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1982-1993 Mustang GT Car Care Tips
Table of Contents
WASHING / PRE-WAX CLEANING / WAXING /
CHROME / GLASS / UNDERCARRIAGE
1982-1993 Mustang GT Car Care Tips
Fellow GT enthusiasts:
This is an article that I wrote for our local Mustang club’s newsletter while I was club president. It covers the "do’s and dont’s" of caring for your car. You may not agree with everything here and I don’t claim to be an authority. These tips have worked for me and hopefully they will work for you. I urge all of you to rethink how you take care of your car!!
David Bowers, GT Registry co-founder
I will share some of my tips that I have uncovered in my over 20 years of car showing. Please remember these are what work for me - you might have different ideas. One other note - I have used all of the products listed below including the ones you’re not supposed to use. To start with, I think everybody knows you’re supposed to wash and wax a car in the shade, NEVER in the sun. Other important things to keep in mind are the types of materials used in cleaning and waxing your paint, along with tire care and interior care. These points I will cover throughout the article. Okay, hang on - here we go!!
EXTERIOR / PAINT CARE
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Do any of you know somebody who never washes his car??? Just wipes it off?? NOT a good idea as those fine particles of dust act as fine sandpaper on the paint. You must wash off the dirt. Let’s talk car wash products. Who out there has used DAWN or other dishwashing soaps to wash your car?? Don't be shy, raise your hands up high. Okay, now repeat after me, "Dishwashing soap belongs in the dishwater, not on my car". Have any of you looked on the label of your favorite car wash soap to see the ingredients? If the label has any of the following ingredients: detergents, sodium or solvents, these are slowly etching the paint and stripping your car of wax. Your shampoo should have ingredients in it that don't strip the wax off the car, yet clean the paint surface while cushioning the dirt to keep it from scarring your paint. Once your car is washed, use 100% terry cloth towels to dry the car. When you wash these towels, don't use fabric softener or bleach, as this causes streaks on your finish. Two more points - who uses wash mitts on their car? Don't use these as they harbor the dirt and wind up scratching your paint. Use only natural sponges which release soap and dirt when rinsed. Point number 2 - who out there goes to the car wash and blasts away with high pressure, HOT water????? That’s a no-no. Use cool water, hand applied. (Hey, I realize that this is hard to do all the time. I still on occasion go to the car wash, after all, in Iowa on a January day it’s about 15 degrees outside). PRE-WAX CLEANING
Now to the next step: Deep cleaning the paint or pre-wax cleaning. How can your wax shine your car with impurities and dead paint on your car’s surface? Once again, check your labels. If it has an abrasive or caustic material, all you’re doing is scratching your paint. Does it list petro-chemical as an ingredient?? If so, that’s just burning and eroding your paint. You want a cleaner that can clean without scratching your paint. Enter a cleaner with citric oils. These penetrate paint and release dead paint without scratching. Once you are done, be sure and wax your car ASAP as your paint is now unprotected.
Okay, a time-out here, people. Some of you by now are saying to yourself, "What ingredients do I look for?" The following are some of the goodies to look for (and although it may look like it, this isn’t a fruit-salad recipe!): lemon oils, orange oils (a.k.a. the citrus), coconut oils, micro-fine clay, sea kelp, banana oils, clay dust, apricot kernel oil, lemon seed oil.
WAXING
Now on to the waxing stage: I won’t attempt to go into all the pros and cons of the different waxes on the market. As above, DON'T use waxes with petro-chemicals in them (while looking the other day at waxes I picked up a national brand and looked at the label - it had kerosene as a primary ingredient). You want to use waxes that have Carnauba in them. Be careful as some waxes advertise 100% Carnauba. This is not true as pure Carnauba has the consistency of concrete! Many wax companies will put a little Carnauba in along with chemicals (for example, 7% Carnauba as opposed to the good waxes having around 25% Carnauba and the great waxes with 50% Carnauba). You also have waxes that are billed as "Teflon" or other great wondrous ingredients to make it last. These waxes contain petroleum and other bad things for your paint. Another problem with these waxes is that when the coating gets old and starts to crack and you go to remove the "wax", it is very hard to remove. This in turn translates into using very strong ingredients to get this "wax" off. Another problem with chemical and petroleum waxes is that when you get them on your black trim they turn it white, or they leave white residue on the car. The natural waxes do not turn black trim white and they don't leave any residue. Another plus is with these type of waxes, you don't let the wax dry. This makes it MUCH quicker to wax a car. In addition, you can put numerous coats of wax on a lot quicker. A good test of your wax is to read the label and see if it says "Don't use on plastic" or "if product comes in contact with plastic panels wipe off immediately". With natural waxes, you can wax the plastic body panels of your car. One more point. If any product you use says "avoid skin contact", then why would you place that product on the paint of your EXPENSIVE or TREASURED car???
