OK Curran, Carpro advice.

Ryath

vectra wrote: »

Machine polish with eraser?

Unless he means the new CarPro Essence another product to add to my shopping list! Looks very good to prepare for cquartz on a new car.

Just finished with the two bucket wash with reset and dried of with microfibre towel. Car wasn't as dirty as last week and the alloys were way cleaner. Guess they were just bad the first week with the brakes bedding in. Still haven't got the Dlux on, ended up working way more than expected and was away all weekend. It will be probably next weekend now before I get the alloys done.

Curran

LOL....Neil does mean Essence! Better make sure he knows not to use Eraser! :P

Neilw

vectra wrote: »

Machine polish with eraser?

Sorry essence, I'm still jet lagged here lol.

ronnie3585

In case you're not aware Curran, your site appears to be down. I'm getting this message:

Link to database cannot be established: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2003] Can't connect to MySQL server on 'mysql1859.cp.blacknight.com' (4)

Curran

I wasn't aware but assume Blacknight were doing some sort of maintenance work. Seems OK for me now!

conzy

Waiting on delivery of a new car and had some kind of sealant in mind. I was going to drop it into D&D in cork where the car is being delivered.

Tempted to try this myself now.

Going to ask the dealer not to touch it with a 40 foot stick.

vectra

conzy wrote: »

Waiting on delivery of a new car and had some kind of sealant in mind. I was going to drop it into D&D in cork where the car is being delivered.

Tempted to try this myself now.

Going to ask the dealer not to touch it with a 40 foot stick.

2 things about using this

1)
You need dry weather
or a shed


2)
You will get great satisfaction out of doing it yourself along with a "Lorra Lorra" money left in your pocket

It really is a simple process.
Especially on brand new paint.
Just remember, Do not rush on preparation.

conzy

I have access to a carport now, its small enough but I can definitely do the front half of a car then the back half of the car totally shielded from the elements. In saying that maybe an Ibiza Cupra will fit

I have another few weeks to decide but I think I would get a lot of enjoyment out of doing it myself. First new car so going to take a few days to pamper it :pac:

punisher5112

I would rather let the pro do the 1st step and then perfect the art of caring and all the rest one self after to keep car mint.

I wish I had a shed my vRS is so neglected had bird sh1t all over it left on a month and can see it needs fixing.

Plan was to do rotary job on it anyway as I was too cautious 1st time and didn't have the right cutting pad so looking forward to getting a stunning shine off it.

I'm not using it as much as using diesel motor to eat up the miles but do miss it when not driving it.

Blue in vRS is my favourite colour of all time and went mad out of the way to get one.

Alfie1

I've a couple of questions about CarPro DLUX & applying it.

I've got some faded trim on the scuttle panel, wing mirror mounts & the unpainted sections of the wing mirror covers that I'd like restored to black. I've watched the vid Curran posted of DLUX so I'm thinking of ordering some to bring them back to their former glory. The scuttle panel is gone grey, but some bits of the wing mirrors covers are almost white in a few places, will the DLUX get them back to black or am I asking too much of it ?

The car will be getting a couple of coats of wax (50.Cal Penta Wax) so I'll be doing a full de-tar, de-iron, clay etc before that & I've also got some CarPro Eraser.

Should I wax the car first & then use some Eraser on the trim again before applying the DLUX ? And to protect the fresh wax & the paintwork from Eraser & DLUX should I use some tape around where I'll be applying the DLUX ?

Curran

The white areas might be beyond saving by DLUX alone. However a bit of help from a heat gun may help put a bit of life back into them and finish / protect with DLUX.

I wold do the full prep on the paintwork and trim first. Then do the DLUX and finish by waxing the car.

Alfie1

White might be a bit of an exaggeration, I suppose a light grey would be more accurate, I don't have a heat gun but the affected areas aren't very visible anyway so I'll probably order some DLUX soon to give it a try.

Thanks for the info Curran.

Curran

If its light grey, you wont have an issue restoring the trim!

vectra

Just to keep an update on this.
Over the past 4 weeks or so I have only been using the local jetwash.
Just rinse function, No suds.

Today I made a solution of APC and water in a pump spray bottle. I added a capful of Bilt Hamber Surfex HD.

Liberally sprayed the car which was embarresing to me as it was so dirty.

Rinsed
Washed with reset
Rinsed

I had some diluted Reload in a spray bottle that I very lightly misted on the wet paint
Dried with the sry me crazy towel
Light buff with a MF cloth
Cleaned the glass and dressed the tyres with CG tyre gel.
I am still impressed at how the reload is holding up,
I was hoping to doa more intense clean and decon today but ran out of time. Hopefully next wekend will see that.
Anyhow.
Some pics.

