Busted out the ol' bucket out today and washed my car..

[ABanT]

I'm in serious need of a detailing and respray of the front bumper. Godamn rock chips are crazy, and my lip is all ruined from the winter. How much does it cost to get the bumper repainted???

[picus]

It depends on the shop, but for a decent job I'd expect to pay ~$500 for a bumper/lip respray. Maybe less if you can get a referral.

[evilgabbie]

sounds about right

[BangHatch]

Pricey.. :(

Plus another $600+ on 3m clearguard/bra if you don't want to repaint it again..

[ABanT]

Forget it then lol can't afford it right now.

Anyone else need a detail too? I have so much crap on my car, especially the trunk. Lots if little black and yellow dots.

[02B6]

I gave her a good ol bath on saturday. Oddly enough its still clean, spring is in the air. Most likely will put on her first coat of wax this week sometime.

[white fish]

I have no idea how I am going to get all those dots/stains of my winter wheels

[RippleChip]

I just did the interior of the car, exterior will have to wait

[Tanner]

Contemplated about washing the summer rims as they're filthy from last year.

Didn't happen.

[bunnn]

lol go bother billy about what he did with it..i remember him complaining about the yellow spots too...

on another note..i just had my bumper repainted ..perhaps october?...i have like 9 million rockchips now..and that was because I couldn't find anyone who carried 3M clearbra @ the time.......do things right the first time T_T

[evilgabbie]

how do you guys clean ur interiors ? the stupid salt stains

[bunnn]

i'd assume you have to steam clean the salt out...personally i emailed kevin haha

[RippleChip]

I have a a Bissel Little Green that I picked up at Canadian Tire. The thing cleans the interior carpets really well, its kinda gross to see the black water it sucks out but it gets ride of stains and all that salt.

[SleeperAvant]

Nice Ryan, I'll have to pick that up. My front USP lip has been devastated by millions of rock chips as well...and the lower part is separated a bit from the upper. How do I fix this? Should a body shop be able to bond the lower with the upper? BTW it's the DIY USP on my B6.

[lgl007]

Hey guys,

Yup, I clean my car inside and out on Saturday... what a beautiful day.

The spots (black or yellow or rust colored) are easily removed with Wax... Just use McQuires or Mother's or whatever you want... anything with a petrolium base will remove the spots from the car paint and the RIMS. I run my 19's all year and in the spring they get a good wash and a wax to remove the grime and 'spots... on my second winter and they are not pristine or anything but you gotta get your nose right into them to notice any imperfections caused by winter ;-)

As for the interior... and salt stains... you can now buy Simoniz salt stain remover from Canadian Tire or where ever. I tried it and with a bit or rubbing with a hard brush the salt comes right off .. then just vac with your wet/dry.

Don't forget to touch up all your stone chips while y'r at it ;-) ... and take advantage of the cooler weather to windex your windows from the inside... the cooler air prevents the streaking of some of the oily residue that you get on the inside after winter. It usually takes two good windex sessions to get it all looking perfect again.

Also, take some oil and get it into the wiper blade bracket... the part that pops up when you wash your windows. Over the winter salt and grime get into the joint sometimes preventing the blade from making good or even complete contact with the windshield. Getting some oil in there before you wash the car works great.

-Greg

[evilgabbie]

oiling the blade bracket ? which area exactly.. can you take a quick pic ?

thanks for the advice !!!!

got a blk car.. what wax should i use to get rid of the swirls..... hand wax or the circular spinning thing

[Siggiepop]

I get my bumpers painted for 250. But thats sorta "connections"

It depends on the shop, but for a decent job I'd expect to pay ~$500 for a bumper/lip respray. Maybe less if you can get a referral.

[MAlby7]

I have a a Bissel Little Green that I picked up at Canadian Tire. The thing cleans the interior carpets really well, its kinda gross to see the black water it sucks out but it gets ride of stains and all that salt.

Ripple, is this like a wet vac with a built heated spray nozzle? How well does it work on stubborn salt stains?

[RippleChip]

You put hot water solution in the one side and it has a trigger to spray the carpets. You then brush and it sucks all the dirty back up into the other side. The thing works really well, I just spray the areas really well, brush a little and suck it back up. The water it picks up is black, absolutely disgusting the amount of dirt it pulls up from the carpet. IMO it works much better than spray, scrubbing the salt areas as it does get the salt out but so much of the dirt stays in the carpet.

[Siggiepop]

i'm gonna have to invest in one of those little green things..
need to restock up on car cleaning products this summer. Totally bone dry
Does anyone clean the door hinges? it usually has a lot of grease dust and muck there. what you guy use? steamer? then relube the hindges?

You put hot water solution in the one side and it has a trigger to spray the carpets. You then brush and it sucks all the dirty back up into the other side. The thing works really well, I just spray the areas really well, brush a little and suck it back up. The water it picks up is black, absolutely disgusting the amount of dirt it pulls up from the carpet. IMO it works much better than spray, scrubbing the salt areas as it does get the salt out but so much of the dirt stays in the carpet.

[02B6]

I have a a Bissel Little Green that I picked up at Canadian Tire. The thing cleans the interior carpets really well, its kinda gross to see the black water it sucks out but it gets ride of stains and all that salt.

used this vac when i was car detailing for a living. Highly reccommended.

