Scooby-kid

Having owned the car a few months, and knowing that the the previous owner only ever pressure washed the car, it was time to give it a coat of wax ready for winter.

Although it's only a Fiesta, I do like to take pride in my cars

Would have liked to finish with Autoglym HD wax but this is done on a strict budget, here goes.....


Was not particularly dirty before, but I pressure washed it at the garage to get the dirt off, and have a good blast around in the arches. This is back home after the pressure wash:



Washed with Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo using two buckets:


scrubbed the tyres with a hard brush, and used a microfibre mitt to get in all the spokes:


after the first wash, I used Autoglym tar remover as it was covered in spots! (note, I already had this and didn't want the outlay for a clay bar, nor did I have the time really):


After all of the tar was removed, the car was washed again using two buckets and it was on to polishing. Using Autoglym Super Resin Polish and one of their moulded applicators:





After polishing(difficult with the iPhone camera!):








can anyone shed any light on the "ripple" finish seen in some of the above photos? Almost like the paint has a mottled finish.

After polishing the car is was rinsed with an open hose and waxed using Autoglym Aquawax. I found this absolutely great for the price, and ease of application. I think it was £14 from Halfords for 500ml and two microfibre cloths included.

You simply spray the wax on, one panel at a time and dry it with towel number 1 which spreads the wax evenly.

When the car is dry you buff the wax with towel number 2. It's so quick because you can coat everything Eg, paint, glass, rubber etc so you can blitz it in no time - just avoid the windscreen. I didn't pause to take a photo of this stage as I was cautious of buffing it off in time, but here is the finished result:






Comments welcome

Scott.

Matt23

Very nice little car mate, looks so nice in red.

craigybaby

iTrader: (8)

The rippled effect you talk of is called orange peel all fords have this issue with the paint the only way to get rid would be to wet sand it and then use a rotary machine polisher to mop it back up might be worth taking it to a experienced detailer near you for quotes etc

Scooby-kid

Thanks for the replies.

I guess the orange peel is just down to a 'cheap' paint finish is it?

Scott.

theduck

Its becoming more and more common on all cars due to the use of water based paints.

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

I would be interested in how the wax lasts, tbh I dont see it doing much good!

car looks great, orange peel is a real pain on modern cars

Scooby-kid

I'll be keeping a close eye on the wax as well! It does say on the box you can add more layers by washing the car and drying with the waxing process so I'll probably do this every other wash to keep a nice coat on and to save me from having to polish the paint again.

I'll keep you updated

Scott.

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

buy a good wax (they dont have to cost silly money) and add some protection, you have done to much work to not protect it!

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...uba-waxes.html

my winter protection:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...76s-cat13.html

Scooby-kid

Could I just re coat with the above wax after a good clean, or do I have to somehow remove the layer or Autoglym?

Cheers,
Scott.

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

Adding more layers of wax is fine mate. Not a problem

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

as above, its good stuff and gives max protection for this time of year