here you will have the chance every month to enter our monthly competitions.

Simply “like” us on facebook @ facebook.com/motorgleam for the chance to win car care prizes,

On top of that whenever we reach important Facebook “like” milestones, Something a bit more special.

Thanks again for all your support !

At some point in the early 1990s, a skill called Small to medium Area restore Technology (SMART) restore was developed in the USA. The exact origins are unclear but the technology and ideas behind it were enough of a model shift in the vehicle body restore industry that the procedure spread very rapidly throughout the US and the rest of the world. vehicle body shops had been able to mend rather than replace parts for many years already but the advent of these new tools and techniques and the ability to provide the repairs without a static spray booth meant that a whole considerable new mobile industry sprang up.

Traditional sports car body refurbish shops have been, and still are, constrained to charging high prices for a painted alloy wheel repair. There is little difference in the cost of the repair to the body shop if they restore an alloy wheel edge or complete alloy wheel repair in derby. The base cost must always include a premium for the fixed overhead expenses they are stuck with: rent on the premises, business rates, fixed minimum staffing levels, huge equipment costs for spray booths etc…

In contrast, a mobile smart renovate technician can operate all his equipment from a single mobile workshop, often a medium sized van, and so the base cost of renovate is generally only constrained to the travelling time to and from a repair job. The end result is a cost to the patron that is generally 50% lower for a alloy wheel restore that is every bit as good (and often better) than a vehicle body shop refurbish.

As a business format, the SMART restore industry started to take off around fifteen years ago. Dealing almost solely with the motor trade supplier network.

At that time there were very few companies trading, these where predominantly small companies operating with a small number of technicians, serving a region of a few local counties. Bucking the trend at that time was Chips Away amongst others, already working on a nationwide basis through a network of franchisees.

This must have been rather a daunting time for these early pioneers. Paying out relatively large amounts without any prior small businesses to evaluate, although now those amounts must seem like great investments to those who had the foresight, drive and determination , not to mention skill and a little luck, to enter an entirely new industry at the very beginning. Although the training received was first class, for anyone new to the SMART Alloy wheel restore industry.

Not all operating Alloy wheel repairers in derby SMART repairers at this time were franchisees though, many new companies were being shaped indeed one man bands were beginning to pop up all over the UK, mostly ex-bodyshop personnel or let down former franchisees from the growing list of SMART renovate franchises available. Over time training centres were being recognized, mainly at suppliers premises, offering themselves another profit centre and also welcoming new people into the industry.

Main dealers were swift to realise the benefits of this up and coming service, now only having to pay a fraction of the outlay they were used to paying to bodyshops for relatively small repairs including Alloy wheel repairs in nottingham and derby stonechip repairs, bumper repairs, dent repairs, and dent repairs. All these types of repairs are capable of being achieved to a very high standard.

The main opposition to this new industry was of course main supplier bodyshops and well-known restore outlets who until now had been subject to very little competition. There opposition at this time was fuelled by some of the quality of repairs by inexperienced repairer, and or outfits not really interested in providing a quality service more in obtaining a fast buck. Over the course of the last fifteen years by and large with more competition in the SMART repair industry, has come a much higher standard of refurbish, and resources used. Although the industry is surely not far away from being truly renowned as a stand alone industry, and also with that will come industry values and a general code of conduct. Not a bad thing in my opinion.

Other Areas of repairs available through this service are Interior Trim Repairs, Windscreen Repairs and Alloy Wheel Repairs. All can be carried out via a mobile service and to a high standard, often with lifetime guarantees. These services were easily received by main supplier bodyshops as they where in general no competition to there business, in fact more than than that, were even used by the bodyshops themselves to carry out their repairs and forwarding that cost plus a little extra onto the purchaser.

Over time the materials used have vastly improved also, with most if not all skilled SMART repairers using 2k laquer finishes and other equipment (See our upcoming Article enitled SMART restore supplies for further information). This has led to SMART renovate companies feeling in no doubt in offering lifetime guarantees for their work. You can find easily find a local alloy wheel repair in derbyshire by reading local press or searching the online, but do your research thoroughly and if possible obtain references or read evaluations.

In short the SMART repair Industry has come a long way over these last fifteen or so years, but still has yet to scuff the surface of the potential growth of the market.

