Bathing

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Giving your TR7/8 a bath! Good info here.

[url="http://www.web-cars.com/detail/index.php"]<i><b>Good Clean Fun!</b></i>[/url]

[Underdog]

Mine is in need right now. Mostly dust from being in the shop while I worked on the rear end project. Hopeing to get to the drag strip this Sunday, weather permiting, so I need to change the oil & make it pretty.[:D]

72 MGB BRG
80 TR8 Persian Aqua
If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

[wedggie perrin]

Started to read the wash bit first, "use a sponge" it said. tut tut!
Fine if you want swirls.

[FI Spyder]

Exactly! Unless your in an environment were you only have to wash of soft dust then use mitt to scrub off polution on second wash. Doesn't happen around here. I rinse off with hose first, then gently wipe down with soft wash brush and lots of soap and water, rinse , then wash with mitt and soap and water after any abrasives are gone, then rinse again, then dry with soft cotton rag.


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

[PeterTR7V8]

Life's too short.

Just get the water good & soapy & dip the sponge often. A good wax (from a tub not a bottle) will deal to the minor swirls & then treat your car to a buff once a year if you must.


Never say die. At least not while you're still breathing.

[bmcecosse]

Just wash from the top down - a sponge is fine if you keep rinsing it out and use lots of soapy water! Life is indeed too short! Actually - it's a good idea to wash the car in the rain! Others think you are mad (and TR7 ownership itself may well be a sign of that) - but the rain does all the rinsing for you, and pre-wets the dust and dirt!

[Hasbeen]

Careful there you blokes. Remember, as the dirty old man said, too
much bathing weakens the blood.

Mine don't get too dirty, as I rarely have to drive them on wet
roads, however when I do wash them, I use a mixture of the Peter, &
bmcecosse method.

Lots of hosing, then wash from the top down, with a nice, very soft
sponge, with lots of suds. I use a different sponge for the lower
parts when they have road dirt thrown up on them.

My speciality is that I add a copolymer glaze, to the suds. Designed
for the fiberglass boat industry, this stuff is surface seeking, &
bonds to the paint. I add 30mm of this stuff to the suds each wash,
then wash as normal. I'm sure this stuff stops the dirt sticking too
hard, & helps the cleaning, & it sure keeps the car shiny.

I glaze, & wax the cars only once a year, just before our club show,
but 11 months later the water is still beading on the surface when
the car is wet.

My painter says he can't believe how good the paint is on my 7 daily
driver, as it's almost 7 years, & 50,000 Km since it was done.

Hasbeen

[bottomtop]

Hasbeen,

It sounds like you have god good results with that "copolymer glaze". Unfortunately, I have no idea what it is. Is there are product name you could share? And is it the sort of thing that one needs to be careful not to get on windows/bumpers/plastic or other non painted areas of the car?

[PeterTR7V8]

A car doesn't look clean until its been waxed. Proper wax more than twice a year is probably a bit overboard but with every proper wash between I use spray wax. A few days before I crashed the car I had waxed it to a totally frictionless finish so the dust that had settled on it since that time kept on travelling long after the car had come to a sudden halt. It made for a good looking corpse.

The latest news is that I can expect to have something to wash again in 3 weeks.


Never say die. At least not while you're still breathing.

[Hasbeen]

Good news peter, hope the back is up to that washing, by then.
That's one wash you should really enjoy.

Bottomtop, this stuff is "Solvex one-step SEALANT diamond hard",
qiute a mouth full.

I wash the whole car with the suds, with 30ml added to about 4
litres of suds. It gives no problem with anything, glass, plastic or
rubber. I've been using it for at least 8 years, since I found it at
a boat show, as it suits a lazy man.

The company is Solvex Products, 41/3 Industry Drive, Tweed Heads,
NSW. Ph, [07] 5524 9149. Tweed Heads is so far north in NSW that
it's almost Goald Coast Queensland, & that phone number is a
Queensland number.

They make sure they tell you nothing to identify the stuff in it,
but give lots of marketing spin. However they suggest you can
maintain the shine by adding 20 ml to a bucket of water, sponge it
over the car, then rinse off & chamois dry.

It was my idea to add it to the washing bucket, & it worked, really
well. It's much better than any of the propriety wash & wax products
I've tried.

As no one out here in the bush stocks the stuff, I phone an order to
them, post them a cheque for the stuff, & the postage cost, & it
turns up in the mail. I could get it at the ship chandlers on the
Gold Coast, 55 Km away, but I have an irrational hatred of traffic
lights, so avoid the place when ever I can.

Hasbeen