The "Today I did something to my car" thread

andyseadog

Ah its sound advice with the side ones, but the rest will be staying, i should re-phrase it to i want it OEM on a student budget :P so very close to correct will have to do :pac:

spent my savings on the glanza because i couldn't shift the vectra and i knew the glanza would be sold before i could get rid of it. so i have zero money to brun until the veccy is gone!

Gary ITR

Gave mine a wash, a coat of Autoglym HD wax and sealed it up with Chemical Guys V7. Might use some Chemical Guys Blacklight on it later too

My wheels will be going a dark bronze very soon, they are impossible to clean at the minute, the finish on them is awful




For the glass I've been using 3m glass cleaner which I find excellent, I found the bottle though and have no idea where it can be bought, anybody know?

TestTransmission

Gary ITR wrote: »

For the glass I've been using 3m glass cleaner which I find excellent, I found the bottle though and have no idea where it can be bought, anybody know?

Tesco

franksm

Getting the sister's MX5 ready for it's MOT in Belfast, I picked a great week to borrow it for tooling around Dublin

Anyway, today I replaced the two steering tierods - they're only on the car a year/4,000 miles yet the rubber boots are completely perished. They were from Autolink.co.uk, the new replacements are proper Mazda items albeit at twice the price of the AUTOLINK items. Lesson learned: buy cheap, buy twice



Here's a lower balljoint also from AUTOLINK that's been sat in the shed for the past year: even its boot has gone bad !! Aaargh



Also replaced its radiator and fan with a setup from IL Motorsport.

fanadman1

polished and waxed my car today
my god it was a tight job i had parked the car in the shade of a house but by the time i had polished and aplyed the wax the sun had move that wax set like a rock
i had to rub it of first with a polishing cloth then use a micro fiber to finnish the job

W0bble5

Changed the pollen filter on the car today. First time in its 6 year life. It was manky :eek: and managed to fix the light in the glovebox while I had it out. It never worked and always annoyed me. The bulb had just moved so happy days!

Also changed the oil filter with the right one after getting the wrong one last week when doing a service.

allen175

Today I actually done something to me car, I got a new mirror that someone broke off my car. Nissan quoted me 155 euro for a new mirror :eek: so went and got one from a breaker for 30 euro. Wasn't very hard to replace, had the whole thing done in 30 mins.

Before:


Middle:



After:

MetzgerMeister

Looking great gary but you're wasting your time applying blacklight over the wax. Blacklight is a gloss enhancer and not a sealant so it should go on before the wax.

Voodoomelon

Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your entire life! :eek:

L-M

Are they just polished?

challengemaster

Diamond cut and possibly laquered

Voodoomelon

^^ Correct! They don't even look lacquered but they tell me they are. Incredible work all round, not to mention the way they packed them up at no cost.

dar83

Very tempted to send my ST alloys off to Lepsons and get them refurbed and finished in Gun Metal Grey...

Hmmmm

BUBBLE WRAP

dar83 wrote: »

Very tempted to send my ST alloys off to Lepsons and get them refurbed and finished in Gun Metal Grey...

Hmmmm

DO IT!

Voodoomelon

Few more pics, before shots didn't come out at all, kerb rash was very bad on most wheels.

BEFORE:








AFTER:

Hal1

CianRyan

No little M badge?
The finish on those is as good as my brand new wheels. Very nice!

Today I repainted one of my whipper arms as a test, can't really compare to that finish.

bennyx_o

They would've had to be removed if the wheels were being sandblasted or the like. I'm sure Voodoomelon will have them back on soon enough.

Wheels look super, may get mine sent off sometime soon to get sorted, do they do powdercoating?

damo86

think he removed them before he sent them out!

outstanding work! i think ill be using these guys next..hopefully not for a long time though! :P

Voodoomelon

Aye I took em off before shipping, bought new ones and they're back on now. Along with refreshed center caps, new bonnet and boot badge and new number plates.
I reckon that's it all done!

Compton

Fair play voodoo seems to be a truly mint car with the amount of work you are doing to it both visually and mechanically.

andyseadog

done a few pricking around jobs on the glanza today...

managed to fight the stereo out of demo mode, set up the stereo just how i like (your never properly settled into a car until you do that) and set it up to connect bluetooth to my phone.

topped up the brake fluid

repainted the horn which was gone tatty looking behind the grille

the dash fan operation was ****e too, so i took out the pollen filter and gave it a clean.

heres a dirty pic of it :pac:

omb0wyn5ehpij9

- Removed the rear "Civic" badge
- Gave the engine bay a quick clean. It was in a bad way. If I have time next week I will have a proper go at getting into all the little gaps
- Tomorrow evening i'm hoping to detar and wash the car
- And then hopefully on Friday I will be able to clay, polish and wax it

Do-more

I have a sort of ghost mark of a child's hand print in the paint work of the car.

Some time ago, I remember reading advice on how to remove it, I think on this thread but now I can't find it again.

Would someone be good enough to give me advice on how I should deal with it please?

E39MSport

Assuming its an oil/suncream etc print in oxidised paint, easiest way would be megs paint cleaner but you will end up with a very clean panel and the rest remaining oxidised.

