ilogikal1

I was planning on refurbishing the wheels before I coated them, however certain developments and a distinct lack of patience meant that I used it this time. I've done all four wheels, the rear calipers and the headlights with GTechniq C5 (Iwould have done the front calipers too, but I had the tiniest bit of Dodo Juice Infinity so decided to finish that off on the calipers... but then put the bottle somewhere where I didn;t look when it came to the rears, so I opted for C5 on those instead. And then I found the Infinity. And now I have an even tinier amount of Infinity left. Nuts). Prep for the wheels consisted of removal, wash, decontamination, clay, IPA wipedown and then seal. For anyone who hasn't used it before, C5 is a bit of a sod to apply as you can't see it when you're wiping it on so you have to work methodically and just hope that you get coverage. GTechniq claim; Naturally, having a set of 18 inch RAYS to coat, front and back, I opted for 15ml. It was plenty, for the record. Application of C5 is really easy, wet a "lint free cotton applicator pad" (or a makeup pad if you don't want to pay a stupid price for them from a detailing supplies retailer...) with an amount of product (1-2 drops is plenty!), spread over the surface and then buff any residue/streaks away after a few minutes - a few minutes being plenty of time to do either the face or the barrel of the wheel first, by the way. I did two coats on each wheel, applied in straight lines one way then straight lines criss-crossed in an opposing direction (ie. up & down then left & right) to ensure coverage. Buffing was remarkably easy and I had no trouble with streaks - for the record when you're buffing what you're really doing is just spreading it further across the surface so if you're worried about coverage you've got three goes per layer to get everywhere. The wheels were then left to cure for at least 10-15 minutes (although the rears were left over night, because I was knackered by that point!) before being bolted back onto the car. You should allow at least 12 hours to cure fully before getting wet. Which I did. The thing I love about C5 is the instant gloss that it adds. There's a noticeable increase in the gloss level as soon as it's wiped on that you get with a wet surface, but that just doesn't disappear when you buff the residue. Also, for the record, I have yet to suffer any f**king spotting on the barrels that I got with SlickRims! I also treated the tyres to a coat of Gyeon Tire (sic) which was force cured with a heat gun. And then I got all wet. The tyres bead too;

