OP
OP
DFB5.0
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #91
The Wildtrak came back from the panel shop earlier this week. There were four areas of repair after damage caused by vandalism, an elderly unlicensed driver running into the right rear, a bird strike taking out the left rear-view mirror, and a careless driver clipping the front bumper.
This was caused by some drug fu.ked degenerate walking the streets late at night. This happened quite a while ago, but with Dad getting sick, floods............time got away.
The below happened late last year and necessitated another insurance claim, only a few days before it was due to go in to have the above repaired. Some old guy who wasn't paying attention run into the right rear, crushing the bumper and shattering the taillight.
It also had a new set of tyres fitted before it made the 1500+ km round trip to the Tour Down Under a few weeks ago..............Dad's a cycling nerd, he likes pedal power, I like horsepower. A fresh set of Bridgestone Dueler H/T fitted by the Bridgestone dealer...............who also scraped the face on two wheels. Why is it so hard for people to do their jobs without destroying someone else's property. I'm so fu.king fed up with the sheer incompetence from people who work on cars for a living. They just don't bloody care, so long as they get paid at the end of the day, why should they care how the job gets done, so long as it gets done.
Apart from needing a wash, I also had to deal with those new tires. Yes, in addition to ruining two wheels, they also slathered that hideous silicone stuff on the tyres.
First, I did two rounds with Shine Supply Wise Guy, diluted at the suggested 1:1. The first round produced moderate browning, the second came back clear. I also gave them a third scrub when I foamed the wheel and wheel arch with Brake Buster.
After dealing with the rest of the exterior and interior, I returned to the tyres.
At this point I would normally get out the Tarminator for one last scrub of the tyres, but today I decided to try using mineral turpentine/mineral spirits for the first time. Tarminator and mineral turpentine are both solvents that work in the same way on tyres, helping to strip away any lingering grime and delivering a completely bare rubber surface. Simply spray into a towel and rub the sidewall until it flashes away.
This is NOT something you should do regularly, but as a periodic reset, it can save a lot of time and effort scrubbing with a traditional tyre cleaner. In this case, the solvent also easily removes the manufacturing paint dots that a tyre cleaner will not even touch.
Next, I went around with a set of clippers and de-nibbed the sidewalls. Completely pointless, but once you've done it, there is no going back.
With the hard work done, the tyres were completely clean and bare. Time for the finishing touch, this time ADS Ghost. Compared to the Michelin Agilis on my Ranger, these Bridgestone's seemed to soak up the product. As such, after 10-minutes I decided to apply a second coat for a more uniform finish.
That second coat did increase the gloss though, taking it from a matte finish to a satin sheen. Still, I really like the finish Ghost leaves behind.
At some stage, I really need to get stuck into the Wildtrak. I've been limping it through on spray sealants to buy me time, but now that it's been repaired, I want to get it recoated. The paint also needs to be clayed. So, once the weather cools down, I'll be giving it a full chemical and mechanical decontamination, followed by a light polish and applying Can Coat EVO. I got about 15-months out of it last time and really appreciated how much easier the vehicle was to clean each month.
Bring on Autumn!
This was caused by some drug fu.ked degenerate walking the streets late at night. This happened quite a while ago, but with Dad getting sick, floods............time got away.
The below happened late last year and necessitated another insurance claim, only a few days before it was due to go in to have the above repaired. Some old guy who wasn't paying attention run into the right rear, crushing the bumper and shattering the taillight.
It also had a new set of tyres fitted before it made the 1500+ km round trip to the Tour Down Under a few weeks ago..............Dad's a cycling nerd, he likes pedal power, I like horsepower. A fresh set of Bridgestone Dueler H/T fitted by the Bridgestone dealer...............who also scraped the face on two wheels. Why is it so hard for people to do their jobs without destroying someone else's property. I'm so fu.king fed up with the sheer incompetence from people who work on cars for a living. They just don't bloody care, so long as they get paid at the end of the day, why should they care how the job gets done, so long as it gets done.
Apart from needing a wash, I also had to deal with those new tires. Yes, in addition to ruining two wheels, they also slathered that hideous silicone stuff on the tyres.
First, I did two rounds with Shine Supply Wise Guy, diluted at the suggested 1:1. The first round produced moderate browning, the second came back clear. I also gave them a third scrub when I foamed the wheel and wheel arch with Brake Buster.
After dealing with the rest of the exterior and interior, I returned to the tyres.
At this point I would normally get out the Tarminator for one last scrub of the tyres, but today I decided to try using mineral turpentine/mineral spirits for the first time. Tarminator and mineral turpentine are both solvents that work in the same way on tyres, helping to strip away any lingering grime and delivering a completely bare rubber surface. Simply spray into a towel and rub the sidewall until it flashes away.
This is NOT something you should do regularly, but as a periodic reset, it can save a lot of time and effort scrubbing with a traditional tyre cleaner. In this case, the solvent also easily removes the manufacturing paint dots that a tyre cleaner will not even touch.
Next, I went around with a set of clippers and de-nibbed the sidewalls. Completely pointless, but once you've done it, there is no going back.
With the hard work done, the tyres were completely clean and bare. Time for the finishing touch, this time ADS Ghost. Compared to the Michelin Agilis on my Ranger, these Bridgestone's seemed to soak up the product. As such, after 10-minutes I decided to apply a second coat for a more uniform finish.
That second coat did increase the gloss though, taking it from a matte finish to a satin sheen. Still, I really like the finish Ghost leaves behind.
At some stage, I really need to get stuck into the Wildtrak. I've been limping it through on spray sealants to buy me time, but now that it's been repaired, I want to get it recoated. The paint also needs to be clayed. So, once the weather cools down, I'll be giving it a full chemical and mechanical decontamination, followed by a light polish and applying Can Coat EVO. I got about 15-months out of it last time and really appreciated how much easier the vehicle was to clean each month.
Bring on Autumn!
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), and then having to stress over making sure I've rinsed out all the dirt and grime collected from the grotty pavers it landed on before proceeding.
