HPP

Anyone here use one of those like White Glove or whatever? I know it's sacrilidge to not hand wash, but my paint is already screwed up from poor factory quality and scratches from use. And I want it washed for Friday so I can take it to work, but it's late by the time I get home. So..... that leads me to those car wash places.

Think it'll be a problem? My "Ram Air" stickers seem to be peeling up. Any chance of them getting ripped off by the rollers? Any way to protect them? I was thinking about using scotch tape (one small piece the size of the decal, with the non-stick side to the decal, and another piece, the opposite way, covering that and sticking to the hood on either side - any chance of further harm to the paint by the tape?)

I'm sure it won't be a great job, but it doesn't have to be.

Kevano26

if i were you i would try and find a place that has one of those "touchless" car washes, or if there isnt any of those be careful when taking through the brush kind. my friend took his stang through a car wash by my house and it knocked his side mirrors off. if i were you i would just a quickie hand wash, that way you wouldnt have to worry.

JD_AMG

Also stay away from high pressure washes, t-tops will leak (only time mine have).

CrawlinWS6

iTrader: (41)

I agree, they away from the cloth washes. But the touchless ones do SUCK! It always looks like I pissed myself when I get thru the wash (leaky t-tops).

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

Someone else had some of the same thoughts: https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance-detailing/478858-pressure-wash-hand-wash.html

nomadnate

iTrader: (1)

everytime i use an auto car wash water leaks out of my mirrors and leaves tons of spots, plus it leaks at the headlight, taillights, liscence plate, ram air, not to mention your stickers could peel of or get your mirrors broken. If you don't need it to be show quality use the Mr. Clean car wash kit. that is what i do. you still have to hand dry where it leaks out but not the whole car and it still looks really nice when i am done. maybe takes me 45 minutes.

nhra-trans-am

iTrader: (103)

I only hand wash my t/a

Awake455

Ditto. Get up early (or stay up late) and give your girl a hand job. Much much better than letting a machine do it.

coxta

iTrader: (4)

Same. I will never take mine to a carwash again. I have only did it once but it is just way too easy to scratch it and Black reveals scratchs very good. You just cant beat a good old fashioned hand wash.

HPP

You guys are right.

I don't want to have leaks, and I don't want to risk weakening seals by forcing leaks through them. I don't want to make the paint worse than it is already, either.

And I know if I do this once, I'll want to do it all the time. The problem is that it takes SO long, even with the Mr Clean Auto Dry stuff (which I always use). It takes a good hour or so, just to do the outside, 1 time. And that's not always enough either. And I've found rinses to be useless as well.

I've got something to do tonight, and getting up early simply isn't possible for me. lol And since the weather is calling for rain at 40% chance on saturday, screw it. I'll leave the dirt and dust on it and maybe do it on Sunday or something. (depending on the forecast)

(you know, a down side to hand washing is that you see all the new scratches and marks that just appear for no reason you can think of, and just depress you lol)

The Trans Am Kid

don't take it through the car wash, of any kind. I work at a car wash. We actually have a button we have to push when the new mustangs come in with the words on the sides. Ford did a POS job and they come off in the wash because of the high pressure water, not the brushes. The button we have to push turns the water pressure down dramatically. You could ask them about that but I wouldn't take my baby through one.

2001BlkWS6

If I were you I would make time to wash it no matter how dark. Use whatever light that you have. But if you can't make time or the use of light at night. Try to find a laser wash, i think it was mentioned above as a touchless wash.. I also wouldnt try the tape, especially if you can find a laserwash. Good luck

The Trans Am Kid

NHRAMAN

iTrader: (1)

ROLLERS !!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT GO THERE..touchless is the ONLY way if you have to go to one............................................... .................................................. ....rollers !!!!

FelixIlka

It's still quite cold up here to wash my car by hand so I bring it to the one at the gas station that doesn't touch it and just sprays water and soap on it. I keep my car extremely clean in the summer with hand washes, waxing, polishing, clay bars ect. so I'm not worried about a handfull of times just to keep the dirt off the paint.

ohsofast

iTrader: (6)

Only i wash my car by hand. My wife try to surprise me, and wash my car, I told her "don't ever do that again"

Mike24

The only wash my car gets is from elbow grease, When i bought my first Firebird the guy at the Stealership said never take it threw a car wash (ttops leaking)

7901 WS6

iTrader: (6)

About your Ram air Decals, when you wash just try not to run over them with your mit/towel/chamois/ The corners will pick up. Even waxing stay away from them. You can get close but dont hit em. If you need to dry there to stop spots from drying just dab it with a towel. If your corners are already coming up you can have a couple of options. 1 use a blade to take off the bad corner that wont stick anymore and will make more of the decal come up. 2 use clear coat touch up/clear nail polish. and use a small dab to adhere the decal corner back down. 3 Take them off and get them airbrushed on. 4 Replace them with replicas you see everywhere and be more careful about them.

just some thoughts