I'm about to go clean my bonneville. (sweet)

Usually what I do is I go to the car wash and use the manual bay or use the auto wash and dry the car myself and spray some tire cleaner. I'm sure there are better ways to clean it but I don't have a spicket outside for water and since I have to park on the road it would be annoying passing cars. Any tips while i'm there so I get it as clean as I can?

P.*. Oh and Plenty of pics after !

No help? I gotta leave in about 10 minutes....

be sure to wash up the engine bay and underside....umm, other than that...be through.

Would a manual bay or automatic be better?

Neither, they will both scratch up the paint. Touchless is best, but may not get the car as clean.

High pressure water at the self serve bays scratches the paint?

I don't know about that, but I once knew someone who just bought a new Camaro and was a freak about keeping it clean. Unfortunately the guy wasn't very smart, and so he decided to use one of the 'foaming brushes' that are in most of the self serve bays.

You should of seen the look of horror on the idiot'* face when he saw grooves on his decklid, all the way down to the primer .. and it was then that I (er... um.. I mean this guy I know) discovered that the brush was loaded with gravel and tar.

But back to your question, I know a lot of people who refuse to go anywhere near a high pressure wash, saying it'* like a sandblaster. I would think it mostly depends on how close you get the nozzle to the paint; I wouldn't get any closer than a foot or so.

Obviously the water itself can't scratch it, but if you're blasting heavy dirt around with it that'* another issue. I guess I try and make sure everything is soaked down well, and I'll only move in closer after any remotely heavy stuff is long gone.

I assume that'* what you meant by your original comment.

I just wish I had access to a garden hose or something.

I would love to have a driveway/garage to wash/clean my car

No, I was assuming the op was going to use the brush, seeing as from my experience the high pressure water does a very poor job at getting the car clean.

For those that don't have good access to a spigot for washing, check out this stuff: http://www.danase.com/opnowaandsh.html

You put it in a bucket of water like regular car soap, wash the car, and then just wipe it off, no need for rinsing. It'* not cheap, but it'* like regular car soap where you use one ounce per gallon of water so it'* not too bad.