Restoring dull paintwork

[Bagel2003]

Hi,

Has anyone got any tips for restoring dull paintwork?

My MK3 GTI is dark blue and has a faded bonnet and roof in places. T Cut works well initially but then fades. I've also got a tub of Color Magic but haven't used that it as such.

For the chips, I've got a tin of the actual paint made up by a firm in New Malden, Surrey. Perhaps it's got to the re-painting stage....

Wash - T cut - Color Magic a few times - then Mer ?

Tar

[vixteris]

I think thats about as much as you can do.   I guess some severe elbow grease once a week is as good as it can be when it comes to renovating the paintwork.  I cant suggest anything better than T cut to be honest  

[Dizzie]

try waxing after the tcut to protect the finish. it does say that on the bottle btw.

[S11EPS]

I would take it to a bodyshop and ask them to run over the car with a mop and some heavy cutting compound. Then protect the car (like Diz says) with a high quality polish, something like Autoglym high gloss polish.

T-cut is ok, but the cutting agent is pretty mild - you'll need something a bit more heavy duty if you have seriously dull paint.

Make sure you polish the car at least once every three months to maintain a decent level of polish build up to protect the paint.

[Dizzie]

I wax mine about every 3-4 weeks to keep the paint as good as I can. The rain has chemicals in it these days and damages the paint. The wax protects all that. (I hope)

[Speedydub]

One word.

Zymol

 

http://www.zdouk.com/

[Martz]

As Dizzie says, thats seals it. Make sure you polish it fairly reguarly too.

[richandhazel]

One word.

Zymol

 

http://www.zdouk.com/

Have you used any of their expensive stuff? I've used their cleaner wax that you can buy relatively cheaply from Halfords and wasn't overly impressed........smelt good though. Just wondered how their expensive wax compares and whether it really is a case of you get what you pay for?

[topher]

The expensive stuff is worth every penny rich, just dont drop it !
As for restoring the paint.. if it really is that bad then short of a respray getting it mopped (as said somewhere above) is your only option. Most body shops will do this for about ?80, basically paying the labour charge.
I've seen this method turn pink cars back to their rosso red in a matter of hours, just remember to WAX IT[/u] because you're basically taking several layers of paint off and need to seal and protect it. Otherwise 3 weeks later you'll be back where you started, only you can't mop it again because you'll be down to the primer.

Chris.

[Martz]

Done that to my dead Audi. Was pink now it looking good again.