which side of the fence are you ?

[SGHOM]

can I take it our cars will look pretty spick & span for santa pod ?? who's going to ;
purchase;
car wash shampoo..... £10
T cut.........................£10
high gloss polish........£10
tar remover...............£10
tyre wall black............£10
alloy wheel cleaner.....£10
cockpit shine.............£10
20 dusters................£10
chrome polish...........£10
glass cleaner............£10
upholstery shampoo..£10
tree air freshner........£10
back to black............£10
gunk engine cleaner..£10
etc...etc...etc... & turn up with sore hands , cut fingers & bruised forhead!!
OR....... who's going to ring up local mobile valeter, & say..... "sort it mate " :D :D .

[zedy1]

if u buy them u could do mine too :D

[Brind]

Knowing Barry's track record, none of the above! :D ;)

I'm gonna do the usual:


Wash with Autoglym
Remove tar spots, silver really shows them up. Autoglym again.
Clean wheels, Autoglym.
Polish with Autoglym resin.
Autoglym high gloss.
Autoglym glass cleaner
Brasso on the HKS.
Hoover out as chimps have had the usual tea party.
Back to Black shiney stuff for the dash, it looks better than the proper mat black stuff.
Already has one of those air freshner things that attach to the air vents.
Considered removing wheels to clean off brake dust but then I just can't be arsed, may get around to it one day.
Need to paint the brake calipers or something as they look nasty, again can't be arsed.
Fit this pipercross cold feed pipe, must do that!
Whatever else comes to mind if I get chance..


Could give the car to Pete's missus to clean if she wouldn't mind? can't believe how clean his car is!! must require the womans touch INSERT INTO post VALUES (like me). :D

[enigma]

Included in my service cost was a full clean and valet.......unfortunately there is plenty of time for it to get dirty again!!!!! :D

[SGHOM]

I'm an idle sod at heart !!:D :D I'll have it taken away, & brought back to me sorted. If I'd already got a garage full of cleaning gear, it might be different. but I ain't. so I'm going for the cheaper option !! [ cant find a smillie for idle sod ???? ]

[Brind]

What is the usual rate for a decent valet anyway? ;)

[SGHOM]

I can get a full blown job, including steam cleaning engine for £75. for that money.... I'm not going to get my hands dirty.

[Brind]

That's probably not bad but then they probably don't put the effort into it like you or I may... if we could be bothered that is. :D probably stick to the above method though. :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

[Spirit]

I guess around £50 for inside and out Mark?

My schedule is this:

1: Tell Shaz I am too busy at work, can you please sort it
2: Go and browse the Club VR4 forums
3: Inspect her work and criticise as appropriate :D

Joking apart - Mark mentioned painting the calipers, keep meaning to do this too but can't be arsed either :nono:

/make mental note to take more care of car

[Brind]

LOL

£50 ain't too bad, I'll have to have a look round, I've never looked into a valet before.

What colour would you paint the calipers?

[SGHOM]

painting calipers ???? I was tempted to do mine, but what with ??? spray them ??? paint them ??? hammerite them ??? I dunno ??:Ponder:

[Nick VR4]

Originally posted by interlec
painting calipers ???? I was tempted to do mine, but what with ??? spray them ??? paint them ??? hammerite them ??? I dunno ??:Ponder:

You have to use proper Caliper Paint INSERT INTO post VALUES (heat etc)
I went and got some but read the instructions you cant drive the car for 24 hours to let the paint and lacquer dry

So though better of it
One day I'll do it

I clean my car every other week inside and out :D and its its nice weather it gets waxed , needed or not :)

[Spirit]

Saw a post on the MLR I think of someone who used normal "Smooth" Hammerite and two years later he reckons its still as good as new ?

If I do it I think red or black will be what I go for :Ponder:

[Nick VR4]

Originally posted by spirit979
Saw a post on the MLR I think of someone who used normal "Smooth" Hammerite and two years later he reckons its still as good as new ?

If I do it I think red or black will be what I go for :Ponder:

I have Hammerite for the inside of the hub part and red caliper paint :)

[Spirit]

Nick - got any pics mate ?

[Brind]

Was gonna ask the same. :)

[enigma]

I know he's only the new boy, but if he thinks that missus BDA is cleaning that, he can think again:nono:..............I don't even clean my own pathetic little Punto!!!!! See you all at the Pod INSERT INTO post VALUES (sorry, I had to have instruction on the correct term to use!)

[BraindG]

:Cry1:
i do clean the car... sometimes.. stop picking on me.. waaahhhh

[Kieran]

:devil5: Hehehehe! I'm hoping that car cleanliness is an area where my GLS will outperform you lot.... I'm a touch obsessive, though I really need to machine polish it.... I think it was cleaned about once before I owned it!

