I got a couple of questions???

I

ISLover

New member
Last Friday we bought our son his first "beater", a 97' Honda Accord EX. Although the interior is quite nice, the exterior is as bad as I have ever seen. Sat. and Sun. I washed it up good and clayed the car. Never seen a clay bar look like that way after one use. Anyway, here my question. There are a ton of little crevices all over this car around the trim. Most of the trim is "U" shaped with little quarter inch places for dirt to hide. What do you guys use to clean these crevices without further scratching the paint???



Last question, I bought a PC a month ago to use on my new Lexus IS but haven't used it yet. I've love this site for info and think I'm ready to give it a go. This car will be perfect to learn on. My only question is "how do you know when the polish has broken down". Is there a surefire way or just experience????



Thanks in advance. :thx
 
Well, as far as your crevice problem, you can try a pressure washer or various brushes will work.



Generally when compounds and polishes start to disappear it means they are breaking down.
 
ISLover- Welcome to Autopia!



For people just getting started, I always recommend 1Z brand Paint Polish. It's *VERY* user-friendly and the breakdown issue isn't hard to get acclimated to (breaks down in a reasonable amount of time and it's basically impossible to overwork it; great for learning about stuff like this). Friends of mine with *zero* experience (and minimal interest ;) ) in this stuff have used it on vehicles (including a Lexus) with no problems at all. Sources: Home or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing, Auto Detailing Supplies, Auto Detailing Equipment, Auto Detailing Products, & Auto Detailing Accessories for all your Automobile Detailing



For the nooks and crannies, note that brushes that're effective enough to clean will also often scratch. I'd try clay (mold it to fit in the crevices) and/or plush MF with some polish on it (the 1Z hardly *ever* leaves white stains on trim or you could use Klasse AIO, which simply doesn't stain).
 
Thanks for the welcome and quick responses. Accumulator, I have enjoyed reading your post over the years. Always informative.



I tried the pressure washer approach to no avail. The dirt just laughed at the water. I also tried cotton swabs which worked but will take 10 years to complete that way because they get dirty after about 1/2" of use. Just looking for something thats a little quicker and easier. I will try the clay.



As far as the polish goes, I'm a Zaino Zeolot. I was going to use ZPC to remove the swirls from the Lexus with it as they are very light. Dealer left em there for me. (Thanks) Anyway, the "beater will require much more than ZPC. So, I have some Turtle wax compound, the premium yet cheap stuff. I don't want to spend too much on this car and my car will never get bad enough for heavy polish. Anybody ever use the turtle wax stuff?
 
I have tried the Turtle was polishing compound. I dont like it. It seems to cake up alot, just doent work very well IMO.
 
ISLover- I wonder how ZAIO, on a very plush/long-nap MF would work for cleaning the crevices :think: IME it's not as trim-friendly as KAIO, but still...



I know what you mean about the swab approach taking a *LOT* of time and swabs, but at least once you get things clean (and then sealed) it's not something you'll be doing very often.
 
I have a very fast approch to cleaning out those crevices. It might work for you as well if you have the stuff. Spray the crevices with a foaming glass cleaner. Let it soak for a couple of seconds or so and then take an air gun (air compressor required) and blow it all out. It's super fast super effective zero issues with further scratching anything up and no brushes at all required. After you spray it all out give it a little bath to remove any excess air purge it all out again and you're all set. Just one of my methods that seems to work very well for me.
 
Yeah, foaming glass cleaner is great. I know someone posted recently that they were able to find a boar's hair brush at a local art store for only a few bucks. I would think that a very mild concentration of APC and water would work using a brush, but I was suprised to read that the pressure washer did not work.



The good news is that once these areas are cleaned, they should be easy to maintain. Oh, and the IS is an awesome car BTW. Congrats!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top