Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

So I have a 2000 model gtt imported from japan in 06 I think it was.

The paint is in bad shape.

It looks fine to my eye but when you run your hand over the roof it feels close to fine sand paper (even after a polish). Not good at all! The doors and bonnet arent as bad but still aren't as good as I'd like.

It also has a few spots of imperfections, as in scratches and smudge things that auto gylm polish wont get it out :(.

So it needs a cut!

I'm not confident on doing it myself, because ive never done it and don't want to experiment on my skyline.

So I figure next time I want it polished I'll take it to a detailer.

Just wondering if I'd be better off getting one of those clear coats, and wondering what that involves, would it get cut the sprayed or just sprayed over the old paint??

Do you guys think this would be the best way to go??

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/
Share on other sites

I would take it to a paint place and see what they say. Its hard without seeing it, but you could get a buff and that would bring it up like new. If your clear coat is peeling (which by the sounds of it it isnt as you would be able to see it) then you could look at getting it lightly rubbed back and getting it clear coated again.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6024918
Share on other sites

How about attacking you're car with a clay bar? That should remove all contaminants stuck to you're car. Then cutting and polishing don't have any affects if it's just by hand. Only when you get a machine buffer then you can score or burn the paint.

I'm going to clay and cut my car and have done previously on other cars with no damage caused because I did it by hand. I would rate it at 3/10 for skill level required.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6025172
Share on other sites

+1 for clay.

Polishing fallout is like plolishing a turd. You get shiny looking shit.

Wash, clay, wash, polish, wax.

If it doesn't come up a million bucks after those steps THEN I would take it in, but I have a feeling this is another case of underestimating the holy clay bar. Its magic stuff, and only needs to be done 1-2 times a year.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6026294
Share on other sites

^^^ this man knows te power of the glorious clay bar.

Mines being attacked this weekend :).

I'll give you a quote now. 200 for a proper detail, and they'll be claying you're car as well.

But if you want to throw money at other people then that's cool.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6026549
Share on other sites

Hi,

a general rule to work out if your car is clear over base or has a clearcoat is to see if it has metallic paint.

From what you are describing in the rough surface of the paint, this would be surface contamination, made up of iron, tar, inorganic contaminants. You can remove all of these easily yourself with a few products.

1. Wash you car to remove all the dirt from the surface. Then dry the car

2. Spray CarPro Iron X - Iron Fallour Remover pH Neutral on your paint and wait for 5-10 minutes. Be sure to do this in the shade. You will notice any iron particles in the paint turning purple.

3. Hi Pressure wash the car and dry it.

4. Use a tar remover like CarPro TarX, Wax & Grease Remover or Tarminator as per direction on the vehicles sides.

5. Wash again.

6. Using a clay bar and lubricant spray, spray the paint surface with the lubricant and gently rub the clay over a section until you can feel the surface perfectly smooth. Move to another section and repeat.

Your car is now decontaminated and ready for Paint Correction and Enhancement to remove any swirls, marring and scratches and increase gloss and colour.

Then you can move on the protecting what you have just done with a wax or synthetic protection.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6026820
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

thanks for the advice guys, so whats a good brand of clay bar???

then should i just use some auto glym polish?? reading up on the clay bar not sure it itll need a cut now.

also, whats the difference between polish and wax???

can someone point me to some good products that i could get from super cheap or auto barn or something??? i live in the illawarra, hard to buy anything good around here :(

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6040455
Share on other sites

Haha this is like car detailing 101 stuff.

Polish is an abrasive rub that helps remove scratches swirls. A wax is a Protestant that seals your cars paint from the vicious mother nature.

I've used a lot of products and for my dark car I find that meguiars dose the best job. Look at my thread what happens when you clay bar?

You don't need to cut/polish you're paint afterwards. Just wax to seal the paint.

The result is undeniably good :).

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6040528
Share on other sites

A polish gets rid of fine scratches and swirl marks. Makes a slight difference but doesnt always get rid off all blemishes. Does make a worthwile difference though.

Just use mothers or mequiars. Ive used all mothers stuff when I had a red car. Now I have a dark car and I find meguiars products works best with my paint colour.

Its trial and error bro. Find what works for you.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6040768
Share on other sites

You will find auto barn is the place to go for meguiars.