My first personal experience of the car body mend industry was in  when I was a passenger driven in a brand new Nissan Navara going up the ramps in a multi storey ar park in Nottingham, the next sound was the front bumper finding the very high kerb on the very  narrow internal roadway.  The hideous scraping sounds were matched perfectly by the look of sickening horror on my face. An inspection of the damage showed a foot long graze with a couple of deep gouges down the side of the front bumper on the passenger side.

One trip to the Nissan main dealer later and we were both reeling from the £180.00 estimate for a new alloy wheel (plus the VAT of course, and a four day time frame). “Can you not just mend the scrape?” I had asked naively. “Inexpensive to replace it…” was the blasé answer. In 1995, S.M.A.R.T renovate was only just getting off the ground in the USA and wouldn’t really hit the UK for another five years. Expensive lesson learnt.

At some point in the early 1990s, a procedure called Small to medium Area restore Technology (SMART) refurbish was developed in the USA. The exact origins are undecided but the technology and ideas behind it were enough of a model shift in the sports car body mend industry that the technique spread very rapidly throughout the US and the rest of the world in luding alloy wheel repairs in nottingham. van body shops had been able to refurbish rather than replace parts for many years already but the advent of these new tools and techniques and the ability to provide the repairs without a static spray booth meant that a whole considerable new mobile industry sprang up.

Traditional automobile body mend shops have been, and still are, constrained to charging high prices for a alloy wheel renovate. There is little difference in the cost of the mend to the body shop if they refurbish a alloy edge or restore a whole wheel. The base cost must always include a premium for the fixed overhead costs they are stuck with: rent on the premises, business rates, fixed minimum staffing levels, huge equipment outlay for spray booths etc…

In contrast, a mobile smart restore technician can operate all his equipment from a single mobile workshop, often a average sized van, and so the base cost of renovate is generally only constrained to the travelling time to and from a repair job. The end result is a cost to the consumer that is usually 50% lower for a bumper repair that is every bit as good (and often better) than a sports car body shop restore.

As a business format, the SMART mend industry started to take off around fifteen years ago. Dealing almost solely with the motor trade seller network.

At that time there were very few companies trading in nottingham alloy wheel repairs, these where predominantly small companies operating with a small number of technicians, serving a region of a few local counties. Bucking the trend at that time was Chips Away amongst others, already operating on a nationwide basis through a network of franchisees.

This must have been rather a daunting time for these early pioneers. Paying out relatively large amounts without any prior businesses to evaluate, although now those amounts must seem like great investments to those who had the foresight, drive and determination , not to mention skill and a little luck, to enter an entirely new industry at the very beginning. Although the training received was first class, for anyone new to the SMART mend industry.

Not all working SMART repairers at this time were franchisees though, many new companies were being produced indeed one man bands were beginning to pop up all over the UK, frequently ex-bodyshop personnel or disenchanted former franchisees from the growing list of SMART Alloy Wheel Repairs In Nottingham franchises available. Over time training centres were being reputable, mainly at suppliers premises, offering themselves another profit centre and also welcoming new people into the industry.

Main dealers were fast to realise the benefits of this up and coming service, now only having to pay a fraction of the expenses they were used to paying to bodyshops for relatively small repairs including stonechip repairs, bumper repairs, dent repairs, and dent repairs. All these types of repairs are capable of being achieved to a very high standard.

The main opposition to this new industry was of course main seller bodyshops and traditional refurbish outlets who until now had been subject to very little competition. There opposition at this time was fuelled by some of the quality of repairs by inexperienced repairer, and or outfits not really interested in providing a quality service more in obtaining a fast buck. Over the course of the last fifteen years by and large with more competition in the SMART refurbish industry, has come a much higher standard of renovate, and resources used. Although the industry is surely not far away from being truly recognizable as a stand alone industry, and also with that will come industry principles and a general code of conduct. Not a bad thing in my opinion.

Other Areas of repairs available through this service are Interior Trim Repairs, Windscreen Repairs and Alloy Wheel Repairs. All can be carried out via a mobile service and to a high standard, often with lifetime guarantees. These services were easily accepted by main supplier bodyshops as they where in general no competition to there business, in fact more than than that, were even used by the bodyshops themselves to carry out their repairs and forwarding that cost plus a little extra onto the consumer.

Over time the resources used have vastly improved also, with most if not all knowledgeable SMART repairers using 2k laquer finishes and other equipment (See our upcoming Article enitled SMART refurbish materials for further information). This has led to SMART renovate companies feeling in no doubt in offering lifetime guarantees for their work. You can find easily find a Alloy Wheel Repairs in Nottingham near you by reading local press or searching the online, but do your research thoroughly and if possible obtain references or read feedback.

