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Waxing your car the right way

Waxing your car the right wayWaxing your car the right way

Waxing your car frequently will certainly keep the car’s paint in a good state and also elongate its life. N a similar note, waxing and buffing can help you save money over the long run as you won’t need to frequently repaint the car.

Requirements for the task

You’ll need the following stuff to carry out the task –

  • Electrical orbital buffer or a high-speed angle grinder with buffing wheel
  • Buffing pads and compound
  • Car fiber, polish and microfiber cloth in a kit

A high-speed angler certainly provides the best result but does require practice to master. You will have to careful to not damage the paint. The other option is to go with an orbital buffer, although it won’t be as effective as an angle grinder.

Buffing

Take a handsome amount of the buffing compound and then apply it to the part that has scratched surface or is heavily weathered. Buffing works when a fine layer of paint is stripped away and the fresh paint exposed below it. Waxing the car just after the buffing process will offer protective properties of the actual clear coat.

Use the buffing pad to spread the compound, but ensure that it doesn’t splatter onto other surfaces. Do not get the compound on glass, rubber or chrome. Now, turn the buffer on and work in circular motions. Do not turn the buffer at an angle or put too much pressure as that will burn the surface paint and cause swirling. Work the areas till you get a bright gloss. The surface should then smooth and appear to be new.

If the paint happens to be in good condition, you will not need to use the buffing compound. You can use car polish in its stead and also less of it will cover more area. This way you must restore the paint.

Opt for buffing about once a year. However, if you happen to live close to a coastal area, you might to take buffing attempts more than just once a year. This occurs due to the high salt content in the air which causes the paint to oxidize at a faster rate. Also, if your car happens to be parked under trees, it will mostly be covered in bird droppings and tree sap. This damages paint, so you should carry out buffing more than once a year.

Waxing

Now, you must apply the car wax with the help of a clean buffer pad. Spread it evenly by gently pulsing the trigger of the buffer. This ensures that the cake doesn’t cake on the surface. Cover a quarter of the panel before you remove the wax. Follow the directions given in the bottle as some waxes need to be removed after a certain time. Make use of the microfiber cloth for the removal of the wax. Use circular motions as that gives a high gloss. Repeat this process across the entire paint surface.

Waxing the car is necessary every three months. However, do not buff every time you opt for waxing.

The above process if followed will surely give your car a great look without you having to spend too much.

Tips

Fixing your car’s squeaky brakes easily

Fixing your car's squeaky brakes easily

Fixing your car’s squeaky brakes easily

Let’s be honest! Squeaky brakes are real irritating and one needs to certainly take care so that it does not happen. While the brakes themselves may work very well, applying the pedal at any point of time might just give out a loud screeching noise. Hence, without any doubt, it is surely time to take a look at the brakes.

It is important to note that brakes do make some amount of noise. If you happen to expect complete silence, that is not really possible. However, what you can have is a pretty quiet braking system.

What makes the noise?

Modern brakes are known to use a cast iron disc squeezed between two brakes pads that are lined with frictional material. When the conditions are right, the disc, the pads, and the caliper they are mounted on can start to vibrate. Most screeches thus occur at different frequencies. Thus, the speed of the car and pressure applied to the left pedal is responsible for the volume of the noise. This is because the pitch is controlled by the stiffness and mass of the disc and pad.

If the brakes are inadequately developed by the maker, noise is noticed and can be easily overcome without the need to reengineer any of the pad, disc, mount or caliper. So, what is needed is to dampen the noise and just change the resonant frequency of the entire arrangement.

Pad noises

Earlier, brake pad friction material used asbestos, which gave mechanics lung cancer. So, the replacement was Kevlar, which is dusty. Extra load is required in brakes these days to increase safety. This is done by using ceramic or metallics. This is why brakes hiss or even grind.

Now, most brakes are known to have a small finger of spring steel that scrapes on the disc as the pads reach their wear limit. This is actually the time to change the pads so that the friction material does not wear away totally.