I'm about to pic whore, just so that you know. You've been warned. Before that though, I'm going to review a few things. First up, Gyeon Q2 View. Prior to this my car had GTechniq G1 on all the glass so this is most likely going to be a direct comparison. By ways of preparation, the glass was foamed, washed and clayed along with the rest of the car and later was then given a quick wipedown with glass cleaner (GTechniq G6). "View" is actually a packet that contains two products - Q2 Cleanse and Q2 Repel, two applicator blocks, 2 (maybe 4, I 'm writing this up from memory and can't check as the packet is 200 miles away...) suede applicator cloths and a sheet of instructions (that covers all Gyeon coatings) presented largely in pictures yet somehow manage to convey the important information (take heed flat-packed furniture makers everywhere!). Cleanse is the cleaning/bonding agent whilst Repel is actual LSP coating. The two applicator blocks differ slightly from each other too, one is the typical harder-foam-mated-to-softer-foam-bottom affair that you'll get with just about every coating these days - this one needs to be wrapped in a suede applicator cloth and together is for use with Repel. The other applicator block is the same harder-foam construction but mated to a rough, felt-like bottom which is to be used directly on the glass with Cleanse. Cleanse is essentially a glass polish (the deep clean kind, not the fix scratches kind), essentially Gyeon's version of GTechniq's G4. The instructions are simple; clean the glass, work Cleanse into the surface using the larger applicator block, work your way around the entire car before buffing Cleanse off with a damp microfibre cloth, buff with a separate dry cloth to remove any streaks (and/or to dry). When the glass is streak-free and dry, wrap a suede applicator around the other applicator block and wet with Repel before working into the surface of the glass. Work your way around the car and buff to remove any residue and/or streaks. Allow to dry out of the elements for 12 hours. Job jobbed. As with any coating, due to that last instruction I'd strongly recommend against trying to apply this outside. The instructions (that come with all Gyeon coatings) suggests that you should use the entire 20ml of Repel (there's no indication of how much Cleanse to use though), however I did three coats on every inch of glass on the Z and I used ~10ml of Repel and probably not even that much Cleanse - I was quite liberal with Cleanse as it's difficult to see just how far it stretches. For reference, I used 3-4 drops on the applicator was plenty to do a door window and the 3/4 window as well. However I found I needed to split the front windscreen into three sections with 4-5 drops per section and worked it into the surface until there was no white residue visible (until it cured, at least) but by the time I'd gotten to the rear screen I was much more comfortable stretching it further and only split it into 2 sections with 2-3 drops per section. I strong recommend starting with the side windows rather than front/rear screens and having good lighting. When it comes to Repel, I found once the applicator was suitably primed, you could easily cover half the front/rear screen before before needing more product, but lifting the it's best to reload the applicator before starting a new section/window. I also found it best to spread a quick line across the middle of the section you'll be working on before then working it over the full section. Whilst Repel does seem to flash relatively quickly, it allows plenty of time to spread the product over a section to ensure coverage. I also found that Cleanse buffs ridiculously easily with a damp cloth (as usual, note damp not wet!) even when over-applied, although it's stubborn as hell if you try to remove it with a dry cloth whether it's over-applied or not. Repel, on the other hand, buffs easily but I did find that it needed a fresh buffing cloth for each window as each became saturated quite quickly. I also found it beneficial to go for a secondary buff later on to ensure the perfect finish - although this is standard practice for me. In terms of application, I prefer View to G1; Whilst G4 can be bought separately to G1, whilst Cleanse and Repel only come in the form of View (as far as I can tell), however you can also buy a G1 & G4 package for about the same price as View - whilst you only get 15ml of G1, you do get 100ml of G4, compared to 30ml of Repel & 30ml of Cleanse. In essence this means that View is going to cost £8-16 per application (£8 in my case as I have plenty left for a second application, but £16 according to the instructions) whilst G4 & G1 will cost roughly £12 per application (that's about 70p of G4 - 100ml to cover 10 applications - and £11 of G1 - 15ml of G1 to cover a single application - when bought separately). The important distinguishing factor for me is that Repel doesn't require a residue removal agent that G1 does in the form of G2, so Repel is simply a case of buffing whilst G1 is... well, not. Once View has cured, it beads quite well; It did rain periodically on my journey away from cheap beer and towards more civilised company of the south, so I've had a chance to see View in action too. Whilst literally every other glass sealant I've used tends to form moderately sized beads which then just roll off the glass, Repel is somewhat different. I mean it's not, it works on the same principal, but it does it differently - rather than maintaining the raindrop sized beads, Repel actually creates micro-beads (I didn't encounter any heavy or torrential rain, on my journey but I did encounter everything from a light mist - that "Peter Kay rain"; if you know, you know - to a brief moderate shower), when the rain drop hits the windscreen it sort of explodes into a dozen micro-beads which immediately roll off the screen. Now virtually all other glass sealants I've used struggle to clear micro-beading until the screen is sufficiently wet to form larger beads that then roll off, Repel has no trouble at all clearing the tiniest spot of moisture on the screen at anything over 50mph (well, 47mph according my sat nav). I love this, whilst a fresh coating of G1 is a considerably better than even a decent set of wipers on the motorway, View/Repel is equally better to G1 (infinitely more so when driving in the fine rain that slowly almost coats the screen) let alone using wipers. Honestly, unless Gyeon stops working within the first month or two, I'm just not going back to G1. Ever. This makes it sound like G1 is absolutely rubbish. It's not. It's bloody good in fact. Gyeon View is just better. There is a downside to this, however. The larger beads and wetter surface caused by using G1 leads to a degree of self-cleaning - as the rain runs off, it takes the dirt and bug splatter with it. Because Gyeon keeps the screen much drier, the smaller beads tends to run around anything that does stick to the screen (it does also stop things bug splatter from actually sticking, but like G1 it doesn't actually eliminate this), so whilst it'll take dust and dirt with the rain, it does mean there are a couple of smudges where bugs have splattered across the screen. That said, on the 300 miles that I've covered so far, (most of that in one journey) I've not once had to use the wipers to clear my view for any reason at all. I appreciate some will prefer the way G1 works, and I get that as I said it's a fantastic product, however the subtle differences in the way that View/Repel works makes it the better choice for me so far. I'd highly recommend it and providing it offers decent durability I wont be looking back. Tune in for the next exciting installment... I'll have more pictures.

