Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[TorqueDog]

I drove my dad's summer car for the last five days while visiting him and mom in Winnipeg, the summer car being a torch red C5 Corvette with a 6-speed manual transmission. It was a great five days, let me tell you. Manual is just so rewarding to drive.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by photon

Thanks for the suggestions yeah makes sense to start mild and work up if needed.

I mentioned it to the chat window on the place's website just to confirm there wasn't any silicone based products used and he called me and said he thinks what happened is that team may have not properly diluted the product they used. He's going to come himself and check it out and address any problem so that's great!

What kind of product would require diluting? Strange.
Glad your situation is getting sorted out tho.

[Dion]

While visiting my brother and his wife in Northern Minnesota I was told that a friend of his had just bought a vintage WW11 Jeep from a private collector in Illinois. Rick O'Gara is his name and he's a 75 year old Vietnam war vet. He ended up driving in the local Garrison Play Days parade last weekend. I was surprised to find out the gun still works.

[Fuzz]

This guy has it figured out.

[PepsiFree]

Anyone done a full paint correction themselves? I’ve never done any detail work but wanted to give the whole whack a shot. Interested in any products people have used.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Anyone done a full paint correction themselves? I’ve never done any detail work but wanted to give the whole whack a shot. Interested in any products people have used.

I have. I think carzilla.ca is the best (they're in the NE, so keep your wits about you if head down that way). I bought their recommendation for the ceramic coat to use. Clay bar I bought from Gregg Distributors, but I think from anywhere would be fine. For polish I used turtle wax brand polish and it did a great mirror-finish job. That you can get at Canadian Tire or wherever.

Biggest thing to know is you're not going to eff it up and it's all really easy. Just takes time and sooo much elbow grease.

I have a power polisher. I cannot get a nice finish with them, so I Mister Myagi everything by hand. The polisher I have now I just bought last year. If you want it it's all yours. With those you most definitely can push too hard or get swirls or whatever, but if you do it right it's a huge time saver.

[PepsiFree]

I do have a polisher I snagged from someone.

My understanding of the process is:
clean > clay > compound > polish > coat

Is that how you did it? The paint looks like crap anyway so I’m not too worried about screwing up, but feel like on the other hand that would be the right number of steps to get it looking really good if I nail it.

For the ceramic coat, how did you do it? It looked dead simple but everything I see says “careful! don’t #### it up! don’t get high spots! you’re gonna get high spots!”

In general it feels like the whole process seems super easy but every video I watch seems to be a bunch of warnings about what not to do.

[Sliver]

Yes your order of doing it is correct.

And yeah, those videos scared the crap out of me, too. It's nothing, though. 'High spots.' pshhh. It's not rocket science hah. Just gotta give'r der bud.

[81MC]

FWIW, you absolutely can #### things up with a polisher. Be really careful with your edges and mind your heat build up. There’s a few approaches regarding 1 step/2 step/3 step product lines depending on your starting point and desired end.

If you’re green, err on the finer side for both your pads and your compound. Cleanliness is crucial, as if your pad becomes clogged with spent polish and removed finish product not only will you get less performance but you risk just marring the finish. One piece of debris in your pad that goes unnoticed can put swirls into the finish you’re trying to finesse.

It does depend on what you’re hoping to have for a finished product. Sometimes you’ll see darker cares full of microabrasions/swirls when the light hits it. It would suck to do your entire car in low light then see the horroshow in the sun.

There’s a lot of finish products out there that contain fillers that will hide these, but the whole goal to paint correction is to eliminate defects rather than just hide them.

I know ceramic coating is all the rage, but I’m still a fan of good old quality carnuba wax. It’s easy to apply, easy to maintain, provides a quality lustre and helps keep things clean.

Generally, wash>chemical decontamination>clay bar>compound>’polish’>protect. If you’re getting all new products, make sure you know the plan for them. Some products aren’t diminishing and don’t like to be overworked, other products are diminishing and intended to be worked longer.

It’s not rocket science for sure, but it is easy to spend a lot of energy and wind up with less than pleasant results.

