A tip for cleaning after driving in the Rain

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grcforce327

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Rain?? What's that???:dunno::search::no:
I do buff the car all the time,even if not driven!
 

Simms

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I do the exact same thing as ViperTony (same products as well) and I constantly get comments on how nice my paint looks. Most people think the car was repainted.

I will add that I polish my car with a real buffer (not an orbital) every spring. So that probably takes out most of the imperfections caused the year before.
 

GBS

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a recent thread about driving in the rain in the general section sparked this idea:

-Ariving at home after riding in the rain dont pull right in the garage.
-Stop in your driveway
-Spray off all the road grime with a hose; especialy the rear end of GTS's, wheels, and sidesills
-Then pull in the garage with a clean wet car that only needs drying and a little QD.

otherwize you have to worry about that road grime scratching your paint while your drying. or worse leaving the car and letting everything dry on it leaving nasty water spots and stuff stuck to the paint.

I imagine someone has already thought of this?

Sounds like a recipe for swirls marks in your paint if you're not washing it with a good soap and a nice sheepskin mitt or one of the new pourious soft foam mitts.

If I have been driving in the rain sometimes I'll rinse my car off with the hose (including wheels and wheel wells) before pulling it into the garage just to get some of the loose crud off. I'll later properly wash the car. Sometimes I might even wash it in the rain and dry it in the garage.

If you don't property wash your car you're going to swirl up your paint.
 

GBS

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Due to that post, Tony, you cost me $29 for an electric leaf blower! I hope it works! ;)


You won't regret using an electric leaf blower to dry your car. It's faster, blows the water out of the cracks and gets most the water off your car without anything touches the paint so the change of swirling up you paint is greatly reduced. You can blow about 90% of the water off your car. For the other 10% I use a microfiber towel.
 
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Dom426h

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Forgot to post this awhile ago. Tested my thoery and it works. Especally well in the fall with all the bits of leaves and crap. I dont like letting stuff dry on my car. So after riding in the rain(not that often) i'll park in the driveway and hose down the wheels, wheelwells, sidesills, and rear-end. This gets all the big stuff off that would scratch your paint if you do the QD bucketles wash. Then i pull in the garage. Spray her down with QD and dry off with a thick MF towel.

Once i get my electric blower ill add that step just before the QD.
 

agentf1

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Forgot to post this awhile ago. Tested my thoery and it works. Especally well in the fall with all the bits of leaves and crap. I dont like letting stuff dry on my car. So after riding in the rain(not that often) i'll park in the driveway and hose down the wheels, wheelwells, sidesills, and rear-end. This gets all the big stuff off that would scratch your paint if you do the QD bucketles wash. Then i pull in the garage. Spray her down with QD and dry off with a thick MF towel.

Once i get my electric blower ill add that step just before the QD.

Dom, you may want to look into this method since I feel it is much safer than just using a QD. This is what I usually do with my Viper although I do do a full wash occasionally so that I can get the wheel barrels 100% clean etc...

http://forums.viperclub.org/viper-d...erless-wash-method-well-almost-waterless.html
 

martyb

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I wash mine every week, blow it dry with a leaf blower, quick coat of Turbowax Spray wax and she looks like new! I enjoy washing and detailing the car, seems to run better when its sparkling clean.

martyb
 

silverz06vette

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Dom, you may want to look into this method since I feel it is much safer than just using a QD. This is what I usually do with my Viper although I do do a full wash occasionally so that I can get the wheel barrels 100% clean etc...

http://forums.viperclub.org/viper-d...erless-wash-method-well-almost-waterless.html

Frank is right and he has a lot of knowledge about paint care.

As he has so correctly stated, it is not wise to use a QD to clean your car.

Waxes and some detail sprays will fill and hide the true condition of your paint. As Frank noted use isopropyl alcohol will give you the true condition of your paint.

Also as far as lighting to see defects, fluorescent lighting is only good for finding water spots on your paint. Unless the defects are very deep, its hard to see them under fluorescent lighting.

Some examples of good lighting sources to use would include the following.

The following where taken on a 08 Viper ACR brand new.

Halogen lighting that can be found at Home Depot:

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Flash from a camera:

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On some colors is it very hard to see defects. Take this 01 MY Z06.

These defects are actually pretty deep, but still hard to see under halogen lighting:

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These are even deeper yet. Note how its hard to see any of the defects from the fluorescent lighting.

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Now if defects are deep enough, a fluorescent lighting source might show you some of the defects.

Please note that these are very deep marks from a hack detailer using an air sander. Then he didn't have a clue how to remove the sanding marks.

Also the pic is cropped out of a larger pic.

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After some polishing:

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Another hack did a real nice job on this caddy CTS.

Flash from a camera and halogen lighting:

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finnsnake

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IMO California Dusters are the biggest cause of scratches ever. :2tu:

I never quickly wash any of my cars, when I do I do make sure that it's done properly each time.
 

Bruce

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I agree! NO TOWELS on a car that hasn't been througly cleaned. Otherwise you WILL scratch your paint no matter how careful you are.

I got a Spotless water filtration system for the purpose of avoiding rain water spots. It is perfect for quickly washing off rain water without having to dry the car to avoid water sports. Works great!

CRSpotless.com - Wash, Rinse, and Walk Away

Peter

Ditto to the CRSpotless, I purchased one from Costco at the recommendation of the members on this board. A wise investment indeed.
 

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