Well…since winter is coming so soon I wanted to strip my current LSP combo (AG HD over Menzerna PowerLock) and get it ready for winter abuse. I considered doing a simple wash and do a decon and LSP this weekend since I already did a finishing polish in June so the car was looking LSP ready. But I figured that would be a waste of time to do a simple wash so I decided to do the decon and LSP today. In the beautiful weather (80°F today) I got started. As it sat; not bad from this distance - I generally wash it weekly. Wheels - fairly dirty as usual Not so good from this distance Cleaned up the wheels (no tire scrub this time - tires will be replace with winter meats soon enough) with the pre-existing soap (CG Honeydew) that was left in my Gilmour Foamaster - since they weren't heavily contaminated. Just wanted to see how the beading (or lack there of looked like) after 4 mo with PL + AG HD - total lack of bead. Gilmour Foamaster with CG Citrus Wash and Gloss and a half cap of 1Z Blitz APC Rinsed - then washed with the same mix Even more lack of bead <Not pictured - Clayed with Uber blue - lubricated with soap. The clay hardly picked anything up - but it was there. The hatch and rear bumper was the most contaminated (as I find they always are). After one back panel the clay was more contaminated than the entire car combined.> Dried off and rolled into the garage - proceeded to spray some Menz Top Inspection on the hood to see if it would clean up some haze - only made things worse when it (to my surprise) marred the finish - which is far softer than the 335i Black Sapphire Metallic paint from Sunday. Whiped out the PC with a Megs MF Finishing disc - cleaned it up back to original clarity (minus some RIDS - pre-existing) <Not pictured - was going to just do the part of the hood that got marred - but decided to finish the entire panel. And both doors had some mineral deposit etching from where run off water dripped - so I wanted to polish those off. One thing led to the next and I decided to continue - panel after panel. I did the entire car except for the two bumpers and hatch. I originally wanted to get around to using Collinite 845 for the first time. But opted for AQuartz Nano Coating again - as I just familiarized myself and was blown away by ease of use and results from Sunday. Finished pics: Products used Cleaning: 1Z Blitz APC Lusso Glass Polish Uber Blue Clay Bar LSP: Aquartz Nano Coating Pad: Meguiar's DA MF Finishing Disc 5.5" Polish: Menzerna Power Finish Tools: Gilmour Foamaster II Griot's Garage Four-Finger Wheel Mitt Griot's Garage Wheel Woolies Grit Guard Rapid Reel Wheeled Cart Garden Hose Reel Uber Yellow Wash Sponge Porter Cable 7424XP Wash: Chemical Guys HoneyDew Chemical Guys Citrus Wash and Gloss 1Z Blitz APC
Nice work and that garage is too neat! Where is all the clutter. Can you store my kids bikes for the winter?
They're awesome! They come in with two sizes - a larger one and a smaller one. I hear great things about the Raceglaze and Daytona brush but I think they are too fat to fit between many brake calipers and wheel barrels. That's why I like these. Plus they don't splatter all over you; and they are plastic - so no scratching the wheel finish. Haha. Thanks. I just moved in so there is minimal junk. If you see my dad's garage you'll understand why I like it clean.
I knew someone would comment on that. We have a lawn service at our office complex - If I park too far over towards the curb he ends up spitting grass all over the side of my car when mowing the lawn.
Car looks great. Keep us posted on durability. I'm surprised your Powerlock / Hi Def wasn't beading after only four months. Up here Hi Def will last 4-6 months by itself.
I was surprised too. However, at my parent's house (just moved out a month ago) I use CG Maxi-Sudz II almost exclusively over any maintenance soap. Why you ask? Maintenance/Gloss enhancing soaps are too mild - I was getting water/soap spotting with our extremely hard water. MSII was designed to work well in hard water; the problem with that is it's a rather harsh cleaning soap that diminished the LSP. My townhome (pictured above) has pretty clean water so I'll start using mild soaps. I'd like to take some measurements of the PPM. Speaking of which anyone know where I can buy the measuring device for PPM? I really need to invest in a quality water filtration system.
Unless you are on a private well you should be able to get a fairly comprehensive water analysis from the town or water district. What you'll usually get is sort of an averaged analysis for the prior year. If you want more detail I suggest you send water samples to Ward Labs in Nebraska. They are fairly inexpensive and reliable and can test for just about anything. If you really want your own meters Cole-Parmer, Grainger, Ben Meadows and Forestry Suppliers all sell them as do some aquarium and hydroponics shops.
Thanks. Yeah; my parents are on their own well. I'm on city water. Thanks for the info. Great - I'll take a look there - thanks! A few from today; gorgeous fall colors:
