Team-BHP - Polishing the car/bike.

Hi guys,
I have been polishing my bike atleast once a month for the past 2 years. And its because of that my bike is almost looking brand new even today. I am not bragging

. Some sites say that frequent polishing can cause the paint to fade away. And some sites say that u have to frequently polish ur vehicle to maintain the quality of the paint. Now whom shud I believe.

Till now my bikes color hasnt faded from anywhere. If I continue to polish my bike every month,, will it harm the paint work in anyway??? Does polishing remove a [very thin] layer of paint??? I'm asking this because when you do mchine polishing, they use a mild rubbing compound to remove scratches. Now rubbing compound obviously removes a thin layer of paint. Thats why the scratches disappear. And Teflon coating is useless. Goes away in just 3-4 months. So the best option is to polish regularly.

What are the disadvantages

Regular use of rubbing compound would surely take away more paint than one would like, but a mild amount of wax would do almost nothing. Dont you worry V12, Keep taking care of your cruiser the way you always have. I am one to testify that it does indeed look as good as new.

BTW Ajmat, tell us more about getting your Vtec Autoglymed?

GTO

I think one good way of keep the paint from fading is to keep it away from the sun and rain as much as possible.

I've noticed that polish shows only on cars with dark colours, no matter how much a polish my car (saphire silver), it remains the same. But, the body does feel silky smooth.

Regards...
Shan2nu

ya polish mostly shows up on colors that do not reflect light eg . red, black etc. I am never satisfied after washing/polishing my Qualis. U cant make out the difference except for the smooth feel on the body.

Hey Thanks GTO. BTW any of you guys Teflon coated ur vehicle??? Does it REALLY protect the vehicle???

Autoglym is a high end UK range of car care products recommended by Rolls, Aston Martin etc. They are setting up a chain of grooming centres around the South. At present, you pay a lump sum. I paid around Rs 4k, first time around they throughly run down polih the car and interior, after that you get another 3 polishes, 2 interior clean up and 16 car washes. They do a damn good job., only hassle is that they are in Jayanagar which is a little out of the way. The car look immaculate after a normal wash so I feel it is worth the money. Best alternative is to do it yourself but I need 4 hrs which is difficult. \

Teflon - got it on my wifes M800 - no big deal

There is this relatively unknown service in Bombay which goes by the name of "Master Polishes". They also perform an immaculate job on the car, entirely washing/polishing the interiors and exteriors of the car. Trust me, these guys can treat the car like nobodys business. I had just called them for my C Class, and they charged me 1450- for exterior treatment, interior treatment, leather seats polishing, tyre polishing et all.

Three guys come armed with "armorall" products and vacuum cleaners in all sizes. Their work is nothing short of perfection. E.g. This little guy was using cotton buds to clean my air con vents.

Needless to say, I tied them into a contract for all my cars

GTO

Hey V12,

As long as you are not using any sort of rubbing compound i dont think there will be any problems with your paint fading away. Just make sure you use a good quality polish (im assuming u use turtlewax?) and preferably with UV protection..for whatever that is worth.

The way modern cars are painted is that there is a layer/or layers of coloured paint sprayed on, and then on top of that are layers of clear coat with high reflectivity, that gives the car that shine, and also acts as a sort of protective layer for the paint.
Hence the microscopic scratches that steal the shine of your car are in the clear coat. And as you said, polishing it with an abraisive compound will remove those scratches by smoothening down the clear coat, so if this is down too often the clear coat becomes too thin and then you start rubbing down the paint! which is not good.

Check out this new stuff MB is working on.....

Source of pic: http://www.germancarfans.com/photos.....l

cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (ajmat @ Mar. 23 2004,07:06)]The updated Merc C class will have this coating. Paintwork of most recent cars *went for a six due to environmentally friendly methods.

Thats right.
Something about using water based paints as opposed to the earlier (better in terms of durability) oil based paints (which werent so enviormentally friendly).

Another strange fact that i heard was that the base coat of pigment thats under the clearcoat is not a "paint" as such...but just a powder that is kept on the body by the clearcoat!!

This is what i have heard...
cheers
Rehaan.

i'm with u shantanu & v12..how much ever i polish my city it never really shows..its satin silver color but the surface feels really smooth...if u try to sit on the car u slip !

even i'd heard that frequent polishing fades the paint so i polish once in 2 months...which wax do u use ? i use formula 1...

M3

For the paint i use Turtlw Wax Color Magic [for all shades of red], 3M and Glo-Shield. No not all together. Depends on my mood.

For the plastics and tyres, i use Formula One Interior Pretectant. For chrome, I use a white powder thats used to remove rust. Gives a good shine.
Polishin with a good polish does not cause the paint to fade i guess. Its only if u wash the car with soap water [detergents]and use rubbing compound [even mild] frewuently. Even if u leave ur vehicle in the sun for a long period of time the paint cud fade.
The result [even after 2 years]:

P.S. : When this pic was taken my bike wasnt polished for around 2 weeks. Was taken in November last year.