Reconditioning paint work

KillBill · 21-08-2005, 22:03

At 11 years old, my car looks quite good for it's age... however of course it's starting to look a bit dull in places.
It does have the odd scratch and score, but nothing too serious (besides the rear arches... but thats a story for another thread).

Anyway, with the age and value of the car, and my finances, a total respray is out of the question. That said, I would like to try and spruce it up a bit. Are there any particular products that you guys use to bring out the shine on things ?

I wash it pretty regularly with this standard tescos car shampoo with polish included... and it does look quite nice and shiny for the first day or 2 after a wash... this soon dulls though. Any advice for bringing it out a bit (relatively cheaply), would be appreciated

Anything on restoring the bumpers and plastic a bit wouldn't go amiss either

I know some of you guys have cracking looking motors from what I've seen in pics

**Gordon Livsey** · 21-08-2005, 22:10

best thing to do is use farecla g3 compound rub, use this with an orbital buffer, once you have done that do the same with farecla g10 with the buffer, once you have done this then go over the car with t cut

**Benn** · 21-08-2005, 22:13

tcut and a buffer will do a lot,
or ag's tcut stuff(paint renovator)

and on bumpers,theres lots of different ways
i useda black to black gel stuff,gave the bumpers a freash black clean look,
then added a'g's bumper care over the top,
or the megs trim stuff,(found it a lil better in places)

KillBill · 22-08-2005, 10:58

Cheers guys, will give it a go

casper_ac · 22-08-2005, 13:00

meguiars 3 stage cleaning polish and wax.
top top job.
lot of work but well worth it!

Kev 180iE · 22-08-2005, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarmac chewer

best thing to do is use farecla g3 compound rub, use this with an orbital buffer, once you have done that do the same with farecla g10 with the buffer, once you have done this then go over the car with t cut

Surely that's bad idea?

I would have though T-Cut to be stronger than the first 2 products you suggested - thus it would go straight thruogh them and start taking more paint away, rendering all the previous work pointless?

*AJ* · 23-08-2005, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by kev_seymour

Surely that's bad idea?

I would have though T-Cut to be stronger than the first 2 products you suggested - thus it would go straight thruogh them and start taking more paint away, rendering all the previous work pointless?

you think T cut is stronger than G3 cutting paste???

Tarmac chewer is correct with what he has suggested in that order

although it will need a good polish and wax, after the TCUT

Kev 180iE · 23-08-2005, 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by *AJ*

Tarmac chewer is correct with what he has suggested in that order

I take it that means it's not then?

I've got the same situation with my car, have used T Cut original on it a couple of times now, i would have thought that kind of paint stripping power would be more than strong enough?

*AJ* · 23-08-2005, 18:37

G3 is stronger, its usually used after spraying to get rid of the orange peel affect

not recommended for normal use, but if the paintwork is bad, the stuff is amazing!!!

its cuts back a layer of paint, and usually gets back to the original colour

Mike007 · 23-08-2005, 18:53

I wouldn't be surprised if T-Cut is coarser than G3. It is definately coarser than G10. Don't forget it is designed for hand use, not machine use whereas the Ferecla products are designed for machine use.

I would go with G3, then G10 (by machine) and finally give it a hand wax with Meguires Gold Class wax.

From then on wash it regularly with a decent shampoo and re-wax each time. If it starts to fade again after a few months give it a hand polish with something like Autoglym Super Resin Polish before the wax.

Mike

Kev 180iE · 23-08-2005, 19:13

Is this G3 stuff better than Meguires Dual Action Cleaner Polish?

Mike007 · 23-08-2005, 19:26

G3 and G10 are generally used by bodyshops. Because of that they are designed for use with a machine polisher. If you plan on using a machine polisher then these are probably the best.

If you are going to polish by hand, then products like the Megs may well be better as they are designed to be used by hand.

Mike

*AJ* · 24-08-2005, 12:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike007

G3 and G10 are generally used by bodyshops. Because of that they are designed for use with a machine polisher. If you plan on using a machine polisher then these are probably the best.

If you are going to polish by hand, then products like the Megs may well be better as they are designed to be used by hand.

Mike

you can mop a car by hand using G3, but make sure you mix it with water, otherwise you could end up in a mess

**Gordon Livsey** · 24-08-2005, 16:38

its what i we use in the bodyshop, usually once a car has been painted i go over it with g3 on a wet cloth and then buff it into the car, then the same step is done with g10 which is a lighter and finer grade

Mike007 · 24-08-2005, 17:15

Yes, you can use it by hand, but it is designed for use with a mop. I wouldn't worry about using a mop-designed polish by hand, but I wouldn't use a hand polish with a mop (such as T-Cut). Companies like Ferecla spend a long time perfecting the properties of their machine polishes.

Mike