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Paint and Body Care
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I'm a new car owner and I've been reading these forums for the past few days to learn how to keep my car looking as good as possible.
I wanted to buy a few products recommended here such as those made by Zymol, Sonax and Harly. I've visited the local Pep Boys and Autozone, but they don't carry these brands it seems. Will I have to purchase these products via mail order or can any of you recommend where I could buy these things locally?
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Tony
Take care.
Joe W.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Are my basic questions ansered here in this forum in a post that someone could refernce for me?
Thanks in advance for you experiences.
Wayne
check out:
http://autosupermart.com/
so i took it to a local Porsche and MB dealer body shop who analyzed the waxes of zymol in his shop, and the 3m products he uses, AMAZINGLY = he found the same thing to be true, he said zymol softens the paint so much that it will come off with even a small rock easily not to mention the rocks on the road, i was amazed at the difference when he showed me what zymol and meguiars side of a body panel (from a 911 that was recently in a bad accident, a beautiful blue new 911).
ALERT to all , watch out for this problem.
(by the way he also told me a store he knows of told him about zymol markups, carbon wax costs a wholesaler $15, retail $44 !!!! zymol must be making if for like $5 then, so it is true , its a $5 wax sold to us rich folks buying porsches and the like for $44, that chuch bennet is such a scammer.
Essentially: get the paint as wax and grease-free as possible with a hand-lotion-free, alkoid liquid hand (not dishwasher) dishwashing soap (like Dawn), and detailer's clay (there are a number of brands available in automotive stores and on the web). Use white, 100% cotton (loops as well as backing), made in the USA, high-quality towels to wash (wrapped around a sponge), dry, apply protectant, wipe off the "cured" protectant, and to apply/wipe off any gloss enhancer. This minimizes scratching the paint. (These are tiny scratches that you may have gotten used to seeing in auto finishes; they look like spider webs radiating out from glare points on your finish. After years of this, a finish may look dull because it reflects light in numerous directions instead of off the original flat paint surface. It's frustrating to someone who has seriously cared for their car and cannot seem to keep the original look.) Insure that your towels are washed before you use them (to minimize lint) in liquid laundry soap without bleach or fabric softener; rinse twice. Be careful with any towel edge or woven design; that may not be cotton thread and can scratch the paint. Watch for any type of grit getting in your towels or on the car surface while you work it.
One aspect of Zaino and other polymers that is different from the "natural" waxes is durability. A character hand-in-hand with Zaino is that even though you may not "need" to polish, doing so improves its look; it can be "stacked." There's a saturation point for natural waxes beyond which you are only smearing it all over the vehicle. In one respect, you can make a similar mistake with Zaino; if you try putting too much on at one time, or let it sit out in the sun too long, it may be difficult to work with and to wipe off/buff.
Since the dealer doesn't have a bodyshop, they will take the car to an external bodyshop to fix it?? Had anyone have experience with paint job from the dealer?? Are they in generally good?? Or it is case-by-case?? I am concern about whether they will be able to match the color when they repaint.
first being filled with anger, I later began
thinking of how I could get rid of them. The dents are located on the top of the trunk (I have no clue how they got there). They are not deep and the paint(black) is not scratched at all. Does anybody have any advice on how to make the dents disappear? Thank You.
There is a product thats used to repair paint
chips and scratches. You use regular touch up
paint then "buff" it down so the "touch up" is even with the car. The web page is www.langka.com.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
On my silver metallic paint, Lanka appears to darken the touch up paint a bit, making it less of a match than if I just dabbed some on.
It takes a while to get the right technique. Too much Langka on the cloth and you wipe away too much paint. And you have to stop wiping just when the paint is even with the surface.
I wonder if you could get the same results by wiping a cloth damped with lacquer thinner? Haven't tried that, but in the past when I tried a paint chip repair and didn't like the result, one wipe with a cloth wet with lacquer thinner would immediately dissolve and remove the touch up paint, but leave the surrounding paint intact.
Mr. Vivona
I want to get back that glassy finish but don't know if I should go with regular polish compound or clay. Which is better?
