dabest09

iTrader: (1)

STILL haven't polished my car. Should get to it this week since I'm on spring break. Quick question..

For the TA spoiler, would you recommend just taking it off completely to polish it? The owner before me obviously did not know how to wash a car and the swirls are terrible. I want to get rid of all traces of them. I wasn't sure how much harder it would be to take off the spoiler but I would really like to get a good detail.

I remember seeing one of your threads where you wetsanded a NBM trans am and took the hatch off.

White.Lightning

iTrader: (53)

I would take it off. One word of caution is, be careful with the plastic piece that covers the bolts on the inside of the hatch. The plastics in these cars is thin and gets brittle over time. Take your time and use some panel removal tools or something like a spackle knife to gently pry the connections loose. There will also be the third brake light harness that needs to be pulled back into the hatch area.

I want to remove mine on my artic white car because of the 12 years of grime that gets caught in the area between the hatch and spoiler. It's getting to the point where it is noticeable.

Take some before, during and after pics. Good luck

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

The one I did was just the spoiler, not the whole hatch, that was the only way to do it right. Its easy, only 4 bolts and disconnect the brakelight pigtail. Definitely remove it for the detail.

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

Ok guys, I'm finally taking a day off, and thought I'd come in here to catch up on some questions.....



I got to play with a few @ SEMA and Blackfire is still hitting home runs with their stuff.

Keep that metal clean and sealed. Especially the chrome. Road salt will eat chrome like nobodys business. Stay on top of it.....pull those wheels off, clean them perfectly and seal them. Use a good wheel cleaner like P21S wheel gel or Sonax Full Effect so as not to strip the protection you just applied. Use the Daytona brush to get and keep the barrels clean.

I'd stay far away from that mitt.

Zaino Z9 leather cleaner is excellent. Leather Masters is also very good.

Agreed.

Never seen "Micro Finish" before..... got a link?

The only product I know of is Swissvax Opaque. $$$

See above

It will accept it yes....will it look good? No. It will streak and smear like crazy. Do not do it.

If the glass is abraded you may be out of luck. If it doesn't come off with some polish, I'd take the glass to a glass refinishing company.


Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 would be very good for your conditions. Also Aquartz is another excellent choice for extreme durability. Long-term neglect (which is what you just described) will cause you major detailing issues (read: $$$) down the road. Detail it and keep it protected to avoid that.

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

A proper detail with correcting the paint (via rotary or DA) should bring the brightness of the paint back to match the new paint. Better to spend 300-500+ having a pro do the whole car (after painting) than to spend a few thousand to paint the whole car.....as you'll likely have to have a pro detail it anyway to remove swirls/buffer trails and holograms from the body shop and remaining sand scratches that are almost always present.

Haven't tried it, specifically over the controversial name. While it has advertising appeal, someone made a good point about it being offensive to some customers and that is something I agree with and is not worth the risk for a professional as that is the image you want to convey.....professionalism.

Can't wait to see the detail pics! The 85RD is going to make the paint just POP!

Thanks for the comments on the C5Z!! It may be up for sale later this year as I'm toying with the idea of a C6Z....r1?.....maybe.... No idea if I can afford it this year, but who knows? Its a good year so far, but for right now I'm loving the C5Z. Thank you!



Well done.


I'd add in some 106FA or 85RD for finishing to up the gloss, but that is a great combo to bring back one of the most neglected spots on fbodys.

Neither of these will strip the wax/sealant. Glazes are very weak against any soap/cleaner, so they may weaken it, but not a wax/sealant.

Dawn and CG Citrus wash are both great ways to strip the previous LSP off.

I'd strongly recommend a CR Spotless system. A LOT less than 10k, and perfect for your situation.

Thank you This is why I do get a little irritated at people not even reading through and saying because its a "lot of pages".....yes its a lot of pages indicating the time out of my busy schedule to help others out. Look, I'm here answering stuff on my first day off in 2 weeks!! There is a lot of free info and some trade secrets I've shared. As I've taken the time to write so much for others I'd appreciate people taking the time to respect that and read through for answers. Too many people from the "give it to me now" generation.

Sorry for the rant.