If it's rainy before Santa Pod, then I shall be writing a strongly worded letter to "Points of View" about the BBC's weathermen!!!:D:D

[Nick VR4]

Originally posted by spirit979
Nick - got any pics mate ?

err I can post a picture of the caliper paint and the hammerite can sitting on my self :)
I havent used it yet :INSERT INTO post VALUES (
Cant get the motivation to do it

1) my drive is on a slant so not good
2) I dont have axle stands or a trolly jack
3) As earlier takes 24 hours to dry
4) It would be a pain in the ar$e to do one caliper at a time

[Spirit]

I have the same issue Nick - no trolley jack and slanted ground outside house - it will be a pain in the arse to do :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

[Brind]

Originally posted by Nick VR4
err I can post a picture of the caliper paint and the hammerite can sitting on my self :)


Hope that isn't the only way you can model your paint mate!!! :o :D


As for the sloping driveway, me three.
It's like driving up the side of a mountain to get on our drive. :D
Mind you it does go on up to a fairly level ground and can be jacked up quite safely.
Still got to get around to it though.

[SGHOM]

on my wish list is a new set of grooved discs & Brembo calipers. but they are going to have to wait, in the mean time, whilst you lot waffle about "cant be ar**d " to paint your calipers !:D I'm doing them !!! smooth hammerite silver hubs, & red calipers ! [ temporary, mind, 'till I get the real deal ! ] best part of it is !:D I dont have to take the wheels off !!!!!!:cool1: 18" matrix shadow alloys leave enough room to almost climb behind them to do the job ! just been round the hubs with a wire brush... easy-peasy. pics to follow soon.;)

[Brind]

All eyes on Interlec for pictures.

I'll do the same but I'll write Brembo on them, far cheaper. :D

[SGHOM]

Well it's a start !!! :D

[Brind]

LOL

How much was the caliper paint?

[SGHOM]

£9.99 for caliper paint, £5.19 for hammerite & £1.79 for brush !! :D :D it'll be done saturday .

[enigma]

As I am going to have my car up on stands for the weekend doing my exhaust I am sorely tempted to add a spot of paint myself............................No point painting the discs though as they are truly fuc..........buggered!

[SGHOM]

called in to a local valeters today, & he quoted me £50 for the full works. I asked if they take particular care when steam cleaning the engine & his reply was " I know nowt about cars mate. all we do is put a carrier bag over the carburreter. the electronics should be already covered, and if we have to push the car out afterwards, thats not our problem. " WTF !!!:mad: he's off my christmas card list !!! dick***d. :mad: :mad:

[Brind]

That's good prices Interlec, and coming from Halfords too.

I'll have to get some on Saturday and do the same, I really can't be the one that mentioned it and the last to do it. :D

So, watch this space.. cos I'll still end up not doing it. :INSERT INTO post VALUES ( :D

[Brind]

Originally posted by interlec
called in to a local valeters today, & he quoted me £50 for the full works. I asked if they take particular care when steam cleaning the engine & his reply was " I know nowt about cars mate. all we do is put a carrier bag over the carburreter. the electronics should be already covered, and if we have to push the car out afterwards, thats not our problem. " WTF !!!:mad: he's off my christmas card list !!! dick***d. :mad: :mad:

What an excellent sales pitch! :cool: must remember that.

I'm gonna get one of those electric buffer things aswell.
After the struggle with the high gloss stuff from Autoglym last time :rolleyes: ..was my fault though as I tried to remove it before its time, but then it did start to bloody rain. :mad:

Electric buffer and paint is on the list.

[SGHOM]

all right !! :mad: whose idea was it to paint the hubs & calipers without taking the wheels off???? own up ?? . nightmare !!:nono:

[Brind]

*Snigger* What happened mate? :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

[SGHOM]

wheel off !! :mad:

[SGHOM]

Originally posted by Brind
*Snigger* What happened mate? :INSERT INTO post VALUES ( what bl***y happened ??? need to be a contorsionist thats all !!!! :D :D hubs weren't a problem, but the calipers !!:nono:

[Spirit]

At least you did yours mate :D

I reckon I may just do the rusty part of the discs and leave it at that

[Brind]

LOL!!


best part of it is ! I dont have to take the wheels off !!!!!! 18" matrix shadow alloys leave enough room to almost climb behind them to do the job ! just been round the hubs with a wire brush... easy-peasy. pics to follow soon.
easy-peasy :D

