Hi all.

This lockdown lark has had me cleaning all sorts of stuff including, for the first time in quite a while, our two cars!

Normally they get taken to the local hand wash place where I watch an army of guys attack them with wheel cleaner, suds, rinsed with demin water, leathered off, waxed, wheel shined & vacuumed out & the're done in around 20 mins - excluding queuing time 😉 

 

By contrast my black Superb Combi L&K 280 took me the best part of 4hrs to snow foam, shampoo & then apply Turtle Wax Color (American spelling) Magic Jet Black colour wax treatment. The previous owner has left a few scratches & swirls on the car which I'm attempting to polish out / disguise by elbow grease alone - no MOP available 🥵.  Not sure I'm going to be too successful as I'm no detailer. The wife's baby blue Fiat 500 hides dirt much better & took only 30 mins to get looking halfway decent & wax up - it is also about 3 times smaller than the Superb!  Unfortunately I didn't take any before / after photos to share.

 

However, by way of association to the "recently cleaned" thread title (well maybe not that recent) here's two pics of my freshly cleaned modified 2ltr Vauxhall OHC Viva GT in circa 1976-7 😭 Bucket & radio are still on the drive at the back of my mum & dad's old house in North London. Stock Monaco Blue paint with black bonnet, Wolfrace wheels, 2 x 45 side draught Webers, stage 3 Blydenstein head, race cam & tubular exhaust manifold, negative camber wishbones, front / rear anti-roll bars, fully flared in & color matched front spoiler, Spax adjustable shocks & yes they are both active straight through Thrush side pipes which made it sound like thunder when on full chat. On a clear night my mates could hear me coming from a mile away! Unfortunately the noise also attracted interest from the local plod on more than one occasion. The 2 x Thrush pipe replaced the 4 x steel tail pipes that came a standard fit on this car back in 1968 when it was first built at Luton. I was planning to lower it & flare the arches but the arrival of company cars put paid to that. Alas VLT 481G has gone to the great scrap yard in the sky after the guy I sold it to blew up the engine, but it still takes me back to when I was a bit of boy racer. Sorry for the grainy picture quality but "David Bailey" wasn't available on the day & my Kodak 126 Instamatic wasn't the last word in photographic technology in the 70's. Ahh the memories.

I digress. 

 

 

 

 

Back on thread - Now after only 2 days since being washed our two cars are now covered in layer dust courtesy of the road digging which is going on all over the local area as we finally get some fibre cabling laid in for fast internet.  The dust it has created is not only all over the cars but the house windows & conservatory roof as well. Frustrating or what!

At least the cars will only take a quick wash & leather next time to bring them back up which I will probably have to do again next week. I could get into this detailing scene. My wife already thinks I'm obsessed with the Superb - which I probably am. This is my second Superb Combi & will probably be my last car after I retired last Dec. I'm thinking about a stage 1 remap on the Superb. Once a car nut always a car nut!

 

After cleaning the cars I got carried away & broke out the mains power washer & had a go at the paving slabs & tarmac out the front of the house. The slabs are now fine but the tarmac is showing loads of dirt swirls now it's dried off. It will need another going over to make it look it's best.

I can't help thinking I've made a rod for own back here! I am also halfway through digging out 1 ton of soil to lay a new patio & a bunch of other chores that have built up over time.  Who said lockdown or retirement was boring😵  

 

Stay safe..

7 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

Hi all.

This lockdown lark has had me cleaning all sorts of stuff including, for the first time in quite a while, our two cars!

Normally they get taken to the local hand wash place where I watch an army of guys attack them with wheel cleaner, suds, rinsed with demin water, leathered off, waxed, wheel shined & vacuumed out & the're done in around 20 mins - excluding queuing time 😉 

 

By contrast my black Superb Combi L&K 280 took me the best part of 4hrs to snow foam, shampoo & then apply Turtle Wax Color (American spelling) Magic Jet Black colour wax treatment. The previous owner has left a few scratches & swirls on the car which I'm attempting to polish out / disguise by elbow grease alone - no MOP available 🥵.  

 

Or Swirl marks left by your previous wash regime .. IE local hand wash place and "leather" drying 😉

5 hours ago, Mr Grump said:

 

Or Swirl marks left by your previous wash regime .. IE local hand wash place and "leather" drying 😉

No deffo previous owner. There are light scratches on the roof where previous owner has dragged something off the roof rack across the roof. Also all down the passenger side of the car & wing mirror housing are  slight horizontal marks which look like where he scraped some vegetation on  a narrow country lane or similar.  These are only visible up close but I do want to get rid of them if possible. I might invest in a MOP or hire a detailer to have a go at the whole car for me which I can then  maintain myself. Black paint looks really good when perfect but it's the worst colour for showing every imperfection. 

If its within your budget, definitely worth paying a detailer to do a proper job and give it a nice ceramic coating that you can maintain with minimal effort.

Certainly as you plan to keep the car and Superb 280's are keepers 😊

Edited 24 May, 20206 yr by Mr Grump

4 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

No deffo previous owner. There are light scratches on the roof where previous owner has dragged something off the roof rack across the roof. Also all down the passenger side of the car & wing mirror housing are  slight horizontal marks which look like where he scraped some vegetation on  a narrow country lane or similar.  These are only visible up close but I do want to get rid of them if possible. I might invest in a MOP or hire a detailer to have a go at the whole car for me which I can then  maintain myself. Black paint looks really good when perfect but it's the worst colour for showing every imperfection. 

`MOP`?

1 hour ago, mandp said:

`MOP`?

A rotary polisher is sometimes called a mop.

4 hours ago, BriskodaJeff said:

A rotary polisher is sometimes called a mop.