Also, speaking of glass, my windows have little spots on them that don't come out when I wash it. I think its from minerals in the water. Can I use clay on glass or what else is good?
I'd appreciate any suggestions or comments. You can post them here or email me. Thanks.
I read in another Edmunds topic that if claying doesn't clear up all the roughness, try 3M Foam Pad Polishing Glaze to remove light oxidation.
Do you know about the towels you should use in detailing your car?
My rear bumper was in bad need of claying or polish or something - especially the top surface, but then I got "lucky" last month. Well, my car got hit from behind. Only lucky in the respect that it was just serious enough where the body shop gave me a new bumper cover, freshly painted. So I don't think I should clay that part, right? It still feels so new. But the roof feels a little rough.
Try fingernail polish remover instead of Langka, works the same and is cheaper.
dave
Sorry you misunderstood me. Z-5 or buffing with conventional polish are separate processes that should yield the same result. Its a choice. If in fact the surface is scuffed then the clearcoat is already damaged. By the fact that losy is asking the question I assume he is a DIY'er like the rest of us and just looking for some options. I never said claying was exclusive to Zaino, only that it is part of the process, duh.
Sorry for my ignorance; what is a "DIY'er?"
While I didn't got back to see all of losy's recent posts, since this is not the Zaino forum, I wasn't sure how some one not totally familiar with Zaino products, and its recommended processes, might interpret "part of the Z treatment."
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I disregarded the warnings. Well, there's already
two small spots on top of the hood which I cannot
seem to take out. I'm afraid to scratch it and make it worse. The dealer seemed to deliver the car fully waxed. What can I use to try to take this spots out??? and what is the best product
to protect this paint from now on?? Is it true that Metalic paints chips alot faster?? Thanks for the replies........
Have you also seen our Outback topics in the Station Wagon conference? You can find them all by keying Outback in to the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page.
You can click here to go to Topic #401 over there. There HAS been some discussion of the paint quality in the last 40 or 50 posts, I believe.
Meanwhile, someone around here may also have an answer for you.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Here's my problem...
After washing OR waxing, my car picks up dust like a magnet. I think it is because of static electricity and it is worse on the plastic pieces like my bumpers, wing, and underbody spoilers. I can try and use a dusting cloth or dusting brush on it but it is covered again in fine dust in about 5 minutes of driving.
Can somebody help me with a possible product or process I can use to eliminate the static???
Thanks in advance!!!!!
Doug
I know....I should get a life, but it WAS really pretty interesting. I noticed that many of you have trouble with water spots on your cars/trucks.
I live in the S.F. Bay Area and we have really hard water here. We use a product called "Lime Away" and it comes in a lime green (who would have guessed it) bottle. All you have to do is squirt a little of the stuff on a towel and lightly rub the area of the spots and "PRESTO"...no water spots. Then just rinse the area off and re-wax.
Before I found out about Lime-Away, I had clayed my car and even used rubbing compound to try and remove those nasty spots. But they WOULD NOT work.
Anyway...I just wanted to put in my 2 cents.
Good Luck......NOW HELP ME WITH MY STATIC/DUST PROBLEM!!!!!
P.S. Just don't tell me to put the car into the clothes dryer with one of those anti-static dryer sheets please :-)
Zaino is an entire set of car care products. The detailer spray supposedly has anti-static qualities. If you look through the last 50 or 100 posts in that topic, I believe that you'll find some specific discussion of this.
Good tip on the water spots!
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Detailing Your Car - Best Practices
and suggested the originator look here.
But I'm wondering if this new topic is really something different. What do you all think? Should we spawn ANOTHER topic that is all about Paint and Body Care", or keep the discussion here?
Let me know. Your host, Bruce
BUT I HATE THE FACT THAT THE BUMPERS ARE PAINTED.
OH MY GOD THIS IS AGGRAVATING!!!!!
My 90 hatch had the stock charcoal colored
bumpers. That was great - didn't have to worry
about rocks and shopping carriages chipping the
paint off as quickly as flies on crap.
