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MG MGA - Cleaning Vinyl door panel covering

I thought I would ask this question separately from my "Windscreen Removal" thread which I have somehow turned into a respray blog.

I am in the process of cleaning up the vinyl covered door cards and other similar panels, which are basically sound, but just need a clean and polish up.

Can anyone recommend a product that will do this?

The panels are slightly dirty with a kind of oily film in places.
I have cleaned up one of the rear cockpit ones with a mild de-greasing product and, although it is much cleaner, the finish on it now looks a bit dull.

Cheers
Colyn
Colyn Firth


AERO IMMACULATE--Interior cleaner

not cheap but magic
William Revit

Just looked at that and its a cleaner but you also need to add 'Protect' (for vinyl) to seal which to me (it might not be so for others) is a PITA doubling of the work and materials used and more than doubling of the cost.

It might appeal to Colyn as then there could be two tins (and four microfibre cloths) kept in the boot, no doubt in a special bag. 😁

I've no doubt there could be better cleaners, including Aero Immaculate and Protect, but I just use AutoGlym 'Vinyl & Rubber Care'. That's not cheap either and no doubt there could be a lot less expensive cleaners that would be as good but I found I go back to it.

AERO IMMACULATE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6bHsr1-yI4

PROTECT Tire and Vinyl Dressing and Protectant - https://aerodetailproducts.com/buy-now/ols/products/aero-protect-tire-and-vinyl-dressing-and-protectant

AutoGlym VINYL & RUBBER CARE -https://www.autoglym.com/vinyl-rubber-care

ETA: Its also made in the UK, countries that need all the commercial (and tax) help they can get.
Nigel Atkins

Nah-
You don't need anything extra just a spray of the Immaculate cleaner on a cloth and rub it in, honestly ,it's really good stuff, and really good on fabric and carpet too if you need to do a bit of spot cleaning. (good excuse to get the wife to buy it)
It needs to be used sparingly on vinly seats though, I made the mistake of giving the seats in our elan a good workover and they were---um ,very slippery for quite a while---i've learnt that a little goes a long way-----
William Revit

You clean vinyl seats, wearing clothes does that!

Fair enough, if it only needs sparing use and not a second product to cover it.
Nigel Atkins

Colyn

You could of course recover the cards. Why spoil the look of a great paint job with worn and faded vinyl? Is Les still with Bob West? You could possibly get a roll off him.

I'm seriously thinking of recovering mine.

Steve
Steve Gyles

I think Steve makes a good point - It should be an easy job. I bought some faux leather on Amazon - really cheap at £8 for 1m x1.4m, I used it to reupholster my sons dining chairs but door panels should be much easier.
Graham V

William,
Where do you source it in Australia?

Thanks,
Mark
Mark Wellard

Thanks for the vinyl cleaner info, the Aero-Immaculate doesn't appear to be available in the UK but I will have a look at the Autoglym version.

I have used Autoglym wax for the car before, also their leather cleaner made my seats look like new, so I may give their vinyl cleaner a try.

Nigel, I have already made provision for the extra quantity of vinyl cleaner liquid that I will have to carry around with my "spares-package".

See attached pic

Colyn




Colyn Firth

Hi Mark
In the past have always got it from US ebay but freight has killed that, There's quite a few places that have got it though,--EMA(engine masters aust) have got it but again their postage is sky high----best deal seems to be from B&S Detailers in Melb--decently priced postage----works out cheaper than we were paying from the US in the past
------A little bit goes a long way, use it sparingly
Cheers
willy

https://bsdetailing.com.au/shop/aero-immaculate-multi-purpose-interior-cleaner-473ml/
William Revit

Colyn,
I should have known you'd be prepared. I expect that just hitches up to the end of the spare parts trailer(s) on your own mini road train. I expect you'll get that painted to match the Aero Immaculate labelling/packaging to save any confusion to its contents, standards must be kept.
Nigel Atkins

Mark--B&S detailing are up your way at Logan, my mistake saying Melbourne--better for you though-
Cheers
William Revit

Thanks Willy,
I will have a look next time I’m down that way.
Cheers,
Mark
Mark Wellard

Cheers Mark---small world, I was chatting to some mates the other night about a twincam engine rebuild and your name got mentioned and it wasn't till just now that it clicked with me, i take it you have a twin cam, there's a few of them down here hiding away, have just done an engine for one and the fella that owns that one has a mate doing one as well --both roadsters

willy
William Revit

Guilty as charged, Willy,
I have a coupe and have now started on a roadster.
The roadster was parked behind a shed in 1966 to avoid loss in a divorce settlement, only to be sole by his kids when he died a couple of years ago. If you feel like some amusement, there are pictures here: https://jalbum.net/en/browse/user/album/1971829
As you can see, there is a bit of work to do...

If you would like to look at he coupe, try this link: https://jalbum.net/en/browse/user/album/1927622

Cheers,
Mark
Mark Wellard

Fantastic--That'll keep you quiet for a while-
It's really weird, i'd been talking to a mate about MGC's and Ian Hobbs' new book and someone said about a MGC in Qld with tripple SUs and mentioned your name and that you had a T/C as well, then it hit me you were the same fella-
Those dual throat SU's would be as rare as- Peter Burgess told me about them a few years ago but I've never actually seen any, what size butterflies do they have
Interesting engines them T/Cs, way ahead of their time really--bit heavy duty though in places and a few traps for the unwary like that oil pump thrust, and getting your head around the cam timing with them spinning backwards, but good fun
Would you mind if i shared your links with my twin cam mate he'd be interested in them for sure, only if that's ok with you-----

willy






William Revit

Well, here is my first attempt at cleaning a vinyl trim panel.
I couldn't get hold of any of the Aerotrim stuff that William recommended but I did pick up some of the Autoglym vinyl and rubber cleaner that Nigel suggested.

