Q...even if I say so myself...your motor looked AWESOME when you overtook me on the A14. Hope you enjoy the finish.

Tell you what Mark, after last nights debacle and having the joy of driving through Englands finest country lanes with all the nasty flies trying to headbutt me, I'm even more of a convert than I already was. When I came home this evening I took a plant-spray container thingimajik and misted the water on the places you showed us. Got the oldest towel out of the cupboard and I was able to swipe the nasties right off... No soap, no scrub, just a gentle wipe with the towel. Exactly as you had promised.

I am so well pleased!

Q...thats great. Remember to keep waxing the frontal high impact areas every week...this equaals no bug splatter problems.

Well.....what did her indoors have to say after having the "paint removed by an expert" when you got home?

My better half was very angry when she heared about those hooligans at the pub. She personally would like to thank you though for bringing us along and offering to clean the car. She couldn't tell it had the paint over it when I showed her!

Q.

PS. Not doing this behind her back again though... There is only so much I can get away with

:rofl:

BTW - I had some seriously impressed colleagues at work today. Certainly showed their motors up.

Mark, Julie's now working her way round the house with the Multiclean. I diluted it 1:25 (ish) and she keeps pointing out bits that are definitely somewhat cleaner than before.

Let's see how long 5l lasts!!! (and how much I use on the car )

Cheers,

Howard

Must agree - a glorious result.

But then I read about the maintenance that is needed...

Originally posted by Stuart_J in this post

I tend to clean the L&K about once a week (about 1000 miles) polish the leading edges only every 2-3 weeks & then wax the whole car & dress the tyres about every 6 weeks.

Sorry guys - that's just too much work for me! Have better things to do in weekends...

(Have now washed the car twice in four months - a vast improvement in frequency over how I handled the Legacy - and already Mrs D4x4 was making remarks on my sudden bout of car tartiness. Would you believe it? But that's from a woman who washes her car every six months. And it's black too...)

Mattijs, Mark showed us that if you keep up the wax, you clean your car in under an hour... and that includes waxing, buffing and cleaning. An hour on Sunday is not too much to invest in precious, is it?

Mattijs

Your obviously looking for that "street camoflage look"

If your at Goodwood on Saturday I hope the shine from the Skoda in the GRRC car park dosent distract you too much from the event !!!

Stuart

Stuart, when are you at Goodwood? I'm there Friday and Sunday, would you like your video back?

Jon

Yep love the vid back but I'm only there on Saturday, If you are passing this way at any time can you drop it in, I will call if I'm your way, failing that it looks like 31/8 somewhere in Wales

Stuart

Q: an hour on a Sunday - and surely not every Sunday? - is way too much...

Stuart: sorry, won't be there for the Festival. Have booked for the Revival this time. Will you be around?

"Street camouflage look"? I like that!

Sure, an hour every Sunday... Beats having a lie in by far

So now I've found this thread - very impressive results. Howard - what I'd love to see would be before and after shots of the Mondeo's or your L&K's engine compartments side by side. What did Mark use to clean the engine compartment? A pressure washer? Any concerns about damp electrics etc?

Nick, I'll check when I get home but I don't think I have any before shots of the engine bays. If I have, I'll post one up here.

I can say that the Mondeo's engine bay was *filthy*. Mark used two products in the engine bay - Multiclean and one other (unspecified but I think some sort of degreaser). These were sprayed liberally around the bay and left to soak.

Mark then used a pressure washer to clean off the residue. Lastly, a finishing spray was used to give the 'shine' on the plastics etc. I have to say the engine bays looked good even before the finishing spray.

Mark may be able to give more details on the other product he used. I'm going to make it a 3 monthly job to keep the engine bays clean - Multiclean should do the trick now that the worst of the dirt is off.

My L&K's bay was also quite dirty, but the effect is greater due to the shine you get off the engine cover.

I had no problem with starting or running on either of the cars (and neither did Q).

Cheers,

Howard

Sounds good - reason I asked about electrics is because the engine bay I really want to clean contains some old and rather frail electrics which can be a little temperamental at the best of times ...

PS My Mond had those alloys on too so I know what a b*tch they are to clean !!

I can confirm that spraying the engine bay with the pressure washer has had made no difference mechanical or electronical wise. And now I've got some shine to boost

Q.

Thsi is probably answered elsewhere (but I couldn't find it :p ) - How much does Mark charge to do this valet job? Have to ask as im definitely in the Mattijs vein when it comes to laziness on cleaning Currently think that the matt brown/yellow of the RS doesn't look too bad

Mattijs, Yep will be at the revival.

Re Pressure washing,

Mark uses a modded pressure washer with slightly reduced pressure, Best rule to remember is pressure wash from a distance, if you get the head to close you will force water in somewhere.

Mark does a list of instructions on how to pressure wash & he may be persuaded to post it, Im seeing him tonight so I will ask the question

Stuart

Originally posted by KentStu in this post

Thsi is probably answered elsewhere (but I couldn't find it :p ) - How much does Mark charge to do this valet job? Have to ask as im definitely in the Mattijs vein when it comes to laziness on cleaning Currently think that the matt brown/yellow of the RS doesn't look too bad

Phone Mark or email him and ask him to make you a quote. If you can get a few (I think the max is 3) cars together he'll do you a sweet deal

Q.

Mattijs - just noted your comment on your wife - Mrs Stu is the same - bought her new Ibiza in january and it is yet to have its first clean I reckon she's hanging on for me to clean it ... could be a while to go ... although it might be preferable to nappy changing so I reserve the right to become a cleaning tart overnight :cheers:

Two weeks ago I did both cars in one go. If you thought the outside was filthy, that was because I didn't mention the interior - cleaning out the Micra was similar to doing the stables in the sheep farm just around our corner.

Received a generous amount of praise, so I expect that you are (subconsciously) avoiding her silent hints, Stu.

Originally posted by Stuart_J in this post

Mattijs, Yep will be at the revival.

Re Pressure washing,

Mark uses a modded pressure washer with slightly reduced pressure, Best rule to remember is pressure wash from a distance, if you get the head to close you will force water in somewhere.

Mark does a list of instructions on how to pressure wash & he may be persuaded to post it, Im seeing him tonight so I will ask the question

Stuart

Stuart,

Mark didn't mention this when he was doing our cars. Can you confirm with him tonight and let me know, as I am thinking of buying a new pressure washer. From what Mark said he uses the bottom of the range Karcher but with an extension lance.

TIA,

Howard

Mrs Nick has never cleaned any of her cars. I clean them occasionally (less frequently than my own) because I can't bear to see the state of them any longer. I get b*gger all praise for it, either ... :(

PS I wish whichever mod it is would stop moving threads about all over the place - very hard to keep track ... :(

Hmm. Yes, seems to have moved back to My Styling again (where I originally posted it).

Keeps us on our toes.

Howard

Very impressive indeed!! The Mondeo's alloy impressed me the most tho , I'm amazed how good that looks when cleaned up! I think any Mondy owner who has those alloys should have them 'Wizzarded' and send the bill to whatever moron designed them!!