It beads!

The beer is a reason. The other one is an excuse to go for the beer.

There's two good reasons* for me to go to Hull. A) ALL of my detailing stuff is there. 2) I can afford twice as much beer in Hull than in London. Which is handy because drinking helps when you're in Hull! *Only two though.

Ooh now there's an idea, Headphones. *disappears to find the nearest HPC* Sadly I don't get the time I used to for detailing. I actually had to take two weeks off work for all this - some people go somewhere hit and sunny to lounge about on a beach for a fortnight, I go to Hull and do manual labour. By choice! :cuckoo:

A proper write up may follow but for the time being... The summer detail has been done. The Z is now draped in a wealth of Gyeon products and in the form of proper coatings no less. The process for the wheels included; Removal, Wash, Decontamination, De-tar, Clay, IPA wipe down, Sealed with GTechniq C5, Tyres were dressed with Gyeon Tire (sic) Whilst the wheels were off, the arches were cleaned; Washed, Decontaminated, De-tarred, APC scrub, Degreased, Dressed with Chemical Guys Bare Bones. The calipers were also given a thorough clean which included the above along with a going over with a clay bar and then sealed with Dodo Juice Infinity (fronts) and GTechniq C5 (rears). The headlights were polished and sealed with GTechniq C5. The exhaust was also polished and sealed with Car Chem OB Glaze. The glass was thoroughly cleaned and then sealed with Gyeon View. The interior was also thoroughly cleaned, all mats and carpets were protected with Nanolex Textile and Leather Sealant. Leathers were deep cleaned and sealed with Gyeon Leather Coat. The bodywork process included; Snow foam, 2 bucket wash, De-tar, De-contamination, Clay, 2 stage polish, IPA wipe down, Trim sealed with Nanolex Trim Rejuvinator, Paint sealed with 3 coats of Gyeon Mohs+ and a sacrificial layer of Cure. That might be everything. Possibly.

Psst, sealants haz moar gloss. Wax has more depth and warmth. But yeah, FK1000P is a paste sealant. It just so happens to contain a small amount of carnauba wax too.

Meh, it'll do I suppose.

It's a fantastic glaze, but it works best with oily waxes. It's perfect for when you don't want to/can't correct for any reason but want to mask any marring. It's also marvellous for shows to add that bit of extra bling for a day or two.

Erm... ... and... ... that is all.

That^^^. Replace BH with Auto Finesse Rejuvinate (assuming you don't require much correction). Buuuuuut, if you just want gloss then go for something SiO2 based, i.e. Gyeon. Depending on how much effort you want to put into it, it can be as easy as Wetcoat and/or Bathe+ (every couple of weeks) through to something much more advanced like Prime or Mohs (once per year/two respectively) or half way with the likes of CanCoat. That said Wetcoat and Bathe+ will go over everything if you're using it regularly enough, so you could glaze and wax now and maintain with Bathe+.

Normally I'd agree with this. And to prove this, I'm going to disagree with this (this time)... FK1000P is quite solventy, so it'll remove some/most of the Black Hole. If it were a wax, I'd agree with you Dan, but not for a sealant. OP, I'd also suggest that whilst FK will happily last 3months+ on a bare surface, the Black Hole is going to reduce it's durability considerably. FK isn't designed to sit on top of an oily glaze so it'll struggle to last 3 months, TBH. Either go with a decent wax or replace the Black Hole with something else like SRP.

Despite marketing claims, detailing products aren't colour specific with the only exception of. And only then you need to apply it in 5+ layers on a white care side by side to notice it. So literally any polish/sealant/glaze/wax that you like using. Depending on if you're polishing by hand or machine - as you've said the paint is in great condition, I'm going to hazard a guess that you're not looking for a compound to correct but rather just to refine. To get a deeper shine you need to make sure the paint is a clean as possible, so as well as polish look into clay, fallout remover and tar removers. I'd also suggest a paint cleaner would be equally beneficial to you as a polish at this point. You don't really (read, actually) need both wax and sealant but rather one or the other. For a nice deep finish a wax would be better - and a show wax would be the best, although that'll likely need to be topped every couple of weeks. My recommendations would be; Clay cloth Fallout remover Tar remover Polish (with Crimson pad by machine or these by hand) Glaze - either Poorboys or Auto Finesse Wax - either Poorboys or R222 Sealants are a bit more tricky to recommend as it depends on if you want a spray, paste or cream sealant or more of a coating. Sealants don't tend to add depth though so if that's the finish you're looking for then you're best off sticking to waxes - that said, most of your depth is going to come from the prep.

