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I've got some weird streaking on my instrument cluster that is driving me nuts. It's not dirty, it's been damaged when someone tried to clean it with something wrong. I just purchased the car this month. Any ideas how I can polish this out? It's such a critical part of the car I'm nervous to experiment with anything (I've tried nothing and I'm all out of ideas). It's a 2011 Ford Fusion.
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Jun 28, 2014 19:29
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I scrubbed the hell out of the instrument panel and the streaks remained. PlastX worked well though. It was a pain to get a good polish due to the angle and location, so there's still more work to do. In the mean time, I can see the messages clearly, and I've got the stuff do to more plastic polishing.
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Jul 28, 2014 18:49
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MrOnBicycle posted:How do I deal with this? Bricks usually don't have metal under.... Oh.
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Apr 28, 2015 20:37
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meatpimp posted:I got the one without the fan. That little pancake fan isn't going to do much sitting there... in a car it really doesn't matter, just put the HVAC on high and recirculate and you'll get enough airflow to circulate the O2.  O3
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Sep 2, 2015 23:06
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Recommendations for cleaning chrome plastic such as on a Ford? The escape has been picking up stains on the grille and wheels that are impossible to get off.
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Apr 13, 2016 03:52
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savesthedayrocks posted:Did you ever find one? I think that's my next big purchase too. Harbor Freight. I have one, makes steam, loud AF. Literally the same one you can find at other shops too, or it was when I bought it. Not like "same shape", but same brand color and everything. It was a McCullogh. May not be there any longer. Once I was using it to steam clean grout in the bathroom and heard a pounding, the fire department was moments from kicking down the door after no response, they had the wrong address. ... it was this one: Home Depot link
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May 15, 2017 04:56
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I just clay barred a ton of what looked like little flecks of iron from my wife's car. It definitely came from a road because the back of the car, a Ford Escape, was totally covered. My guess is that came from driving down dirt roads when she went backpacking, does anyone know better what it could have been? It looked like it was covered in rust spots and they were kind of blooming like that. But they came off fairly easy. Also as I type this up I can see a dull patch on the side of my Sierra, so now I feel like my impulse purchase last night of a DA polisher and the accessories is justified, right? Which brings me to a second question. In the OP Meg's ultimate compound and ultimate polish are recommended, but the last few pages are anti ultimate polish. What else do you guys recommend?
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Sep 21, 2019 01:41
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One of the reviews for a foam gun I read was just a guy saying it made washing more fun so he does it more often. That sold me on it.
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Sep 30, 2019 18:53
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MrOnBicycle posted:Kirkland micrfibers, unless they've changed the formula. Really great for the cost. Those are really great. After looking at them for a long time I pulled the trigger on them when they were on sale, 36 for $14ish! And I'm impressed by the size and quality. It's especially nice having a basically unlimited stack of towels, far more than I use for any one detail.
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Dec 15, 2019 18:13
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BonoMan posted:
I've used the actual weatherstripping glue a couple of times and haven't had it come loose, but I'm sure the epoxy will be a one and done. Be sure to clean it super well.
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Jan 8, 2020 04:08
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bull3964 posted:I mean, I don't know how any coating can make a car quicker to wash. You just, uh, wash it. The dream is that the dirt doesn't stick and you can rinse it off.
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May 23, 2020 22:51
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bull3964 posted:Anyone that tells you that's the case with ceramic coating is lying. Yeah I didn't think that, but it is the dream.
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May 23, 2020 23:20
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everdave posted:Maybe everyone knows about this but it seems amazing to me, had scratches and rust in said scratches on roof of one of my Japanese campers. Used this Krud Kitter that was on clearance at Walmart and some dollar store supplies and I am stunned. Unless the RV is now going to split in half I see no downside. You don’t need as much just squirt a little on the s rubber and it just gets the rust off. Uploaded to YouTube: Krud Kutter also makes some cleaners that get dried latex paint, so I'm not surprised but it is very nice to know it works. What are you going to do to stop rust coming back? Looks like some deep scratches and cracks that are going to keep letting moisture and dirt in.
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Jun 14, 2020 01:28
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Every pay n spray car wash I've ever visited says "No Bucket Washing" but I've never seen anyone to enforce it. If you have lids for the buckets you could fill them in the sink and take them with you.
