keeping a black car clean :(
10-11-2005, 03:05 AM
#42
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whatever catback was on the car when I bought it used, which i think is a flowmaster muffler welded on, and there are little dumps right after the muffler, so you cant see any tips normally. I had this done when I got the cutout welded because my tips were bad looking and I wanted to see what it would look like w/o tips/ having dumps. I kind of like it but then I wonder if Id like some nice tips better, but I still cant decide for now.
since that picture I sprayed some black temp paint on the brackets and little dumps so the metal isnt so noticable and it looks a lot nicer.
edit- I orrigionally wanted to cut off my muffler, do the "i pipe muffler" thing and put some single over the axle dump, so I would have no tips and when you look under the car you can see the suspension pieces and the big 9" axle, but I decided I probably wouldnt like the sound too much, and I wanted to try the E cuout.
I still kind of want to shed the extra pounds of that catback but I really love being able to turn the exhaust on/off.
since that picture I sprayed some black temp paint on the brackets and little dumps so the metal isnt so noticable and it looks a lot nicer.
edit- I orrigionally wanted to cut off my muffler, do the "i pipe muffler" thing and put some single over the axle dump, so I would have no tips and when you look under the car you can see the suspension pieces and the big 9" axle, but I decided I probably wouldnt like the sound too much, and I wanted to try the E cuout.
I still kind of want to shed the extra pounds of that catback but I really love being able to turn the exhaust on/off.
Last edited by BigSteele; 10-11-2005 at 03:10 AM.
10-11-2005, 03:19 AM
#43
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I really like the way that catback looks. If I didn't see Corsa tips in person, I'd have it like that...haha. I had a dumped muffler off the y-pipe, didn't sound bad, but it kept hitting my floorboards BAD.
10-11-2005, 12:42 PM
#46
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I keep a damp shammy in a zip lock bag and leave that in the back. After I drive around ill pull over somewhere and wipe the car down again. Gets the rest of the water spots off and the dust. Mostly everytime I drive out ill stop and wipe it. 
10-11-2005, 12:56 PM
#47
First off, the cali car duster has instructions that say to wrap it in newspaper and let it sit for some time, this soaks up the wax and you will be able to see it, look slike if you let a half stick of butter melt on the paper..
then, it also is best to only dust the car when it is cool to the touch. obviously, if you brush a "mop" with wax embedded in its fibers, a hot surface (your paint) will heat up the wax and case it to streak off onto your paint. Just use common sense. I have been trying to perfect the art of washing drying waxing and polishing my car for 3 years now and I have tried everything man, I just recently finished attempting to wash and dry the car with a pressure washer and leaf blower only (in an attempt to not touch the paint with any material other than air or water..), because almost all swirls/scratches are inflicted during the washing and drying stage (mainly washing, when you are pushing dirt around with the mitt) but it did not clean as well as soap and a mitt, and it destroyed one of my decals. I have also installed a water softener to my faucet to help minimize water deposits and use nothing but microfiber cloth to touch the paint, and no not autozone or walmart microfiber, the good kind on autopia, the orange polishing/buffing towels and the waffle weave drying towels are THE ****.
anyways, as far as keeping it clean, it just wont happen the way you want, and i know thats not what you want to hear but dust is always settling on stuff.. Ive tried car covers, but frankly I feel that they cause more paint problems than they fix, unless you dont have a garage. if you think about it, Unless you plan on using detailer spray, or a duster, every time you put the car cover on, you will be putting a non-microfiber cloth over your paint. putting it on and taking it off will cause it to rub all of the dust on your cars paint and thus cause swirls, at least in one direction... so i just leave it off and park the car in the garage, it gets washed AND waxed once a week, dusted in between.
for waxing, I use NXT or Zaino synthetic wax first, and then I use a strict carnuba (not cleaner wax, which will remove some of the previous layer of wax as it goes on) on top of that, this gives you the long lasting protection of a synthetic such as zaino, as 2K2WS6TA mentioned earlier, zaino looks artificial, and thus by putting on a carnuba ontop of the syn., you can have the depth to it..
of course you dont have to re apply zaino every time. if you want to do this, i would advise that you wash your car next time with dawn dish soap to strip everything off of the car, and REALLY wash it well, every inch of the car, and make sure you get everything thorough. then you want to coat the entire car in zaino (as far as i know, longest lasting of synthetics) and after a week when zaino is completely cured and the car is ready for a wash again, use a good quality car soap. whatever as long as its a car soap and not dish soap again. and wax it this time with carnuba, repeat these steps until the zaino begins to wear off, then you can do the whole process again, this is just the detailed steps if you want the best of both worlds..
