Best Cars Guide » Body

Most Popular Car Paint Color – Year 2009

Best Cars Guide — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:09:17 +0000

The Popularity report of DuPont Color for this year states that the most popular car paint throughout the world are still silver, black and white while car customers are also favoring blue color. The question arises that how colors are broken down by continent.

Europe – During last year, the color that became more popular as compared to silver was black. However chromatic colors with a hue unlike black, gray and white are also very popular. Elke Dirks, a Dupont’s color designer for Europe is of a view that the most popular chromatic car paint color is blue because of the rising demand for light, pure and sophisticated looking cars. A strong liking towards chromatic colors suggests a desire by customers for more personalization of their vehicles.

Asia-Pacific – White pearl, candy whites and dark blue are the most popular colors. However, the customers who prefer luxury favor black and mid-tone metallic grays. Emily Hung, a DuPont’s color designer for Asia-Pacific region is of a view that that the variety of colors offered in China and India is a reflection of the booming economy of those countries.

North America – The most popular car color in America has been white for many years, black is slowly gaining momentum. 31 percent of vehicles in 2003 were white and only 17.8 percent of vehicles in 2009 were white. The number fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh spots were taken by blue, red, brown and green. The Socionomics Institute in Gainesville, Georgia suggests that color trends provide insight into America’s hopefulness for the future.

South America – The color that still dominates the market in Latin America are silver, grey, black and white. While the most popular charismatic color is green, blue color is also starting to bet popular. Wolstano Marin, a Dupont’s color designer for Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador is of a view that personal preference, resale value and fashion are the major factors that determine the choices of car paint color.

Car Rust Treatment and Removal Tips

Best Cars Guide — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:28:01 +0000

The cancer of metal version is casually known as rust. When it affects, it starts to eat more and more of the metal. Moisture and oxygen is needed by rust to do its work. When paint is coated on the metal, oxygen cannot penetrate there the metal will be protected. Yet a stone chip is all it takes to start the process.

Primarily, the surface of the metal will get bubbled up by the metal slowly eating deeper and deeper. The earlier it is caught, the better it will be.

A rust spot need a thorough treatment.

1. The rust spot has to be sanded until the bare metal is visible.

2. The area has to be covered with a rust inhibitor which acts like an undercoat for the next layers.

3. The depression caused by filler sanding has to be filled. If the depression is not very big then a thicker coat of paint is not needed.

4. The area should be covered with paint and then some clear coat and cutting paste can be used for finishing.

When the nature of the rust is little more serious, like on the bottom and wings of doors then the only available real option is to cut off the damaged metal and weld a new one. It is normally cheap to replace doors from the breakers yard and have it repainted that is more convenient as compared to a repair. The replacement and painting of front wings is also easy. Anything on the structural areas and rear wing with rust will surely need a new panel welding in for properly fixing it.

One has to be sure to completely cut away the rust and then cover the area using rust inhibitor for preventing further damage from occurring while working on the area.

The prevention of rust is easier than repairing. Wax coating after every six months is the most evident way to guard against surface rust.

Additionally, there are some corrosion inhibitors in the market which are generally used for spraying under the vehicle and behind the panels. This is recommended by Torque Cars which are used in some thin coats. Extra care must be taken for preventing the drain holes in the bottom of the panels getting blocked.

A fine idea is to place a piece of sharp wire through every drain hole for ensuring that they are open. The last that is to be done is to allow water to gather inside the door or panel.

Several leaks can be a sign of rust, they are normally caused by torn rubber seals but the area must be completely checked for any rusts. One irritating area to have rust is around the windscreen. There are cars that have went through windscreen replacement requiring wide work on the frames because of rust caused by water ingression.

Ventvisor Deflector Guide

Best Cars Guide — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:32:46 +0000

Ventvisor deflectors are essentially a very functional car accessory and are not just for style or show-off. In fact the car will give a stylish look after installing ventvisor deflectors which is just an additional bonus.

Ventvisor deflectors are easily installable and are made of flexible materials making enough to follow the curve and shape of the car’s window. It is available in colors that also set off common car colors but it can also be custom made for actually matching the new solid tangerine paint of the car.

The ventvisor deflector has the feature to allow air to freely flow in the car with the noise of howling wind, it will be fresh if one is driving in the countryside but it might be opposite if one is in the city. During rain, the window can be opened a little bit to prevent window fogging and at the same time, the ventvisor deflector stops the rain from coming in the car. Speaking in other words, the ventvisor deflector allows the driver to roll down the window to allow the air enter inside without really exposing the car to rain, wind, dust, snow or even insects like bugs.