Pretty much all my products are meguiars, dont own any mothers but I have heard their clay bars are good.

My car is sonic silver, so i dont need to worry about 'polish' then wax. I use nextgen 2.0 wax, and thats a wrap. Darker colours need the 2 steps done independently for best results.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6041820
Share on other sites

That next gen wax. How would you rate it.

Easy to apply?

Remove?

Shine?

Does it have filling qualities? eg cover up swirl and scratches?

I would really like to try it. I wonder how nice it would be for a dark car. hmmm...

Easy to apply?

As easy as it gets I suppose. Easier than carnauba, thats for sure.

Remove?

MAGIC! Can be left on overnight and will just wipe off with terry/microfibre cloth. 15mins is all you need, but.

Shine?

I don't have a camera, but I took these with my phone after a wash about 1 month after waxing. The droplet photo was after a rainy night when the garage was blocked. You can see it does what its supposed to. Touch one of those drops in the center and then watch the avalanche!

post-84169-0-72549900-1317603913_thumb.jpg

post-84169-0-30631600-1317603947_thumb.jpg

post-84169-0-37629900-1317603963_thumb.jpg

post-84169-0-31582700-1317603972_thumb.jpg

Does it have filling qualities? eg cover up swirl and scratches?

Sure does, Thats why its good for lighter colours imo. Darker, I think you will find best results polishing and waxing seperatly. You could give it a go, it wont be a waste if it doesn't get rid of your swirls, just use it as your sealant?

edit: I am no computer wizz. Those photos don't do any justice im sorry. But I can guarantee, no swirl marks on my car. But I have silver... Its a piece of piss.

Edited by GoHard
Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6042201
Share on other sites

alright so,

clay bared and waxed the car on the weekend.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!

paint feels so good now! it rained the day after and it was practically dry this morning!

thanks to everyone that talked me out of paying someone to do this simple procedure.

i have some pretty bad water marks on my roof though and smudge marks on the bonnet, i used a repco swirl remover but that did absolutely nothing.

any ideas on what i could do? a better brand swirl remover or possibly a... cut >.<?

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6054119
Share on other sites

@ GoHard. Wicked, I think Ill give that a shot next. I just used Meguiars gold class wax. Its sooooo good. But Ill try the next gen next :).

@Ruxis. The problem is that you might need paint correction, a pro job. Or, yes you can try a proper cut and then a good wax to seal it up. Id recommend a proper cut first :).