ALSO - keeping a really good coat of wax on your car at all times will help you in dusting it off, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to use the car duster when your car is waxed versus not. washing is also a ton easier because the wax repels water and so when you go to dry the car, you can just run the open end of a hose on the water, (not a spray nozzle) which will allow the waters adhesive properties work to your advantage. the running water will grab ahold of standing droplets and take them with it as it slides off of the paint, thus you will have a lot less water to dry off of your car...
keeping dust off your car is not going to happen, you can simply follow steps to cleaning if off easily and effectively. oh, and if you are going to use a duster, dust it every night before you put the car to bed, this will keep the dust from building up too the point where either a.) you will cause scratches in the paint by dragging excessive amounts of dust around with your duster or b.) you will need to wash it again.
sorry for the lenght of this post but these are the things that i have found to help me out a lot in keeping my black bird clean. Good luck!
then, it also is best to only dust the car when it is cool to the touch. obviously, if you brush a "mop" with wax embedded in its fibers, a hot surface (your paint) will heat up the wax and case it to streak off onto your paint. Just use common sense. I have been trying to perfect the art of washing drying waxing and polishing my car for 3 years now and I have tried everything man, I just recently finished attempting to wash and dry the car with a pressure washer and leaf blower only (in an attempt to not touch the paint with any material other than air or water..), because almost all swirls/scratches are inflicted during the washing and drying stage (mainly washing, when you are pushing dirt around with the mitt) but it did not clean as well as soap and a mitt, and it destroyed one of my decals. I have also installed a water softener to my faucet to help minimize water deposits and use nothing but microfiber cloth to touch the paint, and no not autozone or walmart microfiber, the good kind on autopia, the orange polishing/buffing towels and the waffle weave drying towels are THE ****.
anyways, as far as keeping it clean, it just wont happen the way you want, and i know thats not what you want to hear but dust is always settling on stuff.. Ive tried car covers, but frankly I feel that they cause more paint problems than they fix, unless you dont have a garage. if you think about it, Unless you plan on using detailer spray, or a duster, every time you put the car cover on, you will be putting a non-microfiber cloth over your paint. putting it on and taking it off will cause it to rub all of the dust on your cars paint and thus cause swirls, at least in one direction... so i just leave it off and park the car in the garage, it gets washed AND waxed once a week, dusted in between.
for waxing, I use NXT or Zaino synthetic wax first, and then I use a strict carnuba (not cleaner wax, which will remove some of the previous layer of wax as it goes on) on top of that, this gives you the long lasting protection of a synthetic such as zaino, as 2K2WS6TA mentioned earlier, zaino looks artificial, and thus by putting on a carnuba ontop of the syn., you can have the depth to it..
of course you dont have to re apply zaino every time. if you want to do this, i would advise that you wash your car next time with dawn dish soap to strip everything off of the car, and REALLY wash it well, every inch of the car, and make sure you get everything thorough. then you want to coat the entire car in zaino (as far as i know, longest lasting of synthetics) and after a week when zaino is completely cured and the car is ready for a wash again, use a good quality car soap. whatever as long as its a car soap and not dish soap again. and wax it this time with carnuba, repeat these steps until the zaino begins to wear off, then you can do the whole process again, this is just the detailed steps if you want the best of both worlds..
ALSO - keeping a really good coat of wax on your car at all times will help you in dusting it off, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to use the car duster when your car is waxed versus not. washing is also a ton easier because the wax repels water and so when you go to dry the car, you can just run the open end of a hose on the water, (not a spray nozzle) which will allow the waters adhesive properties work to your advantage. the running water will grab ahold of standing droplets and take them with it as it slides off of the paint, thus you will have a lot less water to dry off of your car...
keeping dust off your car is not going to happen, you can simply follow steps to cleaning if off easily and effectively. oh, and if you are going to use a duster, dust it every night before you put the car to bed, this will keep the dust from building up too the point where either a.) you will cause scratches in the paint by dragging excessive amounts of dust around with your duster or b.) you will need to wash it again.
sorry for the lenght of this post but these are the things that i have found to help me out a lot in keeping my black bird clean. Good luck!
Last edited by darkecho; 10-11-2005 at 01:04 PM.
