As title any special products on the market for care of this finnish.
Colour is a solid red if that makes a differance.

 

What vehicle is it on, and is it a respray? Also, is it clear coated or single stage paint? Almost all automotive paints are acrylic melamine compounds, meaning standard polsihes and waxes will work fine. If you can provide a little more info I may be able to help more.

 

From your pm - Could you suggest some products that i can use to polish /wax my Lotus elise which has red acrylic paint ?
I've only had the car a few weeks and I am using meguiers gold class at the moment.

If it's a standard Lotus it will have normal paint, meaning all normal detailing products can be used safely on it. On red, there are two systems I prefer. The first is the Blackfire range, which gives an ultra glossy finish with sharp reflectivity, at the expense of a little richness. The products to use are Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish followed by Blackfire Wet Diamond. Both go on with German Applicator Pads and are best buffed off with Deluxe Mega Towels. Here's the finish you can expect...





The second system is the Jeffs Werkstatt Carnauba range, which gives a much richer, softer finish with real warmth and wetness. The products to use are Prime Carnauba (apply with white side of German Pad, buff off with Super Thick n Plush Towel using a spritz of Carnauba Glos to loosen the residue), then Carnauba Jett (apply by spraying onto Deluxe Mega Towel, wipe over panel, allow to haze, then buff off with another Deluxe Mega Towel). Here's the finish that this system gives...





Hope that helps!

 

That shine on the lotus is fantastic its also the same colour as mine.
Can you PM me prices and details of the products you suggested in your reply.
The blackfire ones.
Thanks
Kev

 

Products are all listed on Car Care - The finest products, the best advice - Polished Bliss or click on the banner at the top of page.

Andy.

 

Hi Rich, i spoke to Kev at this months meeting and he was telling me that he'd tried to clay the car but it scratched it. Why ? I thought about this when i got home and had an idea what it couild have been but not sure so wont say anything until i ask kevin.

But a clay bar wont/shouldnt damage it or would it ?

 

Ask away I would like to know why as well
Simon tried a small area on the back of the rear clam and it was not good
Simon has done his car as well so he knew what do do.

 

Got to be quick, as just off to Edinburgh, but claying when done correctly will not scratch the car. The problem may be: (i) car not washed properly first and the clay still picking up grit (ii) clay is old and dirty, if so replace (iii) clay bar is too firm and needs warming in water first (iv) insufficient lube was used (although it can be done safely with just water, so unlikely. Can you confirm whether it was scratches or marring (i.e. fine hazing)? I'll be back on first thing Monday morning to follow this up (after the open day on Sunday).

 

The clay was not new but was still very clean... I flexed it in my hand first so it was quite soft and then sprayed plenty of detailer on it and on the car... only rubbed it lightly, we did a square around 6" on the rear next to the lights but when I dried it we had fine lined scratches in that square matching with the movements I made with the clay. Scarey stuff for a minute but after some Scratch X and some polish they cleaned out.
As said the clay had been used but was very clean indeed otherwise I would have bined it would that be the cause possibly ?

Simon

 

Incidently I'm going to let Kev try some of my Blackfire as you have suggested I don't think he will go far wrong with that.

P.S. That poorboys wheel sealent you suggested to me Rich it's brilliant !

 

The car was clean apart from some small tar spots which is why we tried the clay bar and I would say they were scratches.
We are going to try some blackfire products tomorrow so will let you know how we get on.
kev

 

Morning chaps, sorry I didn't get on yesterday, bloody mental day, didn't finish my e-mails until well after 10pm! Okay, the clay problem - it can only be a contaminated bar. Clean clay used correctly will not scratch - it may cause marring if used aggressively, but not scratches. So, it must have had some grit in it, or the panel wasn't as clean as you thought (I take it the car had been washed thoroughly first and not driven anywhere before the clay bar was used?). If you still have it I would bin the bar and start over with a fresh one - these things happen, c'est la vie, but don't let it put you off the claying process - it's an essential step and doesn't normally cause defects other than fine marring (which comes out easily, even by hand).

The Blackfire products are £14 for the Gloss Enhancing Polish, £22 for the Wet Diamond, £2.55 a pop for German Applicators (get 2), and £10 a pop for triple packs of super towels and deluxe towels (I would get one of each). So, all in, about £65 delivered... but worth every penny!

 

Well I tried out the blackfire products you suggested over the weekend (thankyou Simon) and i'm very impressed
I thought that the two application system was going to be hard work but No; it was easy
I was very impressed with how easy both coats went on and even more impressed how they buffed off, and no white powder everywhere
I can see with a little time how the shine will build and deepen into something like in the pic's you posted or was that after a machine polish?
As for the clay bar I think I will have another go at that over a small area to see what happens
I know you said the clay bar might be dirty but it looks as good a new, perhaps the car was not as clean as it should have been so will have to try again.
I shall be placing an order very soon
Kev

 

Did I read in another threat that you will be having some special offers on the products I need ,next month?

 

 

Close for sure - the machine step does bring out a level of gloss that exceeds that which can be achieved by hand, but Blackfire by hand does work wonders too.

 

Next months offer will be the Werkstatt Acrylic line, details up at the start of next week.