Any Tricks to Washing these Cars?

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by STEVE-O

I agree with Ron! For someone to be that fanatical about the paint means to not drive and enjoy the car at all.
Stuff may bond to the car when it is being driven but if the paint still feels smooth like a dinner plate, then a clay bar isnt required. A clay bar is only really only required when a roughness can be felt in the paint.
When I look at the car in the pictures, I still see imperfections in the paint irregardless of the bright shine. Also, the tires need some detailing. Dull tires can ruin the look.
Also, we are still talking about classic Cobras here and not 4 wheel drive offroad trucks, right?

I'm in the same boat as you and Ron. If it takes a "sun light and a brinkman" (whatever the heck that is. I have a Brinkman Smoker, but I don't think that is what he is talking about.) to find the imperfections in the paint, then I don't care about them.

My car is a driver, not a show car. I do make every effort to take care of it, but I'm not going to those extremes.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

I'm in the same boat as you and Ron. If it takes a "sun light and a brinkman" (whatever the heck that is. I have a Brinkman Smoker, but I don't think that is what he is talking about.) to find the imperfections in the paint, then I don't care about them.

My car is a driver, not a show car. I do make every effort to take care of it, but I'm not going to those extremes.

Agree! I'm sure that the process efenfast described is a textbook example of washing a car, but it's just not practical for a Cobra. After two years, my car has some road rash on the front, but overall the paint is excellent shape and the black stripes have few if any marks. Save the smoker for the brauts!

[efnfast]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

I'm in the same boat as you and Ron. If it takes a "sun light and a brinkman" (whatever the heck that is. I have a Brinkman Smoker, but I don't think that is what he is talking about.) to find the imperfections in the paint, then I don't care about them.

My car is a driver, not a show car. I do make every effort to take care of it, but I'm not going to those extremes.

All my cars are drivers, not show cars too. I hate car shows and will never waste my time attending them.

What I'm talking about is taking an extra 20-30minutes to properly wash a vehicle to reduce damage (Swirling/marring) so the paint remains as flawless as possible (which is an impossibility, because eventually 'damage' will occur; it's impossible to keep the paint picture perfect until the end of time if you have to touch it to clean it)

What I find humorous is that most people I talk to, who really don't understanding detailing, think my washing regime is extreme and too complicated to follow. Yet some of these same people will, for example, use a quick detailer and wipe down their car every single time they drive it, or sometimes 2-3times/week.

So let's think about this, who's more extreme - the guy who properly washes his cars once a month (I've got 4 to take care of btw), or the guy who cleans his car 1-3x per week. Hmmmmm.

Originally Posted by STEVE-O

I agree with Ron! For someone to be that fanatical about the paint means to not drive and enjoy the car at all.
Stuff may bond to the car when it is being driven but if the paint still feels smooth like a dinner plate, then a clay bar isnt required. A clay bar is only really only required when a roughness can be felt in the paint.
When I look at the car in the pictures, I still see imperfections in the paint irregardless of the bright shine. Also, the tires need some detailing. Dull tires can ruin the look.
Also, we are still talking about classic Cobras here and not 4 wheel drive offroad trucks, right?

- We can debate the use of the claybar all day long, but I'm on the side that says to always clay before polish, otherwise you'll pick up a **** load of contaminents in your pads that can marr the surface. Even on viper (which pretty much sat broken all day long in the garage, heh) I could claybar it after 10mths and still pick up a lot of crap, even though the surface was fairly smooth.

- I already said those pics were after a polish, no wipedown/seal/wax. So no window cleaning or tire dressing yet. The dots you see in the pictures are a combination of polish dusting and rock chips. There's no hollogramming, swirls, or micro-marring on the paint, and that's under 2 500watt hallogens and under absolute direct sunlight.

Originally Posted by AC Cobra

efnfast, do you have any pictures of a Cobra all foamed up?

You may find it a little difficult to foam a Cobra and power wash it.

No, but I'll take some when I wash mine when it's painted

[Ron61]

So let's think about this, who's more extreme - the guy who properly washes his cars once a month (I've got 4 to take care of btw), or the guy who cleans his car 1-3x per week. Hmmmmm.

Your points are good, but I cleaned mine about three or four times a month unless I got it extremely dirty. I use clay bar and am in the process of cleaning my 1969 NASCAR Cobra now. It isn't driven much, but is original and even with the clay bar the dark red paint will show some places if you look close. This car has never been in a show and most likely won't as long as I own it. It is all original except some engine work, even still has the original old Goodyear Polyglass tires and they are 40 years old. The original question was how do people was their cars, not how do I make mine perfect so no one can possibly find a swirl or defect in the paint. The factory paint on my 69 has many defects, no runs but it shows the weld seams where they welded the fastback on to make it more aerodynamic. It has been inspected numerous times and many things were pointed out to me that I should have done to make it perfect. It also has some rock picks from being driven. I clean it about once every 6 months.

Ron

[efnfast]

Originally Posted by Ron61

The original question was how do people was their cars, not how do I make mine perfect so no one can possibly find a swirl or defect in the paint.

True enough .... however, reading some of the posts in here is like watching yourself get castrated.

If people like their cleaning regimes fine by me; I'm only hoping to educate those who want to detail to the best effect but have no idea what to do so they just follow the masses and assume the masses know what they're doing.

[AC Cobra]

Originally Posted by efnfast

True enough .... however, reading some of the posts in here is like watching yourself get castrated.

If people like their cleaning regimes fine by me; I'm only hoping to educate those who want to detail to the best effect but have no idea what to do so they just follow the masses and assume the masses know what they're doing.

Efnfast, I think we're talking two different things here: washing any car or truck and washing our Cobras. And, I don't mean those Mustang Cobras.

You make some very good points about washing the general family vehicle. I wash my truck at a Laser car wash and no brushes every touch it. It even sprays the under carriage as you drive in. Works well. But I have my Lexus gets detailed monthly at a car wash with lots of suds and rinsing with plenty of water. Dryed with soft cotton cloths.

My Cobra is a different story. It's only been washed with water two times in the 7 years of its existance. Bug removal is the harshed cleaning. Other than that quick detailing spray and a soft cotton cloth. I put a coat of wax on it every spring.