Detailing Tips & Tricks....

[Michael-08-VE]

Has anyone heard of washing you panels (not the glass) with warm water and kero?

 

[TinSnips]

Has anyone heard of washing you panels (not the glass) with warm water and kero?

Yep.

Don't do it.

 

[Michael-08-VE]

Haha ok thanks, I wasn't going to do it regardless of the feedback I got. Just curious as to who's done it.

 

[TinSnips]

Somehow it's popular with the over 80year-olds and it still trickles through from time to time.

It will remove tar eventually - as well as any wax, sealant or trim dressing you may have on your car and leave behind a slightly glossy, solventy layer that will do nothing but dry out your rubbers.

If tar is that much of an issue and you really have a deep seeded craving to use kerosene, use it neat on the affected areas, wash your car again, and re-apply whatever wax or sealant you had on there because it will have been stripped (same for any bug/tar remover) - but there are far more effective ways to remove tar.

 

[Michael-08-VE]

Somehow it's popular with the over 80year-olds and it still trickles through from time to time.

It will remove tar eventually - as well as any wax, sealant or trim dressing you may have on your car and leave behind a slightly glossy, solventy layer that will do nothing but dry out your rubbers.

If tar is that much of an issue and you really have a deep seeded craving to use kerosene, use it neat on the affected areas, wash your car again, and re-apply whatever wax or sealant you had on there because it will have been stripped (same for any bug/tar remover) - but there are far more effective ways to remove tar.

Awsome! Thanks mate! It's a god send having knowledgable honest people I can turn to for guidance.

 

[MKN]

i've acquired an ex-taxi and the stickers have been removed and to my best ability i have removed the exterior adhesive as well but there seems to be a paint mismatch from the TAXI logo on the bonnet, underneath the sticker it has been in immaculate condition so it is smooth and more white than the rest of the bonnet so the outline is significant, is there any way to remedy this? paint correction for the rest of the bonnet? just leaving it in the sun to blend in? it is a white car by the way, i am tempted to just go to the car detailer and fork out $300 but i would like to try first (i apologise if this question has been asked before)

 

[TinSnips]

i've acquired an ex-taxi and the stickers have been removed and to my best ability i have removed the exterior adhesive as well but there seems to be a paint mismatch from the TAXI logo on the bonnet, underneath the sticker it has been in immaculate condition so it is smooth and more white than the rest of the bonnet so the outline is significant, is there any way to remedy this? paint correction for the rest of the bonnet? just leaving it in the sun to blend in? it is a white car by the way, i am tempted to just go to the car detailer and fork out $300 but i would like to try first (i apologise if this question has been asked before)

Only way to fix is through abrasive compounding. Sounds like it's a pre 09-ish model without clear coat to have oxidised as described. I've done a bunch of signage removal jobs and they can range fairly straight forward to irreparable. What it will largely depend on is how severe the oxidation is. It's not difficult to remove oxidation and make the whole bonnet shiny again, the issues arise when the oxidation has affected a significant thickness of paint, meaning you will forever have the outline of the signage, regardless of how much you polish.

You CAN reduce that outline by wet sanding the affected area, depending on paint thickness and the like (not an ideal process for thin factory paint), however this will still leave a variance in texture (orange peel removal, essentially), which can be visible, meaning you'd need to do the whole bonnet, which is risky if you aren't confident with what you're doing. It is possible to sand defects without removing peel, however this method will also leave the texture of the outline from the vinyl graphics.

Short answer... If you care how it looks, either organise for someone to do a test spot, or do one yourself and get an idea of how it will turn out through abrasive polishing. If you're not happy with the results, repaint the bonnet.

If you don't care, remove the oxidation so the whole bonnet is shiny and live with the potential outline.

This is all worst case scenario, like I said, sometimes it can be pretty straight forward and there is no noticeable outline left behind.

 

[Lukey1980]

Hi.
New here and just picked up a 2015 gts. The car is black and exterior definitely requires a detail. It looks like it's been washed with a nasty old sponge and have fine scratches everywhere. I'm looking at recommendations for detailers. So far I have contacted Morrie at Reflection Perfection who gets great reviews online. Has anyone dealt with him before? Should I contact any others. I do not want a mobile operator as I cannot cater for shelter.

 

[Bowman2017]

whats the best product n method for removing compound cutter polish and wax from plastic ?

windscreen washer cover dull n old looking... is there a product for restoring a natural look or shine besides painting it ?

 

[KustomKulture62]

Found 2 brilliant glass cleaning products recently. First one is the Kitten Lens Doctor for cleaning those hazy headlight len covers quick n easy this stuff and the second is the Kitten Glass Doctor and again easy to apply and works a treat. The inside of my windscreen was that bad I was considering having a new windscreen fitted as I'd tried lots of different products and nothing worked well enough for when driving into the sun but this stuff left the glass crystal clear and once again able to drive into the setting sun without difficultly and NO I don't have any shares in Kitten.