Caring for your car

[television]

My thoughts are Carl are that I do like to keep my cars clean, once I have used the Sonax a few times it must build up to give good protection. The nice thing is you can feel it, the shine I think is better than without it.

This is the boot of my CL, it is said the silver cars do not shine well, but in the right light see here.

 

[C350Carl]

That looks good Malcolm.

Silver is hard to show but the right light as you have above and you can see it.

 

[Devonian]

Carl,

In your cross sections pictures above you show the detailing to remove a deeper scratch. This is showing to remove almost 50% of the clearcoat so my question is how would a person know if this had been done before (or maybe a couple of times ) as presumably it would be possible for it all to be removed, if that was the case what would be the result?

 

[Rotorhead500]

I know the pro valeters tend to do an initial inspection, where the remaining paint thickness is measured prior to undertaking any mopping.

A valid question - I guess you could easily mop through the clearcoat if the car had been detailed to that degree a couple of times previously?

 

[C350Carl]

Carl,



In your cross sections pictures above you show the detailing to remove a deeper scratch. This is showing to remove almost 50% of the clearcoat so my question is how would a person know if this had been done before (or maybe a couple of times ) as presumably it would be possible for it all to be removed, if that was the case what would be the result?

As I said that was drawn like that to highlight how the clear coat is removed. You wouldn't ever remove 50% of the clear coat. In reality you're only removing a couple of microns at the most. Most clear coats are at least 50 microns thick. I've not personally come across anything less than 70 microns.

A rough rule of thumb is if you can feel it with your fingernail it won't come out as you would remove too much. However I would still measure the immediate surrounding area to see what I had to play with.

Don't get me wrong I could burn through the clearcoat and paint in about 10secs flat if I wanted too.

The Porsche you see above I removed a total of 0.5 microns. It's average thickness was 135 microns.

I know the pro valeters tend to do an initial inspection, where the remaining paint thickness is measured prior to undertaking any mopping.

A valid question - I guess you could easily mop through the clearcoat if the car had been detailed to that degree a couple of times previously?

I use a combination of a PTG and a laser temperature gun. That's where you can also run into problems by the panel getting too hot. It shouldn't ever get above 50deg or you run the risk of burnishing the finish.

 

[turbopete]

I use their sealant called Hybrid Net Protect. Lasts around 6-8mths on a daily driver.

is that the aerosol one or the one in a 'bottle' like my old turtle wax?

also, if a car has some scratches, there are those 'polishes' with coloured pigments in them to try to hide the scratches. could they be used to hide some of the deeper scratches, then a sealant applied over the top, to prevent the marks reappearing? or would the sealer just accentuate the scratches again?

 

[C350Carl]

is that the aerosol one or the one in a 'bottle' like my old turtle wax?

also, if a car has some scratches, there are those 'polishes' with coloured pigments in them to try to hide the scratches. could they be used to hide some of the deeper scratches, then a sealant applied over the top, to prevent the marks reappearing? or would the sealer just accentuate the scratches again?

Yup the aerosol. This one

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sealants/sonax-xtreme-protect-shine-hybrid-npt/prod_1200.html

With regards to the coloured polishes. They will mask the scratch but only if it's gone down to the paint or even primer underneath. But a couple of washes and they'll be back.

The way to look at Sealants and Waxes is that they're a temporary sacrificial layer to protect the polished finish underneath.

The only ones that do anything else are the new silica crystal coatings. These actually increase the thickness of the clear coat by up to 3microns.

However they are ridiculously tricky to apply and it's not something you could do on your drive at home. If you get it wrong then you are looking at wet sanding to correct it.

 

[jhosk1981]

3 for 2 in Halford on cleaning stuff... So today I restocked the cleaning shelf...
Lambs wool mitt
Extra large chamois
Meguires wheel cleaner
Meguires tyre coating
Autosol chrome cleaner
Scratch remover tcut

Not bad really.. £37 instead of £59

 

[grahamcol]

3 for 2 in Halford on cleaning stuff... So today I restocked the cleaning shelf...
Lambs wool mitt
Extra large chamois
Meguires wheel cleaner
Meguires tyre coating
Autosol chrome cleaner
Scratch remover tcut

Not bad really.. £37 instead of £59

Going off track a little, that'll be around the price these things should be then. I've found Halfords to be extremely expensive for just about everything !

 

[jhosk1981]

I had some credit to use.... Or I would order online anyway

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

 

[kul1]

Very good thread. quick question for the OP. if the car has had Star guard treatment, what do you recommend to keep the shine without actually removing the star guard treatment in the process?

 

[C350Carl]

Very good thread. quick question for the OP. if the car has had Star guard treatment, what do you recommend to keep the shine without actually removing the star guard treatment in the process?

Washing the car with a decent shampoo and a decent wash mitt. Then drying off with a proper deep pile plush Microfibre drying towel should be all you need.

You can use a quick detailer as well after a wash as that will just sit on top of the star guard without causing any damage to it.

Having detailed a Mercedes with star guard on before it is a fairly robust treatment if it's been applied correctly.

It's also a PITA to remove!

 

[Rotorhead500]

I did pretty much what Carl outlines on my car, which has Starguard on it; pic or two in the "Unplanned TLC" thread in this section.

 

[kul1]

Washing the car with a decent shampoo and a decent wash mitt. Then drying off with a proper deep pile plush Microfibre drying towel should be all you need.

You can use a quick detailer as well after a wash as that will just sit on top of the star guard without causing any damage to it.

Having detailed a Mercedes with star guard on before it is a fairly robust treatment if it's been applied correctly.

It's also a PITA to remove!

Thanks mate, really useful advice. the Star guard treatment was done by MB with a 3 yr warranty. So hopefully they did do a good job

 

[television]

I am very impressed with the Sonax detailer, first time I have used it. One car has been outside for a week and used in the rain and its still spotless.

 

[Rotorhead500]

Just used Sonax for the first time today. Building site down the road has left a nice gritty layer on the car.

So quick foam, wash and dry, then a quick once over with Sonax.

 

[television]

Just used Sonax for the first time today. Building site down the road has left a nice gritty layer on the car.

So quick foam, wash and dry, then a quick once over with Sonax.

I would imagine that this will build up after several goes, interesting stuff.

 

[Rotorhead500]

Fingers crossed! I'm hoping mine will get slippery enough that I gain an extra 3 mpg soon! :grin:

 

[television]

Fingers crossed! I'm hoping mine will get slippery enough that I gain an extra 3 mpg soon! :grin:

You have to do the wheel arch liners with the aerospace 303 to get that, plus all the under trays.

 

[C350Carl]

You have to do the wheel arch liners with the aerospace 303 to get that, plus all the under trays.

You sound just like me Malcolm.

Re the Sonax. Yes the more you use it the better the protection gets. After about 4-5 goes with it with a few days to settle in between each application you will pretty much have it at it's peak of performance.

I tried it once on my previous car. With no other protection other than the BSD it was lasting around 10 wks. That was after quick detailing the car every other day for a week. Iirc it was a total of 4 applications. It really is very durable and long lasting compared to most of the others out there.