Conrad

iTrader: (20)

I would recommend listing on the opening post to not even bother asking anyone to compile the thread. Heck, they may not even read that though.

Dang Jeff, taking time out of your day off to answer questions. What a guy. Please just relax and enjoy the time off to yourself!

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

I'm working on compiling it, but its going to take some time before I can post up the changes. But its coming...

JUSTINSWS6

Problem is people are to damn lazy.

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

Forgive me if this had been in asked in the previous 52 pages, but I pulled my side moldings off. The driver side cleaned up well:



However, I found that the passenger door and rear quarter have been repainted - and they did not remove the molding:









edit: Here are some better pictures of the grime I can't get with the clay:





What can I do with this? Wet sand it smooth? Take it to a paint shop?

In case one is wondering, I washed the car with Dawn and I just clayed it (which I'm unable to get all of the grime from where the moldings were on the passenger side due to it being painted over). I'm following up with Meguiars new Ultimate compound, polish, and wax. I do not have an electric orbital or anything -- all in the arm

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!

1bad99

Whats a good spray or anything to clean my carpet.

Pipeless416

iTrader: (2)

this thread is even getting on my nerves.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/15349710-post186.html

Junkman2008

First, and I don't mean to sound like an *** here but if you have to ask whether or not wet sanding is needed, that is something that you should definitely not be thinking about doing. One problem that would be evident with wet sanding is that the clear UNDER the moldings is going to be a lot thinner than the clear that was painted aftermarket. Thus, if you start wet sanding where the molding was, you could quickly end up striking through the clear and right into the paint. That equals new paint job.

Now as for my professional opinion, let a professional fix it. The only possible outcome that you could hope for is just making it look less noticeable. If you want it to look correct, allow professional intervention.

Junkman2008

The problem as GoFast eluded to is how hard it is to thoroughly rinse your carpet. The second problem is knowing what NOT to use on your carpet. In no instance do you ever want to use SOAP to clean your carpet unless you have a huge van with a professional extracting machine on it. Since the only folks who have access to on of those are the people who clean carpets for a living, that means that you will never be using soap.

There are products on the market that clean carpet without soap as an ingredient. Adam's has carpet cleaner that I use, which cleans without soap. There's a technical description of how the process works but I won't bore you with the details. Just know that for every 1 part soap that you use, it must be rinsed clean with 10 parts water. As you can imagine, that is pretty much impossible to do by hand as you'll never get all the water out of the carpet and you'll end up causing a mildew mess.

Thus, use a product that cleans without soap and remember that unless you remove all of the cleaner out of the carpet, it will end up getting dirty again, but much faster. That's why you never use soap. Here are some floor matts that I cleaned:








I used a machine like this:

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

Can't even read a couple posts above your own.....

This has been answered.

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

Actually I don't think this one has been asked in ALL the pages I have spent time ANSWERING every question asked of me........................


I am willing to bet that is not dirt or residue but a ridge of clear coat. It needs to be professionally sanded down and buffed out, but likely would need repainting for the same reasons Junkman pointed out.

1bad99

Sorry i had a quick question but didnt have hours to sit here and read thru this book that your writing!I have to say you give great advice but for the ppl who just have a simple question but not alot of time, i figured this be the thread to hit up.

GoFast908Z

iTrader: (12)

If you're not willing to put the time in, why should I?

You're right, this thread is a good place to hit up....but reading posts is what needs to be done. If you just want a quick answer because you can't make the time, just post a new thread.

1bad99

Not that i cant make time, at the moment i was working and had a question and DIDNT MAKE time to read this thread. I wasnt mocking your time and advice. But I understand where you are coming from. Thanks man.

J8127

One more question, when you are polishing with say a PC, do you have to do anything special in areas like a WS6 hood? How do you polish the sides of the nostrils? Or does it just work and not something you have to take special care of?

Junkman2008

The PC tends to bog down over areas like that if your technique is flawed. What I would do if I was using a PC is use a 4" pad and accompanying back plate. That makes areas like that very easy to do with the PC. This problem is not present with the Flex or Rotary machine, just the PC. At the same time, that's what makes the PC so safe and the Flex a little more dangerous. A rotary would be a LOT more dangerous.