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thecobra posted:So I bought this thing As long as it turns in non-repetitive circles, it'll work... for as long as it keeps turning in non-repetitive circles. I'm not familiar with the Wen brand, but it looks like Harbor Freight-esqe packaging, which may mean that longevity isn't going to be that machine's legacy. It should work to give you an idea of how one works to see if you want to pay the money for one of the more robust buffers.
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Jul 12, 2012 00:07
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EVERYWHERE 
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Hey guys, in case you don't venture over to SA-Mart, I have a $50 gift certificate to DetailersDoman.com that I'm looking to sell for $40. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3495602
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Jul 13, 2012 01:02
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Any tips on removing clear bra? My Evo has one on it but it's scratched pretty bad. I would like to just remove it. Also any advice on waxing/polishing a black car? I have the Meguires orbital and the tan bottles of polish and compound but haven't really used it on the car yet.
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Jul 13, 2012 08:31
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jdfording posted:Any tips on removing clear bra? My Evo has one on it but it's scratched pretty bad. I would like to just remove it. Also any advice on waxing/polishing a black car? I have the Meguires orbital and the tan bottles of polish and compound but haven't really used it on the car yet. Use a heat gun to warm it up and pull slowly. Don't pull up, pull it back on itself.
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Jul 13, 2012 12:34
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Mother's Showtime Spray. http://www.mothers.com/02_products/08224.html The greatest invention since sliced bread, use this stuff after a wash when you already have a good coat of wax to maintain it.
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Jul 13, 2012 19:25
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ratbert90 posted:I don't think Meguiars is better, it's just what I use. Any how to's out there or tutorials? I need to do some serious work on my leather. It's got issues. And is there really nothing for cracks? I thought I saw leather crack repair stuff in the past, I just wasn't sure what was the best. Basically my seats are really really hosed but it would be a 2k custom job to get them redone and so I want to do as much as I can to look decent as a stopgap til I have a pro job. Cause I don't have $2k right now. I have done good things on my other car with SEM products but these seats are nowhere near ready for that.
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Jul 14, 2012 20:38
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ColHannibal posted:Mother's Showtime Spray. Yup. I've had my car 2 months and haven't had to wash it yet because I go over it every morning with a California Car Duster and get any dew spots or puddle splashes or whatever out with the Showtime spray.
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Jul 14, 2012 22:33
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Bumming Your Scene posted:Yup. I've had my car 2 months and haven't had to wash it yet because I go over it every morning with a California Car Duster Yea, don't do that. Unless you like working on rubbing out your car's clear coat.
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Jul 16, 2012 02:29
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Pretty sure you use static to pick dust off the paint with those. Confirm?
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Jul 16, 2012 02:42
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If it's a very VERY light coating of dust/pollen then yeah, that's fine, just be super careful, and if you feel any scraping or dragging I sure as hell would stop immediately.
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Jul 16, 2012 02:57
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I have a couple detailing related questions. It looks like the dash on my E30, which I believe is vinyl, is starting to dry out. What sort of product would you all recommend for that? I need to keep up on my leather sport seats in the car as well. Secondly, the single stage paint on my red car is really starting to oxidize quickly. If I wax it, it stays really nice for about as long as the wax does, and then you can really see the pink start to come back. Is there a relatively non-aggressive polish I can use to get out some of the tiny scratches and get some red back? I am nervous because I feel like the paint is already rather thin. My silver car has a whole bag of other minor paint issues, but I really need a picture to describe it. I feel like I could polish some of the many minor minor scratches out of the paint with a polish as well.
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Jul 24, 2012 01:03
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Lightbulb Out posted:I have a couple detailing related questions. It looks like the dash on my E30, which I believe is vinyl, is starting to dry out. What sort of product would you all recommend for that? I need to keep up on my leather sport seats in the car as well. Throw away any armorall you have and get this. http://www.amazon.com/3M-39040-LEATHER-RESTORER-CLEANER-16OZ/dp/B0002NUNM0 3M leather / Vinyl restorer is the best stuff on the planet.
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Jul 24, 2012 07:13
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So I just discovered a nice little paint chip on a practically brand new car. It's about the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen. What can I do to fix this? 
