First wash in 4 weeks

[Starvekos]

I popped in to see team Mobile-Image at HQ and I found them doing what they do best: Rustbucket working diligently on another French hatchback and Carn providing the entertainment. I couldn’t help notice the expression on their faces when they saw the miserable state of the Golf. The car hadn’t felt suds in 4 weeks primarily due to conditions up here in the reef and spending two full weekends at JIMS. This gave me an opportunity to try out some new products.

Mags
Filled a bucket of water with SmartCarwash, SmartWax’s body wash shampoo. This is a strong shampoo which is citrus based, so you have to stick within the manufacturers dilution ratio otherwise the shampoo starts becoming a de-waxer (strips existing protection). Also used APC to aid the clean up process. The reliable Versa Angle brush did its job on rubber while I used a Ultra Plush mitt for spokes.

Wash
Woodie gave me a heads up his plan to clean out all the stock of M62 Car Wash Shampoo and Conditioner from the Megs Durban warehouse. He was gracious enough to leave a gallon for me. This shampoo produced the richest foam I’ve seen on a car shampoo, better than Shampoo Plus and Gold Class. The microfiber wash mitt was gliding nicely over the surface while doing a decent job at removing 4 weeks of grime. A couple of bugs remained on areas like wing mirrors which were sorted out with APC followed by SmartDetail.

Car was rinsed and dried with a Werkstat M-Fibre Waffler Drying Towel using SmartDetail as a drying aid. I am loving this Quick Detailer, I used 20% of the 500ml sprayer all in one day. I could have stopped here based on the results from just the detail spray.

Polish
There was a build up of swirl marks on the car but I decided to push out a DA correction job till the summer vacation. So I hauled out one of my favourite hand applied polishes, Autoglym Super Resin Polish (SRP). I am sure Don will be here soon reminding me that this product is full of fillers. At the moment (roll on 2009), this product is still one of the best products for paint preparation by hand. It’s a mild paint cleaner that produces a lovely deep shine while leaving a layer of protection, albeit for a short period. SRP was applied by using a damp Autoglym Hi Tech polishing pad. A “passive” Waxon member told me about this pad, I was sceptical at first (if very hard and coarse in its natural dry state) but I didn’t notice any marring after buffing SRP with a MF towel.

Protection
After paint cleansing, I followed up with Werkstat Carnauba Jett Trigger (CJT). This is a spray wax where you spray and wipe off immediately. No waiting for product to haze before buffing clear. This product offers great depth on red paint. I decided to enhance the finish by topping CJT with Chemical Guys 5050 Concours Paste Wax.

A final wipe down using SmartDetail spray to remove any wax residue.

No BEFORE pics

Honeycomb grill was dressed using Meguiars Accent Dressing aerosol spray (identical to Chemical Guys Fade2Black and Adams In-Out spray)


Glass cleaned with Meguiars Glass Cleaner Concentrate diluted 4:1


Tyres dressed with Endurance High Gloss Tire Gel


Mags sealed with SmartWax RimWax (my days of using CleanerWax on mags are gone)


Trim dressed with M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner

[calypso]

Glad to see the GTI in top form again.

[JLs Detailing]

Man that red is absolutely STUNNING! Man the car just looks like it is dripping wet. Great job and I know teh Golf feels much better now!

[whattingh]

Beau-ti-ful. A piece me will always love GTI's and when they are so nice and clean it me very happy.

[mr. MO]

As usual your GTI is in superb condition,
tell me more bot SmartWax RimWax, you convinced lotsa ppl bot Cleaner Wax on the wheels.

[Carn]

Nice work Siya, good to see you again and meet the SO

I think you arrived just as we were preparing to start polishing the final few bits of the Reno, what a unflattering colour to work on TBH

Appologies once again about the Makita and the delay's from Rutherfords, at least in the end they went so far as to strip a new machine to get the parts

[Starvekos]

Many thanks for the comments lads

(16-11-2008 11:23 AM)mr. MO Wrote:  Tell me more bot SmartWax RimWax, you convinced lotsa ppl bot Cleaner Wax on the wheels.

I had hardly heard of RimWax other than from DaveKG (Detailing World) detailing write ups. Freerider sent me a sample to try out and that's what I am still work through. It has the same cleaning function as CleanerWax however I've noticed that it offers more when it comes to sealing. I don't have the science to back this up other than the fact that my mags are a lot easier to maintain subsequent to applying RimWax.

No need to discard your CleanerWax, it has served me well over the last 18 months or so. Its performance (cleaning and shine) is on par with RimWax, however I get the impression that RimWax pips it on durability. I think RimWax is designed to offer protection under extreme temperatures and exposure as found on wheels.

In case you are interested, you can find out more about RimWax here

Quote:Appologies once again about the Makita and the delay's from Rutherfords, at least in the end they went so far as to strip a new machine to get the parts

No worries Carn, can't wait to see pics and write up of the little Frenchie.

[springbok]

Nice one as usual Siya. I cannot imagine your Golf left for four weeks.

Tell me more about the Accent Dressing Aerosol Spray. Is this another one of the new secret products you are testing for Meguiars. I need to get something like this for my honeycomb lower grill on the Alfa. It's a real b*tch to clean and dress.

[freerider]

Siya, you car is looking GREAT.... as usualy

springbok, I have the Chemical Guys Fade 2 Black, which is an aerosol dressing, we use it in engine bays etc and grills that are hard to get into with a normal dressing, it retails for R100 for a tin.

[Naush]

Very Nice Siya!! I am loving the GTI

[juriebez]

(17-11-2008 07:57 AM)springbok Wrote:  Nice one as usual Siya. I cannot imagine your Golf left for four weeks.

Tell me more about the Accent Dressing Aerosol Spray. Is this another one of the new secret products you are testing for Meguiars. I need to get something like this for my honeycomb lower grill on the Alfa. It's a real b*tch to clean and dress.

As always, the golf is in such a good state that not a lot of effort is required. Also interest in the spray as mentioned by springbok

[Starvekos]

Unfortunately Accent Dressing is not listed on Megs SA website but it its on their price list. Here is the write up on the US store. The product has been around for years but Megs SA has not listed it on their online store cause its never been a top seller. It retails for R64.90 locally.

I bought a can of Chemical Guys Fade2Back a couple of weeks ago after Naush made an excellent sales pitch. I have also used the Adams - In&Out spray (thanks Neil) and all three products perform the same function. You spray the affected area and you walk away. No need to buff to a shine or remove any residue unlike other trim dressing products.

I guess it all boils down to pricing and brand preference.