How to Sand a Car

Best Cars Guide — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:48:59 +0000

Painting a car is a time consuming procedure especially one of its most important step is sanding your car. It is quite a demanding job to sand a car and to perform this task efficiently you need to know about how to sand a car. You may bring your car to an automobile repair shop to sand it or even can do it on your own too.

What you’ll need:

The following things are required to sand a car.

Sanding Pad
Sandpaper (#120, #320, #200, and #600 Grit)
Air compressor
Powder sander
Wood block
Dry cloth
Dust mask

Procedure:

All areas of your car where you will apply paint needs to be sand out. Now prepare your car by taking away all the foam and plastic parts from your car. Removing additional parts from your car while sanding it prevent then from damage and simplify your work. You may need to remove headlights and tail lights of you car. In case, if your car has trimming, take out it as well. Remove all other remaining emblems and decoration.

Now make use of a sander to begin sanding your car. Sander is use to remove all rust, corrosion and other types of materials from your car surface. It is advised to use sander in a back and forth motion in a straight line to get desirable results. You may change sand pads depending on the level of damage or corrosion.

After using power sander now get an air compressor to eradicate the grime and dirt missed by the sander. Air compressor removes all remaining dust from your car and provides it with a clean and fresh look.

After that get a wooden block and wrap it with#120 grit sandpaper. Now go in a straight way, and sand the areas which are quite hard to reach to (for instance areas around the doors, trunk, and the hood). To obtain more refined and fresh look without any scratches you may use #200 grit sandpaper, #320 and even #600 for better results.

Now again take air compressor and take away dust with it. Utilize a dry cloth to wipe up the entire surface of your car. Now thoroughly look at the car’s body and keep sanding and removing dust by air compressor until all dirt is removed.

Some Tips

There are some useful tips that probably benefit in while sanding your car.

You are recommended to sand your car in a well airy area.

Depending on your car’s condition and the paint color you want to apply on your car, you may just need to remove the car’s clear coat, rather than sanding everything down to the metal.

To keep yourself safe, you must put on a dust mask during sanding.

Confirm that you sand straight to put off scratches

It takes time to sand your car but if you carry out this task efficiently you will get desirable results and smooth look of your car before applying paint on it.

How to Touch Up Car Paint Guide

Best Cars Guide — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:43:21 +0000

Everybody likes his car to have a shiny and glossy look with shimmering and perfect paint on it. It is absolutely irritating to find a scrape on its beautiful shiny look. Although you may get back your car’s beauty again but fr this course you have to know about How to Touch Up Car Paint

What you’ll need:

You will require following things to touch up your car paint.

Car
Sandpaper
Car paint (the same color as that of your current paint job)
Goggles and gloves
Car wax
Hairdryer

Procedure:

To touch up your car paint, these steps would probably help you out.

First of all check which areas of your car need to be repaired. You will come across lots of areas in this way which you were considering fine but they require touching up and have dents and scratches on them as well.
Then you have to find the paint that most suits your car’s paint as it gives your car glossy and gleaming look and if you picked up the color that does not completely match with your car’s paint then you will get intricate results at last. So be careful while choosing the appropriate paint for your car. And buy the paint in quart or pint quantities if you feel that a large area needs touching up.
Next ahead of touching up your car, wash it and let it dry completely. Hen sand the area by using sandpaper.
Don’t forget to slip on a pair of gloves as well as goggles to keep protected your hands and eyes from paint.
Now, apply a clear coat layer to the problem area. This is significant in case if you have to fill large spots. Don’t forget to follow the instructions given on the paint; as sometimes brands have dissimilar processes
Before start painting your car, find a hidden area of your car where you can apply that paint to test it. If you are satisfied with this then apply it on your whole car.
Try to apply the paint with a back and forth motion and in straight and even patterns as well. While doing this verify that you partly cover the first spray and the edge of the second one, by as a minimum half the original width.
Now add wax to the area you painted to finish touching up. After that, buff the touch up paint work.
To give it smoother as well as shinier finish you may employ a hairdryer to heat the area up.

Scratches and scrapes give your car a bad look but you can easily take away all these things by painting your car properly. So follow the mentioned steps and get better results.

How to Check Your Windshield Washer Fluid Level Guide

Best Cars Guide — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:30:12 +0000

Don’t you think it’s time for you to replace your windshield washer fluid? When you go out for driving, there will be dust and pollution everywhere around you. And even if there are no such problems, some other unexpected things can occur which may make the windshield worse. It should always be clean – only then you’ll be able to enjoy each and every moment of your driving. Here we’ll tell you why and how to replace your windshield washer fluid. The steps that we are going to tell you are easy, but do keep track of things seriously.

