Well today I washed my car only to notice that there were bug sprays/things that just wouldn't come out. So I thought to myself...what should I do. I grabbed a washcloth, soaked it, soaked the car, and found a rubber sander block and 2000 grit sand paper and went to work. I then went ahead and yes, sanded down the whole car! Because it was still wet, it looked much better so I thought at first, 'job well done, let's call it a day' until I saw the parts that had dried....

It was oxydized!

I was a little upset...but I knew there had to be something that I could do...so I went to Pep Boys, grabbed some TR-3....and you wouldn't believe it! Thing turned out more shinny and smoother than my step moms new Danoli! Got rid of the oxydation and everything!

I didn't sand under the spoiler or use the stuff there so I can show people the difference. Its like rubbing sand paper before to smooth as silk now! I am a very happy man

Also, what should I do now to get rid of the swirl marks left on the car? After I get my tires/bumper replaced (damn guy backed up into me) on Monday, I plan to make the exterior look better-than-new with some tire shine (have been reading up on some of the posts about this) and tint. For tint...how much should I expect to pay to retint the whole car?

Now onto step next! How the hell do I restore leather! My rear seats are in good condition but I would like to bring them back to life. The seat/back pieces of leather on the front seats have tears, so I know I have to replace those. Can I buy those pieces seperate or do I basically have to buy the set to replace? I will take pictures tomorrow (Didn't have any of before...sorry).

 

Glad it worked out for ya..but wth is a Danoli? A Denali?

 

Yeah sorry...I am not very good at spelling and it was late =P

 

Nice job, but....


I have to admit that was quite ballzy to take on the task of wet-sanding your ride. Glad it turned out ok.

 

I'm taking pictures as soon as I wake up tomorrow....and find my digital camera!

 

Real sandpaper on the exterior of your car? Wow. Would love to see the pics.

For swirls, I just discovered Vanilla Moose Hand Glaze from Clearkote. Got mine through Autogeek.net, but you might check the Clearkote website to find a local retailer near you. This stuff is my new favorite anytime I see a blemish on the car (that and Meguiars Paint Cleaner, which I also like a lot).

Like an idiot, I let a hinged trash can lid bounce on the hood of my car in the garage, and tried many products to get those scratches out. The Vanilla Moose worked immediately where the other products failed. (Hey, I sound like a spam ad, but you can check that I'm a long time member of the forum.)

As for restoring leather, several people have recommended a diluted bath of Simple Green, followed by those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Once you get it clean, follow up with any leather cream to restore the moisture that you just took out with the cleaning. I tried this. Didn't get the spectacular results that some have had, but my leather was always in decent shape.

 

Personally I use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for hard smudges or bug/tar that won't come off. The stuff works great, but you do need to hand polish the area a little as the Magic Eraser is a mild abrasive. The white door molding on my '90 Maxima SE was all yellow and nasty looking. Five minutes with the Magic Eraser and 3M polish and they turned out looking new! When I bought the car 2 weeks ago the whole car was covered in little tar spots and overspray. I spent 2 days detailed the exterior with a 12" random orbital buffer and 3M polish and except for the bumpers (little bit of old cracked paint) it looks great.

 

Sorry about no pictures...I have been looking for the past few days and don't know where my camera went to! I will try to borrow someone elses camera after I wash my car on Thursday so I can show pictures.

So sweet, I should definatly invest in some tools since this is really starting to become a hobby. What would you guys recomend though? Buffer? Polisher? Brand preference? Size? Sorry for not doing a little research but I am just falling asleep on my keyboard while typing this.

Oh! Also I just ordered all the parts to replace my front bumper (stupid comercial truck...but hey I pocketed $1100 to replace it...$200 for parts). If anyone knows of any guides off hand to do this that would be sweet! For painting and such, I am open to any advice what-so-ever.

Again, I'm falling asleep here, so I will try and do some research tomorrow night, but until then I definatly look forward to everyone's knowlege and wisdom! Thanks!

 

Porter Cable 7424 or 7336 = $109 @ Lowes

 

Retinting your car with a professional will cost around $150+ labor costs to take off the old tint.

 

Wow...I am keeping the simple restoration of this car as cheap as possible. I believe it is time to do some searching on tint removal. This is seriously bothing me because I would love to get some pictures but can not find a damn camera!

 

Sorry to sound like an idiot, but "re-tinting"? Are you talking about the windows?

 

Yeah, $150 sounds about right. Shop around and ask friends. I found one of my friends' relatives to do the whole car for about $90 and it's a pretty good job.

 

Also, I'd do 20% in the front and 5% in the back. Check your state laws out first though. It's a pretty nice combo esp. if you're like me and can't see anything at night through heavy tint.

 

Problem with that is no tint is allowed up front, however there are no laws on how dark it can go behind the driver in CA. I talked to a few tint shops and they said I could get away with some 50%-70% tint up front though...any ideas on what might look good on the back to match that well?

Oh yes, and I did manage to get the tint off the rear windows (excluding the rear winshield...it is worth the $50 to have someone take that tint off) with no scratches It wasn't hard...just time consuming!

 

Just straight up taking sand paper to the car.......that is crazy. So glad it worked out for you. Last time I had a badly oxidized car I went with No 7 rubbing compound it worked great. I would love to see the pics of your car.

 

And I would love to take them but I lost my camera and all of our cameras are broken

I do aim to get this digital camera very soon with a rebate I am expecting. Yeah I never heard of clay until just a little while ago, which I am definatly getting now lol!