In short the SMART restore Industry has come a long way over these last fifteen or so years, but still has yet to scuff the surface of the potential growth of the market.

These can be repaired at your home or we can take the wheels away and repair them offsite and return them fully refurbished if you prefer.

Any damage will be repaired, firstly we remove any surface scratches from the paint or laquer, then any deeper damage will be repaired with alloy wheel filler if required – This is a filler that contains fine grains of metal – thus providing your wheels with a full strength repair.

We then spray the wheel with a two pack hardened primer, this will help protect your wheel from corrosion.  Almost none of our competitors use a two pack primer, usually opting for a single pack (Cheaper) option.

Once your wheels are at this stage, we then mix the colour to perfectly match the original shade of your wheel(s), we only use max meyer paints, these paints are car refinishing industry leaders, and once again provide your wheels with the ultimate finish and protection against the elements.

The final but by no means less important stage is the final laquer coat, again we only use the highest quality materials, a two part laquer and hardener is used to coat the wheel and give it it’s final glossy coat.

This coat is not only to give your wheel(s) the ultimate finish, but provides your alloy wheel repairs with a much needed protective layer against the harmful elements such as salts, stones and acids, that litter our roads today, if cheaper laquers and materials are used then this protective layer will be much weaker, and although may look nice once a repair is finshed, will soon fade, and start to crack and peel, leaving your wheel exposed to further corrosion or damage.

Wether you need just the odd car now and then, or a dedicated weekly service, we can prepare your vehicles to an excellent standard, we can repair all external panels, including, bumper corner repairs, mirror casings, keyed vandal scratch repairs, we can even repair split plastics by our plastic welding system.

Windscreen repairs, and interior trims and leather seats can also be returned to there original condition.

Don’t lose potential sales, get your vehicles looking there best by using our dedicated smart dealer services.

Since January 2000 we have supplied our smart repair services in Nottingham and Derby to some of the best known franchise dealers, private car pitches and Motor Traders in the area.  Our family run business is one of the original smart repair business in the area, established and still operating under our original trading name, with thousands of private customer clients to our name.

You can be assured of the highest quality smart repairs, all fully warranted and guaranteed !

Unlike many so called smart repair operations, MotorGleam have full public liability insurance, and comply with all current regulations.

Why Protect Your Vehicles Paintwork?
Your cars paintwork is very important, not only is it there to add visual value to your vehicle, it’s most important use is to protect the metal underneath from the outside elements. Its like the outer protective skin of your car and it is continuously subjected to contaminants from the atmosphere and environmental harm when its outside:

The most common types of damage caused to your vehicle on a daily basis are:

> Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) from sunlight – invisible, but very dangerous to your vehicle as it can cause fading
> Rain – rain water is actually a contaminant which can also be filled with polution and acids
> Bird bombs – highly alkaline and can eat into the finish of your paint
> Industrial Fallout
> Road film
> Salts (road salts are very bad for paint, and can cause corrosion on metal)
> General dirt and grime

However you keep your vehicles clean, either by spending your weekend days washing and polishing away the dirt and pollutants, or by employing professional valeters, your car will look clean and tidy but it is necessary to protect that finish with a hardwearing layer in order to keep the finish looking at its best, otherwise the elements above will degrade and damage the paintfinish. So a paintwork protective system should be applied professionaly:

Once your paintwork protection has been applied, your vehicle will be protected by a layer of protectant, and all the harmfull atmospheric elements will now land on and attack your protective barrier and not your cars paintwork.  Over time this will become damaged and need replacing, but this will be a whole lot cheaper than repairing the paintwork on your vehicle.

There are two parts to the paint sealant protection process, these are explained in more detail below, but basically they are the paint sealant and the carnauba wax protective layer. Before applying either of these your vehicle should be cleaned thoroughly with a clay bar to remove any debris and harmfull surfectants before starting the paintwork protection process

Paint Sealants
Paint sealents are man made paint protection (synthetic) that have recently come to promenence in the detailing world. They have been developed to provide tough protection for paint finishes to protect your pride and joy and preserve the original paintwork.

Once applied, paint sealants tend to leave the paintwork on your car with a high gloss reflective finish.  Comparable  with carnauba wax.  This kind of finish is not only for the purposes of looking good and showing a vehicles paintwork off to its best, but also allows any airbourne pollutants to more easily slide off and not rest and damage the car.

