OK, you all know about my blingin' 20 inch wheels on my Pontiac. Obviously, I wash the shit out of them (and the car).

I've noticed though, that I have water spots all over the paint. I don't know how they got there, or more importantly, how to get rid of them. No matter how much I wash the car, I dry it off with the chamois, and I can see spots in the fucking paint.

It aggravates the shit out of me, because the car does look really nice, but I want perfection.

Then, to make shit even MORE fucked up, my GFs little whore of a cat keeps jumping on the car, and has left claw marks in the paint. Since I can't kill the cat (the kids love her to death), how can I get the water spots and claw marks out of the paint? SNTP, I know you're on right now, hook me up.

I've been using Meguiars' Car Wash detergent to wash, and Meguiar's Gold Class to wax it, btw.

hah, all you guys are so obsessed with the way your vehicles look. I bet you would freak if you saw my pickup right now.

I really need to spend about 5 or 6 hours really detailing it, but it's been so frickin' hot out here lately (90+) and that black paint just cooks shit onto it.

Yep, I know that. :)

isn't the water spots the results of hard water? and maybe the detergent used can not soften?

perhaps take your car to town and use their water. but the etched coating needs to be buffed out. but im not sure without looking.

...but I want perfection.

I used to be this way. I used to wash my car every week. I was a slave to it.

Get over this so that you can get on with your life.

isn't the water spots the results of hard water?

I've heard that too. Hey maybe you could buy a couple of gallons of distilled water and rinse it off after you finish washing it and rinsing it with tap water. So just use the distilled water to rinse off the tap water.

yeah don't detail the car in the sun or when it's hot/humid out


Or what could happen? Does it increase the pink pigments in the paint?
:roll:

Still looks a little pink in the second photo....

I've heard good things about this, but haven't tried it myself
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/tires-auto-parts/auto-parts/mr-clean-autodry-1205/overview/index.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=car+wash

It's worthless.

Each cart lasts 1 or 2 washes, and I was being super conservative with it. They cost about $6 each for the cart.

You can have mine for the cost of shipping if you want it and I can find it.

Kev, are you using a big microfiber towel to dry the car?

older pics, but that's my car on the right, with a truly faded FD on the left


Dude they're just busting your balls the car looks fine.

Mark's cars are teh sex.

SNTP had a very good thread about detailing. Did you miss that Kev? I'll see if I can find it real quick...

www.autopia.org . All you need.

....And here's the thread I was talking about.....
http://www.theforumlounge.com/calling-sntp-t8970p2.html?highlight=detailing

What you need to do is buy some(if you don't already have some) clay, and go to town. Meguires mild clay is good stuff. Just use suds and water, no need for qd/clay lube. If the spots are more severe, then the next step would be Klasse all-in-one, which is magical stuff. If you don't already have an orbital or rotary polisher, you could use *gulp* one of those big-ass "polishers" with the handles on either side, since you aren't really polishing. As for the cat scratches, if they aren't through the primer, and you don't want to spend money, buy a product with lots of fill in it. Megs #9 is pretty decent at filling. If you wanna spend some money, you'll need an orbital polisher(something 2500-6k orbits per minute) and some medium-duty polish, with pads, etc. Post pics if yo want some help with it.

I got a Q:

I have a motorcycle that had stickers on the tank, when I removed the stickers the paint behind it is darker (because it had not been exposed to the sun)

Is there a simple way to fix this?

Don't take stickers off.

I've got old dealership stickers on my FB, they are a curse. They are hideous, but if I take them off, I'm fucked.

Dude, it'll look better with them off.

"paint cleaner" ? I don't know what that refers to.

I think it's discoloration under the clear coat that caused the rest of the tank to be "whiter"

The surrounding paint is lighter for two reasons: Either it is much more swirled than the paint under the sticker, or it is much more oxidized. To get the glue off, water down some vinegar, and grab a mf towel. To even out the colouring, you need to determine which of these 2 things it is. Take a pic of the sun reflecting off of this area, and post it.

The surrounding paint is lighter for two reasons: Either it is much more swirled than the paint under the sticker, or it is much more oxidized. To get the glue off, water down some vinegar, and grab a mf towel. To even out the colouring, you need to determine which of these 2 things it is. Take a pic of the sun reflecting off of this area, and post it.

Oh, I got the glue off with gasoline :)

I'll grab a pic.

I've heard good things about this, but haven't tried it myself
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/tires-auto-parts/auto-parts/mr-clean-autodry-1205/overview/index.htm?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=car+wash


i use that and havent had a problem with water spots on any of my rides since.

In none of the pics I grabbed can you see the difference in color.

