ilogikal1

I have realised why the Prime leaked though - there's usually a stopper in the lid, but that got stuck to the Prime on the neck of the bottle from the first time I used it and I not only forgot to put it back in last time but I've lost it entirely now. Entirely user error, in case anyone was considering Prime but worried about it leaking.

I'm not sure if it's "just" IPA rather than a fettled IPA-based Panel Wipe (or Eraser, or Prep) jobbie, but Rob (Mr GTechniq) always recommends using IPA when G2 runs out. Put off detailing because of the weather? Lightweight. (It's ruined most of my plans for the day too ).

Wait, wait, wait... does this mean DBlock was right all along?

I'm not aware of a removal product in the GTechniq line, unless you're referring to G2 which is used to apply G1? Either way, Gyeon don't do one - View comes with a pre-treatment "bonding agent" rather than the G2 remover equivalent (which is just IPA anyway). As far as I'm aware, once any coating is cured, especially once fully cured*, it will take abrasives in various contexts to remove - things like Prime & C1 for example will need to be removed by machine polishing, whilst things like Crystal Serum needs to be wet-sanded (hence being an authorised professional application only product). A quartz coating essentially extends the top coat as it bonds to the paint itself whereas products like sealants and waxes sit on top of (and in the pores of) the paint effectively adding an additional but separate layer. *Coatings are very similar to paint; there's the initial curing period of anywhere between 1-48 hours, after which the top-most layer is cured but it can take 7-14 days for it to cure fully beneath the surface - unless you heat cure it, like paint when it's baked. In the above pictures, the Prime isn't fully cured yet by the way. That said, coatings "love" acids and can easily withstand them, however they "hate" strong alkalis so things like neat snow foam concentrate will weaken them to some degree - unlikely to be enough to remove them entirely though, unless it's already coming to the end of it's life anyway.

You mean this one?

Oh yeah, and this happened...

Also I discovered today that the remnants of my Gyeon Prime has leaked in the box. On the bright side, glass puddle! It's a little irritating as I had a plan for that last 3/4ml, but at the same time it's quite interesting to see just how this stuff sets, and just how hard it is when it does set!

Due to... reasons, I took a break from the Z for some of today and cleaned the Leon again today. In doing so I tried out a few new products, one being a Waxybox blind test shampoo that was meh and unless you got box 22 it's unlikely you'll ever use this - although if it becomes a retail product in it's current guise I'll stick a review up, but until then it's a bit pointless. Another of which was "Glimmerman Prestige Gloss Rinse", which is fancy words for a rinse aid that adds gloss. In theory. In practice, it's an expensive, time consuming way to make a coating look no different whilst making the sheeting worse. So much worse. This is straight from Instagram because I can't even be arsed to do a proper write-up for it, it's that bad! Also tried out this today with this terrible ( ) 50/50 vs. a 6 month old coating. Same method used to encourage sheeting after a good rinse, what you might be able to make out from picture is half the bonnet is still very wet with beading; coating 1 - rinse aid 0. No noticeable gloss added either, but then it is on a coating so I'll give the benefit of the doubt here. Would I buy this? No, but then I'm not a fan of rinse aids anyway, I find a good LSP is sufficient on its own. It's not really much of a 50/50, but you can see on the left the difference that this makes... Anyway, I also took the chance to arrange this; FK1000P vs. pre-production HubiRims vs 50Cal Track Wheel Wax. Granted, it's not on a track car, but it will be doing regular motorway jaunts so should get well tested nonetheless. The rear passenger wheel get the HubiRims. The front driver wheel got the FK, the rear driver wheel got the 50Cal, which left the front passenger wheel with (almost) 50/50 FK and 50Cal. As such; In case you were wondering, the FK & 50Cal wheel is split with FK on the two left-most spokes (the one the tin is pictured on and the one below) with the three sections of the barrel around it whilst the 50Cal got the other three spokes and two right-most barrel sections (the one it's pictured on and the one above it). The idea being it's a direct comparison between the two... assuming I can remember which bit has what on it of course. The tyres were also treated to SlickRims Spray Tyre Dressing which should, in theory, compete with Gyeon Tire (sic) because it's the same SiO2 base... although there's also a gel version of this with "better durability", so I suspect that one would probably be a straight comparison and this spray version is just a lite alternative in essence. Still, I'm going to need rear tyres for the Z shortly, so I may test this... depending on if it lasts at all on the Leon first.

Long weekend bump.

It's to reduce fuel vapour emissions (along with carbon canisters). Most vehicles now run the tank at a negative pressure stop fuel vapour venting to atmosphere since the regulations were changed in 1998 (ish... I think).

This and ADHD. Okay if it's properly diagnosed I know either can be a actual problem, but it's the sheer number of people who simply claim to be one or the other because it's just easier for them than addressing their shortcomings.