The clarity of the shine comes from the synthetic nature of the product – the layer provided by a sealant is highly transparent (generally speaking), and this allows paint features such as metallic flake to be shown off to their highest.

Generally speaking, paint sealants have high durability when compared to carnauba waxes and are therefore favoured by those who are looking for a durable finish that is easy to maintain by simply washing the car.  It also much easier to wash a vehicle that has been protected by a paintwork protection package, with some suppliers even claiming that you do not need to wash your vehicle once this traetment has been applied.  Although from a personal viewpoint, whenever I have applied one of these treatments for a customer I advise them to lightly wash on a regular basis with a non detergent type of car wash, even a showroom shine type of product to remove any harmful surfectants.

To apply a paint sealant product yourself- As we also sell on a supply only basis if required, always follow these simple instructions, here I list some generic tips:

* Please note that prior to starting any application of paintwork sealant, always if possible, clean your vehicle down with a clay bar soaked in a bucket of warm soapy water.

>Use a sponge or microfibre applicator for application by hand.
> Use a finishing pad for application by machine.
> By hand, apply in circular motions first and finish in straight lines to ensure even coverage.
> By machine spread product evenly at a low speed (speed 2 – 3 on PC)
> Less is more with protective products, a little generally goes a long way.
> Keep the layers thin, remember the residue you remove is wasted product!
> For most sealents, curing time is required – upto and sometimes more than one hour before removing product residue. Some don’t require this however.
> Buff off residue with a microfibre towel.
> If residues resist easy buffing, don’t apply heavy pressure – instead spary the mf towel with a little QD and this will help remove the residue.

Sealants can be layered although multiple layer, but feel free to apply two or three coats as this can only enhance the look and protective value of the paint treatment:

Some examples of sealent products:

> SupaGuard
> Diamond Brite
> Valeting Co Paintwork Protection Treatment
> Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection

***Carnauba Waxes
Carnuaba waxes are the traditional automotive paintwork protection. Carnauba wax is secreted by the leaves of a tree in the rainforests of Brazil in order to protect the leaves from the blistering heat. It is one of natures most durable waxes with excellent protective properties that makes it ideal for protecting paint. Alas, the tree can continue to secrete the wax to continually update its protection, but your car cannot do this – so its down to you to keep your wax protection updated to keep yuor paintwork protected! Most carnuaba wax products use Grade 1 Yellow Carnauba wax in their formulations – this is the highest grade of carnuaba wax available.

The look generally achievable from a carnauba wax is one of a warm glow to paintwork that comes from a glossy and rich looking finish that has great depth. However, carnauba wax is a natural product and therefore contains impurities. The wax is “yellow”, and is not completely transparent so the finish will lack the ultimate reflectivity provided by the sealent and in some cases paint features such as metallic flake can be slightly muted. Much has been done to improve this by for example further refining yellow carnauba to ivory (white) carnuaba which helps to remove any yellowing effects the wax may provide. Nevertheless, the warm glow and depth provided by a carnauba wax are still higjly sought after, hence why sealent manufacturers are trying to copy it with sealents.

Generally speaking, carnuaba waxes have lower durability than sealents and therefore require updating on a more regular basis. However, one of the most durable paintwork protection products I ever used was a carnauba wax – Collinte 476S, so if its ultimate durability you’re after, try this product!!

To apply a wax, always follow the manufacturers instructions, here are some generic tips:

> Use a sponge or microfibre applicator for application by hand.
> Use a finishing pad for application by machine.
> By hand, apply in circular motions first and finish in straight lines to ensure even coverage.
> By machine spread product evenly at a low speed (speed 2 – 3 on PC)
> Less is more with protective products, a little generally goes a long way.
> Keep the layers thin, remember the residue you remove is wasted product!
> For some waxes, curing time is required – perform the swipe test before removing residue (see below)
> Buff off residue with a microfibre towel.
> If residues resist easy buffing, don’t apply heavy pressure – instead spary the mf towel with a little QD and this will help remove the residue. Or wait longer and try again.

Swipe Test
This test is carried out to see whether a wax residue is ready for removal. With a clean finger, geltly swipe it across a small area of paintwork. If the residue comes away easily, then the product is ready to remove.

