New Poll!!! How many times have you washed your '02???

[02fanatic]

Seeing Delia's comment about only washing Julius 3 times in 6 years made me think! Gee, how many times have I washed my '02's?

Here goes:

'73tii (owned 10 years)...I have washed this car one time...when it rained driving to Carlisle, PA in '03!...never been wet otherwise. Very original '73tii...no rebuilds, 2nd gear synchro grinds...great smell of Gummihar in the interior!

'72tii Hugo...never been wet since the restoration (owned 6 years)

'76 '02 (owned 8 years)...washed numerous times..since this was my daily driver for a long time (and may be again soon).

'74 '02 (parts car)...never even driven!

Happy '02ing,

John

[Benz02]

Shoot, I wash mine often, once every week or two I'd say.

[BLUNT]

ive washed my 69 ywice in a year but i think it looks better dirty with clean wheels. john, how do you care for hugos paint? or your 73 for that matter? do you do that california duster thing??

[tomorrowcalling]

I waterblast mine after every event - sort of a case of having to otherwise the dried mud in garage makes my wife a little cranky

[02fanatic]

ive washed my 69 ywice in a year but i think it looks better dirty with clean wheels. john, how do you care for hugos paint? or your 73 for that matter? do you do that california duster thing??

I have them under a flannel indoor car cover most of the time. But, otherwise I do use the "duster", yes. Just make sure the duster is dirty...not new, as it will leave streaks! They work best after well used! :-)

Sometimes I use the Griot's Garage spray shine stuff and wipe off with a soft rag.

BTW, I highly recommend using a car cover, as it protects the paint from inadvertent little accidents, like last weekend when I dropped and quickly grapped for a socket wrench and if rubbed against the '73tii...fortunately the cover was on, or it would have a long scratch in the paint now!

[wsb-unclebill]

I've owned my car for almost three years and I think I've washed it 5 or 6 times. Unless I get caught out in the rain I just clean it off with a California Duster.

[c.d.iesel]

so why bother with interval wiper up-dates?

" .........................washer bottles?

" ...........................washer nozzles?

" .............................working wiper motors?

[cj]

I have'nt washed my car in over a year. I just do the quick detail thing. Works great!

Cris

[02fanatic]

so why bother with interval wiper up-dates?

" .........................washer bottles?

" ...........................washer nozzles?

" .............................working wiper motors?

Wiper motors on early '02's are "very slow" at best....on a car that sits, it's funny watching them wind up and actually "wipe" albiet sloooowly!

If I had my way, and the time to drive more, I would definitely get all my cars "dirty"....but when time is limited, it just isn't worth all the clean-up time. That's my answer cd!

See ya at Carlisle in a little over a week!

John

[Guest]

I wash it every other weekend but I drive it every day.

[napa02]

I washed mine today, probably the 8th-10th time this year. It's a daily driver and I have no garage (house built in 1898, cars not to popular then).

[Napes]

Probably washed it somewhere between 125 & 150 times over the past 26 yrs. I've been driving it daily. I use a Calif. duster on it every morning followed by Griots Speed Shine on any spot that shouldn't be there. At least once every six months every area gets cleaned with Maguiar's Cleaner, followed by Meguiar's Polish, followed by One Grand Blitz Carnauba Paste Wax, all applied and removed by hand. And who said I was anal?

Bob Napier

[RoundelRoundie]

washed mine probably once or twice a year for the last 5 years while in college. everytime i wash it paint flakes off from the PO's "awesome" paint job, so i try to keep it to a minimum. now its completely striped and will truly have an awesome paint job that i can't wait to wash.

[f1reverb]

they at least rust at the slightest hint of water. I've probably washed my '74 '02 400-500 times in the last 17 years. If I drive it I wash it, whether one mile or a thousand, just like I clean a gun if I fire one round or a thousand. It's very easy to wash and dry an '02 if you've kept the paint properly cared for, maybe 20-30 minutes for a perfect job. I wash it at night too, so I don't get water spots. I use a cover at all times when the car is not moving, a Covercraft Sunbrella (currently a blue color) and then a Tyvex cover in white, to keep the '02 cool, on top of the Sunbrella. I use a duster too, as the covers still allow fine dust to filter through. The key with a new duster is to set it on newspapers for a few months to let the parrafin leech out of the duster so you don't get those streaks using a fresh duster (also it's better to dust when the paint is cool). I keep a full car wash/dry outfit, including a bucket, in the trunk along with the spares and tools, as many times on drives you can get coated with crap that really should come off immediately.

I don't see how you can drive an '02 at all and not wash it when you are done, as bugs, various fluids, brake dust from other cars and the normal grit in the air and filth thrown up by your tires and other cars, coat your car. I think the worst thing I ever faced was the purple bird-turds up in Portland from their munching on blackberrys all day long.

[oz_tom]

Good ol' water restrictions in Australia mean no washing cars, period - We need rain!