Well...you live and learn.

I've lived a long time but never heard that before.

Thanks for the info.

5 hours ago, mandp said:

`MOP`?

I believe is stands for Machine Operated Polisher 

Gave the new car a wash and polish today.

 

My process is probably fairly simple in comparison to others and all done by hand (although I do have a basic halfords machine polisher but the paint is in pretty good shape).

 

Powerwash

1x wash with Micro fibre wash mitt

Rinse

1x wash with Clay wash mitt

Rinse

Dry

Autoglym Paint Restorer

Poorboys Black Hole

Meguiars tech wax 2.0

Autoglym bumper/trim gel

Turtle wax window polish

 

IMG_20200627_110400 by Philip Embleton, auf Flickr

 

IMG_20200627_104159 by Philip Embleton, auf Flickr

Edited 27 June, 20205 yr by Phil-E

That's almost excessively shiny 😎

 

Gaz

18 hours ago, IamGaz said:

That's almost excessively shiny 😎

 

Gaz

There's no such thing as excessively shiny... I'll do it with the machine next time and see if I can get some more shine from it!

I thought that there are restrictions on washing your own car in Germany? 

Looks great .

😊

2 hours ago, Manc-Fletch said:

I thought that there are restrictions on washing your own car in Germany? 

Looks great .

😊

 

There are. You're not allowed to just wash it on the street or your drive. As chemicals get into the ground water and the normal storm drains (that often lead into streams and rivers).

 

I took it to a place round the corner. They are a hand car wash but have jet washers you stick coins in. Took my bucket, wash mitt and some warm water in a canister.

 

It was easier than faffing with the hose and jet washer at home anyway.

2 hours ago, Phil-E said:

 

There are. You're not allowed to just wash it on the street or your drive. As chemicals get into the ground water and the normal storm drains (that often lead into streams and rivers).

 

I took it to a place round the corner. They are a hand car wash but have jet washers you stick coins in. Took my bucket, wash mitt and some warm water in a canister.

 

It was easier than faffing with the hose and jet washer at home anyway.

I thought it was possibly an excuse by my Father-in-law (Berlin) not to wash his car. 🤣

Thanks for the info. 👍

- Demon Foam

- Rinse

- Turtlewax Ceramic Wash and Wax

- Rinse

- Dry

- Autoglym Super Resin polish

- Buff

- Chrome Northwest Embellish quick detailer

- Buff

- Turtlewax Ceramic Spray Coat

- Buff

- Admire

 

Dave, this looks fabulous. When can you do mine?

10 minutes ago, VRS_White_Hatch said:

Dave, this looks fabulous. When can you do mine?

Haha thanks mate; I did my wife’s (thankfully much smaller) corsa D after this as well so...give you a shout when my arms no longer feel like falling off? 😂

First car I’ve owned for a long time that I’ve liked enough to be bothered doing myself! (Previous car was just a workhorse for commuting). 

Karcher Snowfoam (not great but used up so I had the bottle for other brands)

 

Autoglym Polar Wash

 

Turtle Wax Ceramic Polish & Wax

 

Edited 15 September, 20205 yr by Samstan

Nothing since September? Might as well break the dry spell.

 

Quick wash on my lunch break as the weather improved (perk of working from home!)

 

Chemical Guys Bug+Tar Remover

CarPlan No 1 Super Clean Shampoo

Two bucket wash with microfiber mitt

Rinse

Dry with microfiber towel

DemonShine Spray on Shine

RainX on windows

DemonShine Super Wheel Cleaner

Simoinz Wet look Tyre shine 

 

Next time I wash it I'll add a layer of Carnauba Wax ready for the winter months.

 

Just now, WolfyWesty said:

Quick wash on my lunch break (perk of working from home!)

 

Chemical Guys Bug+Tar Remover

CarPlan No 1 Super Clean Shampoo

Two bucket wash with microfiber mitt

Rinse

Dry with microfiber towel

DemonShine Spray on Shine

RainX on windows

DemonShine Super Wheel Cleaner

Simoinz Wet look Tyre shine 

 

 

Edited 4 November, 20205 yr by WolfyWesty
Spelling

Impressive! 

You must have really long lunch breaks.

14 hours ago, Manc-Fletch said:

Impressive! 

You must have really long lunch breaks.

Cheers!

 

Nope, only an hour! 

Washed girlfriend's EcoSport seeing as it's been dry today. 

 

Chemical Guys Bug+Tar Remover

CarPlan No 1 Super Clean Shampoo

Two bucket wash with microfiber mitt

Rinse

Dry with microfiber towel

Simoinz Carnauba Wax

DemonShine Spray on Shine

RainX on windows

DemonShine Super Wheel Cleaner

Simoinz Wet look Tyre shine 

 

Ready to sit on the drive for another 4 weeks! At least it is clean though. 

53 minutes ago, WolfyWesty said:

Washed girlfriend's EcoSport seeing as it's been dry today. 

 

Chemical Guys Bug+Tar Remover

CarPlan No 1 Super Clean Shampoo

Two bucket wash with microfiber mitt

Rinse

Dry with microfiber towel

Simoinz Carnauba Wax

DemonShine Spray on Shine

RainX on windows

DemonShine Super Wheel Cleaner

Simoinz Wet look Tyre shine 

 

Ready to sit on the drive for another 4 weeks! At least it is clean though. 

That is one shiny car.

Well done you.

Put my winter wheels on today so cleaned both sets, just time for a quick wash and dry then Demonshine spray - which takes only a few minutes if its clean. Also did the wife's Fiesta so I wouldn't get any grief. 

Gave the other halfs 500 some winter love last weekend. Quick going over with some Autoglym SRP, followed by some Sonax BSD.