Foeux Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 My 1997 Volvo V70 TDI cost me £725 (I think) a couple of years ago. Since owning it I have done all the maintenance stuff (belts and tensioners etc) and continue to maintain it well, ‘Ron-boxed’ it, wound up the turbo pressure and absolutely kicked the stuffing out of it. It is often overloaded with tools and car bits, it was blasted around Europe at an outrageous average speed for 10 days last summer and still it lives, nay thrives.Mechanically bomb proof, the biggest let down was the paint. I have tried to improve it as best I can but it is still stone chipped, faded in places and sub-optimal to say the least. I should have taken some before snaps but didn’t. Below is the process I used for making it nice. It will now be used and abused in the usual fashion until it gets its annual clean next year.Process:1) Wash with Halfords cheapest car wash soap and a pressure washer.2) Silverline rotary polisher, farecla G3 paste, pump up spray bottle of water and ‘mop’ every panel.3) Wash with Halfords cheapest car wash soap and a pressure washer to remove white G3 slurry.4) Dry with a chamois and leave overnight.5) Autoglym super resin polish put on with lint free cloth. Left to dry off for 40 mins or so and removed with a microfibre cloth.6) Farecla G3 wax paste. Applied with the ‘waffle applicator’ and removed with a microfibre cloth. Doesn’t take long to ‘dry’ and goes on very quickly.7) Windolene the windows inside and out. Invisible Glass to all exterior glass and mirrors. beko1987, The Moog, rantingYoof and 4 others 7
Rusty_Rocket Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Looks excellent Although you're a braver man than me using G3 with a rotary! oldcars 1
Foeux Posted January 5, 2016 Author Posted January 5, 2016 Looks excellent Although you're a braver man than me using G3 with a rotary! Great - someone who knows what they are doing... Why is G3 and a rotary a poor idea? Paint was flat as a pancake and will never be brilliant so I subscribed to the 'What's the worst that can happen?' school of thinking. Any advice for next time?
djimbob Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 I royally fucked my paint on the bumper of my smiley face Scorpio with excessive use of a rotary and G3, almost in one pass in fact, so I too now do it all by hand - well done Sir anyhow on an excellent job, aside from the wheels which look a bit dull, any plans for them? And worry not, clean does not mean it's not shite oldcars 1
Foeux Posted January 5, 2016 Author Posted January 5, 2016 I royally fucked my paint on the bumper of my smiley face Scorpio with excessive use of a rotary and G3, almost in one pass in fact, so I too now do it all by hand - well done Sir anyhow on an excellent job, aside from the wheels which look a bit dull, any plans for them? And worry not, clean does not mean it's not shite The paint seems entirely robust enough to stand up to my amateurish attempts at cleaning. No burn-through but I did use a lot of water. Wheels were powder coated dull and have stayed so. Think I will do the 302mm upgrade to the brakes which will require 17" wheels. I will either use volvo ones or if I am feeling flush stick some anthracite compomotive MO5's on it. Also toying with the idea of upgrading the suspension a bit. Strut brace and Bilstein B4's and Eibach pro springs. Have done a mate's T5 with them and they are excellent. An odd combination of maintaining the 'magic carpet' ride whilst stiffening things up a touch, enhancing feedback through the wheel and improving cornering speeds by an alarming amount. There is a particular stretch of A4 we like (lots of fast sweepers and a couple of large roundabouts) and it is insidiously fast along there, I believe the magic with this setup is twofold. 1) the shafts on the Bilstein shocks are 3 times thicker than the ones that came off. 2) The Eibach springs are 'progressive'. Use them ordinarily, they have an ordinary, comfy T5 feel. Lean on them and they are magically much more robust... purplebargeken and nacho man 2
beko1987 Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Wow, that beading! Top job, good to see another detailer type shiter (even though my detailer credentials are in the past sadly at the moment!)
dugong Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Verily, it is tidy. What's the obsession with beading? I see it on every detailing thread and am unaware as to what it signifies - a low depth of field? mat_the_cat 1
Matt Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 if I am feeling flush stick some anthracite compomotive MO5's on it. Nae stick with OEM, Volvo makes some lovely alloys. What's the obsession with beading? I see it on every detailing thread and am unaware as to what it signifies - a low depth of field? It's purdy and often comes as the result of hard work. If you think that's low DOF, check this shit out.
