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Great tips, beautiful car. I'd only add to try the vinegar or lemon juice diluted solution on water spots before getting "surgical". Seemed to be amazingly painless and almost effortless.
This is a great thread. 👍
My black C4S is my DD and I've come to accept that it is impossible to stay clean. Going to try the diluted vinegar as I have a lot of water spots from the car being rained on, followed by bright sun and rain drying. I was inside a restaurant having lunch. Hope vinegar works.
Thanks
My black C4S is my DD and I've come to accept that it is impossible to stay clean. Going to try the diluted vinegar as I have a lot of water spots from the car being rained on, followed by bright sun and rain drying. I was inside a restaurant having lunch. Hope vinegar works.
Thanks
Rob you may have a bigger issue if the spots on your car are caused by rain. Typically hard water spots are caused by sprinkler systems or inproper drying of the car after washing it. The minerals in our drinking water will deposit on the paint and are very hard to remove. They usually have a white appearance. Note that they will also deposit on glass.
Rain etching is typically due to acid rain caused by sulphur emissions from coal power plants. The result is sulphuric acid rain, it's mild but enough to damage paint by eating into it. Results are similiar to a bird dropping, it leaves permanent damage on the paint and requires you to level out the paint to correct it. It used to be much worse in the 70's/80's, I recall seeing many cars that had damage that went straight through to the primer.
Rob you may have a bigger issue if the spots on your car are caused by rain. Typically hard water spots are caused by sprinkler systems or inproper drying of the car after washing it. The minerals in our drinking water will deposit on the paint and are very hard to remove. They usually have a white appearance. Note that they will also deposit on glass.
Rain etching is typically due to acid rain caused by sulphur emissions from coal power plants. The result is sulphuric acid rain, it's mild but enough to damage paint by eating into it. Results are similiar to a bird dropping, it leaves permanent damage on the paint and requires you to level out the paint to correct it. It used to be much worse in the 70's/80's, I recall seeing many cars that had damage that went straight through to the primer.
Good luck either way.
ACID RAIN - YIKES
Yes I may have acid rain damage. I washed a spot on the car, tried the diluted vinegar and spots didn't come off, tried a little stronger vinegar dilution and spots didn't come off, tried some clay bar and spots didn't come off.
Colorado has been closing a number of old coal plants, and our air pollution out here is much better than it was 20 years ago. Maybe it is all that new, "legalized" smoke in the air...
Anyway I can not feel any edges to the spots. Tried to take some pictures, but can not get the light / spots/ black car to come out.
Going to take it down to a good detailer that supports a lot of our local PCA events and let them look at it / work on it.
I no longer get crazy over my cars, they are just cars. It will all work out fine [mantra to self]
Detail fanatic here. Huge fan of Klasse All In One cleaner wax and then finishing it off with Klasse Sealant Glaze. Incredible long lasting outcomes. I've been doing this with my MBW211 for almost 10 years. Still looks brand new. I will also clay bar my 997.1 C4S biannually. Absolutely amazed at the environmental deposits on the paint.
-Jay
Took my car to one of the larger detailers in the area yesterday, NOT Acid rain damage, just "bad water spotting". Since the car also has a lot of swirls in the paint, going to have them do their "car show detailing" package which does have a paint correcting step. Have seen some of the cars, 356s and early 911 that they have prepped before some shows and they always look really good. The detailer said black P car always come out great.
I've posted a lot about my use of BlackFire on my own cars. I use nothing else for compound, polish and waxes because the stuff is incredible on Black cars.
Whilst I have done some pretty significant corrections on my Porsches, to get them to the level I want, I just took on a whole different level of challenge this weekend:
I helped a friend out by doing a correction on a 1990 Lotus Esprit he purchased, that had clearly not been well maintained from a paint perspective.
My respect for BlackFire SRC just got even stronger.
Haven't even done polish or wax yet... This was with just one round of SRC with an orbital and LC Cyan pad. There are some deeper scratches which still need to be taken care of, but the difference is massive already.
Get it detailed by a pro and use Optimum No Rinse with a Lake Country Big Blue Sponge and dry with a premium waffle towel for all your washes. Amazing results every time
Wash: only wash in straight lines, no round and round. See photo above, notice how scratches in circles always show up from any angle? Learn from others mistakes!
Sheet rinse: a carefully guided rinse leaves very little water remaining to towel off.
Towel off: Carefully fold the towel for uniform light pressure. Frequently refold so only clean towel touches paint. Once again, straight lines only!
Clay: always use the least aggressive method first. Clay tops the list.
Polish: If your car is carefully hand washed as above it will go months with almost no scratches, and you can use Griot's Machine 4. Otherwise use Machine 3.
Wax: Best of Show.
Minimize washing by lightly dusting or detailing whenever possible. But once it gets rained on, wait until you can wash. Carry detailer and gently remove bug splats and droppings asap. Avoid using anything hyphenated (cleaner-wax, nano-whatever, sealer-wax, yadda-yadda) always fold your towel, and never, ever apply much pressure.
That's it. A black car is no different than any other. The flaws are just easier to see. But the 3 most flawless black cars I have ever seen, all of them followed the above program- most definitely including the Griot's.
On my 928 I tried a product called Turtle Wax Jet Black. It was a 3 step process with clay bar, polish, and then carnuba wax. What's different about this kit is that all the products are actually black in color. The advantage is that there is never any dry white residue anywhere and it also helps to fill in the tiny little scratches with black product making them harder to see. Seems to have worked pretty well, is readily available almost everywhere, and was also pretty inexpensive. I'l have to see how it wears.
Get it detailed by a pro and use Optimum No Rinse with a Lake Country Big Blue Sponge and dry with a premium waffle towel for all your washes. Amazing results every time
Agreed. Either get it detailed one good time by a professional or spend the 6-8 hours to do it yourself. Do that once per year (twice if you drive in adverse conditions a lot) and in between use Optimum No Rinse and wash and dry your car one panel at a time using a two bucket method. That should keep it looking good year round.
My son and I use the Autogeek products, esp the Menzerna polish, then the Black Fire over that. We don't have black cars, but his Lotus and my Porsche keep their wet look a long tome. The nice thing about the polymer products like Black Fire is that their longevity and durability is a lot better than waxes, so it is not necessary to actually molest the finish as much, reducing the possibility of introucing fine scratches into the paint. When I go on any sort of trip, i put some Road Wrap on the hood and bumper, I pull it off when I get to my destination. Helps a lot with small road pecks. Look it up.
In the end, do what you can then just go and drive an enjoy your car.
Another vote for Zaino, and avoid black cars if it's too much hassle. I had a black car, Zaino kept it great, but have never owned one since. Red or white much easier and forgiving, but black, when it's clean, is awesome.
01-15-2015, 02:16 AM
YIKES