Right then people of the interwebs, I have been playing with Hydro Coat and made a few observations; It's been suggested elsewhere that diluted Hydro Coat loses it's potency after a couple of weeks (similar to the way Hydro2 does), it's also been suggested that it separates when pre-mixed. Now I can't say I've noticed the latter happening at all and I've had some mixed up for nearly two months now. I did notice the former however, it seems it is best to mix up what you need as and when it's needed, however this makes dilution rates awkward when needing just 100-150ml of solution at any given time as you'll need between 2.5-3.75ml. Which is probably going to be difficult to measure accurately, to say the least. So, as I said, I've been playing with that 500ml of previously mixed solution. I've found that, unlike Hydro2 and Wetcoat which work best when misted lightly over the surface, older Hydro Coat doesn't work well when misted. It does work considerably better when sprayed on in a stream with a bit of impact force from the product (rather than from the pressure washer when rinsing), however it also requires a lot more solution to cover a given area as a result - at least 2-3 times as much in fact. I'd still recommend mixing up only what you need as best case, but if you must store it pre-mixed it can still be usable although it becomes much less effective when to you do so. The bright side is that when you order Hydro Coat direct from Car Chem, they tend to include adjustable trigger spray head(s) which are absolutely perfect for this as they can be adjusted to suit (obviously, being adjustable) - I don't think this is intentional as they're their standard spray heads, and they're very generous with their spray heads - I've got a bag full of unused ones from them.

I can't buy new; I'd get kicked out of Yorkshire for doing that.

Did it run out of electricity before you had a chance to actually park it then?

*Awaits the announcement that Leguna Seca has now been banned from the 'Ferrari authorised track' list, followed by the threat of not being allowed another Ferrari if any owner takes theirs there.*

LSP's 8, 9 & 10 are now on, which means the car is now wearing waxes, sealants and coatings this time round. Seeing as Stu has provided a very generous sample of "mystery" LSP 6 (if you follow Stu's thread you'll probably know what it is already, if you don't... well shame on you ), I've come to decision that it'd be rude to only use it on one section so that's getting used on most of the car now. This leaves me with a second layer to apply to these panels tomorrow, 2 further panels, a quick tidy up of the engine bay, the glass and some trim left to do on the Z. I also need to top the coatings for waterspot protection whilst they cure fully. Then I just need pictures and to actually do the full write up. In the mean time, I shall be spending my evening polishing & protecting the number plates; because nothing can have swirls and everything must bead!

Because the BBC has to be seen to be unbiased and fair. It's somewhat biased to just bin Top Gear, just as it is to keep it. So this their compromise. Of course, they'll claim it's "for the good of those who have paid to see it" though, because refunds don't exist....

Didn't have any impact in his other one either. it only impacted the possibility (or likely probability) of a new one.

One of your neighbours needs a tyre too.

Save me money, have them in blue.

Not when you were of "University age", I hope?!

I reckon these guys might be able to do it. Maybe.

Sniffing solvents and Police phone boxes aside for a moment (you can come back to that if you really want ) and returning to this; This is 50Cal Detailing's "Track Wheel Wax". However those following the current barrage of products might remember that I've got Slick Rims on some of my wheels and the production version of HubiRims on the other one, subsequently this is currently getting tested on the exhaust... as you can see. Now you should know by now that it's never going to be quite as simple as that so for a control comparison the left (near side) tip got a coat of the pre-production version of HubiRims whilst the rest of the exhaust got a coat of 50Cal - a 2nd coat of each may follow. 50Cal Track Wheel Wax is It's currently priced at £29.99 for 150ml. I applied the HubiRims first, then immediately followed this by applying the TWW, allowed a few minutes for them both to cure (around 7-8 minutes all in) and the buffed the HubiRims followed immediately by the TWW so that I could directly compare each. HubiRims is easy to apply, TWW was actually easier and made HubiRims feel quite thick and heavy to apply in comparison whilst TWW spread much more readily and was easier to get a thin layer - if you've used either version of HubiRims (the production version was very similar to appy) you'll know it's not by any means a difficult product to apply, which should tell you just how easy TWW is! Removal was again noticeably different between the two. HubiRims is slightly grabby when you first break the surface and then buffs off really easily afterwards, TWW just wipes off with very little effort. Both need to be buffed to remove the slight smudging/oil marring so in that sense they're quite similar. I have no idea if either has added gloss on this occasion, I was applying it to a highly polished metal after all, and nor have I checked the water repellency yet - needless to say pictures will follow of beading. Lots and lots of pictures, for lots and lots of beading. In the mean time, there's another teaser in the above picture of one of the LSP's. And if you look closely you can just about see all that remains of Twin #2, as well as some of Twin #1 too... which is, almost ironically, as close as either got to the exhaust this time round. The second layers of LSP's 1, 4, 5, 6 & 7 (I think, they're big numbers, I might have got them wrong) went on today. At this rate I might be done before May.

Jeremy Clarkson was spotted on the M62 today, rumour has it he's joining Hull City FC in the summer window.

Both, combined.