The ilogikal1 test thread

[GIXXERUK]

today I ordered some gyeon bathe+ and wet coat after reading this thread

[ilogikal1]

today I ordered some gyeon bathe+ and wet coat after reading this thread

 

You won't be disappointed with either.

[Stutopia]

Shamelessly stolen from my own Instagram today.

 

 

Make of this what you wish.

 

Nice nuts.

 

today I ordered some gyeon bathe+ and wet coat after reading this thread

 

You know he's a secret Gyeon agent don't you?

 

But seriously, the Bathe+ is a great shampoo.

[ilogikal1]

Spent a good portion of my day polishing my nuts today.

[The G Man]

I love this thread, educational AND costly

[The G Man]

Doh! DP

Edited March 18, 2015 by The G Man

[ilogikal1]

As spring is springing (it's not quite sprung here just yet, but it does keep trying bless it's little cotton socks) and I have much, much more important things to do with my time, I thought I'd spend a few days detailing.

 

You can probably guess from my recent posts above that I started with the wheels.

 

For some reason I've done the before pictures from the back of the wheels and the afters from the front. I can't be arsed to remove the wheels again just for pictures so these will have to do.

 

Started with;

 

 

Which on closer inspection looked like this.

 

 

 

 

 

After cleaning, one of them looked like this (tyre has been dressed).

 

 

Clearly that hilarious friend of mine was finally right and I must have polished the other one away entirely. Also at some point they swapped sides, free internet points to anyone who can tell which pictures belong to which side. Anyway, that one then looked like this when sealed.

 

 

You can sort of see the gloss that Slick Rims added there. Almost. I'll get some better ones when the car is finally rolled out of the garage again.

 

For those interested, the process was something along the lines of;

 

Wheels;

Remove wheels.

Apply AF Imperial to wheels and tyres.

Agitate - I started by calling it names but when that didn't work I attacked it with a Wheel Woolie and Vikan brush respectively).

Rinse.

Apply BH Surfex HD to wheels and tyres.

Agitate - skipped the name-calling this time though.

Rinse

Wash.

Rinse.

Dry.

Apply Tardis.

Wipe the tar off.

Apply more Tardis to the old wheel weight stickers.

Scrub.

Repeat. A lot. Until the very sticky, sticky stuff is gone.

Rinse.

Decontaminate - me being me I couldn't resist making a little start on the fallout test I've got planned.

Agitate.

Rinse.

Clay.

Wash.

Rinse.

Paint cleaner.

Buff.

Apply tyre dressing - Blackfire Total Eclipse Tyre Gel this time round courtesy of the SuperStu Lucky Dip method.

IPA wipe down.

Apply wheel sealant - three of the four got Slick Rims, then I ran out so the rear driver side got HubiRims.

Buff sealant.

Polish nuts.

Seal nuts with Dr Beasley's Wheel Sealant spray.

Replace wheels.

 

Arches;

Liberally apply Surfex HD.

Scrub everything within reach with a Vikan brush.

Rinse.

Wash.

Dry.

Apply sealant to calipers - passenger side got FK1000P, driver side got HubiRims. Just for lolz.

Apply CG Bare Bones to everything else (excluding the brake discs, obviously).

 

This, along with avoiding some rain, took me three days, which is one of many, many very good reasons why I shouldn't ever do this for a living.

 

The wheels were done two at a time, starting with the passenger side, and the arches were done whilst stuff was drying/curing/getting rained on when the wheels were off.

 

Now, Slick Rims. I had a 10ml sample from (surprise, surprise) Waxybox. I had literally 3 drops left after coating the 3rd wheel (front and back), so the 100ml bottle would do around 30 OEM RAYS for your £45 - which isn't too bad because Slick Rims state "100ml Treats 20+ Rims" and works out to be £1.50 per wheel. It claims a durability of "10k miles", or a year+. So similar durabilty claims as Gtechniq C5 at about a third of the price (or rather 100ml for the price of 30ml+£2.50 change).

