Toad Toyota has been very carefully polished with freshly washed dusters and the best of non-abrasive polishes available to me with very good effect except that, if the light and the viewer are aligned in the right - or wrong - way, numbers of fine scratches can be made out, presumably due to application of abrasive polishes or inadequately clean cloths back in Japan or perhaps in the course of preparation by the importers. Rather than make any further attack on the metallic finish with abrasives I feel that something which would form a smooth film over the surface is indicated; old-fastioned Simoniz (Motorists wise Simoniz!) springs to my mind but it is unobtainable any more, at least around here. I have a catalogue for yacht related products which offers what appear to be pure wax polishes and this may be an answer.
However, I am hoping that someone out there may have successfully dealt with such a problem and if so, I would be grateful to learn from him or them.
Regards,
Tomo
|
RU Sure Simoniz is unobtainable over there Tomo? My Japanese car accessory supermarket (about 10 times the size of your average Halfords - even has motorized trolleys if you're too tired to walk!) has it. It says Made In UK on the tin. I checked because I too was surprised to see it still around.
There are also acres of shelving full of Japanese specialist polishes which might do what you want but I can't read Kansai script and neither can the (Filipino) sales assistants.
|
|
|
Tomo,
The best I have found is at www.meguiars.co.uk - they have a three stage process - paint cleaner,polish, carnauba wax at £7-99 each.
Takes a bit of work the first time but is well worth the effort!
Regards,
Matt35
|
I would recomend "Auto Glym Extra Shine" as it is a liquid treatment for use after Auto Glym polish, but I have had good results using that alone on 2 brand new cars as it has very little if any abrasive content perfectly suited to todays soft acrylic eco-friendly paint.
I once did have lots of micro scratches on the bonnet after using ordinary polish to remove stains left by seagulls droppings and removed these using extra-shine.
Another point, no matter how well you polish a lot of damage can be done by not removing most of the dirt with a power washer prior to using a bucket and sponge.
Hope this is of some help.
|
|
|
|
old-fastioned Simoniz (Motorists wise Simoniz!) springs to my mind but it is unobtainable any more, at least around here.
Tomo : Type in "simoniz polish" in to google.co.uk and restrcit search to UK; and you will find plenty of Simoniz stockists.
|
Many thanks to all.
Some hard work for an old buffer now!
Cheers,
Tomo
|
Update (condensed, second typing of!)
I printed out the above suggestions and set off for Halfords, wher the nearest I could get, after consultation of labels, was Autoglym Super Resin Polish and Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection, to be applied in succession. I also acquired some Halfords' yellow and Autoglym white stringy dusters.
After some experiments the final drill was a good go with the Resin followed by the Extra Gloss, left overnight before polishing off. Scratches could still be detected under fluorescent light but on trundling Toad out into the sunlight only a few could really be seen, and that because I knew where to look. So I am relieved. Very little colour came off, and that probably attributable to coloured Turtle Wax previously applied, and the dose, I think, can safely be repeated.
By the way, the instruction on the yellow dusters to wash separately is justified. On popping some of each kind into the machine, they all came out yellow!
Thanks again.
Tomo
|
Some yanks swear by Finish First - www.finishfirstpolish.com - I have some but haven't been brave enough to try it on my car yet...
mike
|
|
Autoglym is excellent, but Halfords charge a real premium on it. Try local car accessory shops for better value, summer car shows are also excellent sources. I paid £5 each for large bottles of the polish and liquid polish finish at a show last year.
|
Yes I know; our local factor was much cheaper than Halfords on some things. But, it closed, presumably went bust, and Halfords did not!
Tomo
|
|
|
|
www.autovaux.co.uk sell quite a few Autoglym products at relatively cheap prices.
|
|
|
|
|