Carzilla is now south of where they used to be, whatever that neighborhood is called. But they’re the ####. Could be overwhelming to see all the options.

[GreenLantern2814]

Anybody have experience with the VW Phaeton?

There’s one available in town for $12k in absolute mint condition that is incredibly tempting, but they’re almost too unique… I’d have one in a heartbeat if the maintenance wasn’t such a challenge.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Anybody have experience with the VW Phaeton?

There’s one available in town for $12k in absolute mint condition that is incredibly tempting, but they’re almost too unique… I’d have one in a heartbeat if the maintenance wasn’t such a challenge.

The VW Phaeton is really neat. It's basically a sister car of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur but with VW badging and bodywork (and obviously the interior wasn't worked over by the lads in Crewe).

I have heard anecdotally, however, that while normal maintenance should be reasonable, the repair costs are more Bentley than VW depending on what parts need replacing. That said, if it has been really well maintained, I'd be tempted too.

[Fuzz]

Aren't those just ticking expensive time bombs?

[you&me]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

The VW Phaeton is really neat. It's basically a sister car of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur but with VW badging and bodywork (and obviously the interior wasn't worked over by the lads in Crewe).

I have heard anecdotally, however, that while normal maintenance should be reasonable, the repair costs are more Bentley than VW depending on what parts need replacing. That said, if it has been really well maintained, I'd be tempted too.

That's especially true for the W12 Phaetons, but there were also V6 and V8 models, which will be (relatively) more reasonable to service.

That said, you're right in that all of the parts that make a Phaeton special (W12 if applicable, air suspension, etc) have more in common with the Bentleys than the Audi counterparts, and parts/service costs are commensurate... As always, remember - cars depreciate, parts and service do not... Nothing like paying the service bill of a $300k car on your $15k budget-barge.

[TorqueDog]

The W12 instantly adds a ton of labour cost too, since it's shoehorned in there. Anyone with a V8 Audi S/RS4 or V8/V10 S6/RS6 that has needed engine-out service will know this intimately. Luckily, GreenLantern is looking at a V8.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Aren't those just ticking expensive time bombs?

Save for Porsche, the stuff that isn't is usually boring as hell.

Buy the fun / interesting car. Let the boring people drive the latest Toyota Vacuum Cleaner sedan.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

The W12 instantly adds a ton of labour cost too, since it's shoehorned in there. Anyone with a V8 Audi S/RS4 or V8/V10 S6/RS6 that has needed engine-out service will know this intimately. Luckily, GreenLantern is looking at a V8.
Save for Porsche, the stuff that isn't is usually boring as hell.

Buy the fun / interesting car. Let the boring people drive the latest Toyota Vacuum Cleaner sedan.

Kind of OT, but what a well done ad for the Phaeton.

I don't know if it was just on the Bentleys or the Phaetons as well, but I recall the packaging in the engine bay being so ridiculous that the car required an engine-out service to access simple repairs like cabin filters (or something equally mundane)... The result is something that should be a few hundred dollars to fix - with maybe a hundred dollars in parts - ended up costing multiple thousands.

[Fuzz]

Ah, OK, It thought I had read it was the W12 version. V8 makes it a bit less risky.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Anybody have experience with the VW Phaeton?

There’s one available in town for $12k in absolute mint condition that is incredibly tempting, but they’re almost too unique… I’d have one in a heartbeat if the maintenance wasn’t such a challenge.

There's 200,000 kms on that thing. Don't do it, dude. It does look incredibly well taken care of, for sure, but that has way too much potential for annoying and expensive problems. I wouldn't do it. Not a chance. Hell, I wouldn't buy a Civic with 200,000 kms on it.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Anyone with a V8 Audi S/RS4 or V8/V10 S6/RS6 that has needed engine-out service will know this intimately.

*cries in rear timing chain*

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Quiet, you'll scare my S4 and the guides will break...

[PepsiFree]

The only thing safe to buy at 200k just so happens to be the ultimate in high end luxury vehicles for enthusiasts: a Toyota.