Application was easy enough; the first two I applied with the thicker Waxybox applicators that come with (or at least as pictured with) the full size bottle but I found this absorbed quite a lot of the product and needed to be squeezed out quite often. For the third wheel I switched to the thinner finger applicators from Waxybox and found that much better. Applicator aside though, Slick Rims was very easy to spread with good work time. It was then left to cure for... er... some amount of time (somewhere between 5-30 minutes depending on the wheel) before buffing off. Removal was quite the opposite of application though, it's initially very grabby - almost sticky. You know I dislike BSD for it's grabby feeling? Yeah, this is a billionty times worse! - and it was a pain to remove from the spokes. Removal from the barrels was a bit easier, due to the larger surface area it was easier to get a bit of momentum going to break though the grabbiness.

It's a good job it's supposed to last about a year because I'll be buggered if I'm going to the effort of buffing that off every couple of months!

The finish, however, is extremely glossy. Once buffed it feels quite slick and it beads very well - no pictures of that yet though.

 

Would I buy it? Undecided at this point. It was an unholy bitch to remove once cured so the real world durability needs to make the effort worthwhile. My only issue with (at this point) is the removal though.

 

In contrast, the final wheel was sealed with HubiRims and that was a delight to use again. Once more, this was a sample from Waxybox (the 2nd sample for those who do the Waxybox thing) which came as a block in a pouch rather than in a tin, so this was applied with my fingers and as such was massively over-applied in certain places. I knew this wouldn't be an issue to remove though and sure enough it buffed off with ease. Also, my hands and wheel now smell of original HubiFresh, which is the greatest scent of ever. Meanwhile, my garage smells of Bare Bones, which is as good a reason as one needs to apply Bare Bones in a confined space.

[ilogikal1]

Oh and whilst I remember, Dan; don't worry, those Falkens are almost dead now so they'll shortly be replaced with matching MPSS.

[Stutopia]

How come you only wash your wheels once a year? You do a decent job of keeping the bodywork looking passable (for a non-GM car)

 

 

 

 

The grabbiness you describe for slick rims is not exactly tempting me to go looking for it online, having to battle the product doesn't sound like much fun. Also having 83 years of FK left in the pot might also be influencing me

 

That's quite a routine you've got going there for the wheels Given the sheer amount of brake dust and other such filth (not to mention kerbing) is it worth claying them? I'll wash and wax the wheels whilst my tech is replacing the discs that have just landed, but it'll be a hand held foamer and microfibre towel process, nothing more. I loathe wheel waxing at the best of times.

[ilogikal1]

How come you only wash your wheels once a year? You do a decent job of keeping the bodywork looking passable (for a non-GM car)

 

I leave the car out when it's raining, occasionally I might even turn it around so the rain washes both sides. What more do you want from me? I'd wash them less if there wasn't so much salt on the roads over winter.

 

The grabbiness you describe for slick rims is not exactly tempting me to go looking for it online, having to battle the product doesn't sound like much fun. Also having 83 years of FK left in the pot might also be influencing me

 

Stick with the FK for now. Slick Rims is certainly an effort to remove, although it's easy to find any bits that you've missed - run a microfibre over the surface until it's snatched out of your hand.

 

Slick Rims told me;

weve heard this before matt regarding removal, it has an acute cure time, changing it will effect the durability so we dont want to alter it. Usually 5-8 mins in a 15-25c temp will be around time to check for removal

 

 

That's quite a routine you've got going there for the wheels Given the sheer amount of brake dust and other such filth (not to mention kerbing) is it worth claying them? I'll wash and wax the wheels whilst my tech is replacing the discs that have just landed, but it'll be a hand held foamer and microfibre towel process, nothing more. I loathe wheel waxing at the best of times.

 

The kerbing wasn't really an issue as it's limited to the outside lip really. The stone chips and OEM paint flaking feature ( ) though...

Most of the brake dust & general grime was removed by Imperial and/or Surfex and/or any of the fallout removers used (incidentally, iron wheel weights are f****** stupid idea!), but I've not had the wheels properly sealed for some time now (certainly over winter) so they needed a proper deep clean really. The clay picked up a fair amount still really, although I'm not sure where from because the wheels didn't look any dirtier before than they did after. Then again, the paint cleaner picked up more still.

 

Normally it'd just be a wipe over (and re-apply some protection on a good day), but this is the summer prep for the wheels done. I just need to find the motivation for the rest of the car now.

