No more black cars

[Wilks132]

I love my car, however, I hate it becasue its black and impossible to keep clean. My next car will not be dark colored. I also hate birds!!!!! I have birp $hit stains all over. I attempt to get it off as soon as possible but it still stains the car. Is there a way to get these stains off? Second, what is the best and EASIEST wax? I bought Megulars spray carnuba wax AND ITS A PAIN!!! I sprayed it on like it said, used a terry cloth towel and applied it evenly, then buffed it with a terry cloth towel. AND ALL IT DID WAS FOG UP THE PAINT!!. I ended up washing and drting the entire car over again. Does anyone have any tips on keeping my car clean. Especially tips on waxing. Thanks

[xmoniewrx]

I have been using that new Ice wax they advertise it works really good you can get it any where autozone, advanced autoparts, walmart I think too. Definatly use a microfiber cloth not terry you will get better results.

[Vew]

Well, if the bird droppings are truly stains, the easiest way is using a clay bar. If they are etched, which means the acid in the crap sat on there too long and left an impression, then they only way is to polish it out. Try something like Meguires ScratchX. If that doesn't work, you'll have to look into something with a bit more bite. Or, if your entire car needs it, you may consider polishing the whole thing to restore that black paint.

As far as spray waxes, most spray waxes are only meant as 'touch up.' What I mean by that is it's meant to extended the current wax on the car, not meant to be used alone. If you're looking to buy a wax at a store and not online, the easiest stuff I have used thus far is Meguires NXT Wax. It's a synthetic wax so it does not leave any nasty residue behind. It's also very thin and easy to remove.

Just a tip/reminder. DO NOT WASH YOUR CAR WITH DISHSOAP unless your goal is to remove the wax. Use a car wash shampoo. They do not strip the car of wax or the trim of UV protectants. They also contain conditioners and lubricants that help avoid scratching your paint when you wash your car.

autopia.org is a good resource. It's a forum dedicated to car care, cleaning, and detailing. I just recently restored my trim and it makes the car as a whole look a world of difference.

[Wilks132]

Thanks guys!!! I will have to try Meguires NXT wax. I use Mothers car wash with a lambs wool mit. I guess i will have to try the clay bar. My brother told me about this Zaino stuff that apparently makes a black car look like glass. Does the NXT wax go on like traditional wax?

[xmoniewrx]

I think he said ScratchX I have tried NXT it did not work well for me.

[Vew]

NXT is an easy to use, easy to apply and remove synthetic wax. It is more durable then some of the other waxes you'll see on the shelves. You'll get a good shine, but it doesn't not provide very good depth or richness a traditional carnuba wax will offer. The reason I suggested NXT because he was requesting an easy wax.

I hear great things about Zanio and I've seen it on my friend's dad's s2000, and it simply looks amazing. It does not last long, and is also about $40 bucks for a can of the stuff. I'm going to probably try a can of Zymol Creme on my next order. There is so much to picking a wax and how you want your paint to look that you could literally write an entire article on it, then a separate article on the wax. I've barely even scratched the surface... no pun intended.

Let's just say I spent 5 hours on Monday removing my wax, cleaning the paint, re-waxing, and restoring my trim. When I want to do the car 100%, it takes me about 3 days.

I've used this photo before, and it was from last year, but this is the result of 2 days of work. You can see how the light reflects off the doors.

[xmoniewrx]

VEW sorry I wasnt knockin NXT it just didnt work for me. I thought you were just trying to push him to use ScratchX first thats just why i said the above because he said NXt right away instead of your first suggestion

[Wilks132]

Vew, How did you get your headlights dark like that? I was thinking of sending mine to lightwerkz. I just want my car nice a shiny and to have the water bead off when it rains. I was under the impression that the scratchx was for the scratched and bird poo. I thought the NXT was the wax.

[xmoniewrx]

so you took three days to do by rewaxing with NXT i would like to know I would like to try that?

[AutoPilot]

3 days? holy crap. it rains so frequently in central ny that i'm lucky if i can have a day or two of sunshine after i wash my car. as a general rule, i hate when anything falls from the sky. be it bird $hit, rain, snow, hail. you name it.

[xmoniewrx]

Originally Posted by AutoPilot

i hate when anything falls from the sky. be it bird $hit, rain, snow, hail. you name it.

here here to that subie brother

[rubenc66]

Hey vew those are some sick wheels

[vagrantidol]

Originally Posted by xmoniewrx

here here to that subie brother

Except for emmission laws i would say move to CA, or AZ if you dont want the hassle of bs smog regulations.

[xmoniewrx]

no no

[Vew]

Wow, everyone's misunderstanding. First off, I'm not trying to defend NXT. You can hate it all you want or even love it all you want. It's an okay wax in my opinion. I wasn't trying to be defensive.

Yes, the ScratchX is what I would try to use to remove any etching the bird crap may have caused. You may have to do a full polish if it's that bad. Bird crap is VERY bad for your paint. Wax will hide small scratches and maybe some etching, but it will still be there.

3 days would be a full detail. That would include removing ALL protectants off the car. Harder than you might think. It would include claybaring the whole car, using an orbital buffer to polish the paint, trim, wheels, tires, engine bay, interior. Everything. And when I do that, I layer waxes. I use more than one, and in coats. In the future, I would like to use a sealant like Klasse rather than NXT, and put on 2 or 3 layers of Zymol Creme on top of that.

Keep in mind, a clean car is SO much easier to clean than a dirty one. If it's sunny everyday, I'll quick detail the car which only takes 10 minutes.

Headlights I cleared and painted it myself. It's easy, people are paranoid of putting the lights in the oven even though they shouldn't be. It's time consuming if nothing else. I've done 5 sets of 04/05 lights so far. If I can find another donor car, I'll post up a how-to, but many already exist.

The wheels are STi rims painted Duplicolor graphite. Car looks a lot more different now also.