Good luck, and told you so :P hahah

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/377825-clear-coat/#findComment-6054176
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Well, apparently they do fit, however this wont be a problem if not because the car will be stationary while i do the suspension work. I was just going to use the 16's to roll the old girl around if I needed to. I just need to get the E90 back on the road first. Yes! I'm a believer! 🙌 So, I contacted them because the site kinda sucks and I was really confused about what I'd need. They put together a package for me and because I was spraying all the seat surfaces and not doing spot fixes I decided not to send them a headrest to colour match, I just used their colour on file (and it was spot on).  I got some heavy duty cleaner, 1L of colour, a small bottle of dye hardener and a small bottle of the dye top coat. I also got a spray gun as I needed a larger nozzle than the gun I had and it was only $40 extra. From memory the total was ~$450 ish. Its not cheap but the result is awesome. They did add repair bits and pieces to the quote originally and the cost came down significantly when I said I didn't need any repair products. I did it over a weekend. The only issues I had were my own; I forgot to mix the hardener into the dye two coats but I had enough dye for 2 more coats with the hardener. I also just used up all the dye because why not and i rushed the last coat which gave me some runs. Thankfully the runs are under the headrests. The gun pattern wasn't great, very round and would have been better if it was a line. It made it a little tricky to get consistent coverage and I think having done the extra coats probably helped conceal any coverage issues. I contacted them again a few months later so I could get our X5 done (who the f**k thought white leather was a good idea for a family car?!) and they said they had some training to do in Sydney and I could get a reduced rate on the leather fix in the X5 if I let them demo their product on our car. So I agreed. When I took Bec in the E39 to pick it up, I showed them the job I'd done in my car and they were all (students included) really impressed. Note that they said the runs I created could be fixed easily at the time with a brush or an air compressor gun. So, now with the two cars done I can absolutely recommend Colourlock.  I'll take pics of both interiors and create a new thread.
    • Power is fed to the ECU when the ignition switch is switched to IGN, at terminal 58. That same wire also connects to the ECCS relay to provide both the coil power and the contact side. When the ECU sees power at 58 it switches 16 to earth, which pulls the ECCS relay on, which feeds main power into the ECU and also to a bunch of other things. None of this is directly involved in the fuel pump - it just has to happen first. The ECU will pull terminal 18 to earth when it wants the fuel pump to run. This allows the fuel pump relay to pull in, which switches power on into the rest of the fuel pump control equipment. The fuel pump control regulator is controlled from terminal 104 on the ECU and is switched high or low depending on whether the ECU thinks the pump needs to run high or low. (I don't know which way around that is, and it really doesn't matter right now). The fuel pump control reg is really just a resistor that controls how the power through the pump goes to earth. Either straight to earth, or via the resistor. This part doesn't matter much to us today. The power to the fuel pump relay comes from one of the switched wires from the IGN switch and fusebox that is not shown off to the left of this page. That power runs the fuel pump relay coil and a number of other engine peripherals. Those peripherals don't really matter. All that matters is that there should be power available at the relay when the key is in the right position. At least - I think it's switched. If it's not switched, then power will be there all the time. Either way, if you don't have power there when you need it (ie, key on) then it won't work. The input-output switching side of the relay gains its power from a line similar (but not the same as) the one that feeds the ECU. SO I presume that is switched. Again, if there is not power there when you need it, then you have to look upstream. And... the upshot of all that? There is no "ground" at the fuel pump relay. Where you say: and say that pin 1 Black/Pink is ground, that is not true. The ECU trigger is AF73, is black/pink, and is the "ground". When the ECU says it is. The Blue/White wire is the "constant" 12V to power the relay's coil. And when I say "constant", I mean it may well only be on when the key is on. As I said above. So, when the ECU says not to be running the pump (which is any time after about 3s of switching on, with no crank signal or engine speed yet), then you should see 12V at both 1 and 2. Because the 12V will be all the way up to the ECU terminal 18, waiting to be switched to ground. When the ECU switches the fuel pump on, then AF73 should go to ~0V, having been switched to ground and the voltage drop now occurring over the relay coil. 3 & 5 are easy. 5 is the other "constant" 12V, that may or may not be constant but will very much want to be there when the key is on. Same as above. 3 goes to the pump. There should never be 12V visible at 3 unless the relay is pulled in. As to where the immobiliser might have been spliced into all this.... It will either have to be on wire AF70 or AF71, whichever is most accessible near the alarm. Given that all those wires run from the engine bay fusebox or the ECU, via the driver's area to the rear of the car, it could really be either. AF70 will be the same colour from the appropriate fuse all the way to the pump. If it has been cut and is dangling, you should be able to see that  in that area somewhere. Same with AF71.   You really should be able to force the pump to run. Just jump 12V onto AF72 and it should go. That will prove that the pump itself is willing to go along with you when you sort out the upstream. You really should be able to force the fuel pump relay on. Just short AF73 to earth when the key is on. If the pump runs, then the relay is fine, and all the power up to both inputs on the relay is fine. If it doesn't run (and given that you checked the relay itself actually works) then one or both of AF70 and AF71 are not bringing power to the game.
    • @PranK can you elaborate further on the Colorlock Dye? The website has a lot of options. I'm sure you've done all the research. I have old genuine leather seats that I have bought various refurbing creams and such, but never a dye. Any info on how long it lasts? Does it wash out? Is it a hassle? What product do I actually need? Am I just buying this kit and following the steps the page advises or something else? https://www.colourlockaustralia.com.au/colourlock-leather-repair-kit-dye.html
    • These going to fit over the big brakes? I'd be reeeeeeeeaaaall hesitant to believe so.
    • The leather work properly stunned me. Again, I am thankful that the leather was in such good condition. I'm not sure what the indent is at the top of the passenger seat. Like somebody was sitting in it with a golf ball between their shoulders. The wheels are more grey than silver now and missing a lot of gloss.  Here's one with nice silver wheels.
×
×
  • Create New...