Neilw

Do you have d-lux on your wheels? If so how do you find it?

vectra

Neilw wrote: »

Do you have d-lux on your wheels? If so how do you find it?

I do indeed
I should have shown the water behavious on them after washing them today.
Simple to clean. Nothing "really" sticks to them.
I do not have a brake dust problem.
I would normally snow foam > Pressure wash > Wash with MF cloth after car is washed. Rinse well, Yhey bead as good as day one almost.
No wax is as good in my view.

Neilw

vectra wrote: »

I do indeed
I should have shown the water behavious on them after washing them today.
Simple to clean. Nothing "really" sticks to them.
I do not have a brake dust problem.
I would normally snow foam > Pressure wash > Wash with MF cloth after car is washed. Rinse well, Yhey bead as good as day one almost.
No wax is as good in my view.

I have it on my wheels too, I'm not seeing the non stick properties people rave about. It was applied correctly only a couple of months ago.

The car hadn't been washed in a good few weeks, I had to use bilt hamber auto wheel on them as the pressure wash alone didn't shift anything.

Last car had gtechniq on the wheels and they just pressure washed clean every time.

Curran

Neil, of you've any left, I'd try give one of the wheels another light coat. Perhaps you left it a ltitle too long to dwell and as a result it started to harder, leaving an uneven surface (microscopic level) and isn't the ultra slick surface it should be.

Neilw

Curran wrote: »

Neil, of you've any left, I'd try give one of the wheels another light coat. Perhaps you left it a ltitle too long to dwell and as a result it started to harder, leaving an uneven surface (microscopic level) and isn't the ultra slick surface it should be.

I'll try that. I remember not leaving it long to dwell, it was a good day and could see it wipe off cleanly with a microfibre.

traco

Huge thumbs up lads for this thread!!

I just read thru and learned a lot. I want to start detailing my own stuff and am fortunate that I have access to a modern warehouse and other vehicles so would have the time to do a job right in theory, whether I have the skills or not is another question???

The cars are 2010 Skoda Superb Estate, 2007 Metallic Black ML (nervous about this one as its kinda big and shows everything) and 2003 Boxster (want to get this one perfect) so all German (Is Skoda now German?)

I think I would like to start on the daily high mileage work driver Grey 2010 Skoda. Its not as critical as the others.

I have a large Karcher power washer (work) but not sure exactly where to start. As a newb here any advice would be appreciated and should I buy DA machine polisher?

So I'm guessing the following:
Wash
Rinse
Wash and rinse again
Iron X??
De Tar??
Clay bar??
DA machine polish to take out swirls etc???
More washing and rinsing?
Some sort of treatment to flatten out, fill in blemishes?
Final treatment of some sort, nano / ceramic????

Curran

traco wrote: »

So I'm guessing the following:
Wash
Rinse
Wash and rinse again
Iron X??
De Tar??
Clay bar??
DA machine polish to take out swirls etc???
More washing and rinsing?
Some sort of treatment to flatten out, fill in blemishes?
Final treatment of some sort, nano / ceramic????

You almost have it right....

You have the prep pretty much right. A good wash, rinse, spray on a fallout remover (IronX is such), rinse, spray on a de-tar (rinse, and repeat if necessary), clay bar, quick wash and then dry. At this point, the paintwork is prepared for polishing.

Yes, you will need some sort of machine polisher to remove swirls. It is possible to mask swirls with certain products, but after a few months, the fillers in these types of product will eventually wash out, and you are back to square one. Its better to do some machine polishing and look after the paintwork with proper wash techniques and they'll look brilliant for years post polishing.
The outlay for a polisher is a bit high, but given you have 3 cars to do, its not too much per car, and you'll use it again for sure. There will always be a need to give a daily driver a very light machine polish to bring it back to perfection, as no wash technique is 100% possible not to cause swirls, its limiting them is the objective.

If you go down the route of a machine polisher, your paintwork will be restored, and therefore the step you listed after polishing; 'Some sort of treatment to flatten out, fill in blemishes' will not be necessary, as it will be done by the polishing. What will be needed after polishing is protection; but even before that is applied, especially with nano coatings, the surface needs to be prep'd again. The polish you would use with a machine contain lubrication oils, which would hinder the bonding, or cause a reaction, of the nano coating. So another wash after polishing, to help breakdown the oils, and then a wipedown with an inspection product (like a panel wipe) is needed to ensure a surface that is free of any possible contaminants that would prevent maximum bonding of the nano coating.

