Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Well polish has to work to some extent, right? Swirl marks aren't supposed to be impossible to get rid of.

I don't have a problem with polish, just don't want to damage my 6 month old paintjob.
 
^ polish will do the job better
IIRC the wax is for protecting the car in advance, and will have no effect if the damage is done

In other news, I managed to spend 80? on one tank of petrol, which seems ridiculous and wasteful. Thankfully it's my wife's car and this 80? will last us a whole month or so. Doing only 6k kms a year is a really good way of saving money.
 
I've decided that instead of spending a ton of money modifying my current car, that I will buy a second sort-of-project car. At the moment, my decision is between a Jaguar XJ6 Series 3 or a W123 or W116 Mercedes. I could also get something like a Citroen CX, which I love, but I fear would be a huge money pit.

The Merc(s) are cheaper and easier to find, and potentially more reliable and therefore less expensive to run, but I adore the Jag and have always wanted one.

The critical thing is that if I buy one of these, it has to be cheap. By cheap I mean that it has to be a price at which I could buy it, run it for a few months, and should I have to, sell it at a profit. Therefore, it's less of a project and more of a nice second car that I can enjoy without having to worry about it burning a hole in my wallet.

I know I'm well covered here for info on Jags, and presumably there are people here who know far more about the Mercs than I do. So any particular things should I look out for? Any other opinions?

The Oz market for Mercs is a bit odd, like the US one.

The car you get will probably not have working A/C and if an automatic, shift poorly. Sun damage in and out is going to be common, also watch for rust, so check under the carpets, the trunk, door sills, etc.

The W116 had a terrible A/C system that Chrysler even rejected in the '70s that's made out of plastic. It will be broken. An aluminum replacement (that will work infinitely longer and better) is around 600USD.

Diesels need valve adjustment every 5k miles, but it just sounds bad and smokes if it's not done.

Petrol versions are another kettle of fish. The best advice I can give is start the motor cold and listen to it, it should sound smooth and quiet, if it sounds like a diesel, the valves are out of whack and you should probably run. Keep in mind the injectors on the FI models are loud and literally just "spray, spray, spray" so your mileage will be poor, especially on the V8s.

The automatic transmissions on the W123 can be jerky and break, this can be a B2 piston issue (vacuum) or poor maintenance. The manuals are mediocre, but not problematic.

The market for both cars is stable. You might be able to get a small profit on the car or more or less what you paid for it, depending on the work you put in and a little luck.
 
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In other news, I managed to spend 80? on one tank of petrol, which seems ridiculous and wasteful.

If it makes you feel any better the Saab costs about ?80 to fill up. And won't really do 600km on that tank. :lol:
 
Weather here was crazy today. Lots of high winds and rain moving in. It's been hot and dry lately, so a lot of dust was getting kicked up. I was just driving home through a dust storm, which is practically an every day occurrence around here, but it got really bad today. Visibility went from a couple hundred feet to maybe 10 feet at most within a few seconds. I started to slow down of course, but I was worried about other cars coming up from behind too fast, so I didn't want to slow down too quickly. Then I came up on traffic in the other lane that was stopped, so I knew traffic was probably stopped in my lane too, so I slowed down more and was just able to see some brake lights ahead. There was no one behind me though and I was getting that cold feeling of doom like something really bad is about to happen, you know? I kept tapping my brakes to make sure my brake lights would flash for anyone coming up behind me. Then almost at once the dust turned to mud as the rain tore through. My entire car was covered in it, like I just got done running a WRC rally stage or something. The rain washed most of it off, but my car is a mess.
 
Well polish has to work to some extent, right? Swirl marks aren't supposed to be impossible to get rid of.

I don't have a problem with polish, just don't want to damage my 6 month old paintjob.

If you do it right the polish will help. If you do it wrong you can make more swirl marks. Polish removes a bit of clear coat each time you use it, so ideally you only use it when you really need to polish something out. Otherwise you should have wax on the paint to protect it before it gets little scratches.

If you do polish it, follow it with a good waxing.
 
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Meguiar's makes a swirl remover of some sorts I believe.

They do, but despite the claims it only works on relatively minor swirl marks. Sadly - tested it on a number of vehicles.

There apparently are some new professional-only products that can be used - don't we have a member who's a professional detailer in SoCal? I'm sure he could give good advice on this.
 
The Oz market for Mercs is a bit odd, like the US one.