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Jul 24, 2012 14:38
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I noticed that /drive on YouTube has added a segment on car care in the last month.Etrips posted:So I just discovered a nice little paint chip on a practically brand new car. It's about the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen. What can I do to fix this? I've heard of using clear nail polish for this sort of chip.
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Jul 24, 2012 14:43
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Etrips posted:So I just discovered a nice little paint chip on a practically brand new car. It's about the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen. What can I do to fix this?
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Jul 24, 2012 15:30
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ColHannibal posted:Go get a little bottle of touch up from the dealer and weep every time you wash your car. What do I put on top of it once I put the touch up paint on?
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Jul 24, 2012 15:50
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They make rattle can clear coat but most touch up paint is designed to be single stage. Just tab a bit on to hide the chip and protect from rust. It's not going to be perfect but don't make the blemish bigger than it already is. Fill the tiny hole and try to forget about it.
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Jul 24, 2012 22:53
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If you wetsand, compound and polish it as well, you can get drat close to making it disappear, especially on a metallic colour.
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Jul 24, 2012 23:11
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Etrips posted:So I just discovered a nice little paint chip on a practically brand new car. It's about the size of a tip of a ballpoint pen. What can I do to fix this? Have a bodyshop blend it then never drive your car again considering much bigger rock chips will happen.
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Jul 24, 2012 23:23
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I'm going to be buying an FR-S in the not too distant future and the hot thing on the forums is to have a detailer apply opti-coat to the car. Do any of you detailing folks have any experience with it? It'd pretty appealing to me as I live in an apartment and don't have easy access to a good area to detail my car.
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Aug 2, 2012 05:45
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It's a clear coat on top of your clear coat. It works amazingly well and given care should last about a year.
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Aug 3, 2012 05:26
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My new car has a couple small chips on it already, and there's a scratch on the front hood, seemingly from a rock or something.  What's the best way to deal with these? I'm afraid to try and touch up paint myself for fear of making it look worse. Are there any good tips/tutorials on cleaning up things like that, or am I better off getting it professionally detailed if I want it to be done right? If so, what's that generally cost? Other than those, the only issue I've been having is that the rear end of my car gets exceptionally dirty. I haven't been able to wash it lately, because of the drought and water use restrictions, so here it is after a few weeks:   As you can see, the side and front don't look that bad. They're obviously dirty, but not an eyesore. The back, though, is disgusting. Every time I clean it, the first thing that gets dirty is the hatch. Is this just something that hatches do, or maybe some kind of weird "design flaw" in the Sonic itself that it collects dirt that way? I'm just wondering if there's an easy way to prevent it from getting dirty like that. Mud flaps on the back tires or something?
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Aug 4, 2012 19:01
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This looks like a door edge. If it is, the way to deal with it is to stop hitting your door into things. And touch up. It'd be a fairly odd rock to make that kind of a mark, regardless, you can only pretty that one up, not fix it. I'd use a Magic Eraser, get 85% of it out, put a good coat of wax over the area and call it good. quote:Is this just something that hatches do Yes.
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Aug 4, 2012 19:20
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meatpimp posted:It'd be a fairly odd rock to make that kind of a mark, regardless, you can only pretty that one up, not fix it. I'd use a Magic Eraser, get 85% of it out, put a good coat of wax over the area and call it good. Do NOT use a magic eraser on your paint. Ever. http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/can-you-use-a-magic-eraser-on-paint/ Use a fine hand polishing compound and wax from there. I like Griot's fine hand polish.
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Aug 4, 2012 20:50
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GTi_guy posted:Do NOT use a magic eraser on your paint. Ever. It is a very good tool. No different than a rubbing compound. Get strong florescent lights on a polished dark paint and use compound... you'll see the same scratches. Then you polish them out. Your link was regarding using a Magic Eraser for bird poo poo removal... if you do that, you're dumb. But to quick fix scratches already in the paint? Magic. Either that, or leave big scratches in the paint. meatpimp fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Aug 4, 2012 |
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Aug 4, 2012 20:58
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meatpimp posted:It is a very good tool. No different than a rubbing compound. Get strong florescent lights on a polished dark paint and use compound... you'll see the same scratches. Then you polish them out. Uh, no you won't  If you are using rubbing compound correctly with the correct techniques there won't be those marks at all.