Steps:-

Step 1: First of all, you should park your car in a place where the road is leveled and flat. And this is to allow the engine of your car to cool down – actually it would be the engine bay that will be cooling down. After that, simply open the hood.

Step 2: Once you have opened the hood, check inside, for windshield washer fluid reservoir. It would be a white colored tank -so finding it won’t be a daunting task for you at all.

Step 3: The windshield washer fluid reservoir would be a transparent tank, through which you’ll be able to see markings – after viewing which you’ll be getting an idea regarding – whether to replace it or not. If the markings show that – it’s below the half level, and then it’s better to replace the windshield fluid or simply refill the reservoir with fluid.

Step 4: Now, make sure that the reservoir is not having any kind of leakage or cracks. While you replace the fluid, make sure that you are with the right kind of fluid. If you are unsure about something while mixing the different ingredients, you can go through your vehicle’s manual, or simply consult someone who is more experienced than you in this regard.

Step 5: Now, it’s time to top-up the reservoir with the fluid that you have got with you. You can use a funnel in order to make sure that you do not waste the fluid. After filling the reservoir with the fluid, just make sure once again that it is fully filled and not just partially filled. After that you can replace the cap of the reservoir.

Step 6: Now, it’s time for testing what we have done so far. Turn on your car and test the windshield – note the difference in the amount of fluid coming out from it.

How to Replace a Car Side Mirror Guide

Best Cars Guide — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:12:34 +0000

The most probable incident that happens in a mishap or an accident is breaking of car’s side mirror. It is obviously teasing and annoying condition for you and you want to get rid of it as soon as possible. Rather than paying a professional for this, you can do it on your own as well. In this case, you must have to know about how to replace a car side mirror.

What you’ll need:

To do this task you will require the following things:

Replacement side mirror or mirrors

Owner’s manual

Pry tool

Socket wrench or nut driver

Screwdriver and/or torx driver

Small shallow container (cup otherwise bowl)

Procedure:

To begin you first have to buy a side mirror for your vehicle that should be of same size and model as you have now. Usually side mirrors are easily available on each repair shop, however you may buy them online or from junkyard as well.

Now roll the window down and after then run off the vehicle.

Now come across the negative terminal of the battery and disconnect it. Don’t avoid it in any case; if you forget it you may cause severe harm to yourself.

By using pry tool, take away the interior door panel. It will remove the trim pieces. Now, remove the screws that grasp the panel through screwdriver.

If your car has power-controlled window, then cautiously unplug the wiring bind. But if these windows are manually rolled down then leave out this step.

To take away the complete mirror assembly from your car, remove the mirror bolts with the help of nut driver or a socket wrench.

Now take apart mirror from the mirror assembly. To remove the screws, make use of torx driver. After this pry the plastic tabs on the backing until both pieces are separate.

Now snap the new side mirror to the backing by means of tabs and it will simply attach it to the mirror assembly.

Put the new mirror in the mirror assembly which is up till now attached to the backing.

At the moment, reinstall the entire mirror by turning around the steps.

If you feel any difficulty in this procedure you should ask an expert about it. In case if you did it with any complications in your mind it will definitely lead you to receive poor results. But if you are sure about it then these steps would absolutely end up doing well.

How to Remove a Door Panel – Door Panel Removal Guide

Best Cars Guide — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:35:14 +0000

A majority of car owners prefer to repair their vehicles on their own. For this reason, while maintenance process, one may need to remove the door panel to do repair easily. Door panel may need to be removed for a while at the time you are fixing power windows or locks, installing speakers, changing window cracks or replacing side mirrors and alike. In all these cases, you have to know about how to remove a door panel.

What you’ll need:

You require the following things to remove door panel of your car:

Car
Screwdrivers
L-pick
Ratchet and socket
Flashlight

Procedure:

First of all, you should look at the door and the panels for their attachment. In this way you are supposed to check whether they are connected through bolts and screws or they have snap in fittings. If there are bolts and nuts then you can use screwdriver or a socket. But if they have snap in fittings then you have to use a flathead screwdriver.

Now roll your car window down and start taking away the bolts and screws attaching the door panel to the car. But you have to be careful in case of snap in fittings while prying the door panel’s bottom corner, until the fittings pop out.

You must remove the control panel of the window if your car has power window. Then unplug the wiring bind from the back and put it to one side.

After that, come across the manual window crank by using L-pick and flashlight. Try to watch the back of the window crank and then slide the pick under. Remove the clip and after this pull off the crank.

