Older Paintwork and dealing with Chrome.

[miller]

Hi,

About to start the first clean up of the old girl, I know it has been mopped in the past so just want to keep it shiny and clean. Is there anything I shouldn't be using on older paintwork?

I usually clean with snowfoam, two buckets wash method, dry down with a light polish/detail up if needed. Is this still ok

Also what is best product for cleaning chrome and chrome wheels?

[RobH]

Hi,

About to start the first clean up of the old girl, I know it has been mopped in the past so just want to keep it shiny and clean. Is there anything I shouldn't be using on older paintwork?

I usually clean with snowfoam, two buckets wash method, dry down with a light polish/detail up if needed. Is this still ok

Also what is best product for cleaning chrome and chrome wheels?

First of all the car looks stunning!

I always snowfoam everything and with anything older like that, I try do as much of the underneath and arches as possible with every wash.

Use autosol for polishing the chrome, can get it in halfords.

[DarrenE36]

Hi,

About to start the first clean up of the old girl, I know it has been mopped in the past so just want to keep it shiny and clean. Is there anything I shouldn't be using on older paintwork?

I usually clean with snowfoam, two buckets wash method, dry down with a light polish/detail up if needed. Is this still ok

Also what is best product for cleaning chrome and chrome wheels?

Cool to still see these being looked after

you got the method fairly well nailed the only thing i would say is watch the PH level of any product used especially on any chrome bit too harsh of a chemical will turn them cloudy.

autosol is good not the best but is probly the handiest to get in ur locate shop

[miller]

Cool to still see these being looked after

you got the method fairly well nailed the only thing i would say is watch the PH level of any product used especially on any chrome bit too harsh of a chemical will turn them cloudy.

autosol is good not the best but is probly the handiest to get in ur locate shop

There is already some small cloudy marks appearing on the rims, is there way to remove these with abrasives?

[RobH]

what's the ballpark value of these, I know of one sitting in a shed for probably at least 15 years with around 20-30k miles from what I remember although it would need a lot of work now since it hasn't been started since I would say. I have enquired about buying it but probably not much hope, anyways what would it be worth roughly?

[Curran]

Fantastic car!!

There isnt anything that you shouldnt be using per say, but certainly perhaps in moderation - for example; give that the paintwork has been mopped or polished previously, and perhaps you dont know how many times, it would be impossible to say what amount of paintwork is on the car without a depth gauge. So if you were thinking about going at it with a machine polisher, even a Dual Action, I would proceed with caution.
With tar removal I would seek out the better products for doing that sort of work, just to be that be safer. There are some very aggressive tar removers from the likes of Halfords, etc, such as Holts Tar Remover (aerosol) which your paintwork wont thank you for.
As said, keeping to the likes of pH neutral products will help with keeping the paintwork fresh. Given the type of paintwork it is, you will need to lightly polish it to keep it from oxidizing, and doing so by hand will have minimum impact, but restore the deep shine quite easily.

Depending on how bad the cloudy marks are, as mentioned the likes of Autosol or Meguiars NXT Metal Poylish will do a good job with a bit of elbow grease. Something worth considering is getting them back to a good condition and sealing them with a durable nano sealant such as CarPro DLUX (which can be used on fade black trim also) or Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour. This will ensure very good protection against the elements and thus the clouding, and far easier to wash them. There is a bit of prep work involved, so that needs to be considered also. Then there are traditional type wheel sealants, Chemical Guys Wheel Guard or Poorboys Wheel Sealant that will helps, but nowhere near as durable. 1 year plus for the nano types, versus 2-3 months of the traditional type.

[miller]

@ curran

Id say there isn't another Mop left in the paintwork, I will in the future I think need to get the roof repsrayed as its looking a bit pale/thin in a number of places from the naked eye. I would hazard a guess at pretty low numbers on paint depth.

Ill check out the links you posted...thanks for the input

@RobH It all depends on what spec it is, auto/manual etc. The right spec and combination can equate to thousands in price difference...