Any Tricks to Washing these Cars?

[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