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Steve

Steve

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Just thought that it might be nice to have a thread on products that you have found to be excellent for maintaining your vehicles.

I'll start it off with a glass cleaner by Sprayway. Available in your local Ace Hardware, it sprays on foamy and cleans very nicely. o streaks whatsoever, and takes all kinds of stuff off the glass. You can buy it for much less in a four-pack at a Sams Club. Not cheap, but the best I have found.
 
CRC's 2-26 in an aerosol. Home Depot carries it in their "electrical" area. Great spray lubricant for more than just switches.
 
Water, just plain agua will clean and shine glass better than anything man has invented, leaves no film, no odors, no side effects, etcetera.

Actually it was a famous car detailer who showed up with white towels and when everyone was waiting for some magic liquid, his assistant brought a bucket of smoking hot water where he submerged one of the towels, then he soaked the glass, then he dried it with another towel, then he polished it with another. Then he smiled and people went "ahhhhhhmazin'". "no" he said,
"aaaagua".
 
Famous car detailer? was it Kato? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif

Some of my fav's:

Aerospace 303 protectant for vinyl and rubber

Forever black for re-dying black plastic trim

Meguiar's interior wipes (eliminates overspray)

Using a clay bar before waxing (smooooothhh)

Novus plastic polish (#1,2,and 3)

Cheers,
John
 
In a pinch? have a stuck fastener and your can of B'Laster PB is empty?(one of my favorite penetrants, BTW)
Reach for that bottle of brake fluid. It does an amazing job as a penetrating oil. Just be cautious around painted surfaces.
Also, a can of brake parts cleaner and an acid brush with the bristles cut short makes an awsome setup to get moderate corossion and grease and dirt off of aluminum parts like carb bodies and such. Spray a bit on, scrub it with the brush, then spray it clean. I would also be careful of painted surfaces and plastic bits and stickers with the brake parts cleaner.
 
I've got some rust (surprise!) on my Mini and I've been told to scrape it off and put some protector on it. Any suggestions on a product for a anti-rust? And If I touch it up with paint, do I paint first or put on the protector first?

Thanks;
~Melissa
 
Hi Melissa,

Always apply the protectant first. There are many products on the market, and everyone here seems to have their favourite.......

What I would do is to remove the rust with wet and dry paper, back to bare metal. Then apply a rust converter/protectant, followed by a skim of filler, if needed to restore the profile of the panel. Sand this back until smooth, then apply primer, then pain.

Beware, rust on a Mini often means that there may be a hole somewhere!
 
Thanks! That was lots of good advice!

My boyfriend suggested that the loose weather stripping on the windows may be letting water into the door and rusting it from the inside out. :p I really hope that's not the case because that would become quite the issue when trying to just rub off the rust. The restoration place that I took it to said that the rust is just from rain water seeping in and sitting there and not from loose weather stripping. We shall see....
 
Steve said:
What I would do is to remove the rust with wet and dry paper, back to bare metal.
Click to expand...

Oh, and what do you mean by wet and dry paper? Like printer paper? Sand paper?

Thanks;
Melissa
 
Steve said:
Sand this back until smooth, then apply primer, then pain.
Click to expand...

Is this what's known as a Freudian slip /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
Creatrixx said:
Steve said:
What I would do is to remove the rust with wet and dry paper, back to bare metal.
Click to expand...

Oh, and what do you mean by wet and dry paper? Like printer paper? Sand paper?

Thanks;
Melissa
Click to expand...

Wet & dry paper is cloth backed paper that can literally be used, wet & dry. much more durable than paper backed sandpaper (which is mostly meant for wood)
 
"Self-bailing" after a time. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
 
here's another useful tip:

you know those little baggies of Dessicant (Silica Gel) that come with electronic equipment and kitchen gadgets, shoes, women's handbags, and stuff like that? the ones that you throw away with all the packaging material?

instead, throw them under the car seats and it keeps the interior dry from humidity and also absorbs odors. YESSSS! amazing. I put them in the trunk too. "Dessicant" stands for "Drier", French maybe.

Ex
 

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