What is the best way to clean the plastic chrome grilles on the front of the newer Jags (see above picture) that get hard water deposits and grime coatings on the inside portions? The gaps are only about 1 inch between so last time I sprayed it with an all purpose cleaner and ran a microfiber cloth through each slot with the end of a wooden spoon and it took forever. There has to be a better way!

BTW, this is PLASTIC with a chrome finish so I'm reluctant to use any abraisive material or hard brushing as I'm worried about scratches or removing the chrome coating.

 

Hello, I got into an accident I got a good check that covered my damaged fender and had enough to get a new paint Job and get rid of all my dents. I took the cheap route and got a single stage paint/ clearcoat mix. I feel like the cheap route was eventually gonna bite me back because its been 3-4 years now and the paint starting to oxidize, has scratches, and now hard water marks. I loved the look of the deep black shiny finish it had. Can I get it almost showroom finish by hand only?

I'm familiar with meguiars products or turtle shell, can you give me a run down of items I need and a simple list of procedures to use the items in. I'm very patience and willing to spend a good half day to get my car back in top shape.

 

Tons of information here to get you where you want to go:
Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum

 

Hi
I have a long experience with Zymöl, well kind of an enthusiast about it. But i'm not very happy about the Leather product. I have seen some amazing results on seats almost on a point whare i think i would have looked for some new seats. They came out almost like new, i forgetting to ask what they use or how they do.

Now i have a XJ with some miles in fine condition, but the seats could use a good product, they are light colored.

What are the best product or products for that ?

 

I have been looking for a way to touch-up all the stone chips that have accumulated on our 2001 XJ8 hood (bonnet).

I found this article on Meguiars Forum - thread is Road Rash -Stone Chips Dr Color Chip by a Detailer ( Detailing by M) Meguiars Forum member.

Has anyone used this product and the technique that was used in this article???

Here are JPEG files I created from the article:













End of Article

I will probably buy and try it out in the spring.

Jim Lombardi

 

I wanted to take this wonderful opportunity to wish all of you Jaguar enthusiasts and your loved ones on Jaguar Forums....

Happy Holiday's 2014 from Innovative Detailing.....



2015 will be an epic year for the car care industry, right now its on fire.

I would love to start the new year off by helping you all out and contributing some of my latest projects and some of the latest information on car care products. More than ever technology and new products are advancing ever so fast.....

Feel free to throw a post up, send me a message or even if your local to me, call me or stop by my detailing studio....

One lucky 2015 F Type R "Beast" that just came thru this week for my New vehicle prep and extensive clear bra coverage.....write up to follow of this latest project.

 

I'm glad to see your back here again David! I've always enjoyed your informative posts and outstanding advice you provide to forum members.

 

Absolutely Stunning Work Dave!!!
You should post this on the F-Type forum


.

 

Dave,


Any advice on how to minimize scratches on aluminum door sills. They are covered with some type of lacquer sealant so I can't work out the scratches. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I have 2000 XK8 that has an almost perfect paint job. Recently it got a slight amount of fine overspray while white paint was being sprayed nearby. At first I didn't notice that it happened. I have had some luck at rubbing it out. I started with turtle polish and water. It just didn't do the job. I then went to Turtle rubbing compound. That worked with water and a lot of hand rubbing. But the finish has lost some of its luster. What polish would you recommend for getting the luster back by hand polishing?

 

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a small buffer $20 to $25 and use McGuire Ultra compound. If there is still over spray use 2000 wet and dry sand paper before the compound. Go to you tube for polish instructions.

 

Clean small spaces in the grill or anywhere. Baby Bottle Brush or tooth brush. Fastest: power washer, but must be careful not to break the plastic

 

When it comes to claying a car, I understand there are multiple grades of clay bar as well as several clay pads/blocks/mitts on the market that use a rubber pad. I typically reach for Meguires "aggressive" (red) clay bar for claying my 2000 VDP. What are the risks (if any) when using more aggressive clay on very clean paint or on a new(er) vehicle? Is it acceptable to use the same clay bar for all situations? Or would you suggest purchasing multiple grades and what grades would you pare with what age range/contamination level of the paint?

 

While reversing my new F-Pace i accidentally scratched the right front fender on a pilar. The car is in lease. Just wanted to know an estimate on how much does it cost to fix this. Its a odyssey red f-pace

 

I'm an auto detailer and would like to revive this thread to help out people who have questions, as it's been a bit dead lately.

I know this is an old post, but if you're still on the site and this hasn't been answered, then this might help.

More aggressive clay bars will clean the surface of the paint faster, but are more likely to mar the surface. This means that it may put tiny marks in the paint that may not be visible under most light, but in direct sunlight, it may be noticeable as tiny scratches, or overall it may dull the paint.

Here is micro-marring on an F-Type paint, versus fully polished without marring. This particular marring was caused by an aggressive polishing compound, but the damage is the same.





If you are not planning on polishing your car after the clay, I would use a fine clay and lots of lube. The clay bar should never drag on the paint, it should always glide with lube. You may need to make multiple passes of the fine clay bar to fully clean the paint.

If you are going to polish the car, you could use a more aggressive clay. When I am machine polishing a car, I don't care about marring because the polisher is going to clean any marring up. So instead of running multiple passes of a fine clay, we use an aggressive clay. But I would never use an aggressive clay if I wasn't going to polish the car.

The best way to feel the effect of the clay bar is to put your hand inside a plastic bag and rub your fingertips over the paint before you clay bar it - I use lube when I do this. You'll be able to feel all the little bits of grit that washing hasn't removed. Then try this again after a clay bar and the difference will be noticeable.

I hope that helps, and I'll be checking back here to answer any other questions people have.

 

This would really depend on how scratched the panel is. If it's just light scratches in the clear coat, it could simply polish out. If it's gone through the colour and caused damage to the panel, it'll cost more, but panel shops pricing can vary.

If you have a photo of the damage and can post back what it cost to repair once you've had it seen to, it can help others later on.