What to do with my car?

[bigwillie]

Hello all I just joined this forum, after hearing good things about it on bobistheoilguy.com. Anyway hope you all don`t mind answering a few questions. I have an 88 Bronco II with 49k. The paint is is good to excellent condition, and I have just washed the car, and added 2 coats of Liquid Glass, to keep the paint protected until the springtime. There is however a few cosmetic blemishes on the paint, what do you expect with a 17 year old car. It has a few swirl marks, and there seems to be a lot especially on the hood, they show up pretty well on the silver paint, the Liquid Glass has helped to fill and hide them so they do look a lot better now. What should I do with my car once it warms up? I`m planning on using a clay bar, and polishing the paint to get rid of the swirl marks, then using some Liquid Glass Pre Cleaner, and putting some more liquid glass sealant on the paint. What techniques and products would remove the swirl marks, and make the paint look new again? What products do you recommend I use? Should I use a different type of wax besides Liquid Glass? Hope you don`t mind answering all of my questions. Oh yes also, what kind of products would help my interior, the carpet and seats are in pretty good shape, and look good but there is a few stains in the carpet, and the steering wheel seems a little faded. What should I do with the interior? Here is a pic.







http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/bigwillie78/DSC01650.jpg





Note: This pic is from a few months ago, and it probabley looks a little bit better now since I have just washed, and waxed, and cleaned all of the crap off of the tires.

[imported_Luster]

Hey Bigwillie... welcome to Autopia!



There`s not much talk about Liquid Glass around here. I`m not saying it`s not a good product, but there are better ones out there IMO.



Over the winter, keep reading this forum and specifically go the "Learn" section at tht top of the homepage. There`s tons of good stuff in there.



For the interior stains on fabric and carpet, I would recommend Woolite mixed with water, a very stiff carpet brush, scrub, then soak it all up with nice thick towels. (Unless you have a wet/dry vac or extractor)....



That should freshen up your interior considerably.



Use Meguiar`s Interior Detail Spray (available at most auto parts stores) for the plastic and vinyl on your interior. And top off with 303 Aerospace Protectant for a low-gloss look. Stay away from Amour All Protectant for interiors, reserve it for wheelwells (works great on those!)



And don`t forget the door jambs!!!!!! "wax-em" !!



Keep researching this board, and by spring you`ll be an expert............... :2thumbs:

[imported_Luster]

One other thing....



NICE TRUCK ... !!!! :D :D :D

[Accumulator]

bigwillie- Welcome to Autopia! I think it`s great that you`ve kept your `88 so nice over all those years. I have two cars from the early-mid `80s so I think I have a pretty good handle on what you`re dealing with.



While you want to eliminate the marring, note that the only way to really get rid of it is to abrade away paint. Ford silvers from that vintage (I had a silver `87 Lincoln) don`t have all that much clear on them, so you don`t want to take off *too* much of it when you polish- see the catch-22? So IMO the best approach is to use a mild polish that`ll improve things somewhat, and then find ways to live with the marring that can`t be safely removed. As I`m always saying, "better imperfect original paint than a repaint." It`s only original once ;) It won`t look like new, but it`ll be the best compromise IMO.



I`d polish it with something like Meguiar`s #80. Then I`d try a different approach from the LG and see how you like it (you can always go back to the LG). After the #80 I`d apply one of the Meguiar`s "pure polishes" (#3/#5/#7/#81/Deep Crystal Step #2). These are nonabrasive- they won`t remove any more of the flaws but they`ll help hide them a little bit. After the pure polish I`d apply some very long lasting wax such as Collinite 476S, multiple applications. IMO this is a good way to hide existing defects and still provide durable protection and looks. It could be tweaked somewhat in various ways, but this basic approach (#80/pure polish/"heavy" carnauba) is a good start.



That`s the approach I`m going to use on a few of my cars that can`t take any more abrasive polishing, and I`m pretty particular.



On the interior, you could try hot water extraction and/or a steam cleaner on the spots. I myself would just live with the faded wheel, I`d consider it "the patina of honest use" and live with it. After all, it`s not a new vehicle ; I don`t mind seeing a little wear on things that naturally get worn, at least on a vehicle of that age with 49k on the clock. If you do mind, I`d look for a new old stock (NOS) wheel and just replace it.

[wash-girl]

While you want to eliminate the marring, note that the only way to really get rid of it is to abrade away paint. Ford silvers from that vintage (I had a silver `87 Lincoln) don`t have all that much clear on them, so you don`t want to take off *too* much of it when you polish- see the catch-22? So IMO the best approach is to use a mild polish that`ll improve things somewhat, and then find ways to live with the marring that can`t be safely removed. As I`m always saying, "better imperfect original paint than a repaint." It`s only original once ;)



Bigwillie--you got good advice there. One other option is Optimum polish with a finishing pad. Optimum is supposed to adjust its abrasiveness with the type of pad used. I found it to be an effective product that was easy to work with. And it might save you from having to buy different levels of polish--just use it with different pads.