I first sprayed it with a degreaser aerosol spray that I use at home and this did clean the grease marks from the surface but left it looking a bit dull.

I then used a little of the Autoglym spray and it has brought the colour and the shine back to a much newer appearance.

Here are a couple of pictures comparing the two rear panels after I had cleaned one of them.

I will clean them all and then see how they look in comparison to the newly re-covered cockpit edge trim, before I decide to recover all the panels instead.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Colyn






Colyn Firth

Looking good Colyn--you could say an unmarked improvement----lol

willy
William Revit

Feel free to share the link Willy.
The twin cam community is fairly small in Oz, so I've probably communicated with your mate at some point. The DU6s have a standard H6 butterfly - I 'just' need to organise a manifold. They are probably too much for the engine size but would look good.

Cheers,
Mark
Mark Wellard

Yeah ,probably a little on the big size of things for a 1600, but I'm a bit of a believer that you can make anything work if you want to-The head ports and valve sizes should match up ok ,just working out needles will be fun----when you think about it though there'd be plenty of 1600 engines(non MG ) out there running twin 45mm Webers successfully so there's incentive there to try them-
thanks for the ok on the links-
willy
William Revit

Colyn,
that looks good, more of a sheen than shiny finish which is what I prefer - but a shiny finish does look more like they have been clean and shined which is obviously what I 'ave to do with me concourse car.

A simple little quick trick I do when clean-polishing the exterior of the car is to use a second clean microfibre cloth to give a second buff seconds (in time) after the first buff and it does make a noticeable difference.

For next cleaning the first buff cloth then becomes the cleaning/polishing cloth and the second buff cloth become the first buff cloth and a new cloth becomes the second buff cloth - as simple as one, two, three.

I've not tried it on the interior cleaning because it's simply never fallen into my routine, two cloths there - but you might want to try it on the interior (and exterior) and if you get placed at a show give me a small mention on your future show placards, you can keep any prize commission as I've enough polishing stuff.
Nigel Atkins

Willy, we should start a thread so that we don't disrupt this one.

Mark Wellard

I wouldn't worry too much about thread drift, Willy's mind often wanders off the subject, we make allowances for his age.

But he gives great information (when he's lucid, sometimes he forgets my name despite it always being clearly displayed).
Nigel Atkins

Wow Nigel,
sounds like a lot of work to me, to keep the bodywork up to "concours" standards.

I have to admit that I did my best to keep the paintwork up to as near to that level as possible when I first got the car from Bob West 16 years ago.

But after a couple of years of cleaning, polishing and paint touch ups etc, I realised that I was spending as much time caring for the paintwork as I was actually driving the car.

So instead, I decided to drive it hard, just polish it occasionally, clean it with a decent wash-and-wax (which has always brought up the shine to a pretty high level) and then just save up for a respray when it became necessary.

Well it has taken 16 years for me to decide that the cars paintwork needs some TLC and it turns out that the cost of the respray over 16 years equates to £300 per year, or £5.76 per week. To me its worth every penny!

When I first bought my car, I did once attend a car show where my car was entered into the Concours-d'elegance competition without me realising.

When I parked the car, I was immediately challenged by other competitors who said that, "The wheels are wrong, it shouldn't have a louvred bonnet, the bumpers are missing, it has an MGB engine", and so on.
So, at that point, I decided that concours was not for me and to be honest, it has kind of put me off attending classic car shows.

But I love driving the car, and that's enough for me.

Cheers
Colyn





Colyn Firth

ha ha ha Nigel--lol
my wife often has a go at me about being forgetful, she reckons I don't listen to her, and there was something else she said too-----------

Mark - Happy to chat anytime
William Revit

Colyn,
if you was to see my car you'd see it's very far from concours (which is why I put concourse) and I used to say not even the rust is original on it but unfortunately it is now.

I've been using various labels of waterless wash 'n' wax for many years now only using the hose on the underside of the car and wheels. The waterless offers many advantages and is a lot quicker but other than lights and number plates (see and be seen) I'm still very reluctant to waste too much time cleaning my car as it lives outside 365.

The second buff with a clean microfibre cloth only adds about 3 or 4 seconds a panel and brings visible improvements (I don't bother when I'm only cleaning the lights and number plates though as by that time there's only two cloths with the ww'n'w bottle).

To be fair to them it sounds like your car was entered into the wrong part of the concours (original cars) or wrong concours but on the other side I agree with you some of the attitude of these competitors, judges and spectators stinks. As you can imagine I just take the piss out of these type of people, some realise some don't, I'm not in their game and if they include me they soon find I'm not sticking to their rules. For some it's all just another form of snobbery and exclusion.

I got sick of that type of owners at car shows decades back but I did enjoy it when someone was telling me how good and without fault a marque and model is knowing it to be total bollocks as I've owned and actually used the marque and model - particularly if it's British. 🤣

I've actually won a concours decades back but that's another story entirely, and 'very knowledgeable' Mini concours judges telling a mate his car "was wrong" when my mate was actually a true expert and had picked the car up from the factory new as it was a special, both stories in the Archives on here, repeated a few times no doubt.

Don't be put off going to shows with your car if you want but really wouldn't you sooner be driving the car than parking it up. For decades now I've only been to a couple of charity shows where my car(s) were static all the time.

https://sportingbears.co.uk/dream-rides/
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 25/04/2022 and 02/05/2022

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