Fat Mike

Thanks for the prompt replies.  I have seen steamers used on the car shows on TV but haven't used one.  That may have to change. 

Hey Gang,

I've spent a bit of time looking for a topic on cleaning seat belts but I came up empty.  I recently bought a '66 Corvette with great interior but the seat belts are dirty.  What product(s) would you use to clean the seat belts?  The belts are original and I want to ensure that I don't remove any of the color. 

Thanks! 

Outstanding display of some fantastic cars. Very nice indeed!

I did this very thing yesterday and it worked great. I grabbed a 100' hose yesterday to rinse off my all weather floor mats. I only unrolled the length that I needed, used the hose and shut the water off. I was looking at the hose thinking that unless I unrolled the hose, drained it and rolled it up, the hose was going to empty and create a potential slip hazard when I put the hose.

I grabbed the Master Blaster, drained the hose and put it away. Just that easy.

I too can vouch for the hardness of the clear coat. And like Rich said, it's one of the things that I too like.

Excellent choice - I really like the C3's. The steel bumper C3's seem to be increasing in value more than I anticipated. I continue to hold on to my '77 just because it's worth more to me than it's worth to someone else.

Even though the late 70's early 80's Corvettes are not worth a lot, I still get lots of thumb's up and "nice car" when I take it out.

Corvette Forum has regional forums you may want to check out too. Especially if you locate a potential car a long way from you. I have seen postings where guys have asked for help from forum members to check out a car in their areas.

You could also arrange for a professional inspection of a car outside of your area for not an "arm and a leg". In the long run, it could easily be worth the price of the inspection to ensure you get a quality car.

That's outstanding. Judging by the first couple of pictures, I thought "Oh no, that's likely to take years to finish". But WOW - what a nice car.

Don't worry about your English, we can likely figure out what you're trying to say. Far better than if we try to communicate in Dutch with you.

I have visited Amsterdam and was really appreciative of how friendly the people are.

thanks Sluggo!

Jose - good questions. In my opinion, there is a place for both the PC and the Flex. I used a PC for years before buying a Flex. The Flex is all I use now because I like how much faster it provides results.

I imagine there's a place for a rotary but thus far, I haven't justified the risk in my mind. Especially when the Flex is so efffective.

Welcome John!

A real quick google search and I found this:

 

Can salt from softening installations enter drinking water?

 

Salt does not have the opportunity to enter drinking water through softening installations.

The only purpose of salt in a water softener is to regenerate the resin beads that take the hardness out of water.

 

I use softened water to wash/rinse my vehicles, there should be no concern that salt is simply replacing other minerials in the water.

Dave -

While salt is not introduced into the water, "sodium" is as part of the ion exchange process.

If you're interested in learning more about the softening process, here's a pretty good explanation without going overly technical.

HowStuffWorks "Turning Hard Water Soft"

Lasers -

It sounds to me as you will want to remove all of the dissolved solids from your water for at least the final rinse water. If I lived where you do, I would use softened water for the wash process. The softening process removes the calcium and magnesium ions which will allow the Adams detergent to make some really good suds.

The softened water will not be an ideal rinsing water because of the sodium and chlorides remaining in your water. I would use a DI filter for the rinse water and use the pooling rinse technique for best results.

The DI system will remove virtually all of the dissolved solids that will cause etching / spotting. An alternative to the DI filter could be purified water such as water from an RO system or distilled water. Both of these types of water has virtually all of the dissolved solids removed which will ensure a true spot free rinse.

If you use the DI system for the rinse water only, the filter should provide you an acceptable life span.

Welcome Randy!

I like your ride.

Welcome Ryan - like your Audi!

I've stayed in Fredricksburg a few times and road through Hill Country.

Love your area!

Thanks for your service and your sacrifices!

Stay safe.

WOW is right. You did a great job. Excellent attention to even the small details!

I have polished a lot of metal including aluminum wheels and you can be very proud of those!

I faced a similar situation with my door jambs on a new Yukon that I bought. I used Fine Machine Polish by hand. It took the water spots right off. I then went directly to Americana for protection.

I was honestly expecting them to butcher it... I'm pretty impressed, I thing the rear end is a bit over done with that huge rear diffuser. But overall I'd say they did a pretty darn good job with it. I'm sure it will be pushing 60K for one, if I had it, I'd buy one!

+1

Thanks Dylan for posting the link.

That's absolutely outstanding! Congrats.

Years ago a buddy of mine owned a '67 Nova that he raced in SS/J class. I have always loved the '66 and '67's.

Good for you Charles. If I were you, I would drive the wheels off your C5 and wouldn't care what anyone says.

Around here in Nebr., there are drive-through touchless car washes that do a great job of spraying the undercarriage. I would try to find one in your area. If there's none around, I would continue doing what you're doing.

Another option might be locating a small indepenent mechanical repair shop that has a lift that would spray the underside off for a fee. I would wait till the bulk of the salt is off the roads before paying too much for this type of service.

Congrats! That's an outstanding looking ride.

I would love to have a rotary polisher and a more agreesive swirl remover. Some of the vehicles I encounter, require real work and multiple passes to get them past the current stage #1 even with the Flex.

I don't have a rotary yet, but I've been eyeing a Flex rotary. My first choice would be to buy it from Adam's with the corresponding pads and polish / compound.

The beauty of the Adam's current line is that it's pretty much "goof" proof. It really keeps us from making a mess of a situation. As Chase / SRTLUVR has mentioned, a "Pro" area may make a lot of sense. Maybe the more agressive polisher / polishes would fit into this area with the necessary warnings.

While I have nothing to add about how to care for your wheels, I can join in "WOW - that's a great looking ride!" comments.

Welcome Gary. I too used to be a Z user. But, since I've been using Adam's, there's no going back for me.

That looks great already. While I haven't been a Ford fan, their styling is fantastic the past few years. I could see a new Explorer replacing the wifes Envoy relatively soon.

Even though Ford may have borrowed some styling cues from Aston and Jag, I'm just betting that it's not everyday that you run up against one of 'em at a stop light or in a parking lot in 'Bama. Am I right?