The car you get will probably not have working A/C and if an automatic, shift poorly. Sun damage in and out is going to be common, also watch for rust, so check under the carpets, the trunk, door sills, etc.

The W116 had a terrible A/C system that Chrysler even rejected in the '70s that's made out of plastic. It will be broken. An aluminum replacement (that will work infinitely longer and better) is around 600USD.

Diesels need valve adjustment every 5k miles, but it just sounds bad and smokes if it's not done.

Petrol versions are another kettle of fish. The best advice I can give is start the motor cold and listen to it, it should sound smooth and quiet, if it sounds like a diesel, the valves are out of whack and you should probably run. Keep in mind the injectors on the FI models are loud and literally just "spray, spray, spray" so your mileage will be poor, especially on the V8s.

The automatic transmissions on the W123 can be jerky and break, this can be a B2 piston issue (vacuum) or poor maintenance. The manuals are mediocre, but not problematic.

The market for both cars is stable. You might be able to get a small profit on the car or more or less what you paid for it, depending on the work you put in and a little luck.

I have found this beauty, it looks superb and would be the exact sort of car I'd go for. High mileage, but its very difficult to find a car of this age without it. Mind you, I wouldn't buy this one, too far away and too soon... this is all somewhere down the track - could be in a few months, could be a few years. So anyway, I'm watching this one to see what sort of price it goes for.
1984 W123 230E
 
Thanks for the input on paint products guys. I had picked up a bunch of Autoglym supplies last week and instead of the polish I had gotten the detailer instead by accident.

I just decided to return everything though, I don't have the patience and/or am too much of a perfectionist to be able to properly detail my car. Just deciding on what supplies I needed and what brands I wanted took hours and hours, you can imagine how long it would take me to detail my small hatchback... and I'd probably still be dissatisfied with the outcome.

Whatever, screw it. Just another item I can add to the list of projects I conceived but didn't go through with thanks to my sordid outlook on everything.
 
I've been waiting for days for it not to rain, so I can try out my buffing machine - and today looks good. So it'll be a good wash - chamois - claybar - polish/paint reviver - extra gloss polish :)
 
I've been waiting for days for it not to rain, so I can try out my buffing machine - and today looks good. So it'll be a good wash - chamois - claybar - polish/paint reviver - extra gloss polish :)

you're planning on doing that all in one day? a friend did the same a while ago...i took him a week...
especially the claybar is a bitch!
 
you're planning on doing that all in one day? a friend did the same a while ago...i took him a week...
especially the claybar is a bitch!

Ha, that's basically what made me abandon my plans. I could see myself spending hours and hours on it, more than I could manage in one day which is a problem since I can't wash the car at my place.

What claybar are you planning on using public? I've read about you using Autoglym products but they don't sell the claybar over here (I had bought the Mother's kit). I'd be interested in your opinion if you're using the AG claybar.
 
One day, yeah; claybaring the car the last time took about an hour or so. I'm using a non-brand, medium-strength claybar I ordered from a Finnish online carcare store. I'm out of AG products at the moment, so I'll be using Korrek (Finnish brand) reviver and Turtle Wax Premium Gloss. I'm not an experienced claybar-er, I'm using regular soapy water and a squirt bottle, just keeping the bar properly lubricated so it glides. I'd happily try some detailer liquid for a change, of course.

Edit: I also have a tin of Simoniz. Would be interesting to try it.
 
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You people have this all wrong.....the best way to protect a cars paint is to have it always covered in dust so the sunlight can't reach it.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it.......
 
Here we go, bought Meguiar's Speed Detailer and Scratch-X. Gotta get claybaring.
 
Whatever, screw it. Just another item I can add to the list of projects I conceived but didn't go through with thanks to my sordid outlook on everything.

I wouldn't call it sordid, I'd say you just value your time differently and would rather do other things than wash your car. I love cars and I'm a lazy bastard when it comes to washing mine. The most it gets is being pulled into one of those "wash your own car" car washes. A gazillion quarters later and it's "good enough." :p

As much as I'd like to say I'd change when I do get rid of the Saturn, I doubt it. :p
 
I wouldn't call it sordid, I'd say you just value your time differently and would rather do other things than wash your car. I love cars and I'm a lazy bastard when it comes to washing mine. The most it gets is being pulled into one of those "wash your own car" car washes. A gazillion quarters later and it's "good enough." :p

As much as I'd like to say I'd change when I do get rid of the Saturn, I doubt it. :p

:nod: I told myself I'd change when I got a nice car. It was a horrible lie.
 
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