Simon's new Xantia V6 and Leaf blog

[DHallworth]

Simon,

Once you've got the bodywork sorted then I'd recommend a trip to Pristine Machine in Port Glasgow.

His gold package would do it the world of good to restore that shine

He did my Activa last year... Here's the before, during and after pictures:

Before: (After a bucket and washmit wash by me)



During machine polishing:



After machine polishing:



Look at the reflection:



The car didn't look bad before the work was done but you can clearly see the difference on the C pillar

David.

[BW]

That looks nice, wish they hadn't changed the front for the series 2. Please don't put it through a car wash, that would be Xantia abuse!

[BW]

Crossed posts there David. Great to see the Activa looking so good, must arrange to see it soon.

[RichardW]

Talking about welding. I have had to wear my auto helmet while reading the forum. I have already had 2 flashes from the green RichardW logos

I'm getting used to it....

[DHallworth]

Crossed posts there David. Great to see the Activa looking so good, must arrange to see it soon.

Best be quick, I'm planning to hibernate it at the end of this week

Edit: Simon, don't use a brush to wash it either they're awful for making your paint swirly. Get yourself a microfibre washmit out of a supermarket or halfords. If you really want to be nice to it, get a lambswool washmit.

David.

[Mandrake]

Well I haven't used a brush on the new one yet, but I have to confess to putting it through a car wash twice...

I'll have to get a proper wash mit then - any recommendations on detergent or do you just use warm/cold water ? Historically I've just use a squirt of dish washing liquid in a bucket of warm water...

[DHallworth]

any recommendations on detergent or do you just use warm/cold water ? Historically I've just use a squirt of dish washing liquid in a bucket of warm water...

I use a small Karcher to blast the dirt off them first, then mix some shampoo in a bucket of warm water. I also have a bucket of clean water beside my bucket of soapy water. This doesn't need to be warm but it's certainly more pleasant when it is!

I then wash a panel at a time and then rinse the mit in the bucket of plain water. This means that you're not putting the dirt you've just washed off the car into the bucket of soap you're using.

Dish washing liquid!?

That's one way to take all of the wax off the paintwork. A good quality shampoo will make a world of difference and will leave a much better finish then what you're used to. Turtle wax tends to leave a good finish on the paintwork. I'm not that clued up on shampoo's though I'm afraid as all of ours get washed with a special shampoo that has no wax in it due to them being detailed.

I'm sure someone who knows a bit more then I do will be along shortly.

David.

[lexi]

Well I haven't used a brush on the new one yet, but I have to confess to putting it through a car wash twice...

I'll have to get a proper wash mit then - any recommendations on detergent or do you just use warm/cold water ? Historically I've just use a squirt of dish washing liquid in a bucket of warm water...

Burn the heretic. Car wash drive throughs are Swirlsville Washing up liquid has salt in it. Proper car shampoo man.

Anyway......what's the point washing a car with scratches and dents? Nein!

[bxzx16v]

If you get a decent branded shampoo your onto a good start Simon, for something off the shelf Autoglym is pretty decent and readily available, and a good start with the paintwork would be Autoglym super resin polish which has mild abrasives and fillers to hide the swirls. Super resin polish is not that durable and could really do with a decent sealant on top, if you want to stick with Autoglym then extra gloss protection should serve you well over the winter months. As David says using two buckets and a wash mitt is a good routine. If you want to try a fantastic product which I've been using for a good few months now and can't fault give this a try http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/detailing ... _1178.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, it's supposedly a quick detailer (a bit of a pick me up between waxing) but it's got a very good level of protection and can be applied to wet paintwork prior to drying and wiped off, very useful this time of year. Here's a pic of the berlingo bonnet with just a layer of the Sonax brilliant shine detailer, if you want a sample to try I could send you some up to try.



And here's one of the 406's boot with the Sonax on it and no other wax or sealant at all.


Mark

[daviemck2006]

On a dark colour car I would always use autoglym. Super resin polish followed by the extra gloss. I would also use autoglym window polish outside and any other proprietary glass cleaner inside. Job done. On a light car like silver or white I use turtle wax. That's the sole contents of my car cleaning stuff, apart from a tar remover in summer when the tar softens with the heat, approximately 1 day a year here [emoji12] [emoji16]

[Hell Razor5543]

That often? I thought it was 1 day every Leap year!

[daviemck2006]

It's certainly not a leap year today then!

[Hell Razor5543]

It could have been worse. Guess how often a leap century occurs?

[daviemck2006]

It's every 400 years IIRC

[Hell Razor5543]

Yep, and the next one is 2400AD!