What can I do about this? I went to the dealer
and bought a tube of sliver touch-up paint, but
it's a slow process trying to paint over little
chips, and it really doesn't come out right. It's
not smooth like the original. I'm almost ready to
bring the car to a body shop and have them sand off
the paint, but I'm not convinced that the bumper
underneath is the same charcoal plastic that is on
the older models.
Who the heck got the bright idea to paint over
plastic? If the damn things are plastic, then why
aren't they colored all the way through?
Frustrated!
Take care.
Joe W.
And I'd think you could reduce static charge on the car by keeping it off of wool carpets. Right?
(I mean no offense, but the picture is funny. Sorry.)
Take care.
Joe W.
Once you've done the below, which usually takes
~6-8 hours (basically a full weekend day; faster
if
you do a BBQ and invite friends and family), you
can simply wash with water and dry in between.
Here in S. Calif. with dry air and climate, you
can get away with just washing alone for 2-3
months
before another full wax job is needed to protect
the paint -- meaning if you're gonna do the wax,
might as well do the other points below and really
clean out the puppy.
Happily, that means only four major waxing
sessions a year!
You've GOT to have wax on your car -- w/o it, the
grime and pollutants eat away at your clear coat,
leaving behind a yucky, peeling paint job in a few
short years. Wax is cheap! Paint jobs are not!!
If you're lazy, you can drive the car through the
latest touchless car washes at the gas stations --
they do a very good job and you only have to
remember to dry out the rubber seals around the
doors and hoods (otherwise, they'll stick and
deteriorate faster). You can also get your car
waxed at a shop, but be careful! They can
carelessly scratch the paint and leave all sorts
of
beaut. swirls behind -- that's why I wax my car
myself! no swirl marks, and it's far cheaper than
paying someone $100+ for a proper detailing on the
weekends.
==================================
1. Wash car. Sponge and soap bath naturally.
Spray it all off at the end.
If you have alloy wheels, stiff brush and some
Armor All Wheel cleaner (or any other wheel
cleaner) will do wonders. Spray the underbody
with
strong blast of water to get dirt and gunk off.
Same with wheel wells. Pay attention to the
windows, esp. the front, as grime collects on it
and you need to get the oils off.
2. Dry car. Squeege does wonders quickly on all
the flat surfaces to get most of it off quickly.
Next, clean cotton towel it dry. don't forget
water runoff paths along the doors (yes, open the
doors and follow the rubber seals), the trunk and
hood, and gas. If you don't try these areas off,
the rubber will deteriorate faster and stick.
For the wheels, make sure you dry along the lug
nuts as well to prevent rusting.
(naturally, if you have an air blaster, the better
and faster for you)
Wipe down the engine, around the hoses esp. just
to get most of the dust and stuff off. Not much
you can do here beside a full engine detailing if
it's really dirty -- after all, its sitting right
up front where the road dust goes straight into
the
engine and all. But keeping it decently clean
will make the mechanic happy and the engine
running
smoothly.
Above can be done outside.
Below, in a covered area so the sun doesn't hit
the car.
3. Meguiar's Clay Bar. Clay bar the entire car,
esp. the top facing surfaces, so you get all the
embedded particles out. It is the cheapest and
easiest way to get the paint feeling silky smooth
again, esp. after lots of sitting outside and
freeway driving. Meguiar's Quick Detailing spray
will be used as the lube so the clay bar doesn't
stick to the surface, leaving trails of clay on
your paint.
Dry the car with clean cloth after you've clay
bar'd the area to get the Spray liquid off.
4. Wax the baby. See Consumer Reports month 3/4
of '00 for the list of longest lasting/shinny
waxes. In any case, I've used Meguiars and Armor
All Diamondwax. Found the Armor All to last the
longest and provides a nice shine on a gold
colored
car. We're talking a month or less for the
Meguiars vs. a couple months for the Armor All in
dry S.Calif. with an occasional car wash every 3-4
weeks.
(CR lists Prestone Bullet Wax as the other
longest lasting; same as Armor All, but slightly
easier to buff off. Zymol and NuWax were the
shinniest waxes, but didn't last as long --
probably better choices for dark colored cars.)