[ilogikal1]

But the point of this post is a quick LSP sitrep after today's wash and being attacked with G101 (applied neat through a foam lance) as I'll be stripping anything left off as from tomorrow;

 

Nano One doesn't like G101 much. It hasn't killed it but it has further slowed the sheeting.

Nano Wax was less affected - although Wax is on a vertical panel and One is on a much more horizontal so common sense suggests this would affect how water runs off.

Car Chem Origin & Connoisseur are both still going strong, both easily withstood everything so far without blinking. Let's see how they stand up to Tardis, fall out remover and clay cloth.

Wax Addict 21 was killed off entirely.

Dodo Juice Supernatural Acrylic Spritz has been completely killed off now, it's offering absolutely nothing any more.

Citrus BSD was weakened, it's still going well in part but the area it's protecting on the boot has significantly shrunk since application, the area on the wings is patchy now.

Car Chem Hydro Coat (neat) was so unfazed that it was simply beading the APC foam just for fun.

G1 did the same.

Hydro Coat (diluted) was a little more fazed and it notably weakened the sheeting in parts, similar to Citrus BSD.

Er... I think that's everything... isn't it?

 

Slick Rims beading is

HubiRims beading is I might get photos of those tomorrow when waiting for stuff to do its stuff.

I made every attempt to avoid the wheels as much as possible with the snow foam and APC foam, but what I did get on the wheels & tyres hasn't affected the Slick Rims, HubiRims or Blackfire tyre dressing in the least.

 

I'm currently completely undecided what LSP(s) to play with next - I have a couple of coatings to play with, similarly I have some waxes (I still don't have Supernatural though ) and I usually go with wax over the summer months. Of course I could also top a coating with a wax too.... It's also been a while since I've had the same product on every panel at the same time, so that would be a novelty. It might be nice to give Hydro Coat, Origin and/or Connoisseur a proper outing too.

 

Also, foam lance down.

[Stutopia]

The PA foam lance rules them all*

 

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/pa-foam-lance-cat2.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I may never have used any other foam lance.

[ilogikal1]

 

I've got two lances (one of them is the PA ) and I tend to alternate between the two of them of as and when they each need cleaning out.

 

So after spending a fair portion of Tuesday polishing my nuts, I've spent a fair portion of today servicing my lance.

[Stutopia]

WetCoat doing it's thing after 2 weeks and some light drizzle - not bad.

 

[ilogikal1]

Love the commentary!

[Stutopia]

I continue to be impressed by WetCoat's beading reward versus amount of effort (or lack of) required to apply. Simply superb tiny dew beads yesterday morning before work. Thanks for recommending it

 

Edited March 22, 2015 by SuperStu

[GIXXERUK]

got the wet coat the other day..not had chance to try it yet but i've been impressed by all the reviews on line ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[ilogikal1]

So, a few things to report today. All of today's pictures were taken with my phone, so apologies if they're not the best.

 

Firstly a quick picture of Slick Rims beading, as much for reference later on as anything;

 

 

Whilst HubiRims currently;

 

 

So... er... yeah, there's that.

 

Today, I decided to remove the Nissan burger before I start polishing during the week. I wanted this off because, a) there was some swirls & RDS around and under the badge (in the gaps) which are incredibly difficult to get to with the badge in situ, 2) I have the JDM Z badge on the front already (P.O. addition), and C) that JDM badge doesn't have stupid gaps in it so no more inaccessible swirls/RDS in future.

After my glamorous assistant (no picture of her, so don't ask ) marked up the position of the original badge (I didn't have the heart to tell her the new badge isn't the same size so it only needs to go on straight ) and then having warmed the area up briefly, I used a Stanley knife blade to cut through the sticky stuff (with an old credit card to protect the paint from the knife and for leverage), which left me with this;

 

 

Then the AutoSmart Tardis came out to play, using make-up pads to soak the area for 10-15 minutes (in the shade, you really don't want Tardis to dry out on the paint!);

 

 

All gone;

 

 

Definitely needs a polish now even if it didn't before though;

 

 

As you can see from that picture, the bumper needs a polish too. As does the rest of the car, although it's not that that bad everywhere else, honest.

