Jem's guide to making your car shiny

[Jem]

Jonny I know what you mean about tyre dressings being too shiny, which is why I like the Meguires Tyre Gel. If you apply it, leave it around 10 minutes and then buff off the excess it's not too shiny after a few hours. The pictures in the opening thread were taken very soon after I'd buffed it off, so it still looks shiny.

How thinly are you applying the AutoGlym HD wax? Waxed need to be applied very thinly to make them easy to buff off. I also find that once the wax has cured, if it's hard to buff off, giving it a quick buff to get most of it off, then going back with a fresh microfibre to buff the remaining wax off makes life a lot easier.

If it's actual corrosion on the inside of wheels then only a refurb will sort them, but if it's just years of baked on brakedust and crud, then a good wheel cleaner should shift it. For a readily available product then Turtle Wax Nano Wheel Cleaner (in a bright green bottle) is good. Just spray it onto a cool dry wheel, leave it a five minutes, agitate with a brush, leave it five minutes more and rinse off. For something better available online then Very Cherry Wheel Cleaner is very good, as is Bilberry. Wheels often get a lot of tar spots on them, which may not shift with a wheel cleaner, so use a Tar remover to shift these. Tar remover will also help remove remains of wheel weight sticky pads. Once you have them clean, seal them with a wheel sealant such as Poorboys Wheel Sealant and then they should clean very easily with just car shampoo and a wash mitt

[Garf]

Jem have you used Autoglym's HD clenser yet, if so what do you make of it?

[Jem]

Jem have you used Autoglym's HD clenser yet, if so what do you make of it?

I can't say I have used it, but I've heard good things about it.

[wantedS13]

Nice write up, but personally with that much dirt I would have foamed the car first and powerwashed it te get most of the dirt off, and used a second bucket when washing so you can clean the micro fibre spounge in one bucket and keep the bucket with the soapy water clean. This way you minimise the chance of making swirls and putting dirt from the washing bucket back onto the car (and worst, in your drying towel).

Other then that, great write up.

[Jem]

Indeed, I do normally use snowfoam followed by the two bucket method, but that's not always possible, in a flat for example, which is why I showed the use of ONR. As I said in the opening post, before you get the claybar out you need a clean car, how you do that is upto you. I could write an entire thread on just washing the car. Infact there are seperate threads on here by me showing the use of snowfoam and ONR.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

How thinly are you applying the AutoGlym HD wax? Waxed need to be applied very thinly to make them easy to buff off. I also find that once the wax has cured, if it's hard to buff off, giving it a quick buff to get most of it off, then going back with a fresh microfibre to buff the remaining wax off makes life a lot easier.

Thanks. I think I'll give it another go if I can find a warm day and do it in the shade. I just found it very gloopy to apply and kept finding little flecks of wax after I'd finished. It probably doesn't help having a white car as its hard to see the wax.

If it's actual corrosion on the inside of wheels then only a refurb will sort them

Its corrosion but I didn't want a refurb as the outside of the wheels are original and its just corrosion in the inside. Excuse the big pic.

[Jem]

Thanks. I think I'll give it another go if I can find a warm day and do it in the shade. I just found it very gloopy to apply and kept finding little flecks of wax after I'd finished. It probably doesn't help having a white car as its hard to see the wax.




Its corrosion but I didn't want a refurb as the outside of the wheels are original and its just corrosion in the inside. Excuse the big pic.

It does sound like you're applying it too thickly, its needs do be a very thin smear, but granted it's hard to see where it is on a white car.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the paint is damaged from the corrosion, so the only fix would be a refurb

[dimension_sx]

nice write up thanks, only now I know what I didnt know
And I am confused about polishing stage, you have done the whole car in one go, so how long was it supposed to be left there before buffing? I was told before that only one panel at the time was supposed to be done and that it shouldnt be left there for too long, not sure why now cant remember.
And while here, what about polishing in hot weather, warm temps etc, is it still d same procedure? is there such a thing as polish being too dry?

[Jem]

With the Autoglym Super Resin Polish you leave it to haze on the car, normally around 15 mins, but you can quite happily leave it longer, so do the whole car and then buff off. Hot weather shouldn't cause a problem, but if it's blazing hot it can cause problems, mainly with wax rather than polish though.

[dimension_sx]

I get it, thanks, will try get that stuff

[Jem]

The Autoglym Super Resin Polish is more of an all in one than solely a polish. It contains a very mild abrasive, paint cleansers, fillers to fill swirl marks and leaves some protection too. The polishes I use by machine for paint correction are solely polishes with no fillers and offer no protection.

[dimension_sx]

just looking at you website there, there is a whole science to this... 8 hours???

any tips for very dirty interiors? Was suppose to help my cousin clean his golf this weekend, he got it of his dad recently who is a builder, can not describe in words in which state this is... and smell is actually unbearable, otherwise good car(just spent over a grand on servicing and fixing it) but interior being a let down is understatement... carpet, door cards, seats, roof lining, I am actually thinking of dismantling everything and taking out for a wash and dry dont see any other way, but seats worry me the most.

[ryry92]

Just read 1st page .. need to read the rest in depth but awesome right up Jem!
Helps me a lot as I'm the type of person that asks too many questions

I must be doing the polishing/waxing wrong though. Takes me about 2.5 hours just to polish and wax the whole car lol

[ryry92]

I used the Meguires Tyre Gel. It's basically silicone, so does a great job on plastic too. You just need to be sure to buff it off very well so there is no residue left at all.

Gtechniq - C4 Permanent Trim Restorer is the best for textured trim, it makes it look like new and lasts two years, but I've deliberately not used it on the Corsa because as well as being my daily drive, it's a bit of a test mule for products etc. If I used Gtechniq - C4 on the arches, I wouldn't have any tired looking textured trim to try products on

When you say buff it off - how do you mean? Sponge/cloth/microfibre etc?

Sorry I'm a novice

[Jem]

Just a wipe over with a cloth to remove the excess, as it's tyres it can be any cloth, an old T-shirt for example.