What have you done to your MX-5 today? (Part 2)

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TM80 Magnums

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Came back to my MX5 after work today and it is covered in bird muck, what do these guys eat :nauseated_face:.

So decided to give the whole car a wash. I had applied one coat of Turtle Wax Ceramic Wax Coating about two and a half weeks ago so was interested to see how the wash would go.

Results are positive, water is definitely beading off the paintwork and after an hour the car was rinsed, pre-washed, rinsed, washed, rinsed and dried, the full works (more on the drying in a moment). I made a point of noting how long the whole cycle took and thought from start to finish in just on 1 hour was pretty good going. The car is gleaming again.

The evening sun was shining so I went mad an put a second coat of Turtle Wax Ceramic Coating on the car :turtle:. This stuff is so easy to apply. Another hour later and my car is tucked up back in the garage, half an hour later it’s raining, how lucky was that.:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Now about the drying. I previously used full drying towels but (I have gone mad, again and) bought one of these:

A 2800W warm air dryer. Which blows the water off the car at (up to) 65m/s.

Was it quicker than using the towels? No, about the same.:pinching_hand:
Is it more effective than drying towels? Yes, definitely.:+1:
Did the ceramic coat help? Yes, absolutely. The water turned into tiny marbles and just ran away.:+1::+1:
Was it worth spending ÂŁ99.95 of Amazon? Depends how mad you are.:crazy_face:

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I never knew such a thing existed? Been using the garden leaf blower on mine (sometimes) which is quite heavy to use! Bonus is it’s also suitable as a pet dryer! What’s not to like? :+1:

Barrie

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Very mad…I bought an identical doggie one for £49.99. :grin:

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Did you order one??

My elderly neighbour always thinks I’m ott when I just keep washing the car and polishing, don’t know what he’d make of a blow dryer🤨
Must wash mine, gardening has been top o f the list of jobs just lately.

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Our gardener used his leaf blower on his little van, but after a while he noticed the soft Renault paint was getting marked with little pits. He showed me the damage.

He was effectively sandblasting it with the dust the thing picks up on the intake in the dry weather.

He still uses it on the van after the power-washer, but now just from much further away! Apparently, slower dust = less damage.

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Can you imagine getting your car repainted then sandblasting it…who would do such a thing :relaxed::relaxed:

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Mine got hailblasted today…

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Ah it must be one of the gentle blowers. Our dogs loved my mother’s hair dryers, even when they were not wet…

Your cuddly little friends would be knocked off their feet by my gardener’s blower.
(I pay the gardener to mow and edge the lawn etc to save my arthritic back.)

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My PRHT Copper red 2.0 sport is also in the body shop for underseal, small world!

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I was going to click the “Like” button but thought, no, can’t do that…! Hope no damage was done…! Here we are more than a third of the way through May, and what’s going on with the weather…?! First Covid-19 lockdowns and now these restrictions are being relaxed, we still await the arrival of Spring and some proper MX5 weather…! :thinking: :relaxed:
Rob

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Thankfully the hail was in small pieces, can’t see any damage

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Fitted mesh grilles. The lower one can’t really be seen but I got it to stop stones hitting the radiator - can’t believe Mazda left a big hole there, and my front spoiler effectively directs anything it comes across straight in. I found three half-inch size stones in there when I removed the front end.

I got the upper grille partly for show but also because I felt I could never get the stock one fully clean, with all its deep nooks. I painted it matt black and an unexpected bonus is that I can see my new cold air intake through it, which I thought would be forever hidden from view.

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Hi Richard, interesting and thank you for your comments. Never thought of it that way? TBH, I don’t want to test it out on the new paintwork, well, not the leaf blower anyway! :grimacing: but I wonder, after washing and rinsing the car, the ground around the car would be wet, effectively ‘slacking’ the dust? :thinking: As said, don’t wish to prove the point on my new paintwork though? Professional valeters often have a hand held blower for drying cars, wonder if those have a filtered inlet? And here was me thinking only Mazda had soft paint! :frowning:

Barrie

got a link ??

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If you get one Geoff, can I borrow it to do the dogs? :joy::joy::dog:
Barrie

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This one is filtered?

Barrie

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