Anyone who's ever owned a black car knows what a PITA it is to keep it clean and looking good. I've owned several black cars over the years and have come up with a lot of different techniques for keeping them shiny.

I deviated from my normal routine yesterday with traggic results. Because my car was starting to show more and more visable "swirl marks", I thought I would try what a friend of mine who has Grand National recommended (grand nats are all black). He told me to use the "Black Wax" because it wouldn't leave little white crusties everywhere and it would fill in the swirl marks better.

So I washed the car really good and started to apply the black wax. My wife was helping me, so we covered the whole car pretty quick. I wish I hadn't. That stuff is pure garbage. It's way too thick, it doesn't set very well at all, and it's almost impossible to rub off... even with a power wheel. It kept leaving residue in little splothches all over the place. It looked like Caca. I had to go over the whole car by hand with clean rag after clean rag to rub that crap out. When I finally did, it didn't look even as good as a standard regular wax job. In fact, it looked no better than it had before I applied it. Plus, it still left little white crusties behind in the nooks and crannies.

I have been using a product called "Butter wax" it is by far the easiest to use and cleanest to remove that I have ever seen. It beats Zymol, Mother's, Eagle 1 Wet and all the other's hands down. It is only sold to proffessionals and it only comes in gigantic bulk containers... it is also insanely expensive. But, IT WORKS. It's only flaw is that because it is rather thin, it doesn't last as long as more conventional waxes. It is a very good idea to use 2 or more coats. The extra work is worth they pay off. It creates a perfectly glassy finish like no wax I have ever seen. It works equally well on any color of car. I highly reccomend it if you can find some.

Moral of the story: Colored waxes are crap. Don't use them thinking they will perform anywhere near what the manufacturer claims. Hard work and sweat is still about the only way I have found to keep your car looking sweet.

Rod.

 

If it must be black, this is one way to avoid the problem

 

^YES! I prefer silver/gray, though.

My bucket of vehicle appearance care consists of a tack cloth, and a couple cans of assorted color spraypaint and primer.



This post brought to you by the good folks at Krylon Fine Paints and Coatings.

 

That's one wounded soldier ya got there Dorifto. Can you say "Sleeper"?

Rod.

 

You've read my mind, Rod. I'm looking into turbocharger options as we speak, and I'll be calling Modern Motorsports about their coilover kit soon. Gonna be a track racer [with nicer fenders to pass tech inspection ]. Oh, and she'll see some street action too. I guarantee it.

 

hope it all goes good for ya Dorito,

it'll take some work, but will all be worth it in the end.

 

Dorito

Still funny, even the second time around

Sorry D, ya gotta laugh at the classics

 

Indeed.

I've often contemplated changing my name to Doritos, just for the fun-factor.

My luck though, I'd get sued by some corporate big-wig from Frito Lay, Inc.

All references toward Dorito's, Frito Lay Inc., and associated foodstuffs are completely by coincidence and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or products of the above-mentioned companies.

 

ive used MacGuires gold polish...comes in a bottle with a sponge round pad...works awsome i think to get the black polish nice and shiny but dust still settles no matter what...but it shines nice...

 

i use the Meguires Gold car wax for the 280ZX and that does an awsome job but ive noticed it doesnt work as good on the black car.. i use that 3 stage Cleaner , Polish , and carnuba car wax from meguires the finish comes out awsome.. takes about 3 to 4 hours to do... lol but its worth it...

 

i dunno it was awsome for me on the black...gotta have super clean 100% cotton rags tho to wipe the wax off....ive never tried anything else...ive tried diff rags and its no good then...

 

From your experience what is the best setup for waxing and washing your car? This is the first time I have had to worry about this, before it was just rust, no paint.

 

I personally don't like "touching" the paint with anything when washing it. Hand washing a black car is asking for trouble. I use high pressure soap and water to get it clean (Just not too high pressure). Any small spots that are left behind can be spot cleaned with a good meguire's cleaner. When it comes to waxing. I really like the "Butter Wax" that I mentioned earlier. I always use an orbital buffer and not too much pressure to avoid swirl marks. 2 or 3 coats will make it look awesome and last for 4 or 5 wash cycles. I use a synthetic chamoise to dry the car (again with light strokes to avoid swirl marks).

Rod.

 

Back when I was really careful about my paint I used the Meguires 3 stage system like Icice9 along with a clay bar from Mothers. It got the paint extremely shiny and I was happy with the results. Only downside was the whole process took 8 hours and left my hands feeling like I had to massage a 300lb lady for chiropractic treatment. I'd have to dig up an old pic to show what the paint looked like....

 

Ok, found them, yeah I wish my paint was as good as it used to, just don't have the time anymore to take care of it like it needs to be.

 

That is shiny!

 

There is this pink stuff that we use at the shop I work at the makes the cars look a million times better. It requires the buffer wheel and lots of effort but well worth the time. It could be a mediocre paint job but after using this wax, the paint looks like glass. In combination with a nice PPG setup and a painfully detailed and beautifull paint job the results with this wax are awsome. Just wish I had paid attention to the name . . .

 

Go back and find out!