Really?! Clearly the man has never tried working on an S3 then True story. I'll admit that I've watched no more than half a dozen of his videos but I don't recall ever seeing him work on anything that's not American made. It's quite possible that he's only worked on one marque. Even then I'd be most surprised if everything he's ever touched had the same paint on it!

Just a word of warning regarding Junkman's videos; whilst he can offer some insight to various things detailing he doesn't acknowledge (actually he actively denies) that paint hardness differs so take his "advice" about machine polishing in particular as one opinion rather than gospel. Personally I think there are much better sources of information, but hey ho. Whilst doing your research, give these a read through too; http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/what-does-polishing-do.html and http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/what-polish-should-i-use.html

If you believe the marketing, yes. However if you live in the real world, as many people do, then no advantage at all. It often comes down to preference, personally I dislike the CG Hex pads because the grooves tend to clog up really quickly compared to a flat pad. I prefer Lake Country Hydrotech pads myself. As for Rain-X, literally everything I've tried, and I've tried many, is a considerable improvement over Rain-X. GTechniq stuff is very good but even some of the cheaper ones are equally as good as G5.

With the pads, start with the least abrasive and only work your way up if you're not getting the desired results. Applying a glaze is quite different to compounding, with polishes/compounds you're not just slapping it on but rather you're working it across the surface of the panel and a mf cloth just isn't going to do that well. I suspect most of your issues will be because the polish wasn't worked enough as much as anything else.

How are you currently using it? In shade or sun, is the panel cool or hot? How long did you work the polish? How much polish did you use? Polishing with a microfibre isn't a good technique, half the work is done by the pad as much as the polish. Try it with a polishing pad - you'll be better off using the machine as you've already got it and it'll give you much better results anyway - make sure you work the polish enough that it goes clear on the panel, and done use too much. Work in the shade on on a cool panel. If you're still having difficulty removing it, use a QD to dampen (damp not wet!) the cloth you're using to remove and turn the cloth frequently. If it's an oiler polishitll clog the cloth quite quickly and you'll just be spreading it over the rest of the panel. When you run out of clean sides to the cloth, swap it out for a fresh one.

I'm going to address you're current process first; Foam onto a dry car and then pressure wash off, then wash & dry as usual (although for the record, Autoglym Shampoo isn't my preference, but more importantly it'll actually be weakening/stripping your wax whenever you use it). Given the time constraints, once the car is dry apply an oily glaze (Poorboys Black Hole/White Diamond or Auto Finesse Ultra Glaze would be my choice) followed by Natty's (Blue seems to give the best wet finish in my opinion), R222 Concourse or Victoria Concourse wax (basically any decent, oily wax will give a wet finish). If you want to get the best dripping wet look, you'll need to wash, decontaminate, deep paint cleanse, polish and then glaze & wax, but that'll take anything upwards of a day, not to mention the cost of all the products. The good news is that you'll only need to do that once/twice a year, for the rest of the time you can just do the basic maintenance wash and top up if needs be. No, it really wont. SRP has many, many fillers and next to no abrasives. It's utterly useless for correction. It's not that great for anything else either, IMO.

Where's the challenge in that though?

unless you pay the additional £25 p/a ... and then you're only covered for a maximum of £500.

A year ago (a year?!? My word that's gone quickly!) I posted this; http://www.350z-uk.c...-chem-ob-glaze/. Well; Plus one cheap UV torch from Amazon (Stu - before you ask [again]) ; Take one applicator - this is actually after use, by the way;

That just looks like surface rust to me. Rub it down and re-paint.

As for taking the paint off with it, that'll depend entirely on the competency of the person doing it.