Polish and paint advice please

[Simon H]

I bought my first ever P5 in August this year (also my first ever classic car). Anyway I have a plan...
Over the winter lay-up I intend to fit halogen head lights and fog / driving lights, swap the leaky steering box for an alleged good one and sort a few other mechanical bits & pieces. At some point the car is going to require some remedial work to the body as there is evidence of filler bodgery, notably on the rear door bottoms and inner arches adjacent the rear seats. But this work won't get done before I've enjoyed using the car through next summer's show season and it will be done by a proper body shop (I am happy to do the spannering but I don't have the patience for painting and the preparation that goes with it).

So... I keep seeing stories of how paint jobs go wrong due to contamination from minute traces of polish (silicon?). Bearing in mind the car will be having some paint work done (probably a full respray) should I steer clear of any particular type of polish? Or will the body shop have suitable products to shift any possible contaminants? I don't expect any new panels to present a problem but what about the rest of the car?

Thanks in advance
Simon H

[Rodney the Rover]

Snap.....I bought my first ever P5B a couple of months ago too! 

There are plenty of Nano Technology products around that cost a fortune that will do the job. If it was me I'd give it a going over with a micro fibre cloth soaked in petrol,no smoking nearby though 
Then I'd have a word with my local Autosmart guy for their snowfoam product to finish it off,let it soak for an hour or so & your driveway will look superb. Look out for a 3.5t van parked on a driveway near you,a lot of them work from home but a local garage should be able to put you in touch as they also sell spanners etc.

[barryr]

Silicon is bad news for sprayers but they have panel wipe to remove it. I used to use autoglym silicone resin polish but I don't now as it leaves residue as well as adds silicon.

Everyone will have their own view on polishes. Personally I like meguiars products. The three stage deep crystal system works well and is a carnauba based product but for speed I'd clean and clay the existing surface then use their tech2 polish as it lasts longer.

If using the car dAily check out collinite products on you tube. There are so many good products now.

I agree re snow foam. I always pre-wash my daily drivers with snow foam.

[David]

Heres' my sixpennyworth.
I would not remove any protection from the paintwork. If the paintshop is good they will ensure that all silicones, waxes and grease are removed prior to painting.
If you plan on keeping the car clean, to remove all surface waxes and contaminants, n try using paint brush cleaner (Wickes, B&Q, Homebase) to spray or brush on to the paintwork. Leave for 5 minutes then wash with hot soapy water. This will remove any surface contaminant ensuring a good base for your polishes. It also works great on greasy engine bays. Snowfoam is ideal as it dwells on the paintwork. K'archer makes a cheap container attachment, which has been reviewed in the latest issue of Take Five.
Autoglym SRP is good as it fills swirl marks in the paintwork. However, you will also need to wax or seal the paintwork to ensure it stays that way. There are plenty on the market Meguairs, Autoglym etc. I used Menzerna fine cut on a machine, followed by Lime Prime to prep the paintwork.  Followed by Autoglym SRP then finished with Autoglym HD wax - reviewed earlier this year in Take Five.
With a bit of patience you can get surprising results.

PS:: Try Blutak instead of Claybar. Much cheaper and does the same.

Rover before:


After

[norvin]

David your car looks fantastic, like you I would not worry about the paint as David has said the Auto paint shop will sort that out for you when the time comes for the paint.

[Multi-Tech]

NO not the "S" word.............
If you can avoid a polish with this is it would make life easier for the bodyshop but as others have said we have products to remove this including a sealer coat (bar coat) which could be applied before paint work is carried out, this way you stand a lot better chance of your new paint job looking lovely.
Shut if you need any help?

[Steve P5b]

Nov 27, 2013 15:22:58 GMT David said:

Heres' my sixpennyworth.
I would not remove any protection from the paintwork. If the paintshop is good they will ensure that all silicones, waxes and grease are removed prior to painting.
If you plan on keeping the car clean, to remove all surface waxes and contaminants, n try using paint brush cleaner (Wickes, B&Q, Homebase) to spray or brush on to the paintwork. Leave for 5 minutes then wash with hot soapy water. This will remove any surface contaminant ensuring a good base for your polishes. It also works great on greasy engine bays. Snowfoam is ideal as it dwells on the paintwork. K'archer makes a cheap container attachment, which has been reviewed in the latest issue of Take Five.
Autoglym SRP is good as it fills swirl marks in the paintwork. However, you will also need to wax or seal the paintwork to ensure it stays that way. There are plenty on the market Meguairs, Autoglym etc. I used Menzerna fine cut on a machine, followed by Lime Prime to prep the paintwork.  Followed by Autoglym SRP then finished with Autoglym HD wax - reviewed earlier this year in Take Five.
With a bit of patience you can get surprising results.

PS:: Try Blutak instead of Claybar. Much cheaper and does the same.

Rover before:


After

I've seen your car in the flesh David and the pictures make it look much better than it is, the condition wasn't too good, could this be due to using Wickes brush cleaner I wonder?
I would consider what type of paint is on your car first before offering advice on what products to remove polishes and waxes etc.
Best to leave the advice to the experts maybe?
Reading through a few threads hear may explain a lot
www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=41
As you were

[David]

Hi Steve

Maybe. I sold the car a few years ago so have not seen it for a while. The last outing for me was to the National at Rockingham where it was runner up.

[Deleted]

I use Autosmart products. To polish I use cherry glaze it's quick easy and you don't get all that white dust you get from autoglym, mer, etc. they also do a wax which is also a easy one to use again I do this every three months just to keep the deep lust.

The good thing with with theses products is they don't contain silicon

[Simon H]

Thanks for the info! I guess I will carry on as normal and let the paint shop sort it out when the time comes.

Simon H