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Aug 5, 2012 21:15
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ratbert90 posted:Uh, no you won't
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Aug 5, 2012 21:31
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InitialDave posted:He's talking about a Magic Eraser, not rubbing compound. He was comparing the two. ? He said use compound and you will see the same scratches. I am saying if you use compound correctly you won't.
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Aug 5, 2012 21:35
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ratbert90 posted:? He said use compound and you will see the same scratches. I am saying if you use compound correctly you won't. I'm saying that if you use a Magic Eraser properly, not going at the finish like a monkey on crack, that it will be fine. And the Magic Eraser WILL take care of minor scratches like magic with no ill effect. Alternatively, you can also use rubbing compound and put the same kinds of scratches in paint as GTi_guy's link showed, if used on a perfect finish underneath strong florescent lighting. As a matter of fact, MOST cars that are not complete garage queens will have paint that looks lovely and scratched up underneath strong florescent light, yet still look beautifully finished in natural light. That's why I use florescents in my garage -- if you can make something look smooth/glossy/clear under florescent, then you're done. To put a perfectly polished panel under florescent light, then rub on it with a Magic Eraser and use it as an example to claim that you should NEVER use a Magic Eraser on paint is disingenuous. There is nothing "magic" about it, it is simply another type of abrasive and, as with any abrasive, you can gently caress things up if you use them incorrectly. The fact is that I have an extremely critical eye for paint. I was employed by a detailing company in the '80s. I have done contract work for Zymol. I know a thing or two about paint care. I use a Magic Eraser for many things with a car, including the finish, and have had nothing but good results*. (*noted exception: pearlescent paint. If you have a scratch in a pearl paint, the magic eraser will soften/tear the pearl coat. I've seen that on multiple cars. You have to use your head, just like anything else.)
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Aug 5, 2012 22:35
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Some lovely lazy person decided to use the roof of my black car as a stand for their items, as their time was far too important to bend down and pick it up after shutting their door. It's pretty obvious that it is deep, but still just through the weak clear coat. I've tried with various success in the past to cover/'re-seal' with 'magic scrape' sort of products, albeit on my silver car. None of those seem to be working worth a drat. What sort of options do I have to minimize impact on my wallet while hiding this?
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Aug 6, 2012 22:06
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Does anyone have any experience with applying Stoner brand Upholstery & Carpet Cleaner to black Alcantara seats (in a Lexus IS-F if that matters)? I ask because this stuff cleans fast. With an interior brush and a few micro-towels, I could probably do all the seats in ~45 minutes. Other methods are very time intensive because you have to avoid over-saturation. My instincts are telling me to be cautious because the stuff is rather heavy duty but it's always been harmless to anything I've sprayed it on. The spray can itself says, "Water based cleaner is hard on dirt yet virtually harmless to carpeting, upholstery and other surfaces." And the stuff smells so nice afterwards. Does anyone have any experience here?
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Aug 7, 2012 00:31
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Viggen posted:Some lovely lazy person decided to use the roof of my black car as a stand for their items, as their time was far too important to bend down and pick it up after shutting their door. Couple options I've had success with in removing a scratch that is right through the clear without repainting. Keep in mind these are last resort before a repaint, and don't work every time. First up, if you have access to a buffer, put it on the scratch on a bit of an angle, and start it running. Your objective is to heat the clear up around the scratch until it melts over the clear. It's gonna leave an ugly, hazy burned looking clear mark. It's also quite hard to do, as you need to pull the buffer off as soon as the clear starts to melt. If you manage that part, wait until it hardens up again, give it a very light scuff with 2000 grit over the burn to smooth it out, then gently buff a polish back on it. Done right, this method leaves a near perfect finish. Done wrong, it makes things 10x worse and requires a respray. Another method that's a bit safer, but doesn't result in quite as good a finish is to grab a can of cut in clear, spray yourself a nice puddle in a dish or the cap or whatever, take a touch up brush and apply a coat of clear to the scratch. Wait til it drys, and do it again. Do it until you have a convex little mound of clear over the scratch, then sand it down smooth and buff it. A lot harder to bugger that up, and given some effort can actually produce a good finish. Before you try either of those though, are you 100% sure the scratch is right through the clear? I've taken out some really deep ones before that I thought for sure were into the base.
