Ok, after correcting our daily drivers and doing a quick winter prep on my 370z I have a few questions about improving some little things. 1. How do you remove the swirls from black plastic trim like you see in the included photo? What products/process would be used? IMG_1333 by J M Gale, on Flickr 2. On my 370z I found small dark coloured spots all over the car. Some could be removed with my finger nail, others couldn't. Claying didn't seem to do much as far as removing these go. I tried to show an example in this picture. they are very small and hard to capture with my camera, IMG_4426 by J M Gale, on Flickr IMG_4427 by J M Gale, on Flickr 3. What do you use to clean up the faux chrome, like emblems, mirrors, etc. Do you use a metal polish? can you use a DA and a pad to correct bigger pieces such as the mirrors? What is your go to metal polish/process? 4. Alcantara, how do you clean this stuff? can I just use some APC diluted down and a soft brush?
Polish the black trim similar to how you do paint. Did you try a tar remover on the black spots? Phil sells products for Alcantara- Leather Masters. Alcantara® extraordinary every day
Hey bud, Since we have the same cars...hopefully I can help out. For the pillars between the windows, you can use a DA and a finishing polish to remove the swirls. They are made of plastic and very soft so pretty much anything will marr them, but that also makes them easy to correct. The spots look like tar to me and should be able to be polished out. For the chrome pieces, you can use a metal polish if you want or a mild polish. For the seats, I sprayed some carpet cleaner onto a damp MF towel and rubbed out a few small dirt sports that I had. We don't have alcantara in our cars, it's actually a faux suede but they do make a dedicated alcantara cleaner.
1. For the pillars I use a white polishing pad and Powerfinish on my PC. 2. Try Iron X or a more aggressive clay.
I agree. For pillars, I usually use a black finishing pad with something like Menzerna SIP, Super Finish, or Power Finish, depending on how soft the paint is or how much correction is needed.
Is it possible the little spots are fungus spores from the mulch around flower beds. When the fungus matures they explode and little black/brown spots appear, tough to get off.
Not much to add to the pillars part. The chrome wrap on the mirrors try a regular polish or P21S polishing soap. RaceGlaze Alcantara cleaner. PM 911fanatic. I have (had, as I can't find the bottle works well). The black spots could be a fungus, s mentioned, tar, or black paint overspray. Try tarminator, then a clay, and if to no avail, polish it out.
I didn't try any tar remover yet. I'll be putting some on my christmas wish list. This is excellent info. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys!
