Vince's XM...213k and slowing....

Post by **CitroJim** » 18 Apr 2010, 20:27

Sorry Dean but I've never been a fan of American cars. I've tried hard to like and appreciate them but it just won't come good. Whichever way I look at them they just look all wrong. I honestly cannot say there is one yank that appeals. Well, there is but it is not a true yank; the DeLorean. That does look awesome.

Strangely, I love watching American Hotrod and some of the stuff Boyd Coddington turns out does look absolutely amazing.

You'll find I have a rather <insert chosen words here> taste in car styling. To me, nothing in production today appeals, absolutely nothing. The most beautiful car in the whole world is the 406 Coupe, the DS, SM, CX, GS, XM and Xantia all tick the right "looks" boxes for me and of the classic Brits, the Rover P6 is my choice.

The MK1 R5 is a good looker too.

Speaking of looks, has anyone seen the new model Toyota Pious?

vince · Post by **vince** » 18 Apr 2010, 20:41

CitroJim wrote:I think they really suit a dark colorized Xantia a treat Vince and very tasteful too.

Which is more than can be said for the hideous monstrosity above. Must have been produced during a stylists strike

What on earth is it? It is truly gruesome...

These yanks really ought to be made to sit and look at a Peugeot 406 Couple for a few days, just to give them a clue as to how to make a car look beautiful.....

Loving the hatred Jim, and cannot agree more on the Boyd Coddington creations.... he was a legend...you know he died last year dont you

Best creation i think on American Hotrod apart from the Alumitub was the Junkyard Dog 56 Chevy Bel Air.....man that looked good on those wheels

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 18 Apr 2010, 20:58

each to his own, and yes the new toyota pruce is not built for looks, or economy, or comfort, or speed or..........................

D

Post by **CitroJim** » 18 Apr 2010, 21:00

vince wrote:he was a legend...you know he died last year dont you

Yes

Only found out tonight when I googled to check I'd spelt his name correctly and saw a link referring to his death...

Died of diabetic complications by the looks of it. He was a true legend.

Now I have to agree, that Junkyard Dog was something else... Somewhere between a hotrod and a restoration. It sure looked a lot better than Chev ever intended it to!

vince · Post by **vince** » 18 Apr 2010, 21:16

Check the new french car classic gallery im creating tonight for some great Renault 5 pics

...I grew up around those and the Renault 8, 14, 12 etc when i was a kid going over to madrid...i love them all

vince · Post by **vince** » 18 Apr 2010, 22:29

Well today was a very busy day....

In exchange for him doing my wifes accounts and taxes for her, I agreed to resurect a 54 plate mondeo estate in silver for an accountant friend of ours as he is selling it....No problem i thought although i knew it was a seldom washed family wagon..... OMG

Ive honestly not seen a car so "ignored" in many a year...and it came with a generous coating of tar all over the vehicle from god knows where

From 11am to 7pm i corrected (as much as i could) all the painted surfaces of the car with my rotary, followed by a hand polish. The engine bay was degreased, scrubbed and dressed back to a factory look, all the paint chips were cleaned, re painted with hsi shade of Ford silver and buffed, the alloy wheels were literally black...with baked on brake dust which needed autosol to shift it after everything else failed even T Cut

(actually worked a treat with no paint damage) all glass cleaned inside and out,....and the worst of all.....rectified his father in law's previous attempts to clean off some dirt on the rear quarter panel and one of the rear doors with a brillo pad !

why would you

As you could imagine he had sanded almost through to the primer

The whole process start to finish (and i told him to clean the inside carpets out himself due to failing light) took me 9 hours

Needless to say im a tad tired

Next time view the car first and then agree to do the work Vince

P.s. He was bowled over with the transformation....good job too

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 18 Apr 2010, 23:20

I do like the look of many older style american cars, however they dont really appeal and id never like to own one.

I do think whitewalls only work on a very select number of cars, though im surprised by how well they look on your Xantia Vince, they really do suit it and make the car a little more different too.

Nice picture thread you have started Vince, im just having a browse through.

vince · Post by **vince** » 24 Apr 2010, 10:19

Post by **admiral51** » 25 Apr 2010, 15:40

Looks better than when i left the factory i reckon Vince

What type of compound/polish are you using

Colin

vince · Post by **vince** » 25 Apr 2010, 16:33

Hi Colin,

About 2 weeks ago i used for the roof and bonnet Menzerna 106FA Final Finish compound / polish applied with a rotary polisher on a finishing pad, then topped off with Autoglym Super Resin Polish and then Meguirs NXT tec wax applied by hand. The rest of the car just got Autoglym Super Resin Polish applied by hand.

Before these particular photos the whole car got a coat of One Grand Omega Glaze applied by hand. Its a paint wetter in effect, you work it on into the paint and then let it soak for about 10 minutes then buff it off by hand.

Its meant to just be used under a wax as it doesnt have any protective properties, but apparently show car owners use it under and then over wax to give the paint a deeper wetter finish. It works

Ive ordered some slightly harder Menzerna compound to get rid of the deeper swirls that are still visible in direct sunlight but my order got robbed in transit on Friday

I still havent had any reply from the company by email so i will be ringing them tomorrow to get what ive paid for

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 25 Apr 2010, 16:36

Excellent pictures, the white walls look even better there, really set the car off nicely.

Seems it really does pay to invest in some quality cleaning products!

When i can be bothered i do spend a whole day on the outside of the car, washing, clay baring it, paint cleaning, polishing, waxing etc. Really does work though and certainly is worth doing. Though i can imagine the results are far better with a good machine polisher.

Shame they sometimes get into the hand of clueless people who create horendous swirl marks and scrathes, most likey though not changing the polishing pads. Though it always kind of put me off them.

Your car certainly shows that they do provide excellent results in the right hands

vince · Post by **vince** » 25 Apr 2010, 21:22

We could always get together one day and do yours

You can have a play with the machine and realise that its really not hard at all....and i bet you buy one

The problems people have are mainly caused by the polish not being worked to the point that its broken down or the machine being used at too high a speed for what they are using it for. If you take your time and pay attention to what you are doing then it comes out fine

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 25 Apr 2010, 22:04

Thanks for the offer

I know of a big old black Citroen which would benefit from that

I rarely bother too much with my C5, silver isnt a rewarding colour to spend a day cleaning. I do give it a good clean every other week but nothing too professional, it doesnt deserve it

vince · Post by **vince** » 26 Apr 2010, 19:27

Ooh a black XM?

I love cleaning up black cars...they look awesome. Would look good on whitebands too i reckon

Post by **CitroJim** » 26 Apr 2010, 19:30

vince wrote: I love cleaning up black cars...they look awesome. Would look good on whitebands too i reckon

Agreed on both counts Vince, especially the whitebands

Shame a black car never looks really pristine for long

That's the great thing about Mauritius Blue. It can be really quite mucky and still look acceptable....