Some polishing advice please

[N1ck]

After purchasing a few products to maintain the Z I used the same methods and items on my wife's car. Mine is a pearl? white and hers is also white but has a black roof. She tends to park under a tree on the drive so the roof gets the brunt of all the rubbish dropping on it. Both cars are still looking great with the exception of the black roof. I don't want to go down the mc polishing route but wanted any recommendations for both product and method.

Previously both cars were fallout/tar remover/clayed/waxed and both still shine and bead like a whatnot;-) except for the roof. I have some old Autoglym SRP lurking in the garage but not sure if it's what I need??

 

Any thoughts/tips greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[davey_83]

  Girdling

[ilogikal1]

Firstly, put the SRP in the bin where it belongs.

 

How long as it being since you last cleaned it? What wax did you use on it?

 

Sounds like it needs a proper clean - parking under a tree, it's likely to have sap and all sorts embedded in the paint. So (a good!) tar remover, clay, then if you're not polishing a paint cleaner and then seal.

[Paul K]

The very best thing to get rid of tree sap is good old H2O

 

forensic detailing on YouTube did a video not very long ago about removing it

 

heres the link

 

 

[N1ck]

Its not tree sap, with the dry weather we have had its mainly just dusty. After i had used fallout remover, tar remover, clayed and then waxed( bilt hamber double speed wax) i expected the roof to be as clean and shiny as the bonnet. I just wondered if the fact its black and not white and the extra dust, was contributing to it looking " a bit S**t" ! especially when compared to the rest of the car.

A paint cleaner ( panel wipe?) and seal( use my double speed wax??)

Would hand polishing be worth the effort and if so what do you folks recommend?

 

Thanks for the replies thus far.

[HEADPHONES]

Seeing as you don't want to go down the machine polishing route, I've had very good results by hand on very neglected black paint using 

Soft 99 Scratch Clear Wax

 

When I first saw the ad I was like "yeah.....right!"

Then I tried it on a friend's neglected black paint using the same method as in the YouTube video just rubbing away until the polish disappeared.

Did a little video with the left door untreated.

5 mins of rubbing on the door on the right and these were the results.

Click on the below 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by HEADPHONES

[HEADPHONES]

I then did the rear of my zed with it too

Clicks below

 

[Killick.z]

Maybe try a synthetic Wax instead and see how you get on. I can recommend Meguiars which can usually be picked up for around £20 on offer at Halfrauds or Amazon. Nice to work with by hand.

Poorboys Black Hole also a good shout. 

[ilogikal1]

I think I misread your original post. If you’ve done nothing differently on the roof than the rest of the car, and assuming the roof is painted rather than wrapped or some other finish then it now sounds more like it’s just the colour showing the dirt more.

Black shows every little imperfection whereas white hides a hell of a lot. The rain we’ve had recently has been quite sandy (at least the rain I’ve had has been!), in which case the black roof would show it much more than the white. Nothing you can do about that other than washing the car again... or painting the roof, but washing seems a much simpler solution!

[Paul K]

16 hours ago, N1ck said:

 She tends to park under a tree on the drive so the roof gets the brunt of all the rubbish dropping on it.

Sorry, I misunderstood!!, when i read this i assumed SAP was the issue.

 

My Zed is black, and with all the debris that is collected in the rain, it often looks like its got a beige coating on it.....only thing to do is to wash it again, and keep the LSP topped up, be it wax, sealant or a Ceramic coating