So I’ve been casually ticking over this winter bar a few decent drives. This was made easy by all the work carried out as explained in previous posts. The springs have settled in well now and have a really decent ride height with enough clearance for practical every day use. The only thing that has cropped up is a slight knocking going over pitches and troffs in the road, took it to a garage today and it was found to be the steering rod end. That's going to set me back ££ to fix but should have the car handling perfect.
The other thing that came up was the budget tyre is now worn on the inner side and will probably need replacing before the year is out. So I’ll probably invest in a pair of Rainsports and keep the Hankooks on the back. Has anyone had any bad experiences with these? My sister has them on my old Saxo and they've seemed pretty good over the snow period.
The other thing that’s starting to bug me is the rear wiper. It's KO'd and I’m going to take a proper look at it tomorrow. If you have a look at the pictures you can see it's stuck in that position. Think I might just dewiper it as I wash the car once a week so the back window never gets dire. While I’m at it I’ll probably attempt to remove the RS badges. Any tips for these?
So more on my pathetic attempts at detailing the exterior. My first attempt was towards the end of July/August. The difference in the depth of colour and overall quality of look was amazing to me then. However, as we all know with detailing it gets better with time. There were a few more additions to the party of products this time.
1. So to start I rinsed with a hose to get any bulky debris off. Then i moved onto the Nilfisk to get any more stubborn bits shifted.
2. Once I did this I got out the Citrus Power and started to apply to the areas that needed more attention. Particularly the side trims, badges, handles and locks etc. Then after I let this work for about 15 minutes with the assistance of a bit of movement you could see these areas really being lifted of dirt.
3. Rinse again.
4. On close inspection the tar deposits on the paint weren't major and any real problem areas were attacked with Megs paint cleaner, which were literally a few spots. Then the whole car was Iron X'd for the first time. Needless to say there was purple everywhere!!
5. Rinse again.
6. Starting with the wheels I broke out the Megs Hot Rims and allowed it to work away. Rinsed them down and proceeded to wash the whole car with Megs Gold Class (now have Wolf Chems White Satin) and the lamb’s wool mitt.
7. Rinse again and repeat 2 additional times.
8. Now I moved onto the clay (Megs clay kit, but bought Bilt for next time XD), the paint was already feeling pretty smooth but there were some areas that needed to be brought up to the standard of rest of the paint, these were the flatter areas of the car. Nonetheless, the whole car was done in the same manner. I done this with a single bar broke into segments.
9. Rinsed again to get off those white trails from the claying process and dried ready for the various stages of polish and protection.
Before I layered up the new protection I had to address the waxing errors from myself and the previous owner. The best way to do this is
FAIRY WASHING UP Liquid. Yeah I said it. Now I’m talking the smallest dab ever on a microfiber and this stuff will literally eat the wax off the plastics.
Now this is the stage that I thought improved the most. It wasn't the products that changed quality, it was the way I applied them. The first time I did this I felt like I rushed it, I used old applicator pads that were misshaped and past it and my prep wasn't as thorough. This time, I had a whole set of applicator pads brand new and a lot of time with no distractions.
1. Polishing: AG Super Resin, I think next time I’ll get something like SSR unless you guys know of a better polish for the 'Berg? But it definitely does a respectable job at removing minor swirls and marring which all this paint needed bar one area on the roof. However, I feel like the depth of colour could be a little better for sure if it was slightly more abrasive to remove those more oxidised flat looking areas.
2. Glaze: PB White Diamond, now this stuff is beast, literally after just these two stages you could leave it. It really brings the paint to an even finish, with a wet look, while bringing out the blue flake in the 'Berg paint. A
must for this colour.
3. Sealant: PB EX-P, a really decent product at getting the shine of the paint and reflection to a decent level. Maintains the groundwork of the other two products too while giving an initial layer of protection.
4. Wax: Collinite 476 Super, anyone with a light coloured car knows this stuff is like putting a top coat on your car. Nothing degrades it for months on end. Really finishes the shine to a great level and the beading as you can see is next level.
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On the tyres and trim I used CG New Look and this was great on the trim. Only lasted two weeks on the tyres but looked great the whole time. As you can see I went right up to the wire with light and if it was better lit the camera phone would have done it even more justice. But you can see almost how good it looks and how reflective you can really get silvers with patience.
Also got some silver visions and LED side lights, somehow managed to knock the xenon out in the process so it's aimed a bit low at the moment but nothing drastic. And the LED side lights are dead ... felt like a waste of time really. So yeah, now I just give the Clio a mop over once a week and most people that have seen this car will vouch for how great the paint looks all the time. Worth the work if you have the time to do it!
took it through cheddar gorge for a bit of fun. Put it this way the break dust isnt anywhere to be seen anymore. Noticed that the petrol chap recommends 98 Ron, is it the general consensus that this is the only juice the Clio should be drinking?
