wash & wax

[stalkingbear]

Got the '65 washed today and started the waxing process. Since the painter pretty much stripped the wax off when he was doing his touchup stuff, it needed a good coat.

So I got the tailend, trunk, roof and hood done today. I found some water spots on the roof from when the painter rinsed the car when he had it. Great. I started doing a rubout on the spots and will be able to get them all off.

Then I polished the wheels and after dinner, went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream.

While we were there, a '64 convertible pulled in (owner of the DQ) and he unloaded a bunch of stuff from his car for the store. He never even noticed the '65 sitting by itself in the parking lot.

A guy was looking over the '64 and looked at us (we were by the window) and raised his eyebrows as if to ask, "Is this yours?"

I shook my head no but when we left, I walked by him and told him I wouldn't own such an old car. Then I pointed at the '65 and told him it was ours. He also had not noticed the '65 and really got excited at seeing two nice cars in the same parking lot.

The '64 had a plate that read, "427 64" so I would guess he had some horsepower under the hood. All in all, it was a fun trip.

[Hank70SS]

Sounds like a good day. We took a drive about a week ago to ice cream place. Not a long drive but nice to get the Chevelle out on the rode.

[simonov]

It's been a long time since I washed my own car. Now that he El Camino is restored I have to start washing and waxing it myself. I could use some pointers.

1. What do you use to wash it? Rag? Sponge?

2. Any advice on soap?

3. I had the best luck in the past with real chamois. Any improvements on that front in the last ten or twenty years?

4. What about waxes and polishes? Any advice here?

I need to spend Saturday washing and waxing to prep for a car show on Sunday.

[RBeckman]

Originally Posted by stalkingbear

Had to drop my writing as I had radio calls and customers coming in....

I am looking at another line of waxes and polishes. They state that you should 'clay' the paint before the polish mode, and THEN wax it.

We shall see.

I used the Mothers clay system and it worked great, I then waxed with Mothers best wax and I could not have been more happy. You will be surpized at what the clay picks up and how smooth it is between the clayed part and the unclayed portion.

[simonov]

What about tires? And I heard there is some chalk or something for touching up the white lettering on tires (mine is pretty faded).

[Hank70SS]

I don't use soap on mine, but then it's not sitting outside and it's not a daily driver. I use a clean micro fiber cloth and warm water. You'd be surprised how easily the micro fiber cloth takes off any dirt or bugs. I tried it once on my black truck, which was filthy, and it looked like a regular soad and water wash. I don't hose down the car, I wipe down one section at a time and dry with an artificial chamois. Works good for me because we have well water. It's hard to hose down the car and dry it without getting water water spots.

Tires I use Simple Green and a small scrub brush to clean them, does a good job on the white letters. I usually don't put tire shine on them because the dust and dirt clings to it. When they start looking a little dull I use Meguires Endurance Shine, lightly.

I tried some of the Meguires waxes but prefer Mothers, easier to remove. Meguires does make some good products for boats, I use them ours, but wasn't that crazy about the car waxes.

Invisible Glass window cleaner is great for windows but it's also good for cleaning bumpers and other chrome. Works good for taking the exhaust stains off the rear bumper or bugs of the front one.

[simonov]

Hank, that was the hot ticket!

I wasn't sure I could believe a damp microfiber cloth was all I would need, so I started washing in the normal way, with soap and water and a chamois. That started to take too long with the sun starting to get hot and my frantically rinsing and drying with the chamois as soon as I soaped a panel. So I started working with the damp microfiber cloth, no soap. That worked great. After rubbing down a panel like that I would go over it with the chamois.

Simple Green for the tires was good advice, too. It brought back the white lettering, almost as bright and bold as new (I believe I bought the tires sometime in 1997 or so).

My car is a daily driver, though I keep it in the garage. Next week the body guy will do a final color sand on the paint, and after that I'll have it polished and waxed. I hate washing cars, and have been using the mobile car wash guys we have around here, but they don't do a good job and I don't want them to work on my El Camino. But now I think I'll just use the damp microfiber cloth trick to keep the car clean. It's a lot easier than a normal wash, rinse, chamois.

[Hank70SS]

Glad it worked for you. That was the problem I always had, trying to wash and dry before the water dried on it's own and left spots. Hard to rinse one panel without splashing water on another one. This way you don't have that problem.