Alfa Pages

[33.1.7ie turismo]

Hi all

I have a red 33, and the paintwork is looking a little faded, almost a pinky colour. are there any easy ways (apart from a respray) to get the red colour back?

Cheers!

[tvatavuk]

Easy if you do it yourself, no. Long time term no.
Usual way is to wax or polish and wax it. Depending on state of oxidation/fade it will last from 1-3 months.
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Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[33.1.7ie turismo]

thought that may be the answer

[Marcin]

Hi,

my alfa has got quite pink over the years, but when I give it a good polish, the red color returns as it was brand new. Ok, almost brand new. And anyway, it doesn't hurt to give your alfa a little bit of wax every now and then

Cheers,

Marcin

[Laki]

Same for me...No real sullution...new paintjob or polishing....
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-- ALFA ROMEO 33 Q4 --

[gritsop]

Hi,

Well polishing and waxing can fool people if done properly. Some days ago I did a polish and wax to my Alfa (red) which over the years I had faded somehow. I used Armor All brand name. A week ago in the annual HAROC assembly many participants were asking me if I had repainted the car

So give it a try - the results will be better than today, and if possible use cover sold by auto accessories. It will protect your car and see that within a year of use the wear of it from the sun will be such , that the material will tear away and collapse.

I will post photos on order to see the difference.

Regards,
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[33.1.7ie turismo]

ace, thanks for the advice guys! do any of you have any recommendations as to the best polish to use? i have heard the t-cut colour polish is good?

also how do i show pics? i want to show u all my new car

[/img]

[gritsop]

Hi,

In order to show pics you need to host them somewhere - then when writing your post you can include the URL of the pic.
The forum itself does not have the capability to host them.

I have also heard about T-Cut and words say that it is a good product.
But in my country I could not find it.

Regards,
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[Laki]

I use SONAX Also does the trick
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-- ALFA ROMEO 33 Q4 --

[burgo90]

g3 is unbeatable, we use g3 everything in the bodyshop at citroen
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[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

found some

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=35250&ts=99544

is this good for getting rid of the pinking colour?

[burgo90]

yes mate thats the stuff buy yaself a proper mop as well they are about £30 and it'll bring it up like new
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[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

nice one! i'll b getting some of that 2moro and teach those pinks panels a lesson !!

will those yellow polishing cloths u can get in halfords be good enough or can u recommend some better ones?

[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

right, had a bash with the t-cut colour polish i bought and its worked really well! v happy, i think with a couple more coats it will look great

problem solved. thanks for all your advice guys, was worried i would need a respray, so you've saved me a fortune!!

cheers

chris

[paddy granger]

Umm, hold your horses.

T-Cut is great for removing the flat pink layer and small scratches. Once your car is shiny, you should only use normal or coloured wax. T-cut actually removes thin layers of paint (you may notice that your duster turns into the same colour as your car), and should only be used to restore the paint to its correct colour and or gloss. It cuts back the layers until you are happy with what you see. If you continue cutting back, you will eventually run out of paint.

Once you have cut back the flat layer, I would recommend Valma for the coloured wax (they have a great range of different colours), and Turtle wax for the clear wax. Do not confuse Turtle T-cut with the wax products they offer.

Patrick

[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

hi patrick

i used the t-cut coloured polish, which is red. is this not the same as t-cutting and waxing at the same time with a coloured polish, as this is how it is promoted?

http://www.incarshop.co.uk/acatalog/T_Cut_Coloured_Polish.html

its the 3rd one in the list

should i also use a clear wax too?

cheers

[paddy granger]

There are two categories of products, the "Pre-Wax cleaners" and the "Waxes & Polishes". Your product falls into the "Waxes & Polishes" category.

It should be OK to use, as it isn't primarlily designed to cut back the paint, but rather to only remove the oxidized layers whilst also waxing. It has a very weak cutting characteristic compared to pure T-cut.

A similar product is offered by Turtle Wax called "Color Back Finish Restorer & Car Polish".

If your paint is shiny after the initial treatment with the T-cut product, I would suggest you use a clear wax, such as Turtle Wax "Super Hard Shell", or "Express Shine" which is really easy and quick to use.

There is a member on this forum called Gary who has some professional experience in the paint industry, hopefully he will also contribute to this thread.

Patrick

[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

its seems to be looking pretty mint now, so i think i will invest in some wax to finish it off. the "super hard shell" sounds like the one i will go for. thanks for ur advice patrick

[James Granger]

Paddy and I cut back our faded paint 5 years ago as it was seriously pink. The result was astonishing, and the glossy red has lasted to this day. In fact the paint has looked increasingly good for the past 2 years.

Before:



Now:



The paint actually looks better than on our newer 147!



Our secret is that we garage the car and wax it on a regular basis.

I've heard that if you T-cut a faded car and use it on a daily basis - leaving it outside in the sun and in the rain - it'll fade again in a short period of time.

[33 1.7 ie Turismo]

OMG! thats some difference! what did u use (apart from the wax) also, i think those alloys (155 v6?) suit the car really well

[Ben_nz]

Here's my previous car (also my first car), a 1988 Mitsubishi Cordia:

That photo was taken as soon as I drove the car home after buying it.
I bought some T-cut stuff, the coloured kind that turns your application cloth pink and your polishing cloth pink and your hands pink, and leaves pink dust behind once you've polished it off.
But the photo below is from when I sold the car (I crashed it as you can see, just enough to make it not economical to repair):

The photos aren't completely fair, but the paint improved with some T-cut and probably a wax of some sort.
And James, note how my pictures are reasonably sized and don't take forever to download.

[James Granger]

[Marcin]

James / Paddy,

what eles did you do to your car (besides the polishing)? I see that mirrors and bumpers changed color... The rims have already been mentioned

Looks great

Marcin

[tvatavuk]