Richard Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Beading means the surface is repelling water. I'm sure I saw that car the other day, does it live in Fife? dugong 1
beko1987 Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 No, the water droplets. Perfectly smooth, round, almost popping off the surface water droplets are 'beading', and the tighter one's beading is, the better their prep and finish is! I have that G3 wax (won it in a detailing world competition), and whilst it leaves a lovely finish, it doesnt bead as well as other waxes. Personally, I would treat yourself to: http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=841 and http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=11 Super resin polish again, then once buffed apply the glaze (blacklight), which goes on a fucking treat), buff off, then 2 layers of nattys blue. I wouldnt bother straight away though, looks spot on as it is!
beko1987 Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Here's the Meriva back when I could spend a whole weekend on it! That will be nattys blue on top of blacklight (or maybe black hole actually). I need to spend soo much money on my detailing kit! Bonus month hopefully... mat_the_cat, Magnificent Rustbucket and fordperv 3
fordperv Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 I love a nice bit of beading, i havn't been able to polish my car for a couple of months now because of the weather. The volvo looks great
Magnificent Rustbucket Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 The best thing with a polished car is the smoothness of the paint doesn't just cause beading when they're parked - the water runs off when you're on the move which means your car doesn't get anything like so dirty in wet weather. You have done a lovely job of the Volvo.
mercrocker Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Its very satisfying to get a car looking like this and watch the water bead.....Sadly I can rarely be bothered, although I should as its good for a daily to shrug water off so easily. Coincidentally I saw a very clean V70 today and thought how proper it still looked compared to all the XC nonsense cluttering up town....
Foeux Posted January 6, 2016 Author Posted January 6, 2016 Wow, that beading! Top job, good to see another detailer type shiter (even though my detailer credentials are in the past sadly at the moment!)You know what? I only did it as that seems to be what others do...
Rusty_Rocket Posted January 6, 2016 Posted January 6, 2016 Bead porn? I only mentioned the rotary/G3 thing as it's very easy to remove too much paint with that combination. Mind you, I'm a bit of a doofus with such machinery and wouldn't trust myself not to burn through the paint on a corner!Paint thickness has a lot to do with it but without a depth gauge, you can only guess that really.Top job and I really wish I had the enthusiasm to valet cars at the moment!
Foeux Posted January 6, 2016 Author Posted January 6, 2016 No, the water droplets. Perfectly smooth, round, almost popping off the surface water droplets are 'beading', and the tighter one's beading is, the better their prep and finish is! I have that G3 wax (won it in a detailing world competition), and whilst it leaves a lovely finish, it doesnt bead as well as other waxes. Personally, I would treat yourself to: http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=841 and http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=11 Super resin polish again, then once buffed apply the glaze (blacklight), which goes on a fucking treat), buff off, then 2 layers of nattys blue. I wouldnt bother straight away though, looks spot on as it is! Don't tempt me satan... It was a long old job but a clean car is a thing to behold for sure.I love a nice bit of beading, i havn't been able to polish my car for a couple of months now because of the weather. The volvo looks great Thanks very much. The best thing with a polished car is the smoothness of the paint doesn't just cause beading when they're parked - the water runs off when you're on the move which means your car doesn't get anything like so dirty in wet weather. You have done a lovely job of the Volvo. Here's to hoping ti stays clean for a bit. Bead porn? I only mentioned the rotary/G3 thing as it's very easy to remove too much paint with that combination. Mind you, I'm a bit of a doofus with such machinery and wouldn't trust myself not to burn through the paint on a corner!Paint thickness has a lot to do with it but without a depth gauge, you can only guess that really.Top job and I really wish I had the enthusiasm to valet cars at the moment! I (stupidly) turned it up full on a 'well used' area of paint with loads of G3 to see what happened. Nothing is the answer. Just made it look flatter and more uniform... Luck of the plonker perhaps?
garethj Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 What's the deal with a Ron-Box? Is it easy to fit? I've got a 1999 Tdi with manual gearbox an it's not too bad but wondering if more power would be a good thing.
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