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09-26-2006, 04:52 PM | #1 | |
AF Newbie
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
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Rejuvenating a car’s exterior?
Please forgive me for cross-posting, but I believe this may be a more appropriate forum.
My daily driver is a 1999 Acura CL 2.3. It has 109K miles and runs very well. (Engine has only 55K—long story) I am still happy with this car and I see no reason to get rid of it, especially considering I also have a weekend/fair-weather car. The only problem with the Acura is that the car’s exterior is looking quite aged. There are a number of small dings/dents and the black paint job has a few minor chips and scratches. What are my options for rejuvenating the car’s exterior? Since the Acura is just my daily driver and it does not have a space in my garage, I’m not planning to spend a lot of money nor am I expecting to have something that will look showroom perfect. What I don’t want is a paint job that will soon look worse than the aged factory paint job that I currently have. My weekend/fair-weather car is a 2002 BMW 325ci. It has only 33K miles and is in near-perfect condition. There is only one minor ding but there are a few small chips in the paint. I imagine that touch-up paint will be able to fill in these chips. Is there a special technique for applying touch-up paint? Is it something I should do myself or should I take the car to a professional? Thank you for your help! --MB |
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09-27-2006, 07:38 PM | #2 | |
AF Enthusiast
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Re: Rejuvenating a car’s exterior?
I asked a similar question and got this...
Expresspaint.com for the paint, it gives good directions & is fairly reasonable. Also, try this wax: it runs about $13 a bottle, but it really brings out a shine! It works especially good on dark colors. Should do great on your black car! Look at my photos, it's shining like a diamond!
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This ain't your grandma's car!!
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10-13-2006, 12:57 AM | #3 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Huntington Beach, California
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Re: Rejuvenating a car’s exterior?
MarkBean,
With your factory-matched touch-up paint (usually available at the dealer or auto parts store), you can use a product called Langka (www.langka.com) to help smoothen the "blob." Using it is a bit of an art form, but the results are quite nice. If you Google around, it's discussed quite a bit on other forums. Prior to that, I'd probably clay the surface to remove embedded contaminants. After just washing your vehicle, run your fingers lightly across the surface -- if you feel little bumps, you really need to clay. Under normal circumstances, claying should be done once or twice a year (if not more). Mothers and other major makers sell a good consumer clay bar. In the Mothers Clay Bar Paint Saving System (a kit) you get a clay bar (enough to clay two or three cars), lubricant, and you also get a sample size of their Carnauba Cleaner Wax which has some pretty aggressive polishes as cleaner waxes go. Give that a try. That particular Zymol, I understand, has fairly mild polishes and probably won't "restore" the finish to your liking. |
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