If you have a rotary buffer, the faster for you --
just be careful, or you'll burn the paint and
gorge a nice hole. Rotary buffers also leave a
very smooth finish -- much smoother and glossier
than waxing by hand, but again, be careful! or
you'll burn the paint.
5. Armor All the outside trim. Small piece of
cloth, foam Q-tips -- prevents oxidization of the
rubber parts, esp. around the windows, so you
don't
get a yucky looking car in a couple years w/o.
Inside, it's up to you. If you have tinted
windows w/UV blockers, you don't have to do the
inside as often, eps. with these newest cars that
have UV/IR blocking glass. But if it's under the
sun all day, better throw a little on it.
Also, because the Armor All evaporates,
easiest way is to sit the car in the sun with the
windows down to have the inside all dry --
otherwise, expect a day or two of Armor All in the
air inside.
Any other UV protectant will do, esp. one
smells better to you.
6. Vac. the entire inside, get under the floor
matts, into the crevices, preferably with a good
attachment.
Don't forget the trunk and under the seats,
too!
7. While cleaning out the trunk, inflate the spare
properly. Then, check the rest of the four tires,
which should have cooled down by this time.
8. Windex the inner windows as needed. Lots of
freeway driving = smog/oil collects on the inner
windows leaving a haze.
(one BIG reason all cars should have
carbon/micron air filtration systems, or be
driving
with the re-circulation on. It's not healty
either breathing in all that exhaust in S. Calif.)
Lysol household cleaner in a bucket of water to
disinfect everything else and cut through whatever
oils may be left on the surfaces - eg. shifter,
knobs, etc.
=========================
Whew! If you started in the morning, you should
be done just as dinner starts to roll around, and
you can take the car for a quick spin around the
block just to show off your nice new polish!
Go ahead and nuke my original topic that you froze.
d
They're a blast!
Before, I've always avoided automatic car washers because those spinning brushes easily left swirls and damanged paint behind (they pickup everything from the prior car, and they hit the car pretty hard).
But the first time I saw a car in the Mark VII Aquajet, I was thinking, hmmm, touchless!
I immediately gave it a whirl.
You buy the car wash code at the gas pump, inside, or right before you enter the washer (put in bills here only).
After punching in the activation code, which can be used up to 7 days after purchase, you pull the car into the washer, over the left wheel bump, and stop.
Turn off you car as the washer starts up. The first thing it does is whirls soap foam all over the car from three spindle jets. The spinning action ensures every last bit of glass and car is covered, and the jets help the soap wash throw off some of the outer grit and dust.
Next, the wash cycle starts and jets of water spray the entire car top to bottom twice, again from spinning jets that get everywhere and make sure the stuff gets sprayed off.
Finally, (my coolest part), high-powered air blasts from rows of nozzles in the Mark VII to blast the water from the car. It makes two passes and it pretty much gets off 99% of the water, even off the windshield and all. It's really fun -- just make sure you close the air vent, set it to recirculate, or some of the air (minor, just a slow vent) will enter the car.
Finally, it stops, and you drive away.
--
Pluses - it's quick and easy, esp. given that you do this during a refill. It's touchless so you don't have to worry about your wax and paint being damaged. It does a far better job a drying your car than the touch-systems or having guys dry your car with the same yucky cloth used to scratch all prior ones. It's Fun!
Minuses - it doesn't open the door, hood, and trunk like real people to dry out all of the rubber gaskets, the seals, and the water drain paths (eg. along both sides of the trunk and hood). As a result, if you don't wipe them dry yourself after a wash, it's just like not drying them after a rainy day or washing your car -- the rubber will fall apart faster and they'll stick slightly to the car, and dried up dust and water drainoff will be left behind on the drain channels, eventually leading to early corrosion of those areas.
(yes, I'm picky - I dry off all those rubber seals and drain passages to make sure the car stays clean and neat.)
But happily, that can be done in a matter of a few wipes and minutes, and it's far faster than washing your own car. Also, it's not soap that's left behind, just water and dusty runoff.