Take off the small screw in the center of door handle. Then pull the door handle softly. Now remove the handle by unclipping its rod. In case if the door lock and handle ate attached, discover the lock and unclip the rod to remove both of them.

Now, cautiously unscrew the cap from the door panel locks at the rear upper corner. These locks would not have a rod to hold them so you have to unscrew them from the door handle independently.

After you have removed everything now pop off the door panel. Pry the panel’s bottom edge softly and then pull out upwards to take away the door panel completely.

Remove the door panels of your car when you are doing any maintenance task is better as it avoids any possible danger that could take place if the door panels are attached to the car.

How to Repair Dents on Car – Dent Repair Guide

Best Cars Guide — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:19:49 +0000

It is quite impossible that a driver (even a professional one) have had not any mishap in his or her life while driving vehicle. Your car may have a dent in these accidents or mishaps. You don’t have to be worry about these dents as they can be easily repaired and you can repair them on your own as well. So, you just have appropriate knowledge about how to repairs dents on car and after this you will probably do it efficiently. The cost it takes to repair dents depends on the severity of dents.

How are dents caused?

Usually dents tend to spoil the overall beauty and splendor of your car. What type of car you may have, dents spoil its shiny and beautiful look in all matters. Even if they are quite invisible or too small to see, they hurt your vehicle’s outlook.

There are certain causes that lead to dents. Let us discuss some of them:

Accidental scratches:

Your car may have a dent when you park it in a rush place and other driver just hit any side of your car, cause it to have dent. These mishaps usually cause dents in the form of accidental scratches.

Sabotage:

Some people may cause your car to have dents just to make you angry for the sake of their pleasure and as a part of their daily misbehavior.

Repairing:

The following manner allows you to repair your car dent:

First of all, come across the center of your car dent and drill a hole there.

Secondly, put together the dent pulling tool with a thread and pull on tool until dent arises and squashed.

At the time when dent has come up, use hammer to make it level. While leveling the dent keep in mind that dent should be leveled from both sides. For this reason, you have to go underneath the car as well as behind the trunk.

Now, apply the body filler on the dent area. The body filter more levels the dent and make it approximately proportional. And body filter also lets the primer to straighten out across the dent area.

Sand the dent area of your car with 36 grit sandpaper after the body filter has dried. It brings about more smoothness to the surface of body filter before applying primer to the dent area.

Now it is time to spray the dent area with primer. At least six times, primer should be sprayed on the dent area of your car. You must keep an interval of about 10 to 15 minutes among each primer spray to let it dry completely each time. So, overall six coats of primer will be applied in this step.

When the primer has dried, sand the primer to give it a smooth surface on which you have apply paint.

After that if you achieve this smoothen surface, you have to select the most suitable paint color which probably matches with the color of your car and then paint this. You have probably taken away the dent after the paint dried on your car.

These are some simple and easy to apply tips that let you remove dents on your car quite effortlessly and in less time as well.

How to Remove Car Window Tint

Best Cars Guide — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:14:46 +0000

Your car may have windows and windshield tints on it especially if it is an old car. Damaged window tinting may cause accidents and serious risks as they give you the distorted view of road. These window tints decrease your car’s value as well. So you have to know how to remove window tint to keep away all these poor results. Let us discuss about various techniques to do so.

Tools:

Usually the tinting material is made with two layers of film. Where a thicker layer protects the coloring film and defends against scratches, wear and tear as well.

To remove the window tint, you require following tools:

Clothes steamer
A sturdy plastic edge (You may use an old identification card or a baking spatula)
Terrycloth towel
Window cleaner

Steps:

It is quite complicated and risky procedure to remove window tint. This process uses garbage bags, ammonia, razor blades and alike. It is a dangerous process and may harm you badly. So you should adopt an appropriate approach that helps to remove window tint from your car windshield or its window quite easily:

You first have to fill the clothes steamer and after that turn it to maximum temperature.
Now, grasp the steamer to one end or corner of car window or windshield and keep it at the same position for few minutes until the tint epoxy resin melts.
Now take an old card or spatula and use its edge to rub a segment of film to loosen the edges.
After this, pull away at the film at the same time as steaming off the adhesive backing. You may pull off the old window tint in one piece if you carry out this task gradually.
Now remove all remaining window tint which has not been removed yet.
At this moment, spray the window with window cleaner and use terrycloth towel to clean it.

After performing these steps you may have your car with quite clean window, but if you want then can bring your car to an auto customization shop to do this job again.

Therefore, you can easily perform this simple window tint removal procedure without even wasting your time.