hey all,

Just starting my saffy project car, the bodywork itself is clean, but unfortunately it's faded! has anyone got any tips to make it shine again and prolong its redness? without spending a fortune?

any help would be much appreciated!

 

Get it mopped then use a good sealer and polish

 

years back I had a red xr3i that was faded to pink and in places white!! I spent about 5 hours t-cutting then polishing and it came up like new.

Maybe give it a really good wash down, clay bar it to remove any crap in the paint (very quick and easy to do) and then give it a good t-cut and then polish up then wax.

If it is kept waxed up reguarly then the red should remain.

 

a mop should work if u use a cutting compound then polish i did my capri bonnet that was like a matt pink and that has come up really well

 

hey im a bit of a detailer , if your not machine polishing the cheapest way way would be to T-cut but this wont give a good shine so following up with a good polish will help, autoglym super resin polish is great for this ! and to keep its colour a good wax will or sealent is the way forward, im using autoglym HD wax at the moment and its awesome!

 

Alright mate, I've just done my mates Audi for him, looked like a right nail when we picked it up.

 

boy done well

 

give us a quick run through of what you used please, thats an amazing result to say the least

 

The car was washed down with a mix of traffic film remover and water, then it was all washed off with a pressure washer.

We taped up the windows and plastics and I used a simple foam mop head and G3 using plenty of water to avoid burning through ( mainly as my mop has no speed control )

I then mopped it with a normalish car polish I have from Nielsons, I've always found this helps get any of the swirls you may find from machine polishing ( again possibly more down to the mop I use )

The car was then washed down a final time and the we hand polished it with Auto Glym Super Resin.

Simple as that really, very impressed with the results.

 

nice one, you make it sound so easy., lol

Tfr is great stuff isnt it. we got 100s of litres of the stuff at work.
although ive seen what it does to red cars if its not mixed correctly.
it makes red cars pink.

 

From experience I have found that using TFR on similar coloured vehicles helps bring it up once you hit it with polish.

I always mix it but nothing like as much as I would now its been polished.

I had been a valeter for about 6 years, I had my own place for 3 years doing it but stopped not long before the foreigners took over all the garages in my area. Not a bad job to have and great when you get results like that.

Oh and thanks

 

Well Jon, if you get bored you can always come and do it for me!

its my new project car, so want to get it shiny before i put the new bumpers on

 

Jonny, When you say you use plenty of water, is is sort of spray it on while your machining? how does it react with the polish when applying?

 

if you can machine polish then do that as it will be far quicker and easier. if not, as suggested use t cut, ive had good results with that on a red bonnet.

 

when i see a mate mop his motor with G3 at work he soaked the mop head before using it and wet the panel then applied G3 straight onto the panel.
not sure if thats the correct way to use it but its what my mate did

 

As above, keep the mop damp but not wet, if it's too wet then be prepared to cover everything with watered down polish! Makes a right mess!

 

good old elbow grease will see you through

clay bar,ag hd paint cleanser, ag super resin polish, ag ultra deep shine and ag hd wax
this should do the trick or for a quicker method try turtlewax colour magic it did wonders for my other halfs worn out saxo followed up with a quick coat of ag ultra deep shine

 

You can borrow my mop anytime mate

That is how I do it, damp mop head and keep the panel slightly wet, especially on a car as faded as this.

You can use it dry or atleast drier but there is a high chance you will burn through on the edges and obviously you don't want to be doing that so I'd rather have a bit of G3 to clear up than something I can't without repainting the panel

The Audi needed the bumpers and other hard to get to parts removing as its not perfect, maybe I'm a bit anal but seeing how well it did come up I'm keen to get it looking as good as it can.

 

Cheers Jonny, sounds like i'll be doing some practice. Top Work...

 

I'm only 2 villages away from you, if you need to borrow anything or want some help drop me a PM

 

when i first got my car it was rather pink, and then i asked one of the guys at work to give it a quick wash for me one day and he covered it in TFR and as said above...this stripped it completely and it was pink all over!!!!

I spent some time on it and got it nice and shiny again!

I use Megs Gold Class Wash, Dry, AG Super Resin Polish, Megs Carnuba Wax, finished off with AG Extra Gloss Protection! When Ive done it I constantly get comments on how red it is, and how shiny and reflective!

 

Cheers fella, might take you up on the advice some time.

 

Bring it to me mart, I'm soon to be working for a detailing place right by Cambridge train station, failing that I might be able to borrow one of the rotarys one weekend and pop up to you and de oxidise th paint for you, unfortunately I sold my old makita rotary, pads, compounds last year. So I'll have to see what I can manage from the place in cambs.