Nottingham RS Owners Club

Today B&R Motor Repairs gave us the chance to do a bit of correction work on a great looking rs 1800 which had recive some skilled paint work by rodders,

Rodder is if must say a perfectionist when it come to his work which made my job easy to give this car a nice shine and do a little corection work with the rotory.

(Brief decription only lol)
I started with a 2 buckett wash to be carefull to the great finish rodders had achived
dryied and then stated the ptg reading grabed the rotory out the van and tested which cobo to use and went ahead with the work heres a few pictures of the afternoon with rodders and andy at b&r motor repairs.

Bit of Wet Sanding Going on


And after


Rodders painting with a watering can lol


Andy










Roddres doing some work


Thanks B&R Motor Repairs

I recognise that spit.......

Baxter boy will be well pleased with that

Nice work mate!!!

Well im not to sure where this gose on the forum but ill just start here for now lol

So you want to wash your car, but “what’s the correct procedure?” I here you ask?
The typical method on the Sunday morning is, squirt some of the wife’s fairy into a bucket and fill it to the brim with water, letting it go crazy with the suds its creating, chuck that old sponge out the shed in there and dust off the leather you’ve had lying under the kitchen sink.
How wrong could you been?
Get yourself a brew and think like smart valeting UK! this is where the fun begins.
Firstly, if you imagine a flat surface and another flat surface in contact with each other, if there was anything between them, is this safe?
It all starts here car lovers......


Here is the dirt particles that are on your cars paint work,


and here is the flat surfaces in the guise of the painted surface and a normal average sponge placed upon each other trapping the dirt.



This is what majority are doing with the paint on their car and here is the basics of what is happening.




The answer........... No!

The basic fundamental of car washing is to do it in the safest possible manner without inflicting any dreadful scratches or swirl markings on the painted finish.
Here’s how the smart valeting uk way of washing begins.

So you’ve realised that your typical wash method is a somewhat little less desired.
“What is the best way of washing my beloved car without distressing its finish?” we here you asking.

Typical ways to achieve this is by:

1: Using a ph balanced, slick/well lubricated shampoo solution which will seriously help with lifting and removing the grime from your cars painted surface.
2: Changing that old dirty sponge for a plush Wash mitt, these are the softest merino lamb’s wool which not only remove the dirt very effectively but they lift the dirt away from the painted surfaces to reduce the chances of marking the paint.
3: Washing from top to bottom.

Times I have seen people washing the bottom half of their cars then working at the top, which in all honesty, is a touch confusing as the bottom of the vehicle suffers the most from the upper, thus enhancing the chances of surface damage.
Being on the safe side of the wash system will ensure your vehicle will stand the test of time, not tiring one little bit and should you have a quality protection wax or sealant on your vehicles paint it will continue to be protected for its recommended period of time.

Firstly the wheels.

You will need:
Soft spoke wheel brush a long reach detail brush.
Wheel Cleaner.
Smart valeting way 2 Bucket with shampoo solution
Cleaning the wheels can be simple or can be taxing depending on how bad the wheels are.
A standard used car wheel will have a build up of one month maximum, this will be slightly blackened with brake dust but not thick or caked on.
To clean wheels of this calibre, firstly, rinse the wheel ( working on each individual is better than all at once ) now with your detail brush and shampoo solution, clean the inner most wheel, ensuring you get round all the spoke areas.


With your soft brush ( A typical Harris paint brush will do just ensure the metal section is completely covered up with some insulation tape so you don’t damage your wheels ) and your soap solution, brush from top to bottom and back to the top ensuring you get in all the nasty build up areas round the wheels nuts, badges etc, we suggest to use a separate wash mitt to ensure all the wheel has been washed thoroughly, rinse thoroughly and dry with a microfiber cloth and so on with each wheel.


A wheel cleaner may be needed to remove slightly heavier build up of brake dust.
The 2 bucket wash method.

You will need:
1 x wash mitt.
2 x buckets, at least one with Grit Guard
A quality pH balanced wash solution.
Small sort brush............not the one you have used for the wheels but similar.
Fill one bucket with fresh water only, if you only have the one grit guard, place it in this. (If you don’t have a grit guard not to worry just remember to keep the wash mitt at the surface of the bucket)
Fill your second bucket three quarters full, add the recommended amount of you pH balanced wash solution then top this bucket up, this will activate the soap and not lose its valuable lubricates that is needed to wash the car safely.


Now dip your fresh wash mitt into the soap and work, lightly stroking the paint with no pressure, let the solution and the mitt do the work for you, we suggest straight lines are best as working in a circular motion can also inflict damage on the surface, use a soft brush to work generally round all the badges, grilles etc.



As you will see from the next diagram, the mitt lifts the dirt and draws it away from the painted surface as so not to damage the finish and cause the dreaded “swirl” markings / scratches.




Work from the top most section of the vehicle downwards, a panel at a time then dip in your rinse bucket and draw the mitt across the grit guard to remove any possible derbies the mitt may have in it, run your fingers through and if your happy dip in the wash solution once again and repeat. Remember the tail end of the vehicle will be almost as bad as that of the lowest section of the car so class this area as the bottom.

Once the whole of the car has been washed, rinse thoroughly once again, spend particular attention to all the areas that will hold the dirt i.e. door jams, grilles, crevices etc, expect this to take another 10-15 minutes.

Drying the car.

You will need:
A plush, quality microfiber drying towel.
A quality quick detailer.
A hydra blade
You may of seen so many people using a hydra blade, these are made of a silicone based product and helps remove water very quickly, speed isn’t everything, remember this. (But do help on glass surfaces) At the beginning we explained about the two flat surfaces, imagine this once again and you will frown when seeing one of these used, they can cause so many varied amounts of damage it really isn’t worth it on painted surfaces.

Mist the car with the quick detailer, majority of these have polymers which enhance the gloss of the paints finish but not only that, they are very slick to the touch which helps the towel glide along the paint safely so you’re not only getting a safe drying process, you’re getting a glossy, streak free finish.
You may feel as though this isn’t for you, just think though, if you don’t take your time and give your car that extra bit of Care it could not only cost your car its finish but it could cost “YOU” in the long term as your cars finish will have diminished and will look in poor stead.

Hope this helps?


Thanks for reading!