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Jul 2, 2020 21:10
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My favorite part of Invisible Glass is that everytime I reccomend it to someone, my main selling point is what it says on the can. "it makes glass invisible!" and every single time they look at me like I'm a complete idiot. Then when they do try it they love it.
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Aug 4, 2020 20:18
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I used Plastx or whatever it's called and it worked a treat.
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Sep 15, 2020 03:50
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I think this will go against the grain, but I don't think the DA polisher is worth it unless you have a big job ahead of you. I've used mine to put wax on the Sierra, which is a lot of area, and it was good but not $100 of tool good. If I'm going to apply wax quarterly I can stand to do it by hand. That being said I get a lot of use out of mine as I use it for sanding, buffing and polishing on my painting job. I did use mine I was practice on some old paint, and if I had a car that was looking rough but solid underneath I'd buy one for sure.
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Sep 29, 2020 04:36
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willroc7 posted:Any advice for removing a strong smell from a used car? It’s patchouli... Congrats on your new Volvo 240 wagon.
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Oct 11, 2020 15:56
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I went through 6 large cans of spray way wiping things down while painting my truck. I don't hate it but.... I'm kinda over it. Invisible glass is my favorite anyway.
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Oct 29, 2020 20:45
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It's kinda silly, but I got a nice caddy for all the detailing stuff. I can't believe I was living with loose bottles of cleaner and just juggling them all this time.
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Nov 9, 2020 05:55
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Leal posted:The ones I've been to have signs telling you to not bring your own buckets, soaps and cloths, I'm sure its because if you're using your own stuff you aren't putting quarters in. Whats a sign gonna do to you? I don't see a little enforcer walking around these places. Sometimes you catch someone collecting quarters and refilling soap.
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Jan 15, 2021 20:50
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Do you have small sanding blocks? Curved and especially concave sections suck no matter what. A cross hatch pattern and a small block should help. Your hand and soft paper want to follow all the textures and a block will hit just the higher points. The cross hatch helps for some reason I forget, helps float over a bigger section or something. Even a thin stiff piece of foam will work. Soft enough to mold to the piece but stiff enough to only follow the general shape.
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Feb 17, 2021 23:33
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Phone posted:Messed around with the foam gun (wrong tool for this particular job) and washed the truck for the first time. You should have worn a gopro and put a video on YouTube. When was that truck last washed, 2004?
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Apr 9, 2021 02:44
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Krime posted:When looking at buffers I see some have that adjustable D handle and some have nothing of the sorts... I like the idea of that but I've never used a buffer. Not sure if it's something I'd miss if I didn't have it or what. Mine has sort of a grip on it on the front but not a d handle. It came with a d handle and I still have it, but I doubt I'll ever out it on.
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Jun 26, 2021 02:18
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willroc7 posted:Any ideas what I’m dealing with here or how best to remove it? I tried a simple wash and clay bar has not taken it up. I have a DA polisher if necessary but hoping to avoid that at this point if possible. Looks like some kind of rub or transfer? I'm not sure why you're hesitant to hit it with the DA. You can start with the polish and work down to compound if you need. Edit, I didn't realize there was a new page!
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Jul 4, 2021 23:43
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Does that vary depending on the size of the vehicle or is it pretty standard? On one hand the preparation of the surfaces and every single coat of primer/paint/clearcoat is going to take longer and be more raw materials but it's probably going to be a similar number of panels. My uncle said it would be about 25k to get my SVX repainted which seemed kind of high but he's a classic car guy so for all I know you have to pay out the rear end for a good paint job on a first generation mustang like he has. But it does make that $7200 make a lot more sense if the paint protection and ceramic coat save even one paint job all of a sudden you're about $7500 ahead. My neighbor has a $25k paint job and it is incredible. I'd put a four figure paintjob on an SVX.
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Aug 8, 2021 01:53
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nwin posted:What kind of car? 54 Bel Air.  
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Aug 8, 2021 15:14
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meatpimp posted:Clean. And running the wiring inside the radiator support? It's incredible. His standard of quality is much higher than mine and he meets it all on his own. He walked me through some of the fenders that were too tall from the factory and how he cut and rolled the bottom of them. And it makes me smile when he unloads it from the trailer with the windshield marked up from the strip.
