Seeing as I have some time on my hands I promised myself I would try and clean the Z properly - even if I only do it once. So I have been pestering people on here and buying 'product' over the last few weeks in anticipation. Today I bit the bullet and went for it... Well, partially anyway as I ran out of time :roll:
However, here's the progress so far...
The plan was to clean my 108s (again... they've been treated twice over winter just because I love them), do the engine bay while they drip dried, then swap my winters off one at a time, giving the arches a good seeing-to and fitting LED sidelights, finally. Then starting the car wash itself.
So, wheels treated with AG intensive tar remover (pretty crap - forgot to buy Tardis, needed a quick fix from Halfords
), rinse, then Iron-X, rinse, then AG alloy wheel sealant (not bad, might wax them later but don't have wheel wax, only normal wax - will that work ?). Results :
There's a few dings appearing, so they will need refurbed next year. They still look booooootiful though 8)
On-plan, whilst they were drying I got stuck into the engine bay with Surfex HD and then 303 Aerospace Protectant. No before pics - it was pretty clean to start with as I usually give everything a guilty wipe down each wash. However, this is how it looks now :
And yes, I did clean up the protectant round the coolant cap, as well as give the front cover another wipe. In addition, my OCD got the better of me and I had to give the bonnet a clean too :
Nice. Took me almost 2 hours though
Decided to change the plan and clean the car itself rather than put nice clean shiny wheels on only to get them wet and dirty again. At this point I really went for it - wash (yes, two buckets :roll: ), degreased with Surfex HD (not sure I should have done this, but I wanted all the wax and polish off), Rinse, Iron X all round, rinse, crap AG tar remover lathered on the lower levels, rinse then a final wash. Car now totally 'naked', as evidenced by the complete lack of beading :
It may just have been my imagination, but the paint felt almost sticky when I washed it the final time - I figured this was only natural on completely bare paintwork though.
Next I clayed the car - first time for me, not sure about the car, but it all went very well. I used a Megs quick clay kit, cheap and easy as I wanted to find out what all the fuss is about without breaking the bank. It was surprisingly easy, and actually the AG tar remover (plus Iron X) seemed to have done something as the clay lasted well, only really dirtying up round the sills which I did last. The paint is now smoother than it has ever been - feels lovely and even without any polish and wax it looks great :
Yes, that is my thumb
Unfortunately I can now see every single mar on the paintwork - tons of stone chips on the bonnet, some down the wings and rear quarters, scratches, swirls, you name it
This is where I ran out of time, so the car is now tucked up in the garage under some brand new dust sheets bought from B&Q this morning (Mrs B just rolled her eyes at me...). I know, not ideal, but the garage is dusty and as it will be pissing down all day tomorrow it is going to be hard to get it polished (Poorboys Black Hole, 2 coats) and waxed (Dodo Juice Purple Haze Pro, 2 coats). Really don't want to have to clean off loads of dust before starting to polish. Might do a Megs swirl remover polish before - but this is all by hand, so maybe not... I then still need to whip the winter wheels off, clean the arches and protect with 303, fit the LEDs and get the 108s back on. Can't even do the wheels in the garage as it is too small. So I may spend the day looking at houses with big double garages. Or painting skirting boards which is what I have been told I should be doing...
This is how she looks now :
To be continued... As long as my back holds out
However, here's the progress so far...
The plan was to clean my 108s (again... they've been treated twice over winter just because I love them), do the engine bay while they drip dried, then swap my winters off one at a time, giving the arches a good seeing-to and fitting LED sidelights, finally. Then starting the car wash itself.
So, wheels treated with AG intensive tar remover (pretty crap - forgot to buy Tardis, needed a quick fix from Halfords
), rinse, then Iron-X, rinse, then AG alloy wheel sealant (not bad, might wax them later but don't have wheel wax, only normal wax - will that work ?). Results :
There's a few dings appearing, so they will need refurbed next year. They still look booooootiful though 8)
On-plan, whilst they were drying I got stuck into the engine bay with Surfex HD and then 303 Aerospace Protectant. No before pics - it was pretty clean to start with as I usually give everything a guilty wipe down each wash. However, this is how it looks now :
And yes, I did clean up the protectant round the coolant cap, as well as give the front cover another wipe. In addition, my OCD got the better of me and I had to give the bonnet a clean too :
Nice. Took me almost 2 hours though
Decided to change the plan and clean the car itself rather than put nice clean shiny wheels on only to get them wet and dirty again. At this point I really went for it - wash (yes, two buckets :roll: ), degreased with Surfex HD (not sure I should have done this, but I wanted all the wax and polish off), Rinse, Iron X all round, rinse, crap AG tar remover lathered on the lower levels, rinse then a final wash. Car now totally 'naked', as evidenced by the complete lack of beading :
It may just have been my imagination, but the paint felt almost sticky when I washed it the final time - I figured this was only natural on completely bare paintwork though.
Next I clayed the car - first time for me, not sure about the car, but it all went very well. I used a Megs quick clay kit, cheap and easy as I wanted to find out what all the fuss is about without breaking the bank. It was surprisingly easy, and actually the AG tar remover (plus Iron X) seemed to have done something as the clay lasted well, only really dirtying up round the sills which I did last. The paint is now smoother than it has ever been - feels lovely and even without any polish and wax it looks great :
Yes, that is my thumb
Unfortunately I can now see every single mar on the paintwork - tons of stone chips on the bonnet, some down the wings and rear quarters, scratches, swirls, you name it
This is where I ran out of time, so the car is now tucked up in the garage under some brand new dust sheets bought from B&Q this morning (Mrs B just rolled her eyes at me...). I know, not ideal, but the garage is dusty and as it will be pissing down all day tomorrow it is going to be hard to get it polished (Poorboys Black Hole, 2 coats) and waxed (Dodo Juice Purple Haze Pro, 2 coats). Really don't want to have to clean off loads of dust before starting to polish. Might do a Megs swirl remover polish before - but this is all by hand, so maybe not... I then still need to whip the winter wheels off, clean the arches and protect with 303, fit the LEDs and get the 108s back on. Can't even do the wheels in the garage as it is too small. So I may spend the day looking at houses with big double garages. Or painting skirting boards which is what I have been told I should be doing...
This is how she looks now :
To be continued... As long as my back holds out
The easiest wheels ever to clean.
Some of your pics are showing as question marks too Bing, is it just me?!