 

I've also been playing with several metal polishes recently, if anyone's interested in that at all?

[ilogikal1]

D'oh, I forgot the main point of that last post!

 

LSP sitrep;

Wax Addict 21 was killed by APC.

DJ Acrylic Spritz was killed by APC.

 

Nano One was killed by Tardis.

Nano Wax was killed by Tardis.

 

Citrus BSD was fatally wounded by Tardis, killed by fallout remover.

Diluted Hydro Coat was killed by fallout remover.

 

Origin was wounded by Tardis, fatally wounded by fallout remover, killed by clay cloth.

Connoisseur was wounded by Tardis, fatally wounded by fallout remover, killed by clay cloth.

 

Neat Hyrdo Coat laughed at Tardis, shrugged off fallout remover, was merely tickled by clay cloth. It is currently still standing.

 

I'm impressed by neat Hydro Coat's stubbornness.

I'm seriously impressed with Origin and Connoisseur to be honest, as they're "just" waxes.

 

Also, there's an LSP plan forming. Watch this space...

[ilogikal1]

LSP teaser; this arrived today courtesy of SuperStu, and it has my name written all over it!Stu made a very generous offer of supplying a sample from his current arsenal (pun intended for those who know what it is ) in exchange for me putting it through a standard ilogikal1 test (so, yeah, I'm taking requests now I guess ).

 

All will be revealed along with a full write up when I get to that point.

Edited March 24, 2015 by ilogikal1

[Stutopia]

Metal polishes? There's only the twins isn't there?

[ilogikal1]

Metal polishes? There's only the twins isn't there?

 

The twins are very enticing, I'll grant you. However one of my twins has run out, so I was only left with #1. I did however have a Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish (sic) sample from Waxybox, an old pot of Megs Metal Polysh (sic), some old AutoSol, a newer pot of Car Chem Metal Polish and Auto Finesse Mercury. So I thought I'd find out what's "best".

 

Using Twin #1 as the benchmark I'd rate them in this descending order;

 

AF Mercury.

Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish.

Twin #1.

Megs Metal Polysh.

AutoSol.

Car Chem Metal Polish.

 

Car Chem is quite a weak polish, great for finishing but anything more than mild surface stains and it just struggles. Also it's quite a thick compound which makes it that bit more difficult to work.

AutoSol is very abrasive so it's great for deep cleaning but doesn't finish so well on its own.

Meg Metal Polysh, once you get past the ******* stupid spelling of polish on the jar, it's a harder compound so more difficult to work (but not as bad as Car Chem), mild abrasives which finish down well but don't clean as thoroughly as AutoSol. And it stinks. I despise the smell of this stuff nearly as much as the spelling of polish on the jar!

The Twins, #1 cleans well with moderate abrasives and some chemical cleaning for good measure but doesn't finish down all that well on it's own (which is where Twin #2 comes in, finishes down very well - and protects - but doesn't clean so well on its own), both are liquid which make them messy to use but very easy to work.

Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish, once you overlook the American-leave-out-whole-letters-just-to-pronounce-it-wrong attitude to spelling, cleans very well being a compound that relies heavily on chemical cleaners with mild abrasives meaning it also finishes very well too and being a cream-like consistency it's very easy to use and work.

Auto Finesse Mercury is remarkably similar to the Mothers, but doesn't have that stupid Americanism on the pot. Really that's about the only difference except Mercury seems, to me, to clean marginally better.

 

 

The Twins are very good when used together. Mercury is better when used alone... at least for adding shiny. The Twins come with the added trick up its sleeve of adding protection as well as adding shiny, so will keep the shiny for longer.

[Stutopia]

Twins for the wins.

[ilogikal1]

Especially in the Fun House.

[ilogikal1]

Progress is being made. As are 50/50's because... well, that's what interwebs detailers do when machine polishing, right?

 

Before;

 

 

 

Then some polishing happened, followed by an Eraser wipe down.

 

After;

 

 

 

 

It's surprisingly difficult to operate both a Brinkmann and a camera well with just two hands, just FYI.

 

This was after a couple of quick passes using as DA with Scholl S20 Blue on a crimson Lake Country Hydro Tech spot pad, which has left me with just the odd RDS in places;