Yellowing
Carnauba waxes can be layered to improve durability and appearance, however caution should be exercised with the amount of layers applied. Carnuaba wax is a natural product and as such can be slightly opaque in some more traditional paste carnuaba waxes such as Meguiars #16. Too many layers will cause a yellowing effect where the opacity builds up to mask the beauty of the colour of your paint:

Spit Shining
Normally, if you want to apply multiple layers of a protective product it is necessary to wait 12-24hrs between each coat. However, it is possible to apply two layers of a carnauba paste wax in one go by using the technique of spit shining, oulined here (similar to spite shining army boots). This is the generic technique I use for spit-shining:

> Apply the wax as normal to the first panel then spray with a little QD spray to wet the surface. Do not buff.
> Repeat for three more panels (I generally call the roof two panels, so roof, bonnet, front wing to start for example)
> Go back to your first panel and apply a second layer of wax and work until the QD beads dissappear and you are left with a residue as you would have normally. You can buff the panel first if you like, QD then re-wax but I just re-wax over the original layer.
> Repeat this on the other panels.
> Buff off residues.
> Repeat over whole car.

Spit shine is used to enhance the reflecitivity and durability from a carnauba wax and has been known to produce awsome results.

Some popular carnuaba waxes are:

> Meguiars #16
> Meguiars #26
> Collinite 476S
> Poorboys Nattys/Nattys Blue
> Pinnacle Souveran
> Pinnacle Signature
> P21S
> Victoria Concours
> Victoria Collectors

Best of Both Worlds
As mentioned, the appeareance generated by sealents and waxes are very different but it is possible to get the best of both worlds – sealent durability with carnauba wax warm glow by applying both to your paint. Always apply a sealent layer first and finish with a carnauba wax for the icing on the cake. Indeed some manufacturers have products which contain sealent and carnauba, for example Poorboys EX with Carnauba.

All In One Products
Many products on the market perform more than one task at once – for example Meguiars NXT Tech Wax has fillers to mask minor swirls, glazing oils to enhance the wettness of the shine and deepen the colour and sealent to provide protection. This AIO product would perform the following to paint:

AIO products save time in a speedy detail, but for superior defect removal it is necessary to use dedicated cleaners and polishes. However, for a quick detail AIO products are very useful indeed. Many AIO products, such as Tech Wax, benefit from the application of a “pure wax” (ie a wax that’s sole job is protection, no cleaning abilities) afterwards as the icing on the cake to top off the look of the detail.

Examples of some AIO products are:

> Meguiars NXT Tech Wax
> Klasse AIO
> Meguiars Cleaner Wax
> Pinnacle Liquid Souveran (fillers and wax)
> Meguiars Gold Class Wax (glaze oils and wax)

Maintaining the Finish
As mentioned at the beginning the protective layer that you put on paint is still sibjected to all of the harsh elements and is therefore abbradded away over time. Thus it is necessary to top up the protective layer regularly to ensure you have good paintwork protection.

How Do I Know When To Top Up Protection?
When you wash your car, watch the rinsing water carefully. When rinsing with a flow of water the water should sheet off of the paintwork leaving behind the odd water bead. If the water lies in large flat regions, and doesn’t sheet off the paintwork then it is time to top up the protective layer. Also, while water beading is not the best indicator of protection, the presence of small, tall water beads when it rains shows a good protective layer, while larger flatter beads can show a weaker protective layer.

Topping Up Protection
This is simply a case of adding an extra layer of LSP to your car. If, for example, you have been topping with Menzerna FMJ, then when it comes time to top up, you could just add another layer of FMJ. Or, you could use a different sealent/wax – its up to you. If you have topped with a carnauba wax, it is best to keep topping up with a carnauba wax as sealents were not designed to bond to carnauba waxes and this can adversely affect the durability of a sealent if its applied ontop of an exisiting wax coat (even a weak one).

Spray Waxes
While many detailers here are happy to maintain their finishes by regular washing and occasional (every few weeks for me in the summer) protective layer top-ups, it is also possible to use sprax wax products after washing to keep the wax protection topped up. A popular product for this is Meguiars NXT Tech Wax, which can be applied after washing the car (spray onto mf towel, wipe acorss paint and buff residue with a second clean mf towel) to keep the protection topped up. This spray wax is actually a sealent, and therefore can be used regularly without fear of yellowing. Another popular spray wax, known for its excellent results in silver and many other colours too, is Optimum Car Wax. This can be used as a last stage part of a detail, and also as a maintenance spray after washing. However, this product contains carnauba wax therefore over application of the product should be avoided to avoid yellowing for