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Aug 7, 2012 02:47
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letgomyAgo posted:Before you try either of those though, are you 100% sure the scratch is right through the clear? I've taken out some really deep ones before that I thought for sure were into the base. I don't consider myself competent enough to do any of the suggestions given. My touch-up work has rendered my daily driver with measles when viewed at an angle, because the clearcoat nail polish would not flatten out no matter how I tried, then I decided it looked good enough for a $2,000 car.  It's pretty deep, and the clear coat on later SAABs is very weak.  Sorry about the crappy photo - that was with an incandescent assist because the garage is so dark. Yes, it does look quite white now, but a gentle buffing and the black comes right back. I did a similar treatment on the hood where someone scraped it with their ring, and it's unnoticeable now. Most of the dust in the shot is actually that. It's been sitting nearly two weeks; I am a bad parent.
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Aug 8, 2012 02:03
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So my daily driver is literally a Zamboni. Two of them actually. We just got them back from paint and we would now like to try to keep them looking nice. The paint job isn't the greatest, hell I'm not even sure if it has a clear coat.. I will check that tonight. This is where I need your help. I don't know if I should just wipe it down every day with a microfiber towel or what. Here is what I'm dealing with: -The thing is always god drat wet. Mostly the hopper area (where the snow is held until we dump it) And after we dump it, it will keep putting out water due to small amounts of snow build up in there that slowly melt. -Grease fittings everywhere, so there is always gross brown grease everywhere -Hydraulic hoses running everwhere -Unpainted steel surfaces -Chrome Rims -Brand new wheels (which I would like to keep shiny and nice looking) -Some stains on the new paint already, not sure if the paint is just so thin and they didn't prep it and the stains are on the original paint -Hard plastic surfaces -An engine bay that could use some sprucing up, not looking for anything near show quality -Large areas of yellowed plastic (they hold the piping hot water) -Some rust spots are already showing up after a week from paint I will take some pictures tonight. This could be a mess due to the machines environment but I think with constant upkeep we can keep these things looking awesome. Any suggestions?
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Aug 9, 2012 16:25
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Polish posted:Zamboni. Two of them actually. We just got them back from paint That is largely dependent on what the paint ship did. Working equipment is usually a heavy 1 part paint that is easy to bring back to looking good with a compounding/light sanding. How did the shop prep the machines? How did they paint it / does it need to cure? All important questions and upkeep will be based off of the answers.
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Aug 9, 2012 17:51
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meatpimp posted:That is largely dependent on what the paint ship did. Working equipment is usually a heavy 1 part paint that is easy to bring back to looking good with a compounding/light sanding. I'm not sure on their procedures of prepping and painting. I also don't know if that information is available to me. I can ask but I don't think I'll get an answer. I do know that they used a sprayer, but that isn't very helpful. If I had to guess I would think they washed it and then sprayed it.
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Aug 9, 2012 18:04
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Zamboni thread!
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Aug 10, 2012 02:27
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revmoo posted:Zamboni thread! I could do that, although I don't take too much apart on them. It might generate some interest though. In other news, we noticed last night the paint is chipping in a few spots.. this thing is only a week back from paint and its chipping already. We are gonna see if the company who painted it will come out and touch up those spots. Whenever I get these pictures off my phone I'll post a Zamboni thread.. it is an interesting machine. Oh, and it is confirmed there is a clear coat on the new paint.
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Aug 10, 2012 14:29
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Polish posted:In other news, we noticed last night the paint is chipping in a few spots.. this thing is only a week back from paint and its chipping already. We are gonna see if the company who painted it will come out and touch up those spots. So you got a worse than Earl Scheib job done on it. Unfortunately with prep work that poor the best thing you can do it not touch it too much and hope for the best.
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Aug 10, 2012 15:09
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Motronic posted:So you got a worse than Earl Scheib job done on it. Yeah.. the other one is being painted right now and many of the panels had exposed rust so I'm expecting the worst. Not much we can do about it now aside from maintaining it. The owners are contacting the shop it got done at to see what they can do about it. Any suggestions on polishing exhaust pipes?
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Aug 10, 2012 16:33
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