NSW Corvettes
Technical Tips => Electrical-Electronics-Air-Lighting-Guages-Security-Vacuum => Topic started by: johnny86convert on January 05, 2004, 10:34:48 AM
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OK...first dumb question of 2004,how do you get the headlights to stay up on a C4 so you can wash the surrounds. I.E. with the lights off!! also quick easy tips for cleaning and detailing of engine bay. ;);););)
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Hi JH,
Hope you had a good Chrissy and New Year. ;)
After raising the hood, you will see on each side of each headlight assembly (towards the centre of the hood - just above the radiator surround) a small (about four or five inches long) black cylinder with a knob on top. If you twist the knob you can manually raise and lower the headlights.
As far as engine bay cleaning tips go I am probably not the one to ask as I seem to do it the hard way (ie: removing things to clean them).
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The other way is to turn on the headlights, then push the switch back to the 'parking' light position and the headlights will stay up until you push the switch all the way in.
Ben.
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VO/BEN thanks guys,happy new year,yes I'm still cleaning black beauty,found out lots about,blocksanding,polishes,dewalt buffers waxes etc and still progressing slowly on the road to a killer shine and black must be the hardest colour to play with LOLOLOLOL
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Share your "care for black paint" tips!
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hiya 77CVT , first one is don't try to get a better polish with those BLACK polish crappola u bute polishes there more like polish strippers than enhancers.started off with prepsol/polish remover . Scared the crap out of me cause it sent my paint /car section grey.Then went to 2000 wet and dry lottsa water with a plastic block but just got stuck on duco.Best result for first stage after prepsol to remove swirls and light scratches was to use 4000 wet/dry/water sanding pad with plastic block,lottsa water and just glides over the surface made the whole process easier,still hard work but really made the basis of a good polishing process something to build on.Then came my DEWALT 849 polisher set on 1000 rpm with a good lambs wool pad,System One Polishing Compound shady cloudy cool day finished about 5 PM took me 5 hours for the first step,then came yellow pad on the dewalt and system one polish took me nealy all second day.Third day was system one polish with a finshing Black foam pad.then a special sponge with polish , finally buffing whole car with a open weave polishing towel/wipe. After that Maquires Canubra WAX,all in all with rest brakes cause the buffer aint't light it took me four days.I wish I hadn't started with the 2000 wet and dry first cause the 4000 with the pad is so effective and takes all the swirls out if your just patient and don't rush the job.I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it took a bit of practice with the buffer on the last to stages to realise your buffing the polish ON...........I was pushing to hard even on 1000RPM and was burning the polish on, so you don;t need to search for a killer shine at this stage.....you should be just trying to leave the polish on as they say.IN the end I found out to get a killer shine on black cars comes in stages, A great polish,Magiures or mothers,a great buffer<variable speed is a must and I did mine on cloudy days so I could see my progress better. If this helps I'm real glad because my shine is truly trial and error. ;);););)
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Jesus - you're as anal as me! :mmm
Agree on the black polish stuff - already wasted my $$ on that. Haven't tried 4000 wet and dry but someone told me to use 1200 and it dulled the finish too much and took a lot of polishing to bring it back.
How much was the buffer? I have only used a proper one once and it does take practice not to get swirl marks even using it lightly.
I use meguires and found the swirl reducer stuff used with a buffer gets the paint super smooth and comes up like glass. It doesn't get the deeper swirls out but if you used the 4000 and then this stuff it would be magic!
Are there any anti static polishes out there? I'm sick of "dusty black".
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77...........don't know about anti static polishes,but your so right about 1200 wet and dry,just too uncontrollable for me.If you can find a sanding pad thats 2000 ( use a plastic block) then 4000 sanding pad With a block then all the other steps I reckon you'll end up with a mirror finish.The buffer was $345.00 but well worth the cost in years to come and of coarse its variable speed too.I went down to my local tip and got a bonnet for free ,bought it home and practised, masking up the middle and trying different polishes and techniques on either side.it was dark blue and ok but I'd look for a black next time!!;);););)
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Thought I might ask if any of you have ever tried Zanio products ? It is not a wax and does not attract as much dust. They have a whole line of products out and many people swear by them (not at them). I have used Zanio on my admiral blue GS and it is awesome. Also use a wax by Pinnacle that is the best yet. You might look into it...www.pinnaclewax.com . Zanio is www.zainobros.com . Do you all ever clay bar your vettes? Really makes a big difference. ;)
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Meguires has their clay bar here but that's about it. Someone on this forum is looking into Zaino but might be hard to import through customs.
I now believe preperation is this single most influencing factor for a polish/wax job!
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Meguires is as good as anyones for clay bars. I was reluctant to try clay barring at first but after reading so many good things, I tried it and it does make a difference.All points up to what you said about prep time before appling finished products. Hope the Zanio comes thru for you all, you will swear by it also I think:luv