[SGHOM]

just booked my car in for a full valet & steam clean. profesional company, not like the last one I tried !! they all wanted to know what the car was & look at the engine !! :D my spec was for them to bring the car up to show standard, [ booked in fri 10th ] which they said they will do . full interior & exterior valet, proper polish & wax, steam clean engine, underside & wheel arches, dress wheels & tryes. fully insured & garaunteed work. £35 !!! :D :D thats the normal price for a valet only, but they said they would do the steam cleaning for nothing !!! Beauchief valeting co. now, this is not meant to sound snobbish, but they are from the "right" side of town. & whilst I was there, they were valeting a new Merc Kompressor, & a new M3. !! So I think I can trust them . :Ponder:

[Brind]

£35? that sounds like a good deal. :)
Just done a search on their name and they only have a place in Sheffield. :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

Just bought some paint to do my calipers.
I went to get some petrol before setting out to do shopping.. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: and looked across to see a fairly new Honda. Looking down INSERT INTO post VALUES (as once something is on your mind you tend to take notice of others) I noticed his calipers showing through some pretty nice alloy wheels, obviously the car wasn't very old so they looked very clean, his calipers were silver and they really looked smart! so I've gone for silver aswell.
I went into one of those seedy type car parts shops and found they had some really good gear in there, had a look around and found their paints etc. Found some silver engine lacquer instead so I bought that as it was less than a fiver and I can paint the discs with it too.
If it can withstand the heat from the engine directly I'm sure the calipers won't be too much problem.

Bought an Electric Polisher from Argos for about £20 aswell.

[Spirit]

Did the discs yesterday see here: http://www.clubvr4.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=10753#post10753

Mark, take care with that electric polisher mate too long on one patch can cause nasty results mate :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

[Brind]

Cheers for the advice on the polisher, I've heard about that and the instructions are quite good.. I'm pretty paranoid about doing damage so it should be okay. Soon find out. :)

[Kieran]

Originally posted by spirit979
Mark, take care with that electric polisher mate too long on one patch can cause nasty results mate :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

Mark, there's an excellent piece of real video on Meguiar's US site that'll give you good directions for using an electric polisher and how common pitfalls, such as swirling, scorching and scouring, etc. It's worth a look:

Car Care Clinics (http://www.meguiars.com/clinics/_clinics_template.cfm)

[Brind]

Thanks for the link Kieran!!

I've got a different polisher than the one in the video, not saying it won't be harmful, but using a pad on what looks like a normal angle grinder albeit with speed control looks bloody scary to me!! I use tools such as angle griders etc all the time and I would not feel comfortable going near paintwork with one!

I've got this polisher here (http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/car-cleaning-products/hilka-twin-handled-car-polisher.asp).

[Kieran]

That looks like the one I've got, though that's made by Nu-Tool. I've never used it, for fear of paintwork damage:INSERT INTO post VALUES (, but having seen that Meguiars video, I may have a test-polish....

Hmmm - You'll have to excuse me... I think I can hear my paintwork whimpering:D

[Brind]

The instructions are pretty good and unless you push hard or stay in one spot too long it seems quite safe, I guess just see what it does.. if it comes off pretty easy just apply smaller amounts of pressure.
Hard to reach places you can do by hand so it isn't all that clumsy either.
Interesting to see the results compared to a quick INSERT INTO post VALUES (in my case) wipe over by hand.

[Japmetal]

I've used an electric buffer before [borrowed one from work] and you dont really need any more pressure on it than it takes to hold it steady - as soon as you start you'll see what I mean !

If you use a good, suitable polishing compound & a little common sense you can't go wrong !

[enigma]

OK better late than never............I finally put aside some time to paint my calipers. Unfortunately I only put aside enough to do the fronts for now :mad: Took longer than I anticipated!

Anyway some pics

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.hidle/images/Front Calipers0001small.JPG

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.hidle/images/Front Calipers0002small.JPG


Ignore the discs for now, I have some shiny new ones on order!

[BraindG]

those discs look really small... i mean the groove where the pad has been... :Ponder:

[enigma]

Nothing to compare it with really, looks to me that the whole pad is contacting the disc................perhaps more noticable cos they are buggered! :D

[Spirit]

Maybe this will help to compare:

http://www.p.honey.btinternet.co.uk/photogallery/photo26003/BP1.jpg

[wirdy]

BDA- as noticed before me, there's definitely something amiss with your front disk wear pattern, maybe incorrect pads?.
You should only have around 3-5mm of unswept disk from the hub.
Just wait 'til you get your new disks on...looks like you've only had 75% of the standard VR-4 braking up to now!!.

[enigma]

Hmmmmmmm, who needs to stop anyway?! Brakes are just there to look shiny! :D

[wirdy]

Good old ABS would have kept you out of trouble anyway....hopefully!
Maybe worth checking your rear pads are correct as well?

[enigma]

Its OK, new discs and pads out back too this week!:cool1: