Need some help...
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 461
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From: New Braunfels TX
Need some help...please
I finally got a whole weekend off. No call at the hospital, fiance away on a business trip, no work to do. Planning on the whole weekend catching up on maintainence. Couple questions I need some advice on. 1) Whats the best for taking small marks and swirls out of the paint? I'm going to Dawn it, clay and re-wax but I want to cleanup some of the irregularities first. 2) What's involved in dropping the front facia off? How about the quarter panels and rocker panels? Want to do some real detail work. 3) Need to really give the carpet some TLC. How hard to get the seats out? From there how hard to get the carpet segments out. 4) For detailing the wheels...does anybody clean and detail the "vast" interior of the wheel or just the spokes? 5) I'll be pulling the wheels. Anything to do/check with the suspension components?...no problems, just wondering. Last, does anyone use a product for cleaning the engine? Any recommendations. I used to take a can of Gunk on my old 327 Chevy pickup, spray and wash it. Is this safe? Thanks all for any advice you can give me. 
Last edited by fmpros; Nov 11, 2004 at 07:19 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2002
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St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'10
I'll try my hand at some of the questions. I'm sure others will chime in on the rest. As far as the swirl marks and irregularities. I'd recommend the Porter Cable 7424 random orbital polisher and some Maguires fine swirl mark remover. For the wheels, lots of us clean "inside" the barrel of the wheel. A citrus based cleaner and a claybar will do the trick with a little elbow grease. Here's my before and afters.
For the engine, I use the Armor All cleaning wipes on pretty much everything from frame to hoses to plastic. Once you clean, it's pretty easy to stay on top of. Many use Simple Green.
I'd suggest you have a look at SpdKlzs site here:
http://www.spdkilz.com/techtipcarcare.html
A lot of good info. Hope this helps.
Paul
For the engine, I use the Armor All cleaning wipes on pretty much everything from frame to hoses to plastic. Once you clean, it's pretty easy to stay on top of. Many use Simple Green.
I'd suggest you have a look at SpdKlzs site here:
http://www.spdkilz.com/techtipcarcare.html
A lot of good info. Hope this helps.
Paul
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 12,346
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From: Mustang OK
The Car Care Products section of the forum would be the best place to go for answers to all your car care questions. Several very knowledgeable people hang out there and you may find that some of your questions have previously been answered there. Good luck. 
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Time is a great teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.
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St. Jude Donor '07
Don't know all of these first hand but this is what I have heard others say...
1) Random Orbital Polisher and Maquires swirl remover
2) Don't know about the fascia or panels but have heard the rocker panels are glued onto the frame and will pretty much require destroying them to remove them.
3) Seats are four bolts each. Sounds fairly simple for anyone even remotely mechanically inclined.
4) I remove my wheels every now and then for a full detail inside and out.
5) I'd just look for any loose or missing bolts/nuts or any leaking grease.
Last) Careful with any water under the hood. These new fangled cars have computers and stuff that doesn't get along well with liquids.
1) Random Orbital Polisher and Maquires swirl remover
2) Don't know about the fascia or panels but have heard the rocker panels are glued onto the frame and will pretty much require destroying them to remove them.
3) Seats are four bolts each. Sounds fairly simple for anyone even remotely mechanically inclined.
4) I remove my wheels every now and then for a full detail inside and out.
5) I'd just look for any loose or missing bolts/nuts or any leaking grease.
Last) Careful with any water under the hood. These new fangled cars have computers and stuff that doesn't get along well with liquids.
