Attempt at paint and wheel restoration - its getting there!

Here's a few snaps to show my progress. Many thanks to all the helpful people here who've been able to answer every question i've thrown at them

First pic - the evening i picked the car up :

I spoke to a good friend who owns a few very shiny cars about the best way to go. We set about doing the bonnet first: washing it, then clay-bar'ing it, then a rinse, then Farecla G3'ing it (like t-cut), then a rinse before meguires gold waxing it - all by hand. You can really see the difference.

Next i did the boot lid by hand

Then i set about doing the left side, the roof and the right side in the same way, only i borrowed a buffer to help with the G3 stage.

The wheels were in a sorry state, rusty, marked and crappy looking. I bought a 14mm wire drill bit and set about with a power drill and a dust mask. A few hours later and they were ready for some hammerite smooth satin black. I left them in a garage overnight to dry properly and i think the results are fantastic. The car looks so much better now.  I'm waiting for a set of gti arches to hide the rust spots on the arch edges, some lowering springs or cut the existing ones to drop it a little, possibly a gti antiroll bar then i think i'll leave it (oh and refit the side strips!). So far i've only spent about ?30 on it !

The side windows are a bit filthy in the next pic .

Dont want to bore anyone with too many pics of a 1.1 but i'm sure some of you appreciate the effort that goes into mopping. Its pretty knackering! but i'm very pleased with the results. Need to do the low sill bits below the doors but its about 95% mopped. Just need to black the bumpers somehow. Someone said Wurth is the stuff to get rather than glym bumper black?
Also, theres some rust on the leading edge of the bonnet i should do something about.

Not bad for a week of ownership though!

cheers,
Greg

Greg,

You must have popeye arms by now  

Looking good - Tell us more about claybar and G3 stuff - where did you get it, how much etc etc

Cheers

Rich

Hi Rich,

The claybar is basically an expensive piece of plastercine. mine comes in a 2 pack from an american company called Zaino. I'm sure Meguires do one too, for about a tenner. Once you've washed the surface, the clay when rubbed over the surface with some pressure & used with loads of water, removes all the tiny dots of tar and stuff, so after a good going over the paint is super smooth but a little tacky - bit like glass, to touch. Then when you polish it after, it goes soft and silky.

Farecla make abrasive paste for lifting paint, they do a whole range, i researched mopping on the web and called a couple of companies, they all use G3 and for really bad paint G6. Its like industrial t-cut as far as i'm aware. No idea the cost of the tube as my mate let me have it. Under a tenner i'd have thought though.

When it comes to detailing and waxing some people like the natural carnuba wax products by Zymol, but this little company in new jersey 'Zaino' make synthetic polymer based waxes which are simply better & cheaper. I really rate the stuff, it basically lasts a lot longer than Zymol and takes less time to apply. I used meguires on the golf as i wasnt sure if i needed to deeper with my mopping or not - ie. didnt want to waste my precious Zaino!! you can get it from ebay quite easily.

cheers.

Greg - nice polishing. Always think it's highly satisfying getting such results without splashing the cash, just of a lot of hard work. Not sure about bumpers. Most bumper black I've come across washes off after a month or so. Check the Yellow Pages for local motor or autopaint factor. They often sell more profesional aerosol paints for spraying plastic bumpers and trim.

Cheers

Yo Greg

Nice Job

You related to the "Karate Kid" ???

Cheers

great work

love to see any! mk1 being looked after like that,keep it up.

Thanks guys, i'm pretty pleased with the results. It has shown up some of the prev owners joke touch-up attempts, but hey its an old car.
No relation to the karate kid SW, maybe i did watch that movie to many times as a kid though, it must have rubbed off on me.

markone, regarding bumpers i considered doing them in the hammerite i used for the wheels, but wasnt sure. I might need some kind of latex paint for plastic perhaps. I'll call a paint shop and see what they think.

Excellent work!
One of the best things you can do to improve the appearance is get a new set of numberplates - I've had a few old cars with stained/cracked/knackered plates and the difference a new set makes is amazing!

For the bumpers, I'd recommend the Autoglym stuff - it'll take a few applications on bumpers that grey to 'soak in' but they'll look great after a while!

