Cleaning the black bits

[Steve Campbell]

Anyone got advice in cleaning / shining up the doors / hood / boot cover & tonneau ?

 

I haven't paid much attention to mine for a year and have decided they need a good clean & polish other then the usual soap & water.

 

Oh, and also any good ideas for making the exhaust heat cover shiny...is it made from Ali ?

Cheers

 

 

Steve Campbell

P889 GRR

[Andrew Russell]

Try Autoglym 'leather feed' cream which is also recommended for vinyl materials as well. Should do the trick! Once you've re-jouvenated it, a regular application of 'Back to Black' silicone spray keeps the elements at bay.

 

If your exhaust cover is black, try ordinary car polish, if bare metal, any good quality metal polish will work. Yes it is Aluminium.

 

Andrew

[Phil]

Hello, I have just done all you describe apart from the heat shield, the hood, boot cover etc are best cleaned with a product called Decosol, it is a vinyl and leather cleaner, you mix a cap full with a pint of warm water then apply with a cloth or if the surface is textured as the roof is use a soft nail brush to get all the dirt out, always apply to the cloth first then the surface to be cleaned after checking a hidden part for colour fastness, never pour over the roof etc as this may stain it in patches, you will be very pleased with the results. Decosol is a very good cleaner but not realy good for protecting it so I recomend two things for doing this firstly Autoglym vinyl rubber care as this last a long time and protects against sun light or if you have a leather interior Autoglym leather care does a good job after doing the seats etc, if cost is no object use the Vinyl rubber care for the roof and Leather care for the interior. On the front window Autoglym cream glass cleaner removes all the fly squash easily and does a great job but is abrasive so do not use on the side and rear screen, instead a quality liquid spray on glass cleaner like, you guessed it Autoglym fast glass as this will clean and not leave you with hazzy side screens. If you find the Autoglym Hood Care Kit, it is a very good product but realy ment for fabric hoods and mohair.

Please do not use fairy liquid on any part of your car as it removes OIL,WAX,WAXOIL,GREASE,POLISH etc All the bits on cars you do not see are protected and Fairy liquid etc remove these and your car rots inside out.

 

It is always best to buy a product specific to the job for best results.

 

 

[Phil]

Back to black is a popular product but is just a clear silicone spray to improve on a shine on a clean surface and pricy for what it is. The Autoglym Vinyl Rubber Care is a lot better and last longer, it also comes in trigger application so this means you get a lot more for your money than with aerosols as you are paying for propellant as well.

 

 

[dino ferrana]

Armorall Trye Foam does the trick quite nicely but can be a little sticky. Comma Trim Cleaner seems to work OK but I haven't tried any of the alternatives.

[Steve Campbell]

Thanks everyone.

I was planning to get down to Halfords this morning to get some of the products recommended here but the weather was so nice I just ended up on a general 2 hour blat !

I'll get round to it next weekend wink.gif

Cheers,

 

Steve Campbell

P889 GRR

[Taran Las]

Steve,

 

Just so happens I cleaned mine today (for a changethumbsup.gif). Autoglym vinyl care is a good product and polishes up quite well.

 

Regards

 

Phil Owen.

 

 

[John Howe]

I recently tried Simonize on my wife Seven. The vinyl, visually, really was suffering from a lack of TLC and a few minutes with this spray transformed the plastic quite dramatically.

 

JH

 

 

[sjwb]

As for the cleaning, some good responses.

As for the muffler cover - SLING it and polish the stainless muffler.

 

Steve B

[Tony]

(Re: John Howe's comment above)

 

John, your wife has an unusual but lovely name - and she's a real sport to put up with the Simonizing! I use Auto Glym on mine and the old girl comes up a treat...

 

 

[John Vine]

Wanting something for my black bits, and following the advice above, I've just bought some AutoGlym Rubber and Vinyl care. Excellent! Easy to apply, and offering two levels of "gloss": low and high.

 

JV

[Phil]

Autoglym/Caterham

 

Caterham/Autoglym

 

Use only the best accept no substitute.

 

 

[Hibster.]

and as Autoglym is made 1 mile from my house I say support local buinesses smile.gif

 

Now, if I can just stop pigeons sitting and ****ing on the rollbar when I come back from a Blat, perhaps a light weight cat secured to one of the seat belt mountings?

 

Paul

 

"I had a car like that before the war" confused.gif

[DohNut]

The winner of the Practical Clasic test on Vinyl restorers was Halfords exterior trim treatment, its cheapish and it works for me.

 

to add to the comment on Washing up liquid, I believe that one of the additives to make it thicker and appear more concentrated is salt, not really recomended

 

Nick

[Phil]

True about the salt in Fairy liquid, very good point.

 

Autoglym has been beaten in several test over the years in different catagories by different products, but the thing to remember is that Autoglym as a range of products that work together and do not work against

each other so making for a longer lasting product, for example using there resin polish gives a good long lasting shine and can be topped off with there top coat polish called Extra gloss making it last longer and shine more, if the following week you wish to wash the car, you can use there shampoo as they call it, it is a product designed to clean without removing the polish coat allready applied, it does not contain lots of aditives to make it all bubbly to con youn into thinking it is working better than any other, just another quality product.

Polishing an ordinary car you can wash it [Autoglym shampoo] dry it [Autoglym synthetic chamios, the best in the world] polish the glass [you guessed it] apply the polish then do all the black plastic [bumper care] then wipe all off with one cloth at the same time saving time and effort and not getting polish marks on the plastic.

There are several of the best companies now copying Autoglym by doing matching products and chasing there sales, but do not be fooled by thinking that buying say turtle wax liquid polish and then turtle wax shampoo that they will work together.

 

handy tip for the Autoglym Vinyl Rubber care, after cleaning engine bay, spray on all rubber components and leave, it will dry to a nice protective shine.