Megs is easy to apply so best do the whole car anyway. Will look great.

colm_mcm

I think you need some type of solvent to dissolve the suncream

L-M

colm_mcm wrote: »

I think you need some type of solvent to dissolve the suncream

Compound does a good job!

colm_mcm

Tried it, didn't work.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Do-more wrote: »

I have a sort of ghost mark of a child's hand print in the paint work of the car.

Some time ago, I remember reading advice on how to remove it, I think on this thread but now I can't find it again.

Would someone be good enough to give me advice on how I should deal with it please?

Have you tried using a claybar on it?

dgt

Decided to paint my drums and tighten my shoes in a bit



Disc conversion someday, hopefully...

Decided to sort my lack of miles too...

Clocks changed at some stage, missing studs and screwdriver marks. Clocked anyone? :rolleyes:


Sorted it anyway

fanadman1

washed my carpets and door cards worked good i used a megs interiour brush and a small nail brush for your hands. that combned with a bottle of auto glym interiour cleaner made a very good job the carpet is like a puppys fur now

dgt

fanadman1 wrote: »

washed my carpets and door cards worked good i used a megs interiour brush and a small nail brush for your hands. that combned with a bottle of auto glym interiour cleaner made a very good job the carpet is like a puppys fur now

That meguairs brush you speak of is bloody excellent indeed

Ironically, I used it to take puppy and dog furs out of the car above :pac:

TestTransmission

dgt wrote: »

Decided to paint my drums and tighten my shoes in a bit

Ah man, painted drums... :eek:

dgt

TestTransmission wrote: »

Ah man, painted drums... :eek:

They were rusty! Can't stand to see rusty drums. Would prefer discs mind you...

All part of the running theme of the car... :pac:

colm_mcm

Paint also comes in black

fanadman1

dgt wrote: »

That meguairs brush you speak of is bloody excellent indeed

Ironically, I used it to take puppy and dog furs out of the car above :pac:

the one with some yellow bristles and some gold ones ?
its brilent to be fair i just needed the nail brush to get into the tighter spaces :P
i accly lifted a little dog hair 2 from a day ours ran away and i had to put him in the car

sean1141

carbon nanotube wrote: »

Have you seen the scratch? i posted it a while back, hardly visible.

that menzerna should take care of it, dont know why you are dissing that aldi polisher..

eringobragh wrote: »

because its shite..if it worked do you think the rest of us would be spending $$$$ on DAs

This. They are a buffer. No good for working polish. This is what a DA is for. Most pros will use a rotory polisher which are a step up from the DA.

You would be as well off using the menzerna by hand as using one of them cheap buffers. I know because I have one in the shed gathering dust

Take a look at Eringobragh's thread where he used the DA on his MR2

fanadman1

because all the talk is about polishers im going to ask this would a rotory polisher be 2 hard to use to start learning on ? my father has one thats like a hitichy grinder just thought id ask befor starting with it or paying big money for a da

sean1141

fanadman1 wrote: »

because all the talk is about polishers im going to ask this would a rotory polisher be 2 hard to use to start learning on ? my father has one thats like a hitichy grinder just thought id ask befor starting with it or paying big money for a da

Its easier damage paintwork with a rotory than with a DA but as long as you keep it moving you will be ok. Maybe buy an old wing from a scrap yard and practice on that

TestTransmission

dgt wrote: »

They were rusty! Can't stand to see rusty drums. Would prefer discs mind you...

All part of the running theme of the car... :pac:

No excuse.

fanadman1

sean1141 wrote: »

Its easier damage paintwork with a rotory than with a DA but as long as you keep it moving you will be ok. Maybe buy an old wing from a scrap yard and practice on that

thanks for that will it be more effective at geting scratchs out or is the da better for that ?

sean1141

fanadman1 wrote: »

thanks for that will it be more effective at geting scratchs out or is the da better for that ?

Rotory will be better than a DA but as I said its easier to b urn the paint with the rotory

fanadman1

sean1141 wrote: »

Rotory will be better than a DA but as I said its easier to b urn the paint with the rotory

so just keep sweeping with it and dn't let it stop :L
where would u get the hex pads and mersamena

sean1141

fanadman1 wrote: »

so just keep sweeping with it and dn't let it stop :L
where would u get the hex pads and mersamena

www.cleancar.ie

Thats where I get all my stuff. Very helpfull lads and very quick delivery

BUBBLE WRAP

I like the drums dgt! Smurf blue is it?

you cant please everyone. :P

puppetmaster

BDJW wrote: »

Have you tried using a claybar on it?

Im having the same hand print problems, their a hoor to get off, (most of them are on the passanger side) So coming from some sort of moisuriser i imaginge, Got a clar bar at the weekend, went wrong with it... No joy though :mad:

fanadman1

sean1141 wrote: »

www.cleancar.ie

Thats where I get all my stuff. Very helpfull lads and very quick delivery

one last question thanks so much for this help btw !!
are the will one backing plate do and just keep changeing pads ?
and do they thread on like a nut ? just to be sure it will fit mine

vectra

fanadman1 wrote: »

so just keep sweeping with it and dn't let it stop :L
where would u get the hex pads and mersamena

It is very easy to destroy your paint with a rotary.
DA is much simpler to use and can give super results. Although it could take longer.

HungryJoey

Two machine polishes (with DA), alloys repainted and black trim repainted (ok so it took me 3 days) :rolleyes:

BUBBLE WRAP

It shows up great with all the work you put into it.