That said, nano coatings arent the only options, there is the traditional carnauba waxes, or synthetic sealtants that will work too...there are a lot of pros and cons to any of them; take nano coatings for example, the attention to prep needs to be 100%, but when a surface is coated by these coatings, the benefits in durability, easy of wash, staying cleaner for longer, etc, often out weight the cons of application, and the pros of what the waxes and sealants offer....but its a personal choice, and the somewhat glassy appearance of the coatings, arent for some people!

ronnie3585

Curran wrote: »

You have the prep pretty much right. A good wash, rinse, spray on a fallout remover (IronX is such), rinse, spray on a de-tar (rinse, and repeat if necessary), clay bar, quick wash and then dry. At this point, the paintwork is prepared for polishing.

I thought the machine polisher would remove tar and fallout?

Curran

Well, yes, in a way it would remove tar, but tar consists of dirt, so you put a pad against the paintwork, and spin it at 2-3000 RPM, what will that do to your paintwork? The tar would be gone off the paintwork, but your left with a pad that is pretty much ingrained with dirt and now useless, and a paintwork that has tiny scratches.

Fallout, if you take iron particles embedded in the paintwork, may release with machining, but again, the finish that could be achieve will be lessened slightly by microscopic contamination.

Claying would remove tar and iron contamination, but again, for the same reason as trapping it between a pad, they claying process would result in further damage.

ronnie3585

Curran wrote: »

Well, yes, in a way it would remove tar, but tar consists of dirt, so you put a pad against the paintwork, and spin it at 2-3000 RPM, what will that do to your paintwork? The tar would be gone off the paintwork, but your left with a pad that is pretty much ingrained with dirt and now useless, and a paintwork that has tiny scratches.

Fallout, if you take iron particles embedded in the paintwork, may release with machining, but again, the finish that could be achieve will be lessened slightly by microscopic contamination.

Claying would remove tar and iron contamination, but again, for the same reason as trapping it between a pad, they claying process would result in further damage.

Makes perfect sense! Helpful as always, thanks.

traco

Curran wrote: »

You almost have it right....
That said, nano coatings arent the only options, there is the traditional carnauba waxes, or synthetic sealtants that will work too...there are a lot of pros and cons to any of them; take nano coatings for example, the attention to prep needs to be 100%, but when a surface is coated by these coatings, the benefits in durability, easy of wash, staying cleaner for longer, etc, often out weight the cons of application, and the pros of what the waxes and sealants offer....but its a personal choice, and the somewhat glassy appearance of the coatings, arent for some people!

Thanks for all that feedback, really appreciate the time taken.

I guess I need to take a look at the final finish options in a bit more detail to understand their pros and cons plus I hadn't considered the glassy look??
On initial impressions I'm thinking that the coatings might be more suited to the daily cars based on what Vectra did and it would make washing and maintaining that bit easier.

Maybe traditional wax on the toy which is purely summer weekends. It will be off the road for 6 months of the year and at even during the summer it is indoors from Monday morning until Friday evening. I like tinkering and doing stuff on it plus as its very small and hand wash and re-wax would not be a huge job.

More reading required by me.

vectra

traco wrote: »

Thanks for all that feedback, really appreciate the time taken.

I guess I need to take a look at the final finish options in a bit more detail to understand their pros and cons plus I hadn't considered the glassy look??
On initial impressions I'm thinking that the coatings might be more suited to the daily cars based on what Vectra did and it would make washing and maintaining that bit easier.

Maybe traditional wax on the toy which is purely summer weekends. It will be off the road for 6 months of the year and at even during the summer it is indoors from Monday morning until Friday evening. I like tinkering and doing stuff on it plus as its very small and hand wash and re-wax would not be a huge job.

More reading required by me.

For a weekender / summer car I would definitely use wax method.

traco

vectra wrote: »

For a weekender / summer car I would definitely use wax method.

Cheers - thats what I was thinking also, keep it more standard. Must keep my eye out for a reasonable DA machine kit now.

Mc Love

Vectra, can you come over and do the same for my car?

vectra

Mc Love wrote: »

Vectra, can you come over and do the same for my car?

NOOOOOOOO..!!!


LOL

vectra

OK
Today:

11 Months since application of Cquk and Dlux.
Very pleased at how both are still working.

Snow foam
Korrosol on wheels
Dwell
Pressure rinse.
Wash Car.
Rinse
IronX on paintwork > Very little color change which leads me to believe CQUK is working extremely well as it is now close on 11 months since application.
Rinse
wash
Rinse
Dry
Inspected for tar.
I counted 6 spots of tar throughout the whole car. When I say spots I mean smaller than a matchstick head. > Again telling me cquk is apparently helping here.
Rinsed these areas
Washed the wheels
Dry car ? Wheels
Wipedown with Erasor.
Top up coat of Reload.
Clean glass.
Take a few pics.
Had dinner :P

This cquk is telling me to never again bother with waxing a car.

As you can see in pic 2, Not much movement in the Korrosol either on the wheels. Can I assume Dlux is working as it should?





IronX working








Finished result