My C5 is black. I think I have the only one in captivity! The dealer told me they had even tried to sell the local taxi firm a new black one - but they opted for white instead!
Needless to say (when clean) it's outstanding - but keeping it clean is a real devil of a job. I use Autoglym resin followed by Autoglym gloss (make a day of it!)
Mind you, it's a fine line (pun or wot?)between regular cleaning and adding 'swirls' through over-enthusiasm! I take great care to avoid any sort of rubbing if there is even a trace of grit on the surface. I hose down first, then wash with a sponge and lots of hot water + (Halford's own) shampoo. Then I hose all the suds off and finish with 3 chamoises (??) I've a 'good' chamois for 'midline up', an old synthetic chamois for 'midline down' and a further good chamois for the glass - to avoid getting it contaminated with grease.
Oh - remove bird poo asap and don't drive too fast in hot weather (you impale more insects on the bonnet and that just adds to the grief!)
By the way, some wally bumped my front wing in a car park (and ran away!) Insurance stumped up for a new wing and it was the least painful thing I've seen in years! The bodyshop ordered a genuine Cit wing (galvanised) They sprayed it black then phoned for me to leave the car one morning. I picked it up at 5 and the repair was 100% indistinguishable!
The chap who did it said 'We just use black paint straight out of the tin. We don't need you car there to match it up or anything and because we're spraying 'off the car' we can do a thorough job (protection wise) and bake the wing before fitting'.
I also use a black ink marker for touching in chips that haven't penetrated the primer.Can't go wrong on colour and it blends beter than real paint!
Of course, for bigger marks, I'd need a bucket of tar and a roller maybe........
Black is pure class! Would you really expect HRH to drive around in a turquoise metallic Daimler?
Now, must pop off to do a bit of handshaking with the commoners....
Graeme
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I also use a black ink marker for touching in chips that haven't penetrated the primer.Can't go wrong on colour and it blends beter than real paint!
Of course!! Such a simple idea, why didn't I think of that myself? (On second thoughts don't answer that one!) Kev, thanks for the great tip! And the 3 chamoises is a good idea as well, I'll think I'll try that one too. You're cleaning regime isn't copyright is it? ;-)
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Wash in the shade, good idea.
Also try a panel at a time THATS how you detail a Royal vehicle.They also dismantle the brightwork & trim, each part individually polished!
As for thinking theres only the one black colour, 'straight out of the tin', try looking at the car tonight, under artificial lighting - or in a couple of years time, after the sun has had a go at it, or some of the nasty stuff, we put in our drinking water!!
Black cars do look smart, when you have done the elbow grease!
What else would the weekend be for?
VB
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As for thinking theres only the one black colour, 'straight out of the tin', try looking at the car tonight, under artificial lighting - or in a couple of years time....
Agreed. The new wing should have been fitted to the car before being sprayed, and then also feathered into the other surrounding panels by partially spraying them as well.
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No, I promise you, I've looked at the car under every conceivable light. The car has also been back to the dealer who sold it for servicing and he didn't have a clue it had been fitted with a new wing.
The bodyshop that did the work are extremely competent. They also fabricate and build refrigerated trailers and bodies for lorries. (I know - no necessary connection! But they are 'vehicle manufacturers' in their own right.) Been on the go for 30-40 years and have state of the art car refinishing facilities.
I know, though - I had exactly the same qualms at first and was all ready to throw a tantrum when the car came back - yet I just couldn't! It is so perfect that it's indistinguishable from the rest.
Bear in mind, of course, that the car was only months old when this happened and the paintwork probably hadn't had time to degrade from the 'official' colour to any marked extent. This is maybe why it still matched 'straight out of the tin'.
Rest assured, if my pride and joy had been anything less than it was before the bump, I would have kicked and screamed!
Graeme
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Graeme; the point we're trying to make is that given a couple of years, the colour difference will become noticable. Also parking under certain street lights will highlight the different colour between the sprayed wing and the rest of the car.
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Jeez Dynamic, I've heard some dross spouted by some major doom merchants in my time but don't you take the biscuit...? That really must be a bad paint job Graeme's got, right? (Tho' you've presumably never seen it?) So as far as you're concerned, Graeme might as well slit his wrists right now huh, since you seem to be determined that his "pride and joy" just won't ever be the same again? Not withstanding the fact that in a couple of years time he will have to "Autoglym Super Resin" (or whatever the stuff's called) his car every day just to see this colour difference - oh yeh, I nearly forgot... only at night under a certain kind of lamplight!!! Finally, even given what you say is true - just how exactly is "feathering" more of this black-that-isn't-really-the-same-black paint going to help pass your lamplight test - in two years time, of course!
Rgds,
Moz.
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Mozzer,
I can only speak from experience of not only knowing people in the respray trade, but also having my own cars touched up at some time or other. I have yet to see a car that has only had one panel resprayed and not see any difference in colour to the other panels. Whether that be now, or several months away, you can generally tell.
As for me sprouting dross, you are of course entitled to an opinion; now whether that opinion be true or not, we\'ll wait and see, shall we? However, I\'ve not voiced a personal opinion of someone, only an opinion of what I feel is the only true way of getting a proper respray job done. Now where is your input on the subject, or are you only here to criticise what people write?
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Dynamic Dave,
My car is also a black one. Mine has also been resprayed in the past. I concur completely with Graeme. You made your point a few posts ago. You chose to re-iterate it, in my view without merit. I've said my piece, apparently I'm sorry I spoke!
Rgds, Moz.
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ps, I'd just like to add that if Graeme is happy with his respray, then at the end of the day that is all that matters; regardless of my, or anyone else's opinion.
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I've got to admit, I think anyone would be hard pushed to spot which bits of my car have been repaired and replaced. The rear bumper looks identical under *any* light, and the area of the front bumper that was resprayed is absoloutely invisible.
I know these repairs are there and even I can't spot them.
Don't know if they were sprayed on the car or off though...just very pleased with the result...
Blue
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Woops, didn't mean to cause any aggro, lads!
You see the funny thing is, I would have agreed with Dave before having had the job done. I've never come across a paint job that I haven't been able to 'see the join' - and yes, I'm one of those sad cases that WOULD go examining it under a street lamp!
This is what surprises me all the more.
I concede, of course, that the difference might become obvious after a couple of years, although I'm not sure why the new paintwork should discolour at a different rate than the original.
The ONLY way I could detect the repair is to lift the bonnet and see tiny scratches on the nuts holding on the wing, where the spanner gripped! Even the pieces of trim have been replaced faultlessly.
Anyway, nuff said, I reckon!
Thanks everyone for the chat.
Graeme
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Apparently there are over 75 different shades of black, at least according to a paint shop I used to deal with.
In fact, there is no true black paint - it's either the darkest green or blue.
Anyway, my black car gets washed as a reward for passing its MOT, i.e. once a year (usually), and it doesn't ever get really dirty - 25ft away it looks clean!
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> In fact, there is no true black paint - it's either the darkest green or blue.
Ah, so that's why my last 2 MoT certificates have said blue rather than black! Now, who's colour-blind, me or the tester?
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