How to get a Pink car Red again????

**Liddo** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 08:34

My mother in laws (sorry for swearing) Astra is decidedly Pink after years of non-washing and non waxing. She now wants to sell it, and has asked me if i could "spruce it up" for her. So, Im going to start a good old valet this week (weather permitting) and Im looking forward to it. The challenge is though, getting it Red again.

Ive got the good old Red T-Cut and T-Cut Colour Restore at hand, is this all im going to need???

Any tips from you valeting chaps???

**Vikingxl** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 08:44

You need Wobbles!

**Liddo** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 10:21

Originally Posted by Vikingxl

You need Wobbles!

Thought as much

or Volvokid!

Is there a special call for them??? Do i have to put a light in the night sky, in the shape of a mop lance???

**bubba_1986** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 10:23

Originally Posted by Vikingxl

You need Wobbles!

Very true, me and wobbly just spent 8-9 hours detailing my c70 on sunday.

Was only half job as ran out of time as i had to head back to scotland, and my car had just been resprayed not long ago.

I would not recommend t cut though, if you want the best result, will have to be washed correctly, clay barred to get rid of tar,surface dirt etc, dryed off, then stages of polishing around swirl marks and surface scraches to " get rid of them ".

A 2ft by 1 ft area is to be done at a time, should take about 8 hours for car the size of the c70, seal off with a glaze, buff off 24 hours later, then finish with a wax

All can be done by hand, ( will take a year though lol )

Or by orbital polisher, there is a full guide on detailingworld, that i suggest you have a look at.

Hope this helps a bit

**Flatout Phil** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 10:34

Originally Posted by Liddo

My mother in laws (sorry for swearing) Astra is decidedly Pink after years of non-washing and non waxing. She now wants to sell it, and has asked me if i could "spruce it up" for her. So, Im going to start a good old valet this week (weather permitting) and Im looking forward to it. The challenge is though, getting it Red again.

Ive got the good old Red T-Cut and T-Cut Colour Restore at hand, is this all im going to need???

Any tips from you valeting chaps???

Maybe Stan Lee will want it? Oh, sorry, not macho enough

**Vikingxl** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 10:57

liddo you need to entice wobbles back up to his homeland i think the mopman light may well work and just to be sure leave a large pizza on the doorstep

**Murphy** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 11:20

If I could offer some advice. As has been said, a nice wash and clay is ideal.

I personally use Meguiars Deep Crystal 3 Step System - Cleaner | Polish | Wax http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/m...ce=google-base

I use a buffer from halfords, Screwfix sell's them from £15 http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product...fix_87877.html with the 'cleaner' applied to the damp 'bonnet' it will take 20 mins of very light buffing to do the whole car and the results are fantastic. Finish off with polish and wax, black the tyres and bumper bits and it should look like a new one for less than £25

HTH

**Liddo** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 11:48

Thanks for the replys chaps, I'll take them on board, apart from the StanLee one (thread closed remember

)

Im hoping not to spend days on it though, just enough to get it "red-ish" and get it presentable for selling.

I did try a bit of T-Cut colour restore on it the other week, and I was amazed how it brought the Red back ( or got rid of the layer of crap, one of the other )

Its funny how the bumpers, grill, and wing mirrors are still lovely a fresh, but the metal panels are ever so slightly pink! You'd think the plastic would go first!

Ive got me £14.99 buffer, and some "selected" products at the ready

Anyhoo, thanks again for the replys, can you all just do a "non-rain" dance now please

**Wobbly Dave** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 17:52

I like the Megs DC1 & DC2 for paint oxidation - just I hear that the DC3 wax is not as good for the money. I would change out and use a different LSP/final wax.

I am in UK most of the time but between now and the Wobbly Wedding it is gonna be hard to find the spare time. End of August is about the earliest I have at the moment. So long as you put money in the kitty for tools (clay & maybe the odd 6" pad) we could crack it down together.

BTW it was 8hrs on polishing alone on the C70. We started the pre-wash around 10:30/11 am & finished just after 9pm including meal breaks.

We achieved a good solid 6 stage detail.

Each 2ft by 2ft section takes about 10 to 15 mins worktime in order to properly breakdown the polish and get the desired defect removal.

Roof (4 sections)
Shoulders & mirror covers (2 sections)
Both Sides (18 sections)
bumpers (4 sections)
boot lid & bak (3 sections)
redos for deeper issues (2 sections)

33 sections for standard salloon or coupe of Volvo 70 series size.
Effects with T-Cut are limited - it just doesn't work the problem hard enough.

The DC method is good for removing oxidised top coat as feature heavily on older red cars - but may not address swirls and scratches.

If I was to do it again - I would attempt to get hold of a 2nd DA polishing machine - just so we can be certain to get a good glazing step (something I couldn't do in 1 day).

EDIT

Just re-read the top post - I am not so interested in doing up to sell projects. I was disappointed that Moppy sold hers so soon after I had finished 4 days graft. If it was your own car Liddo - I wouldn't mind.

**Liddo** · Tuesday 27th July 2010, 21:51

Originally Posted by Wobbly Dave

EDIT

Just re-read the top post - I am not so interested in doing up to sell projects. I was disappointed that Moppy sold hers so soon after I had finished 4 days graft. If it was your own car Liddo - I wouldn't mind.

LOL, after all that Dave, you let me down at the end

Seriously though, i wouldnt expect anyone (even though its VERY much appreciated help wise) to do anything to this car, as its literally to semi-tart-it-up for a sale, and it wont sell for much.

Anyhow, here's the "finished product" I could of spent hours and hours on this car, and made it near mint, but after 3, i was knackered!

Some might cringe, but i actually put red t-cut on my buffer, and buffed the paint with t-cut, and then polished it out. Probably not authodox, but it worked quite well

Before

After

As you can see, the quarters are still a little pink

**Vikingxl** · Wednesday 28th July 2010, 08:03

Looks great Liddo

**Liddo** · Wednesday 28th July 2010, 08:14

Originally Posted by Vikingxl

Looks great Liddo

Cheers mate. Dont get me wrong, it could be WELL better, but its not mine, and its up for sale, so i didnt want to spend another 3-5hrs getting it spot on, for someone else to let it get sh**ty again

**Murphy** · Wednesday 28th July 2010, 10:04

Job done!

**Liddo** · Wednesday 28th July 2010, 10:14

Originally Posted by Murphy

Job done!

Exactly

**bubba_1986** · Wednesday 28th July 2010, 10:49

Cheers again mate,

Can't thank yo enough for the effort and time you put into the car. Def going to get myself a orbital polisher soon as money allows, Mabye get thosse area's that needed a bit more but we ran out of time.

Hope your feeling better mate

Cheers