The difference is a lot less now, I left it out in the sun for a week :)

I'll post pics anyway:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j252/Tofuball/GS850L/Nighthawk1.jpg?t=1216500528

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j252/Tofuball/GS850L/Nighthawk3.jpg?t=1216500529

Remove the rinse water with a drying blade if you don't want water spots. All a chamois does is spread water around.

Large microfiber towel.

^nail on the head. Anything else is too rough, and causes swirling.

Take the dealership stickers off if the paint underneath isn't different from the rest of the car.

Here's after wash, claybar, wash, polish, wash, wax, wax. All in all about a 6 hour process, and I went FAST. You can easily spend a whole day or more on one car.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/schlawin/DSC_00281.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/schlawin/DSC_00291.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/schlawin/DSC_00301.jpg

All meguiar's products, except for black magic liquid shine wax.



Rinse the car with nothing but an empty hose end, rather than a sprayer. A heavy stream of water causes water to "sheet" off the car and leaves barely anything on there, much less to dry. Try it.

Nathan, your parents drive a poor people van.

Chevy Conversion FTW!! That bitch probably has a 13 inch TV AND a Super NES!

No they don't. Nobody drives that. It just sits there. I think it's got a dishwasher in it right now. Also, has a broken U-joint.

besides, it's nice inside, not a poor people hauler of any sort. HA, it's got a TV, but not a 13". Also does bitchin brakestands with the 350. Nothing like doing a block long one wheel burnout in a giant van.

Also, the u-joint and burnouts are COMPLETELY unrelated.

No they don't. Nobody drives that. It just sits there. I think it's got a dishwasher in it right now. Also, has a broken U-joint.

besides, it's nice inside, not a poor people hauler of any sort. HA, it's got a TV, but not a 13". Also does bitchin brakestands with the 350. Nothing like doing a block long one wheel burnout in a giant van.

Also, the u-joint and burnouts are COMPLETELY unrelated.

I know your parents aren't poor, but that's what poor folks drive here.

Not with TV's and comfy interiors. They drive ones with no back windows and FREE CANDY spraypainted on the side.

No, they drive the ones with gum wrappers for fuses, and belching blue smoke... and a bungee cord holding the spare tire to the ladder.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/schlawin/DSC_00281.jpg

Now that's a RED car (aka not pink)

My car's pink.

Here's after wash, claybar, wash, polish, wash, wax, wax. All in all about a 6 hour process, and I went FAST. You can easily spend a whole day or more on one car.

Looks very very nice!

Remove the rinse water with a drying blade if you don't want water spots. All a chamois does is spread water around.

That's a good idea. I gotta get one of those.

Mequiars looks good, but the durabilty sucks...in a few weeks it's gone...Zaino rules

ewww no. Zaino has good products, but they aren't amazing, and they're waaay over-priced. Also, megs has lots of good products. #20 wax, which you can't buy in NA anymore, is the best carnuba wax I've ever used, and #83 polish is the best cutting polish on the market, by far. Really no need to be spending hundreds on Z products, if you know what you're doing.

Last time I used this TechWax stuff I loved it. It was on that black TII that SOMEONE tried to improve with unnecessary weight savings. I guess does that make it fail the durability test?

Here's after wash, claybar, wash, polish, wash, wax, wax. All in all about a 6 hour process, and I went FAST. You can easily spend a whole day or more on one car.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b174/schlawin/DSC_00281.jpg



That's an awful lot of work to do on a Saturn... ;)

Last time I used this TechWax stuff I loved it. It was on that black TII that SOMEONE tried to improve with unnecessary weight savings. I guess does that make it fail the durability test?

ohh it'll be alright. Even with the scrub paint job I did on it, it'll still shine up. Ill wash it tomorrow if I can and take some good pics.

I'm using #20 wax now, and one $20 tin will last me 1-2 years. And that's for all my clients, not just myself. It lasts about 6 months, as well. Wish you could still buy it here, it's amazing stuff.

I do like the Meguiar's paint cleaners
funny, I dislike their cleaners. Klasse makes the best cleaner I've used. Their all-in-one gets rid of fucking everything, even moderate oxidation. Pretty wicked stuff.

Looks very very nice!

Thanks :)

If you have access to a buffer, try it out, it makes the color "pop". That's where the "red!" as opposed to more of a pink comes from...You work for awhile, take a few steps back, and it looks like a new paintjob.

That's an awful lot of work to do on a Saturn... ;)

Yeah, who cares. It looks good. This thread is about detailing.

Yeah, who cares. It looks good. This thread is about detailing.

I know, I was busting your balls. It's probably the nicest older Saturn I've seen.

I wish my paint looked that good.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=79859