just wanna say how much I love my car

[RickwithaTbird]

I realized that its been about 7-8 months since i waxed my car, and winter is coming up, so thats pretty bad. So i washed my car for about 2 hours, then I used rubbing compound on every part of the car that was looking faded, or losing the gloss... my back bumper was the worst... it looked so bad, it was dull and had water spots, and I thought it would never look good again but that rubbing compund made it SO shiny you could fix your hair in its reflection! So after using rubbing compund on it for about 2 more hours (a pain in the ass, but SOOO worth it) I waxed it too. oooooh it was lookin so pretty. I could see my shoe laces in the reflection off the door! So I had to go drive it around to show it off, so I did, then i took her home put her in the garage, and admired her some more. then the next day I decided to give her 3 more coats of wax, spraying it with a water bottle and rubbing it in the wax with a paper towel to even the layers out each time.... omg, my car hasnt looked this good since I bought it... including when I bought it lol. then considering that my whole car was so shiny, I decided to dress my tires too, so I used turtle wax tire wax on them. I gave them way too much wax, but I did it on purpose. They are just as shiny as my car now! I think my car is so beautiful! I love the shape of it, its a beautiful, classy car, I love t birds. And I especially love pulling up next to another t bird that doesnt look as good as mine. lol.. oh man... yeah im way too obsessed with my car, but what can I say... its beautiful!

[solaris=amazing]

It's good to hear someone talk about how much they appreciate an automobile-period.

Some people just basically "get in and drive".. Which is ok, but they see cars as transportation-and thats it. Others cherish there car, like you, and myself..and many others on automotiveforums.com. We take care of them, and the "get in and drive" types usually poke fun at us, because they can't fathom that a car is more than just transportation.

Every car i owned, i babied, and took car of it. Then one day you park in a lot, and come out to see someone side swiped you-WHICH SUCKS. Been there, done that. I swear i want to get my front and rear bumpers re-finished and painted because of these moronic jerks.. Hmm.. how much would that cost you think?? If i prepped and filled in scrapes, and just brought it to a bodyshop to get it re-sprayed and clear coated..??

[RickwithaTbird]

(this is a long one, so if you dont feel like reading for a few minutes then skip this thread, nobody is making you read it) Solaris...they really couldnt charge you a whole lot... I mean.. how much would the paint cost? less than 10 bucks? how hard is it to just sray a couple layers of paint on it? not too hard. Id be pretty mad if they charged me more than a hundred bucks to spray something that was already ready to go.. I would hope they would charge about 50 per bumper. I know it aint hard to just spray. especially when youre a professional. I think my paint might cost a little bit more than 10 bucks just because its a unique color and they wouldnt have it on hand. I have the metallic gold. The only color I like better on t birds is Jet Black. If I ever paint mine it will be jet black. or maybe pearl white. or maybe pearl maroon? anyways... I dont know what color yours is, but you know, basically, only an asshole would make you pay more than 50-60, maybe 70 bucks to spray a prepped bumper... however.. I have never taken anything to be painted at a body shop, thats just my non professional opinion. Ive used spray paints just a little bit and I know that if I had all the proper equipment, and you asked me to paint your bumper, Id say, "buy the paint, buy a 12 pack, order a pizza, and Ill do it." I think I read your post about getting your front bumper hit. Is it still down to the yellow plastic? If so, I'd say, go get a can of paint as close to match as you can, tape off the head lights, fog lights, whatever... and learn. it wont look worse than a yellow spot, thats for sure. then if it comes out good, buy some expensive clear coat, (cheap shit is cheap shit, plain and simple)... and maybe that will work for you. wet sand with some super fine sand paper on every colored coat EXCEPT for the last. then clear coat it. I have painted a bit, and clear coat is the hardest thing... it has never worked right for me, I always just make it foggy, so you might try just color coating it, then do a light rubbing compound job on it, then wax it like 7 or 8 times. And any spot on your car that looks faded, or has water spots, I seriously cant tell you how impressed i was with the rubbing compound I used. It was turtle wax rubbing compound. I dont know if you ever used it, but it is a serious pain in the ass. you need a applicator, and a rag that you will never need again for anything besides rubbing compound, it works best if wet (the rag) so you can get it all off quick so it doesnt dry, then once you get most of it off, take a paper towel and wipe it all off before it gets dry (again)... you have to do it quick, thats the hard part, because if it dries then you need to wipe it with the wet rag again, because the streaks wont come off otherwise, then quickly wipe it with a paper towel again making sure you leave no streaks. its hard as hell. but its so worth it. my bumper looked like pure ass before i used rubbing compound on it, and my trunk lid had water spots on it since i can remember but it took a couple hours to get rid of many problem spots on my car. I know im writing a lot, but hey, nobody is making anyone read this, so who cares. besides, Ive had a few drinks tonight so I could go on forever and i might. about a car being "just transportation".. thats just people that have no pride in themselves, or their self image. Your car represents you. If you cant afford a 50,000 dollar luxury car then who cares, but if your car is covered in dirt and your silver hubcaps look black from brake dust, and to make it worse you only have 3 out of 4 of them, and your back seat is full of garbage and clothes you havent worn in months... im sorry but the excuse that "my car is just transportation" is not good enough. It shows your character. I want my car to be shiny and pretty. I want people to see me and say, wow thats a nice car, he takes care of it well... or wow, thats the nicest thunderbird I've ever seen. And I do hear that a lot. I have had multiple ford haters ride in my car and tell me "this is the nicest ford ever built"... and it feels good to hear that from somebody that never liked a ford in their life. Its not just about my car, its my self expression and I take pride in that. I know a lot of people really cant relate to that on the level im talking about, but I think you can solaris... I know you like your car. when somebody sees me in my car I dont want to be forced to tell them "its just transportation", just because I dont have enough pride to take care of it... thats just lame. my car is me. if you see a gold 96 thunderbird, that is Rick. people tell me all the time that there is something about my car that makes it different from most cars... and I can tell you that it isnt just the wax. It isnt just the tire dressing. Its not the fact that its clean... its my pride glowing from every inch of it that makes my car beautiful, and people notice it.

[thunderbird muscle]

Paint cost a lot more than $10 and the labor rate down here is $36 an hour.

[RickwithaTbird]

that sucks

[RickwithaTbird]

the turtle wax tire wax already wore off. my tires are dull again. that was only like 4 days, and I dont drive that much. that stuff is lame. it looks good for the first 2 days though... really good, but its too expensive for 2 day results. i'll stick to the spray. but whats cool about ALL tire shine.. it makes your car smell like cherries, I love it.