I admit it. I'm **** about my car. It gets at least one panel waxed (or Clay barred and waxed) EVERY time I wash it - which is often. Sometime 1.5 times per week.

Other than posts about wheel refinishing or painting centercaps we never seem to post about the aesthetics of our cars.

Before anyone gets their panties in a wad, yes, I know they're Porsches and are "born to run". No objection, no difference of opinion. I just like to hear what everyone else is doing to keep these now 10 to 25 year old cars ('77 924 to '94 968) looking tip top.

Ideas/suggestions? New products/results?

I use the clay bar, Meguires #26 Carnuba - I try others but always come back to it. Back-to-Black on the spoiler/trim. The spray on foam tire dressing (it's satin finish and easy to apply). I wax my PD's with Meguires cleaner/wax. Interior? Still looking for a beter product.

 

some of us concoursey-types frequent the boards at <a href="http://www.autopia.org" target="_blank">www.autopia.org</a> for detailed discussions on detailing.
Jon

 

I wash my car weekly, and wax it 3 times a summer. I clean the interior weekly as well. I polish bits of the engine bay whenever I am someplace killing time, like one of my kid's lessons... towels in the trunk for that purpose.

It's a clean machine.

 

Do you remove your seats to vacuum? <a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/cgi-bin/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=016499" target="_blank">I do.</a>

 

Jon, Thad and Todd, You crack me up...you're all as damaged as I am! Yes, I've taken out the seats. It's a 10mm set screw on the later cars. A hex head on the earlier ones.

I bought my car from the original owner. It was in the back of a garage under a ton of crap and dust. Hadn't been driven in 6 yrs (59K miles).

Long story short is that I took it apart to clean it and under it all it was pretty damn clean. My carpet looks new -seriously. Todd, yours looks as good. Only problem was a Coke spill in the hatch. I used two big bottles of Woolite rug cleaner (the best IMHO) to get it out. The cleaner kept foaming up Coke color brown so I just kept on dousing it, scraping away the brown foam (yuk)until it foamed white. My hatch area in pristine and black like new. My hood had been repainted by someplace cheapo. I color sanded it, cleaned the entire car with 3M on a buffer. Clayed it and started waxing. My car is real shiny

And yes, I've detailed under the hood. But I've just starting there.

P.S. Thanks for the heads up on Autopia.com. I'll check it out.

 

As long as you keep it clean with soapy water and a good sponge, dry it well, and wax it 4 times a year, no major detailing should be done.

 

Perry, Yeah, I know...but I can't help it! I like it when there isn't so much as a micro glitch on the paint surface. The car is old and no longer the hottest toy on the street. But I still get comments about "How do you get it that shiny?". I can't help it, I like it. By the way, you're the guy that talked me through the color sanding of the hood. Thanks again.

Perry, Your 951 was redone in yellow afte the fire, right? If so then it's picture from the rear is one of the wallpapers on my PC. Looks excellent, congrats.

 

I wash my 951 at least once a month, which amounts to about every other time I drive it. Waxing is done every couple of months or so. I even vacuum out the rear hatch and I never even open it! And if that's not enough, I keep it covered in the garage. I have a "special" bag that I take with me when I do take her out for a spin. The bag has cleaning supplies; rags, detailer, windshield wipes, etc. OMG, I really am sick aren't I? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

 

Needless to say, when I disassemble something to fix it, every part is cleaned/polished to as-new standards before reassembly, and parts that become accessible (but still on the car) because of the removal of other parts get cleaned as well.

 

Nope.. I resprayed mine with Spies Hecker Guards Red. You must have Wayne's (OZ951) gorgeous Speed Yellow 951 on your desktop. His was guards (or maybe India Red) when he started, now you see the results.

That car is stunning.

I too am an **** person when it comes to my ride. I would wash and wax it weekly before the fire. Unless there is a need to compund a car (scratches, haze, etc) wax and a clay bar now and then should keep it in tip top shape.

One of my favorites is WD-40. I use it all the time. For the tires, spoiler, bumper pads, side skirts, I use Eagle 1 tire wet with a clean, lint free terry cloth towel. On the interior, if the carpet gets dirty, I have a small Hoover Steam vac that I use 1 tablespoon of liquid Tide laundry detergent on. Works wonders and will not pull the dye out of the carpet like other cleaners.

The rest is just keeping the grit and crap off of it.

 

Perry,
I remember your car now. Yes, It came out great after the repaint. Maybe I misunderstood. What are you using the WD40 for? Besides the usual uses?

Thanks for the heads up on the Hoover steam vac. I'll look into it. Totally agree that occasional clay is enough. But my car sleeps outside so it gets more little "crap" on it from smog, bugs, etc. I'm fortunate that I live in California - the weather is...well, there isn't any!

I use a natural sponge (expensive but worth it) because they hold more water/soap. I use a little Dawn dish soap because it removes that little crap more reliably than auto soap. But I would NOT recommend anyone else do it because it tends to strip wax. I wax so much that it doesn't matter but others should be aware. My floor mats are Target specials. They work pretty well, but I want to step up to correct ones with the Porsche name in red to match my car. Can anyone suggest a reasonable source that is good quality?

 

Hah.. I use Dawn too! Great stuff. I like it BECAUSE it strips the wax. Since I wax often, it works out great.

Use the WD-40 to clean and dress rubber and plastic, along with the other lubricating properties. Shoot a little onto a paper towel and wipe away. It does not attract dust as much as wheel dressings, and won't dry like armorall. Also, if you get caught in the rain, it does not wash off too quickly.

 

AFAIK, you can't get mats with any of the Porsche trademarks anymore. Porsche A.G. disallowed it. The best mats are probably Lloyds. I lucked out and my S2 came with an old Lloyds set with the embroidered crests when I bought it in '99.

Several aftermarket suppliers have Lloyds mats for decent prices (under $100 for a set of 4) and they make all the interior colors. My 951 came with a set of nondescript front mats which I quickly replaced with a full set of Lloyds in classic gray. No logos though <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

 

Perry, In the olden days (I graduated H.S. in '72!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> ) we used brake fluid on tires! This was before Armorall had been invented. It was too shiny and of course is corrosive - we didn't know about that stuff then.

A little tiny shop that sold car nut stuff -The Autohouse, doesn't exist anymore - would give away these tiny envelopes with Armorall. About enough to do one tire. We cleaned them out.

Also, an old old detailer trick was to use Behold furniture spray (contained actual bees wax back then - still does?) on a polishing rag, wait a few seconds until the volitles evaporate, then polish the car. It would absolutely glisten. SUPER shiny, but did not last at all of course.

Are you sure WD40 doesn't break down the rubber in some way? I will definitely try it, but I'mn wary.

 

My father got me turned onto WD-40 as a cleaner/dressing. He's done it on a weekly basis since the 70's. I don't think he has ever had a blown hose. I have not either, and I used it weekly for 5 years on my 1st ride.

As long as you keep things in good shpae, the WD-40 won't mess it up.