--
The wash won't get off weeks old grime - it's designed for the guy who brings it in every two or three weeks and the car is dusty from LA smog, but not coated heavily by it. Because it is touchless, it won't get very greasy smoggy windshields super clean. But in general, it's a good in-between detailing wash that'll keep your car looking clean and nice between the 4-5/year detailing jobs (that I do for my own car anyways).
Nicely, it doesn't whap off the wax ala touch-washers or even a hand wash. Thus, you can get away with not waxing your car for a longer time since the wax is still good to go.
It definitely gets my vote of confidence, and I use it now and then when I don't have time to wash the car myself, and just want it looking nice in-between hand washes and detailing.
----
Mobil current does a plan where you get 5 washes and get 1 free. Prices range from $5-$7 for a wash depending on three levels of features - I've always gone for the basic $5 knowing that any 'wax' specials are just lies -- there's no way you can spray on a decent coat of wax yet, and the extra passes aren't needed on my well-maintained car.
-----------------------------
(here's pictures of the machine:
Just two, doesn't do it justice: http://www.lancasternet.org/newpage31.htm
More searching brought up this site for
caswash owners in general with lots links:
http://www.carwashforum.com/
And it links finally to this baby, which has
lots of nice pictures of my Mark VII Aquajet
favorite (see Tours->Automatic #1-#3):
http://www.cointrol.com/ )
I think this topic could easily cover everything - just change the name from "Paint and Body care" to something more general, like "Car care" or "Car Care and Detailing".
"Paint and Body" car sound like the only concerns are good paint and dent removal.
d
The early polls are in. Of course, adorable was last seen stuffing the ballot box...{B^D
Vote early and vote often was the political battle cry in my home town, Chicago.
Your host, Bruce
The paint finish came out extremely smooth and glassy like it was from the factory. This Chevy Monte Carlo and its "dark jade green metallic" paint is two years old, always outdoors, and saw only one day of snow but lots of rain and heat. I have owned this car since it was built so I know how the finish felt the day I brought her home, and no other product that I have ever used (on any car) has made it this smooth. After claying a few panels, I proceeded to apply turtle-wax, the plain carnuba wax nothing fancy, to protect it.
I also tried it out on the plastic tailight lens and that came out smoother than before with no scratches!
The meguiar's product I used came in a box with their "detailing spray" which doesn't say what it contains, but i sprayed it generously before using the clay bar. It cost $10.
Can't wait till tommorrow morning to go out and look at my shiny car!
BUT I HATE THE FACT THAT THE BUMPERS ARE PAINTED.
OH MY GOD THIS IS AGGRAVATING!!!!!My 90 hatch had the stock charcoal colored
bumpers. That was great - didn't have to worry
about rocks and shopping carriages chipping the
paint off as quickly as flies on crap.
What can I do about this? I went to the dealer
and bought a tube of sliver touch-up paint, but
it's a slow process trying to paint over little
chips, and it really doesn't come out right. It's
not smooth like the original. I'm almost ready to
bring the car to a body shop and have them sandoff
the paint, but I'm not convinced that the bumper
underneath is the same charcoal plastic that is onthe older models.
Who the heck got the bright idea to paint over
plastic? If the damn things are plastic, then why
aren't they colored all the way through?Frustrated!
Honda which of course has a clear coat finish. Apparently, the garage
it
was parked in at the dealer was painted and there were many light, very
tiny white dots of paint that had misted on to the car from the paint
spray. I was reluctnat to accept the car, but the dealer said they
could
be detailed off -- however, now I find out that they had to send it to
a
body shop to be wet sanded. They say it looks perfect; but I'm upset
about the situation (the salesman was supposed to call me before doing
anything like this). I can not imagine how the clear coat would
withstand "wetsanding" of any form. Should I ask them to put another
layer of clear coat on that half of the car? (Is that even possible?) I
am at the point where I do not want to accept the car because of this.
The dealer says they will put a "free" sealant on it and that doing so
will return the car to normal. I've always heard that these sealants
are a waste of money; moreover, can a sealant truly replace a sanded
clear coat? Am I overreacting? Do you have an expert there on this
stuff or similar experiences. Need help ASAP. Thanks!
Michael Rowan
mrowan@wbklaw.com