I had a holiday day that needed using up before January and for some nutterish reason decided that it might be a good idea to spend the majority of it washing, claying and waxing the car

Here's how the car started at about 8.15 am:

So first it was on with the snow foam (I still can't get the concentrate of this stuff right but it still seems to work OK even when it's weak...

After a quick rinse with the pressure washer this looked as good as most people would be happy with:

I then went over the car with a lambs wool wash mitt using a bucket and grit guard with some cheap ass halfords car wash detergent as I've unfortunately ran out of Megs Gold Class (It's on the xmas present list though!): This made me realise how amazing the Megs stuff is at foaming up and washing...

There are some signs that I need to be cautious with the pressure washer and need to make some time to sort out this sill issue before it gets worse:

There are still some indications that I wax the car frequently:

I then clay barred and rinsed the whole car

Followed by another layer of snow foam, for the sake of it really

Leaving me with a damn clean car

In to the dry to start drying and waxing.

I did decide to polish the bonnet with some Stirling SM7 polish however it was too cold and this was really hard work by hand so after doing this panel I gave up really.

Before I got going on the bodywork properly I decided to get the exhaust done

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Out with the Autoglym HD Wax (I love the smell of the stuff)

I was a bit disappointed to see that the spoiler had started to give in to UV damage so got some generic 'scratch remover' (the closest thing to a cutting polish I have) and a microfibre cloth to try to get some of the redness back.

Here's a 50/50 shot

This subsequently got about 10 (and that's not an exaggeration) layers of the HD wax to try to protect it from now on...

Carrying on with the car and the less easy bits (the sides)

I took this opportunity to fit my second numberplate holder:

Unfortunately it was dark at this stage so no opportunity for a proper 'after' shot but I am very pleased that I now have 2 or 3 layers of Autoglym HD wax all over the car (with 4/5 in the easy places such as bonnet, roof and upper doors) to protect over the winter months.

Looks smart.

Do you live/work on a farm then? Now you just need to shrink wrap it so it doesn't get dirty on a horrible mucky farm track.

Nice work and great finish - re the snowfoam, I usually put about 1" in the bottom of the 1 litre bottle and top up with water.

If you are already doing this then check the adjuster wheel on the top of the lance is more clockwise and if all else fails it may need stripping down and cleaning.

Looks smart.

Do you live/work on a farm then? Now you just need to shrink wrap it so it doesn't get dirty on a horrible mucky farm track.

Live on a farm and work in an office; two contrasting environments. The car was filthy as soon as I'd driven 3 miles up the road

Nice work and great finish - re the snowfoam, I usually put about 1" in the bottom of the 1 litre bottle and top up with water.

If you are already doing this then check the adjuster wheel on the top of the lance is more clockwise and if all else fails it may need stripping down and cleaning.

Thanks; I always used to do 1" in the bottom and then top up with water. This time I had 3" in the bottom (I wanted a high concentration to strip any wax etc anyway) but it still ran off. MIght just be that the car's paint is cleaner & smoother than I give it credit for or something

Car looks v. nice

bet you get off your land and its all dirty again.

Snow foam can be hit and miss when using different products.

I use just over an inch to 2 inches and make sure the water is really warm and dont fill it all the way up. I use BH and Autofoam and a bit of Megs Gold Class, BH is much better and smells great.

This is an inch and warm water - i've been getting it more like shaving foam recently.

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by prolfe

Nice work there and I know how tough it can be living 'off the road' and trying to keep on top of your motor's cleanliness, good work though..............

Looks lovely, quick question though.

With the number plate surround, do you require new number plates when you remove the old ones?

If not, how do they stick back on?

Cheers

I didn't need new plates because I happened to have access to some proper number plate double sided tape, which I presume is how most people fit the plates to the surrounds

I didn't need new plates because I happened to have access to some proper number plate double sided tape, which I presume is how most people fit the plates to the surrounds

Ah right, I was under the impression that the number plates were designed to snack or crack in the event of removal to prevent theft.

So it is literally just special number plate double sided sticky tape?

Well if they are then I make a good number plate thief, lol

I think that is exactly what it is. Just strong double sided sticky tape!