The paintwork is too far gone, and my level of interest in pristne finish to low for me to bother with that then. I have erached my limit with a decent shampoo, a bit of a polish, and a wax to help it stay shiny without having to do it all again too often. I guess I am more interested in the mechanical bits than how it looks.

It should't be bad, but I had a real problem polishing the haze off, it just stained the paintwork. I can still see the marks slightly today, that was after about 30 minutes polishing the rear wing around the fuel filler flap.

Did you use t-cut metallic or t-cut original.

The original is much harsher.

Try scratch-X 2.0 (Yes it has to be 2, as one does little on the harder vag paint)

some great top tips,my front end is full of little pit marks (late 57 plate car)so clay might not be the way for me to go if it can make them look worse as the rest of the car is in not bad condition.Think all I am after is to just try and help pervent anymore damage and make it as easy as possible to try and keep her as clean as possible in the least time.just need to find the time now to make a start,anymore tips would be good as can be a lazy t**t when it comes to anything like this but I do wash her once a week and try and keep on top of things.still the best colour for me

I'd suggest you clay it if it's a 57 plate car and never been clayed, the paint will have lots of bonded contaminants. In my experience it can make some chips look a bit worse, but that's just my opinion. I think the fact is if you clean anything it makes the imperfections stand out more. If you really have reservations, clay everywhere except the front part of the bonnet and make sure you read a couple of good guides/tutorials, but claying is really not that difficult and it can make a big difference, you will be able to feel the difference between areas you've clayed and areas you haven't.

The trick to a good finish is always good prep!

With stone chips, chipex is probably your only port of call other than a trip to the bodyshop.

Claying is a labour of love, takes hours to do a full car. first timers should stick to a soft clay, as clay is abrasive and can mark the paintwork in itself.

Bilthamber soft clay is a good un, get a massive block and can lube with water as opposed to having to spend more money on quick detailer.

As above comments, if you don't have a machine polisher then by hand you want a filler polish, rather than a traditional cutting polish. Autoglym SRP is cheap and good, chemicalboys black hole glaze is a nit more but looks awesome in black cars.

Be careful with T-Cut, its quite agressive and can dull the paintwork and even cut through the clearcoat layer. Autoglym paint rennovator is mentioned above is also quite agressive. On the plus side they work quite well as metal polish, I only use paint rennovator on the exhaust tip.

I've been messing about with touchless wash techniques lately. Although I'm not bowled over by snow foaming, is definitley recommend anyone with a pressure washer with a detergent bottle use a prewash tfr before two bucket methoding. I've also observed that running a decent combined shampoo and wax through the lance followed by a quick detailer through the lance gives a decent layer of protection that will last a couple of weeks and is much quicker and easier than applying three coats of wax (although I still stick collinite on her every few months)

ive used various combos on my octy to cover swirls up etc, but to really mask the pitted front bumper and leading edge i always use turtle wax colour polish just to cover it up!

granted its only a temp fix but going over your front bumper and leading edges every few weeks or so doesnt take much doing.

Thanks for all the tips and pointers from everyone,shame its p***ing down and the forecast for the next few days looks the same.

but to really mask the pitted front bumper and leading edge i always use turtle wax colour polish!

Does this make a reasonable difference to chips? I've considered using colour polish on my bonnet (as someone said earlier, it's broken out in a white acne!), do you think it's worth me investing some money (and lets not forget, time) in a small bottle? How would it sit with SRP (guessing it wouldn't)?

Edited 10 May, 201214 yr by ckyliu

I used poorboys products on my black magic Octy. Blackhole glaze followed by EXP sealant then topped with Natty blue wax. Always washed with meguires gold class using a two bucket method then poorboys QD. I'm very pleased with the results.

not sure if ive used it on top of srp, i use something different every time i polish it, i will say it sits on top of black hole no problems and nxt 2 paste wax, but im sure it probably removes some of the previous product anyway. anyway for the front bumper i have previously just used the colour polish on it and it has come up loads better doesnt last forever but its easy to reapply and remove anyway. you could always use the 3 for 2 in halfords and get some other products as well!

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_219210_langId_-1_categoryId_165527

ive read about this before but have never tried it it could be a good bet for someone who wants to look after there black car and keep it looking good without a lot of hassle

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_753637_langId_-1_categoryId_255233

I just pay the local valet guy ( he lives round the corner from me) he is really good and he waxes and polishes my car every 3 months for 65 badgers and a beer. i have asked him to quote me for a full paint correction and he asked £200 quite reasonable i thought considering its a 2 days job and some bloody hard work and if to do it myself i would have all the stuff to buy plus give up my weekend, so come summer time i will have this done and post the results.

just pay a pro to do the hard graft and keep on top of it, oh an he uses Autglym HD wax and a polish i dont know the name of :p

What is a clay bar?

used clay bar for the first time yesterday and its really easy,fast to use and it give a smooth glass like finish to the paint work,defo use it again,it just pulls all the crap off and its dead easy to use

If you have a rotary polisher get a Gtechniq P1 and P2 polishes + cutting and finishing peds Works great on hard paints like Skoda

Turtle Wax - Black Box for black paintwork only. I have found this to be the best protector/polish for black vehicles.

Produces a rich and deep black finish and is very good at masking swirl marks and scratches.

New product launched here, saw advert in Top Gear Australia mag... Turtle Wax Black Detailer. Spray on - wipe off, car needs to be reasonably clean though. I have a Fabia Monte in Black Magic Pearl, my first ever black car, boy could be the last. i have only done 2500Km, so the paint is still pretty smick, but the black detailer works a treat, NO i mean NO swirl marks,. give it a try if you can find it.

cheers

Edited 13 September, 201213 yr by Kraken