My car's paintwork is a mess.....

[TonyP2020]

...and I dont have the skills or tools to sort it out.

I am thinking of getting some professional help to get it somewhere near the brillant results i see on here.

So any recommendations where to take it on/near the Wirral??

Thanks.

[toaffer]

Awlrite Tony!,just read up on how to do it mate I still consider myself a rank amateur at it but have to say claying has made such a difference to mine,I just skulked about on here and watched some youtube videos etc,its so much easier than you think

[happypostie]

...and I dont have the skills or tools to sort it out.

I am thinking of getting some professional help to get it somewhere near the brillant results i see on here.

So any recommendations where to take it on/near the Wirral??

Thanks.

id have a go your self first , what colour is the car and got any pics off it , then i maybe able to offer some more advice ,

Awlrite Tony!,just read up on how to do it mate I still consider myself a rank amateur at it but have to say claying has made such a difference to mine,I just skulked about on here and watched some youtube videos etc,its so much easier than you think

as above you can get good results without spending a lot off money , ( this was my budget valeting kit , back in the day ,http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showth...t-for-a-tenner ) and im still doing the same car with most off the products less the wheel cleaner ( it run out but added a new one to it ) now ive charged my mate 20 pounds each time ive done his car , ( and he knew how much this cost me ) so to date ive done his car around 13 times , so you can do it cheap and still be happy .

[TonyP2020]

Thanks for the replies guys.
The car is Star Silver III.
I have just been admiring your work Toaffer, absolutey brilliant, great use of the red crane or whatever it is.
I have scratches and swirls, I think the car has only been auto car washed before i got it, plus it came from Bexhill on Sea and seems to have salt marks under the bonnet and other places.
So I want it well sorted and then look after it better myself.

[toaffer]

Thanks for the replies guys.
The car is Star Silver III.
I have just been admiring your work Toaffer, absolutey brilliant, great use of the red crane or whatever it is.
I have scratches and swirls, I think the car has only been auto car washed before i got it, plus it came from Bexhill on Sea and seems to have salt marks under the bonnet and other places.
So I want it well sorted and then look after it better myself.

thanks alot Tony,the red crane is actually the Forth Bridge! mine still has scratches and swirls too,just less pronounced than they used to be,As H.P. has shown you,you can get started for next to nowt and you will probably be amazed by the results!

[happypostie]

right if you want to give it a go yourself this is what id use , first and i think more important is giving the car a good claying , as no matter how good you wash her it wont get it all off , so id use this ,http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bilt-Hambe...e#ht_666wt_952 ( use small bits , if you drop it bin it ) . just use water as a lube , then as the car is silver id go with a glaze then sealant , so would use this , http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Poorboys-W...3#ht_688wt_952 . so your looking at around 35 pounds plus p+p . and that lot will do you for around 2 years ( if you do it every say 4 months ) hope this helps , anything else please just ask . khalid

[Envy]

Clay it mate. Once i did mine i was very impressed with the results.

Since then i did machine polish it with ian highlanders' DA which just topped it off.

Try by hand first off. It cant hurt. Will dig up the link for the clay bar in a mo

EDIT : here is what you need to start you off

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/vie...id=11746561900

[TonyP2020]

OK guys, thanks for the input, it looks like I am on the 1st rung of being a detailer.
Reading about the clay bar is interesting because on the top of the rear hatch is my fingerprints from all the times I have shut the boot!!
I might try the sellotape test and see what happens.
BUT what about the quite visible scratches, mostly on the left hand side of the car??
I do have Halfords touch-up paint with with the very small metal applicator. That any good?

[Ginge7289]

BUT what about the quite visible scratches, mostly on the left hand side of the car??
I do have Halfords touch-up paint with with the very small metal applicator. That any good?

How deep are they? There are products on the market such as Autoglym SRP which will do a very good job at covering up swirls and RDS. It can be layered to fill some of the deeper marks too, as long as you apply a decent wax after the finish will stay pretty good for around 3 - 4 months depending on amount of driving and the weather etc.

This is where I would start if I was on a budget.

A couple of photos of the scratches and people will be able to tell you if they need to be touched up, re painted or if they could be removed with a machine polisher.

HTH

[TonyP2020]

Hi guys, thanks for the help so far.
As requested, some photo's, all of the LHS.
There are more scratches of course, but these are the worse.

Front wing, 2 scratches.
P1010073.jpg

Rear wing
P1010074.jpg

Rear wing closer
P1010075.jpg

Front wing again
P1010076.jpg