making Comunity midwife Green Sparkle again!!! pic heavy!

[Timmo]

Have the Lovely Rothon family minus Geoff down the bottom left this week and after the february recce of the car was time to make it shiny and nice again!!!!

is the standard Xantia comunity midwife green thats slightly popular but sadly looking a little dull, a couple of pictures pre polishing and many post!!!
method incase anyones interested was simple, wipe down, clay, machine polish with G3, IPA wipe down, machine with G10, IPA wipe down, polish with autosmart platinum, wax with Collinite 915, trims done with Autoglym plastic restorer,
rear wing pre,


front wing

lacking some shine!




general car pre job!


post images!


the front wing from above






bit of pearly flake int that colour too!!!!

nice close up of the flake!


a few more form a little later witht he camera rather than phone, and after i'd backed it up and popped mine next to it for company!





bit more flakeyness from the rear wing




down the middle of the pair!


the pair next to each other


inside is to be left for the summer so can stand a better chance of drying out rather than the 10ish degrees about today! that and the body wasnt going to let me do the inside too today!! machine polisher was playing up too and would only allow me up to 1400rpm and took some persuading! most was done at 1100/1200rpm so did take a little longer than normal, (only ever use it upto around 1800rpm) and the shoulders are telling me theyve carried the machine around for a Big car!!!! haha!
but Mrs R is very pleased!! first proper clean its had in over 3 years!! expecting more mpg on the way back!

[addo]

Waffle foam pads or something else?

[CitroJim]

Wow Looking proper minty Timmo!

I think we can call you the 'Southern Vince' now

I think you went a bit overboard on machine-polishing the numberplates though...

[Timmo]

Addo, standard farecla foam compounding head and generic finishing head,

Jim, there my special anti speed camera plAtes!

[red_dwarfers]

Community midwife green

That is looking pretty mint Timmo!

[addo]

I'm sure the name came about because it often breaks down. Then husband has to get behind it while wife steers: "Push, push"...

[Timmo]

Addo, is refered to as such as was the popular colour for all the district nurses and midwife's etc. when they all got new cars! just the same as White and how its called Motability white! refering to the majority of the cars in white being the cars those who get an allowance for cars choose as its a no cost extra!
hearing aid Biege was a popular oine for the old Bx's!! Audis been brave with the new colours by making metallic poo brown!!

[bxzx16v]

Very nice work Timmo , what rotary have you got ? I'm on my second one as the speed controller went on the first one after only a few hours and the second one is playing up too now after not much use , VERY annoying . How's the Bx going ?

Mark

[Timmo]

Mark! How you doin' fella!
Its a draper pro rotary fella, done me Fine service over past few years, bit weighty but nothing out the ordinary, has a digital speed controller, one of my brush holders on the side has split which I think is the speed issue,
Picked it up for under £50 brand new sealed etc. Is a good machine and very well balanced,

Bx wise, Well! Its I need of some Love! Startedd it last weekend for the first time in 8-10 months! Fresh battery and clean of the dizzy cap and arm it fired quickly wouldn't idle and died soon after but the fuels Past it!! And the plugs Need a clean! - fine at 3k+, started it and reved with hand on throttle pedal and you forget how sensetive they can be after playing in the diesely beast! But a good service and fresh juice and she'll run Ansome! Needs a Damn good clean though! Is Green in places!! Octo needs doing, head needs to come off and have the stem seals done and a decent tune up and will be ready for a Rebirth!!

[addo]

I finally bought some Collinite 476s. Definitely it benefits from thorough surface prep.

[Timmo]

Good man! Yes it certainly does, but, a good surface prep with the colly. Provides a good amount of protection, and the prep after is just a polish and wax,

[addo]

Timmo (or anyone else who's done detailing):

If the Collinite is creating little "crumbs" as I lightly hand buff the surface, I have applied it too thick, correct?

That aside, here's a snapshot of my G3 self-torture. It took four hours to go from heavily oxidised paint to a waxed roof, all by hand.

[Timmo]

By hand, oooh poor you!! End up wiith one shoulder like Arnie!! Hehe! How I Really don't miss those days! Especially Red Heavily oxidised ones!!!
If your colly is balling up its Far too thick, only needs Very thin coats,one ight wipe around the tin is enough for most of the wing, my pots of 915 and 476s are about 1/3 used and done 50-60 cars each, and a 34ft yacht hull! use it as if its the last tub on the planet

[addo]

Thanks very much for confirming my suspicions on wax film thickness. Not sure I could ever be so economical as you, but I'll try!

I'm reasonably sturdy, but yes the sternocleidomastoid muscle on one side does take a hiding with hand buffing! Trouble is, I hate crap tools and can't afford a £300 polisher with everything else that's draining me at present.

[Timmo]

i know the feeling fella, i ran a silverline polisher for 5 years before it finally gave up the ghost, was a cheapy sub £40 unit, currently have a 'dewalt pro', is a nice machine, did a fair bit of research on it, had it 4 years now, on;ly issue ive had is the plastic brush cap splitting, but they were only 60p each!! picked it up brand new for under £70 when the retail is £140, a little heavy compared to the High end polishers but equally adept at creating the same level of finish.
have used some lovely Air powered polishers in the garages, super light, Very adjustable on spinning speeds, and comparitively cheap too! untill one of the guys who fancied himself as a mechanic Oiled it, then it started making all manor of noises, spitting hot oil out onto freshly machined panels etc. in contrast, we used to have the Single speed Non softstart Sealey polishers, the ones that if your not gripping properly it'll twist itself out your hand!! they were awesome! gave you some lower arm control when having to do the lower edges of the doors on your non favoured side!!

is much the same with mountain biking, it isnt what you ride but how you ride it!