Silencing the noise

So, how can you silence the noise? One simple solution is to change the pads such that they have a different friction material. While it is certainly difficult to get a total replacement of the original pads, you might just be able to get one that resonates less enough to not cause the squealing noise.

Another option is to decouple the piston acoustically from the pad. This can be done by purchasing shims that are made of Teflon and go between the caliper’s hydraulic piston and the pad. A final option would be to coat the back face of the backing plates of the pad with ant seize compound or high-temp break grease.

Undertaking this simple option can help you fix your squealing brakes easily. While this is a DIY job, you can still go for a mechanic if it doesn’t bear fruits.

Tips

An easy guide to painting a car

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An easy guide to painting a carAn easy guide to painting a car

A car is certainly a very valuable asset to people who own one. Therefore, taking care of it, so that it serves you well and also earns resale value, is well worth it. Among several aspects of maintenance, the cars paint is surely an important factor. Hence, if the paint on your car appears to be dingy, it is always good to give it a fresh coat.

Now, painting a car can often turn out to be a pretty expensive task, setting you back by a handsome amount of money. If you wish to save on this front, then a probable option is to go for a DIY car painting task, which despite being moderately easy, will help you save money.

Requirements

As you might make out, painting the car can be a pretty time consuming task. Hence, you will need to keep a couple of weekends for the job. Also, make sure you have a shed of sorts so that weather doesn’t play spoilsport to your efforts.

You’ll need –

  • A lot of wet and dry sandpaper (1200 and 2000)
  • A sander that is electric or air powered
  • Newspapers for masking
  • Spray gun
  • Buffer
  • Masking tape
  • Air compressor
  • Safety glasses
  • Undercoat
  • Face masks
  • Enamel paint or topcoat acrylic
  • Paint thinners
  • Clear-coat lacquer

Coming to the paint, the requirements vary with the size of your car. If you posses a small or medium sized car, you’ll need about 4 liters of base coat, 11 liters of top coat and another 11 liters of clear-coat lacquer. If your car is large, then increase each by 3 liters.

Preparing for the task

The first task is to clear the area of any dust. Then, you should wash the car clean the surface completely. Ensure that there is no grease or dirt of any kind.

You must then decide if you are going to paint details or just the exteriors. Painting details, like the trunk, engine bay or doorsills, can take up more time, besides requiring that you strip all the parts down. Now, mask the areas that are not to be painted. Wear the face mask and the eye wear for protection, following which you can turn on the dust extractor.

Stripping

Start sanding the car in circular motions. Corners and crevices might require that you do so by hand. The best option is to sand it to the bare metal finish. Make sure that you have an even and smooth surface.

Follow that up with a clean up using a rag and thinner. Then wait till the residue from the thinner evaporates.

Priming

The primer is to be mixed with the thinner and this can be done according to the ratios that are mentioned in your paint can.  You might also want to take a stance on your spraying technique. You can take a piece of scrap steel and hold the spray gun about six inches off the steel. Then spray using a side-to-side sweeping motion.

Once you settle on your technique move over to the car. Now, apply the primer in a thin but even manner. It should take two or three coats to completely cover the car. Then allow for drying times as mentioned in the primer car instructions. Each coat usually takes ten minutes per panel and then about 20-60 minutes between recoating the primer to cure.

The primed surface will have a powdery outlook and you’ll need to use the 2000 wet and dry sandpaper to even out things. Use a little bit of thinner and wipe the primed surface with a rag.

Painting

Now, mix the paint with thinner as per instructions. Apply topcoat making use of the same technique as before. Go on to apply three to four coats and allow for the drying time between every coat. Before, you go to the last coat, use the sandpaper again to remove powdery residue. Finally, repeat the steps for the clear-coat lacquer.

Removing the masking when the clear coat is still wet has to be done carefully. The tape or the paper should not stick to the wet paint. Let the clear coat cure for the required time. If you find any imperfections, sand the area and then re-spray carefully.

With his really simple approach, painting your car is a very simple job to accomplish. You will not only save money but also get an immense sense of satisfaction.