Paint restoration

[Paul Philpot]

I'm looking to refresh the paintwork on my 1994 Supersport. It's BMW Estoril blue metallic, it doesn't need a respray or wrapping, just some extra TLC.

Can anybody direct me to any kits, brands, material etc.

Thanks

[TomB]

A Clay bar and good wax could be worth doing. I tried this a couple of years ago and it did work well - Ive subsequently resprayed it though. 

[Wrightpayne]

Car detailing (and associated forums) is a bit like upgrading a seven - its endless!

Main thing to be aware of is the difference between polish and wax. Polish has an abrasive content to refinish the paint surface and a wax is the protective shell on the paint. Futher complication is that some polishes also have a protective element too.

If you want quick and easy, Halfords polish (green bottle) will do both and give good results.

Next level up and really good quality is the Autoglym range - Super Resin Polish refinishes the paint and extra gloss topcoat to protect. Their other products are good - tar spot remover, glass polish, vinyl&rubber cleaner, leather cleaner, leather cream (SWMBO saved a pair of gloves with the leather cream)

OCD level is clay bar to remove paint contaminents, machine polish and wax. Just done my Transporter - Bilt Hamber clay bar, Menzerna super fine 3800 polish using a DAS-6 machine polisher then Collinite 476 wax.

Other points...

You’ll need a few microfibre cloths / applicators.

If you drop anything on the drive bin it

2 bucket washing method 

The Polished Bliss website has lots of tutorials. Cleanyourcar is another good website / shop

Ian

 

[22daz]

Any polish/wax is essentially filling the fine washing scratches that dull the shine over the years. Over time as you wash this layer away it will need polishing again.

My advice would be to buy a rotary polisher and remove the scratches completely, then use polish to protect. That will give you a shine that lasts years without doing much else. Having a metallic, there will be a decent thickness of clear coat and a polisher will only remove the top few percent of that.. unless you're particularly heavy handed.

I have a Silverline and for the money (£65) it has done a top job on all of my cars.

[Wrightpayne]

Daz,

sorry I disagree - a rotary polisher is the worse thing for an amateur / beginner to buy and carries the risk of damaging the paintwork (polishing it away), especially on swage lines / panel edges.

My advice is to get a dual action DA polisher.  I have a DAS-6 dual action polisher and is only a little bit more cost wise and is an entry level professional tool. These are much safer to use.

 

 

[StevehS3]

I find that a Clay bar followed by resin polish is enough to prep the surface and protect.

[Sooty]

Absolutely Ian-heat generated by a rotary will burn the paint if not expertly used. It is the dual action that keeps the heat at bay in the process of polishing out the imperfections in the surface of the paint/ lacquer. It is these tiny imperfections that diffuse reflected light making the surface look dull.

DAS6 is a great bit of kit for the money

[Paul Philpot]

Thanks all, Clay bar ordered and AutoGlym products restocked in the garage. As for attacking my car with anything more harsh  than a high quality micro fibre cloth - that's never going to happen. Elbow grease is plenty for me and my car.

PS It's no showroom princess - the car gets used, a lot.

Thanks again

Paul

[7 wonders of the world]

I used to use Autoglym super resin but on my last yellow car I found the Mcguiers range gave a much better finish and the Canuba wax brought a real depth of shine out which was significantly better then the Autoglym - this can also be used on screen rubbers and tyres too with non of the whitening the resin leaves behind.

3 stage package here 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193161271075

 

[Wrightpayne]

I was chatting to a guy today who specializes in renovating caravan and motor home paintwork/GRP using autoglym products and picked up two useful pieces of information.

- Autoglym have changed the recipe of SRP in the last couple of years so less chalky ie not as much dust / residue created.

- when machine polishing aluminium painted panels, you have to be careful not to put too much heat into the metal as it can buckle / distort.

Ian

[Paul Philpot]

Thanks all for all your advice and guidance.

I've used the clay bar and AutoGlym polish and extra gloss protection.

Looking Good!

[MarkD]

A bit overkill maybe but what do you use for the exposed suspension parts at the front? I recall Autoglym used to recommend a spray product when they had a promo video on Caterham's website but that is no longer there. Not sure if it's their Rapid Detailer but I'm a bit wary of spraying anything there that might affect the brakes or suspension.

[TomB]

Wipe on WD40 onto the suspension, that should do the trick. 

[StevehS3]

Before washing the car I spray Fenwicks bike cleaner (because I already have it for my bikes and it's disc/pad friendly) on the suspension parts and hard to reach areas and on the wheels to loosen the grime. £8 makes 11L. Just needs diluting and putting in a spray bottle. https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fenwicks-concentrated-bike-cleaner/

[Sooty]

If you want to add extra protection for suspension and weather accessible tube I use Renaissance wax - started using it after  visiting a railway museum and talki g to s ome of the guys preserving really old restored steam locos. Apparently it is sworn by at the British Museum. I have seen examples where unpainted ste e l is kept rust free just using this stuff which has to be applied very sparingly so a little goes a long way.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Picreator-Renaissance-Micro-Crystalline-Wax-Polish/dp/B001DSZWEM/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=80333100305314&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&hvqmt=e&keywords=renaissance+wax&qid=1574515727&sr=8-1