[mikmak]

No this has nothing to do with Bravada

I gave Victoria (2.2 5spd Vectra) a mini make over this weekend. I removed the hideous vinyl stickers which have adorned here lo these 3 years spent. My method would probably make any of you body shop pros cringe and point, but here's the result.

Encrusted with months of daily commuter grime and those lovely stickers:

I used a wax grease and grime remover to soften the left over adhesive, then scraped it off with a credit card screeeeep.:lmao:

Gave her a quick wipe over with a pair of old undies and some more wax/grease grime stuff and then a full tubs.

So now she's a naked, where do I start with protection? I'm a cheap ass so keep that in mind when you refer the use of clay bars (what ever the hell they are) and the like. Give me some tips from the pros so she can stay nice and purdy.

 

[Neanderthal]

Can uh Johnson's Wax, yellah I think.

Good for floors, furniture, cars, moustaches, chrome domes, and rifle stocks.

Used to be about five bucks.

 

[91 s-10baja]

Well not sure how it is packaged down under, but here the clay bar comes w/ clay, lube, and a bottle of cleaner wax, so for 20 bucks it really is not a large investment, plus you can do two to three cars w/ one bar dependent obviously on condition of each. Also a tip, if you run out of the clay lube, what we use in the shop is water, and dish soap, now if that is not CHEAP.....
Here is a vid, and keep in mind it really does not take that much time, you can move accross a car rather quickly w/ a bottle, clay and a rag in your hand. I truly recomend clay especially for cars that have never been done before

 

[EldoFan]

Looks much better now man (BTW, wasn't Cadillac's Catera based on the Vectra??)

 

[t-rex]

My wife's still waiting to see your baubles...



Anyway, ya got the ol' girl lookin' sharp there, mikypoo!...

 

[91 s-10baja]

Looks much better now man (BTW, wasn't Cadillac's Catera based on the Vectra??)

The saturn L was a vectra based car!! The Catera was the omega

 

[Bravada]

Even if it has nothing to do with me, I am the official no. 1 fan of Vectra B, so I love what you've done for your baby! Still looks stunning for her age!

(BTW, wasn't Cadillac's Catera based on the Vectra??)

Nope, the Catera was the mighty Omega!

The Vectra B became the base for the Saturn L-Series in the US, though the car suffered some atrocious deformation in the plastic molding process Actually, a fair bit of the Saturn was also borrowed from the Saab 9-5, another descendant of Vectra B.

As you might have noticed, the front end is noticeably longer - this is the part borrowed directly from GM2902 - the Saab 9-5 platform (original Vectra platform being the GM2900)

 

[mikmak]

My wife's still waiting to see your baubles...



Anyway, ya got the ol' girl lookin' sharp there, mikypoo!...

Tell Mrs. Rex to never fear. That will come with my next thread: "Waxing my Baubles".

 

[mikmak]

P.S. Thanks all for the compliments. I still really dig her and to be honest admire her ability to put up with my neglect. Passed 190,000 last week and still going strong.

 

[BrickTamland]

Holden put a humdinger of a finish on those wheels since they cleaned up so well with all that brake dust.

 

[isszy]

Nice work MikMak.

One of the worst things to clean on cars like the Vectra (and my VY for that matter) is the rough finish black plastic along the windscreen base and the spoiler & mudflaps.

If you get any polish on them they go white, and they naturally go grey over time anyway.

I found some stuff called 'Naturally Black' by Mothers that does a top job of restoring the finish.

 

[mikmak]

Sweet. I was thinking baby oil but I'l give this stuff a crack if the lubes no good.

 

[paul8488]

Wow, it seriously looks like a different car! Much darker than I thought. I know what you're talking about... after enough time you get attached to a car. You done your baby good... looks awesome! Hope you get another 190,000 kms out of her!