba than 476), 476 can last a year long or so after two thin applications, ideally a few hrs apart for hardening.
Hth.
 
Hey Russ and LittleJohn, those are amazing results. Now I know why dealers have all those lovely shiny cars on their forecourt!

My car isn't as bad as either of those so hopefully it should shine up well.

Thanks for advice and getting me inspired.

Dealers are the worst for it,they pay as little as possible to cleaning companies to clean their cars on the forecourt. you will see them going round with a bucket or water and a manky sponge that they left on a bin somewhere and got blown accross the yard they pick it up dunk it in the bucket and start rubbing all the grit the sponge picked up in to your nice new £20k pride and joy. The bucket will be used to clean 4 or 5 cars and the dirt from them all ends up in the bucket and rubbed in to the next car.

We have bought a few cars now and always ask them not to do their "clean" on the outside, even when the cars go in for servicing there is a no wash sign in the window and on the front seats to prevent them attacking my cars with their dirty sponge or worse their brushes. I got my car back once and they had ignored me and it came back with bristles from their brush stick between the window rubbers and had ignored me 23 hours of hard work destroyed. That was a very expensive complimentry wash for them as they paid for it to be detailed again and not by me.

Also never bother with the other things they sell you (Autoglym lifeshine, Supaguard, Amazing glaze, Diamondbrite) what ever as they make a huge proffit from selling them way over 50% and are often poorly applied becasue they only pay their car wash people peanuts to apply them and never offer the protection they promise. The interior stuff is usually quite good.
 
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