[Siggiepop]

how much is that little water vaccum thing?
also guys you know that black rubber trim around the windows or like the black plastic when you open the doors (doorsills?) what do you use to get it to look really shine and black again its sorta dulled out with people stepping on it all the time. Leather condition anyone? what type?

[lgl007]

evilgabby: sorry for the vague explanation... this is something my Audi mechanic told me about. It's the part of the wiper arm that enables you to pull the wipers up into a sanding position... the pivot point itself with the pin through it...

Also, be very careful about using the 'circular' electric waxing 'thingies' ... hehe... buffers and such... you can actually cause damage to your paint if you don't know how to use them properly.

I have had 6 german cars so far... mostly Audi's and I NEVER wax the whole car only wax off areas that need it such as to remove the black/rust color spots. German cars have a really good clear coat and if just washed properly you will have a great shine for 7+ years without waxing the whole thing.

There are alot of professional articles on waxing cars and how to properly do it. I would encourage you to read such articles on the web.

I used to detail cars when I was in high school at Mazda so I learned alot of little tricks during my 2 years of part time work ;-) Was a blast especially since the owner had a Ferrari and let me drive it to fill up the gas and to detail it for him... =)

Siggiepop: In terms of the black trim pieces... best thing to do is to get a silicone spray (very expensive) that mechanics use to soften up rubber... works like armor all really. But I just use armor all. Never spray Armor All directly onto surfaces. Spray it evenly onto a soft cloth (I actually use old t-shirts) then apply onto surfaces. Dampen it up alot with the Armor All for the rubber trim pieces on the inside of the doors as it will absorb alot... regular application should also keep the rubber hydrated. I did read an article once that said that Armor All actually dries out what you apply it to surfaces in the long run but I've used it on all my cars and I typically keep my cars for 7-9 years and regular applications keep rubber soft and prevents cracking... just my 2 cents worth /shrug

-Greg

[BangHatch]

I find that armour all is greasy.. And if you drive with windows down, it attracts dust particles even more!!

[Siggiepop]

hmmm okay. I read somewhere some guy say in the states they use this thing called vinylex or something from pep boys and it works great for the black trim pieces. I guess i'll go around and look/ask.

[Tanner]

Well washed the summer rims and lo and behold, the scratches created by the kid washing my car last year at Agincourt is showing up again, so they just obviously applied wax on it and never buffed out the fine surface scratches. :(

Guess I'll slowly apply some sort of 3M treatment on it to buff it out by hand.

[lgl007]

BangHatch: True about Armor All attracting dust... but then I wash my car once per week so I never notice any buildup...

[evilgabbie]

used this vac when i was car detailing for a living. Highly reccommended.

i got one just yesterday, well my gf did, what solution do you guys recommend

[RippleChip]

Bissel sells a solution. I use that mixed with really hot water and it lifts everything out.

[Tanner]

You guys convinced me to get that Bissel. The salt stain is everywhere after this winter.

[02B6]

i got one just yesterday, well my gf did, what solution do you guys recommend

theres actually the bissel solution. Made for the unit. I used it and liked it. You can watch the dirt you suck up.

[ABanT]

Just bought $400 worth of detailing stuff from DD. Can't wait to clean all that crap off!

[3.0 Rider]

Hey guys..

let me chime some info on the Bissel if you don't mind. I do detailing jobs part time in my city.. and There's 2 types of little green machines. The regular that's sold @ CT, then another one with a heater and turbo brush.

If you're going to get one.. get the one with the heater. Yes you can put warm water in the machine.. but it does get cold after a few mins.

Here's some pics of my car that I did last weekend:

[Stevelev]

^ good job !!

You guys convinced me to get that Bissel. The salt stain is everywhere after this winter.

For what it worth (to late for this year for you), I just removed my LLtek winter mats and aside from the base of the dead pedal, my carpets are salt free. I just pressure washed the salt out of the winter mats and they're drying before storage for next winter ...

BTW, this is my 3rd car with LLtek mats (B5 and B6 previously) and we have tons of salt on our roads in Ottawa

[Siggiepop]

nice results on the beige interior, maybe i should get one.
i got black interior so i can't ever really tell how dirty the carpet is aside from the salt,sand,gravel or the random leaves you get.

Nice work

[evilgabbie]

looks great

how long did it take u

[ABanT]

Where can one purchase this heated version??

[3.0 Rider]

Thanks guys. Took me about 3 hours total.. could have been 2.5 Tan interior is the more %$#^#$^% to clean.

Where can one purchase this heated version??

I bought it from the sears website. If you go instore they won't even understand what you're asking for and they don't carry it in the inventory.

Even if your interior is black.. or there's no salt. I highly recommend this machine or to have a detailer do a carpet shampoo. Not only it will clean, but will also deodorize the carpet.


http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B000T...earsBrand=core


Some examples on a black interior:









Grey:
It does have its limitations... but this mini van was never cleaned before

[Tanner]

Forgot the mandatory before and after shot, but finally got around to using the Bissel. Works great. Salt stains gone and is that water ever black. Brush works great for scrubbing the three pedals and the dead pedal too!

Car's also washed and summer tires going on tomorrow finally.

[RippleChip]

Nice Mike. I did the interior, feels nice. Now this weekend have to clean the exterior and get the winter setup off.