Darren thats a great idea. I hadn't thought of that. Last time i bought a set it cost me 30 notes. Just called my local motorists discount place and they do them for ?7.90 each. I musta got ripped off before.

I like the look of the front plate mounted on a gti chin spoiler under the bumper . hmmm . . . .

Hi Greg,

I use TCut's Bumper Restoration Kit, Its available from Halfords and costs about 11-12 quid. The kit contains 2 bottles, one for cleaning them up and removing silicone deposits and the other is the black stuff. There are 2 sponges for application and plastic gloves to stop it getting on you (it comes off your hands after a while anyway).

The finish is really good if you dont overwork it onto the bumpers and just use a little at a time (it can look streaky/blotchy if you overwork it). It doesnt come off either like other bumper black stuff I've tried.
The bottles last ages, I've done a couple of cars and I'm not even 1/2 way through the bottle.

Cheers,

Ross

Nice one Ross, i'll definitly look into that if you reckon it stays on for a while. I've gotten tired of glyming bumpers every 5 mins on prev cars.

Greg, don't put your car down coz it's a 1.1 - it's still a MK1 and you should be well chuffed with your efforts. Made an amazing difference!

Ref the bumpers, I don't know if you can still buy vinyl coat - usually used for faded vinyl and leather seat trims but that may do it? I'm sure I've seen it used before and whilst you need to get the prep/cleaning spot on for good results, it should last a LONG time!

Looking good!

That G3 stuff is what was used to mop my car after it was painted. The paint shop had it in BIG cans with "G3" on the side  :roll: …

It was good stuff though, may be worth trying to get some off someone in the trade… :?:

Cheers Hairy. I'm well pleased with my 1.1 it impresses everyone who's been in it so far - made a few people laugh out loud at the cornering capabilities too! Modern shopping basket hatches are so damn heavy with all the safety features etc. The mk1 makes even my old mk216v feel really heavy. I'm really enjoying pottering about it it  :wink:

I'll see if halford still do vinyl coat. when i next go in cheers.

Difficult to get that bumper resto kit now

I think it may be discontinued.

Car Plan do some new stuff, Bumper wax I think. Good stuff, about a fiver and lasts well.

Peter.

Agree on the T-Cut bumper resto kit - I haven't been able to find it anywhere locally.

At both Halfords my enquiries were met with blank faces and I was pointed to the autoglym stand  :roll: . The autoglym stuff works well for a short time, but unless your car is garaged it just washes off after a few weeks leaving things looking as grey as ever  :? .

I have resigned myself to either practicing with a heat gun on some scrap bumper or going down the spraying route. Long way down my list of jobs though - for now I'll settle for a car that actually runs  :?

Chris

In the absence of the resto-kit, I recommend the Vinyl-Kote (not sure on that spelling), but you'll probably only get it in a proper auto-paint suppliers (see yellow pages). It is a paint-like product that actually soaks into, and dyes, the plastic, rather than just coating it (and flaking off when it flexes, as plastic does).

When buying, ask for advice on products/techniques for the preparation of the bumpers - any dirt or silicone from polish will mess the job right up - preparation is vital…

AL_Mk1 wrote
That G3 stuff is what was used to mop my car after it was painted. The paint shop had it in BIG cans with "G3" on the side  …

It was good stuff though, may be worth trying to get some off someone in the trade…

You can get G3 and the rest of the range at most motor factors. They sell in it in big drums like you mention or in small squeezy tubes for about ?5 or ?6. Really good stuff for moping in new paint work after final flatting, use it all the time.

i read something in a vauxhall magazine about restoring the black plastic on bumpers and trims

they tend to fade due to U.V light from the sun breaking the surface down

i tried it on my mums battered old corsa c and it worked a treat

using a heat / paint stripper gun heat  up the surface and u will notice it turn to its original black straight away
keep the gun moving as it will bubble the surface and dont attempt to touch it or wipe with a cloth till cold again as i had a couple of finger prints and chequer from the cloth pattern
take your time and massive results finish it off with some back to black and no more dull grey bumpers

Apparently using a heat gun on the bumper plastics is supposed to restore the colour?