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Aug 8, 2021 16:37
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Colt Seavers would have gotten PPF.
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Aug 9, 2021 01:20
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Arson Daily posted:Hot take I use armor all tire foam and love it. I like it too. Not too shiny!
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Aug 10, 2021 05:46
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nwin posted:So I’ve got the meguiars compound and polish from the OP, some chemical brothers gallon of soap (no wax) to use with a foam bun, some other Chemical brothers soap with wax, and then some collinite 845 liquid wax, and a synthetic clay bar sponge. Plus microfiber towels and those sponge applicator pads. Hey boy (or hey girl), if you're surrendering to using an orange wedge to polish the car, you're definitely under the influence of exiting planet dust. Now where do we begin? You can leave home, and let someone else detail it, but you've already dug your own hole getting equipment. I like to get started before the setting sun, even if it's getting late we've got to try to push the button of that DA polisher, but it really can get out of control. Now once you've got glint, you might do what I did, and decide to let forever be, and just hit the local car wash a couple times per month.
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Aug 22, 2021 22:19
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Krud Kutters original stuff works great for latex paint, and they have one specifically for removing latex paint if the regular stuff doesn't loosen it. I keep a bottle of it handy for after painting for whatever drop I didn't see until I was done.
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Oct 27, 2021 17:57
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Bob Mundon posted:Buying an electric car probably counts as a magic bullet lol. Regen braking not generating dust is probably worth the price of admission alone. That depends on how you define the problem. That solves the problem of "I hate cleaning brake dust" but not "I hate cleaning brake dust from the car I have and love".
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Oct 29, 2021 18:09
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MomJeans420 posted:I have a meth'd out project bike that was rattle canned black (with overspray onto things such as the fork tube). I don't have high hopes from removing it from the fairings (I'll be sourcing some cheap ones from AliExpress) but I'd like to get it off the bare metal frame at least. I was debating some kind of graffiti remover from the hardware store but I was wondering if there's a better option. Given the choice I'd prefer something that isn't incredibly toxic / bad to get on my hands, but I know everything will at least be highly flammable and not ideal to inhale. Why not sand it off?
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Nov 4, 2021 18:37
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MomJeans420 posted:I tried that briefly with the only sand paper I had lying around (1000 or 2000 grit, I forget) and wasn't making much progress. I was worried I went lower grit then I'd have sanding marks so I thought it may be easier if some graffiti remover or something similar would just wipe it off. May have to resort to sanding as I'd prefer that to the really nasty stuff. Whats the goal, just leave it as bare metal, or paint it? Depending on the paint step I might sand it with 80-120 to 220-320 (epoxy primer) or 400 (before high build) to 600 (before basecoat). And whatever sanding marks you have come out by sanding further with a finer grit. I'd buy a pack of various grit and work my way down until it comes off easy then back up until it looks right.
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Nov 5, 2021 21:44
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Red_Fred posted:Kind of random question: how does everyone keep their microfibre towels organised? It’s easy if you have unique ones per task but I sure don’t. I bought a huge pack from Costco and just fold them and stack them, I keep a bunch in my car cleaning caddy. The rest are in the closet. If one looks like poo poo it goes in the trash. At this rate I'll have to buy a new pack in 5 years.
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Nov 10, 2021 16:21
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wesleywillis posted:How does one fix a cigarette burn in auto carpet? Back when I smoked, I dropped an ash and it landed on the carpet. That's called the Musk repair.
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Mar 29, 2022 02:06
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wesleywillis posted:Thanks, so uhhhhhh is that a good way to fix that poo poo? I had to go back because I totally forgot that joke and it was like I was telling it to myself and I laughed harder at the LeBron one.
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Apr 8, 2022 22:42
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I watched some video comparing a bunch of spray ceramic and the Turtle Wax spray hybrid was very impressive and cheap. I know you said wax, seemed related. Edit:lol of course it's project farm. https://youtu.be/uYxKQwZah1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYxKQwZah1s
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Apr 13, 2022 03:51
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a mysterious cloak posted:Decided to try a glass coating, so I put on Gtechniq G1 Smart Glass. It rained today and holy hell I'm never going back. Nice! Does it have any benefit on the inside of the glass for condensation?
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Nov 21, 2022 17:36
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