No doubt keeping your street rod (or any of the family's cars) looking good requires some effort. However, when it comes to keeping your favorite ride showroom fresh after days and hours upon hours on the road, a little effort is required. A little wax on followed by wax off is a good thing. In fact, there is something peaceful and soothing about applying a wax and gently polishing that baby smooth paint to a brilliant shine.
Well, there is more to this story than just selecting the proper wax to bring out that shine. We also want to welcome to the world of street rodding Turtle Wax as they present the STREET RODDER Top 100 program. But for more on that you can visit www.streetrodderweb.com, or follow along as we pick 10 finalists at 10 different events, which include eight Goodguys, Ocean City, and Syracuse. Come the end of the year (October) you, the reader, will get your chance to select the Street Rod of the Year by casting your vote online. You can go to the SRM Web site right now and see the finalists as they accumulate from the summer's events. Keep viewing these online features, and in time you will have the opportunity to select your favorite. Of course, nothing prevents you from attending one of these events and having the opportunity to make "the list" yourself. As a finalist, you will receive a STREET RODDER Top 100 jacket, as well as a box full of Turtle Wax products. And that brings us to the point of this article.
Let's take a look at what it takes to keep the various aspects of your ride showroom fresh for the street. There are some basics that apply to all types of cars (and trucks), whether it is my '29 highboy, your fat-fendered ride, or maybe your family car or pickup-all need cosmetic attention at some point in time.
Being somewhat inept at keeping my own ride looking its best, I managed to get some firsthand pointers right from the guys who should know-Michael Schultz, the vice president of product development, and Robert Zaremba, the marketing director for Turtle Wax. OK, maybe my effervescent personality isn't the reason I had these top guns show me the tricks, but it sure was fun watching someone else slave over my highboy! During the process, they showed how to use each of the products that will be given away, and also provided some tips on keeping that showroom shine. Here are some proven tips and techniques.
Paintwork
The windshield of your car should tell you immediately just how much dirt (grim, grease, etc.) builds up on your cars paint-and, yes, even the engine. Bodywork is in the front line, attacked by grit, tar, oil, and salt. Here are some easy-to-remember recommendations: Look out for chips-front of the car and sills are prone. Remove any bird droppings as soon as possible. Use a ChipStick to stop rust in chips or scratches.
Washing
While most street rods do not suffer the same indignation from road grime as the red queen family truckster, you should never begin to polish (or wax, etc.) without first addressing dirt and road grime. Failure to do this can result in scratching off the finish during waxing due to the presence of abrasive particles in the road dirt. Washing is also effective in removing residue from industrial fallout, bird droppings, and road salt. Here are some recommendations: To prevent scratching, use two sponges-one for dirty areas, the other for cleaner parts. Drive car briefly afterward; this will ensure the brakes are dry and prevent corrosion. Don't forget to clean the painted areas covered by the hood, side panels, decklid, tailgate, or shut doors. Should you find water spots on your street rod, here is a handy tip: Most common water spots are caused by mineral deposits. A 50/50 solution of vinegar and water does a great job of neutralizing these marks.
Waxing and Polishing
Waxes and polishes serve three primary purposes: cleaning a car's finish, improving the shine, and protecting the surface against Mother Nature. Most waxes/polishes contain very mild abrasives, along with chemical cleaning agents, lubricants, and waxes. These abrasive services remove surface oxidation while leaving behind a high-gloss shine. Some more recommendations for waxing and polishing: Never apply wax onto surfaces that cannot be easily buffed. Ideal waxing temperature is between 55 and 85 F. Always apply paste wax in thin coats. Soft terry cotton makes perfect polishing cloths. Do not apply wax in direct sun (unless you are using ICE Synthetic Liquid Polish) on dark finishes; this makes polish and wax removal difficult. Only wax a recently washed (or carefully dusted) surface.
Wheels & Tires
Wheels and tires are about the hardest surfaces on a street rod to keep clean and shiny, especially given today's use of chrome, stainless, paint, or billet surfaces. That's because they're the surfaces closest to the road. Each of these sensitive exteriors (chrome, stainless, paint, or billet) needs specially formulated products to provide maximum cleaning without causing surface damage. OK, what are the recommendations to keep those wheels lookin' good? After cleaning, move the car a few feet to spot any untreated areas. Use trip protectant on the wheel arch plastic when clean. To avoid staining the ground, apply Platinum Series Tire Shine with a cut-down sponge.
Glass Care
After paintwork, depending upon the style of your car, this may be the largest area that requires attention. Yet often times it is merely wiped off and not properly attended. Many street rods have wipers nowadays (especially due to the efforts of the NSRA Safety Program). Well, for wipers to work properly, the glass has to be free from silicones, which washing doesn't necessarily remove. What to do? Recommendations here are: Drop opening side windows by a couple of inches to clean the top edge. Glass doesn't only mean the windows, so don't forget to clean the rearview and side mirrors.
Interior/Upholstery It seems as if it's just as hard to keep the inside of a car from getting dirty as the outside. Interior surfaces include vinyl, fabric, and leather upholstery, carpeting, plastic or rubber floor mats and dashboards. (Careful on the dashboards, as many street rods have painted surfaces, like the body of the car, and the dashboards are not covered in a material such as today's cars.) Tips from the pros at Turtle Wax tell us: Before cleaning these areas, vacuum to remove loose dirt, particularly from the folds of the upholstery. Once you've finished cleaning the seat fabric, make sure you allow time for the treatment to dry out. To get the headlining back to its best, a coarse decorator's sponge is the perfect tool. Rub an ice pack over chewing gum to make it hard, and easier to remove. Keep cleaner off steering wheel, gear level, and pedals. (This is a good one. I can tell you story after story of street rodders using a protectant on the steering wheel and/or the pedals to get that nice showroom look only to find out that in the practical world this wasn't a good idea. Next time you see me, I will tell you my "you might be a redneck if" story.)
Rubbing & Polishing Compounds Some of you may think you need a new paint job, when all you really need is a paint rescue job-and a new life for your old finish. This is especially true when rounding up cars with decade(s)-old paint resting on the metal. (The difference here is some forms of patina are desired, while "tired" paint may not be what you wished for.) What you need is a good-quality rubbing and polishing compound. What a rubbing and polishing compound does is rub away the top layers of oxidized film, as well as some paint, restoring (hopefully) the paint to its original or near-original condition. How to achieve this: Be careful when applying; don't break through the primer coat. For cars with conventional finishes, we recommend Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound and White Polishing Compound.
Winterizing Your Vehicle
Granted this aspect may be more inline for your family stocker than for your street rod, but you shouldn't ignore the fact that even a pampered ride needs attention-even if it is sitting under a car cover in a garage. Before tucking your "baby" to bed for the winter, make sure to thoroughly wash the car with Zip Wax Car Wash, and towel dry. At this time, it is also a good idea to remove any remaining tar and stains with a bug and tar remover. Next up, seal any exposed metal from scratches with touch up paint or Turtle Wax Color Magic with ChipStick. Now the car is ready for wax. Remember, a car can be waxed in cool weather as low as 50 F. When winter ends, and as soon as the weather starts to warm up, get ready to re-wax to restore shine and exterior paint protection. Seasonal car care, which includes a good quality car wax like Platinum Ultra Gloss liquid or paste, will keep a car looking it's best.
Wax On, Wax Off
Well, there you have it, a primer on some quick and easy ways to keep your street rod looking fantastic for years to come. Your car is a large investment. It only makes sense to take care of it.