I have been using Pinnacle Natural Brilliance products for almost 4 years. They are advertised in the back of Autoweek and other automotive magazines and are VERY good natural products that are easy to use. They have waxes, car shampoo, vinyl protector and cleaner, and leather conditioner. As I stated earlier, I now carry these products. Call me or e-mail me and I will mail you a price list. My prices are 12 to 21 percent lower than suggested retail. You can also get Pinnacle from TOP OF THE LINE car care products in Hackett, Ark.. The phone number is 501-638-7302 or 1-800-533-5743. ONE MORE THING! These waxes and other products do cost more than your average auto parts store products. However, keep in mind some things: 1) keeping your paint in good condition with better, more expensive product is cheaper than a paint job in the long run!! 2) if you’re going to take care of your paint, do you want to do it right?? 3) if it is harmful to your skin, why put it on your car’s skin??
CHROME
Now let’s move to the chrome. I know that new Mustangs are a little shy on chrome but for those of us with old ‘Stangs, a person could spend just a day cleaning chrome. The best I have found is to use 0000 steel wool to clean the chrome and give it a shine, then apply a wax to it to protect it. MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING 0000 STEEL WOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you use this grade of steel wool, it will not scratch. You can also use this steel wool to clean your glass on the car. Yes, I do mean the windshield!!! It works great to clean and polish the glass.
GLASS
Speaking of glass, here’s another 2 tricks: once your glass has been cleaned, take a piece of newsprint and wipe over the glass to give it a shine. The other trick is to add a tablespoon of corn starch to your ammonia-based cleaner to prevent streaking. ALERT - don't spray the ammonia window cleaner on the glass!!! If there is the littlest breeze, then that spray will drift that ammonia on to your paint job! Spray it onto the cloth then apply it to the windows.
UNDERCARRIAGE
This next job is not for the weak at heart. Take your car and put it in the air (i.e. on jack stands, car ramps or a lift). Then take WD-40 and soak the WHOLE underside with it. Let this sit for around 10 minutes, then wipe. This will dissolve dirt and grease and leave a nice shine to the underside of your car. It takes a while and it’s a lot of work but the results are well worth it.
INTERIOR CARE
Now we get ready to start cleaning the interior. First, use a good cleaner on the inside vinyl. Make sure it isn’t petro-based!!!. A good citrus-based cleaner will work great. A pause as I relate one of my true, boring, life stories... I went to clean the inside of our new Explorer and used a petro/chemical-based cleaner and it took the color right off the plastic interior panel (with a whole 2000 miles on the vehicle). That is when it dawned on me to use the right car care products. BE CAREFUL as I was in a auto parts store last weekend and I saw a cleaner that was advertised as "citrus based". I looked at the label and the thing was filled with nasty chemicals !!!! VINYL
Okay, once the interior is cleaned, then put on a protector for the vinyl. You can use 303 Protector or what I use, which is Pinnacle vinyl protector. This product has the oils of banana and coconut in it to condition the vinyl. Both these protectants do not attract dust which keeps your interior a lot cleaner.
CARPET
Has anybody out there had dirty carpet!!!!?????? If you have a bad stain, then try Lifter 1 carpet cleaner (found in most part stores). This stuff works GREAT! I had motor oil leak onto my carpet (light gray) and I used this product. The stain came completely out. If it won’t come out with this, it won’t come out. It also works great on grease stains. Another product that I have found to use on carpet is Finish Line Citrus Degreaser.
TIRE CARE
Now our final stop before I quit: THE TIRES!!!! How many use Armorall or other type brands of tire dressing??? Well, here’s the low-down......to make a long explanation short, tires come with protective waxes in the tire. It’s the job of this wax to keep the ozone from eating away at the rubber, i.e. dry rot. These waxes are brought to the surface of the tire by the tire flexing, i.e. the car being driven. When these waxes come to the surface of the rubber, they form a protective barrier between the air and the tire polymer. When the car isn’t driven, then these waxes don't come out to protect the tire and what wax is there is quickly eaten away by the ozone. It then starts to attack the tire polymer. Once this starts you soon wind up with cracked and dried tires. Products like Armorall have petro-chemicals and silicone oils in them. These dissolve away the waxes of the tire and can actually aggress the sidewall. When a tire manufacturer has a tire come back with sidewall failure, they check for use of products with petro-chemicals in them. If they find use of those products, they will not warranty the tire.
So what do you want for tire protectant??? You want a protector that has NO petro-chemicals or silicone oils and doesn't remove the wax from the tires. I personally use 303 Protectant. There are others out there besides 303. If you have used Armorall, then you have probably noticed the build up that repeated applications cause. 303 soaks into the rubber so you don’t wind up with a greasy mess and is water based. Also, 303 doesn't attract dirt and dust like Armorall does. CONCLUSION
Well, I guess that’s it on my tricks for car cleaning. If anybody has questions let me know; I will be glad to help you out.
Remember, these products cost a little more than other products, however if its harmful on the skin, why put it on your paint ????
David Bowers, GT Registry co-founder