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Mobile-Image : Horror Honda
24-08-2008, 10:54 PM
Post: #1
Mobile-Image : Horror Honda
So this weekend Myself and Rustbucket had a rather sad patient in for a makeover. Whilst Grant had seen the car before hand I had not and was quite surprised to see the condition it was in. Before we get into the pics, a quick rundown of the tools and products we used on this one.

Sonax wash
Sonax polymer dewax
Sonax Xtreme rim cleaner
Sonax glass cleaner
Sonax glass polish
New car scent
Meg's Endurance Gel
Meg's Hyper Dressing
Menzerna IP
Menzerna FA
Presta Swirl Remover
LC white pad
Flex blue pad
Flex white pad
2000 grit waterpaper
Abrasive pad
CG's Extreme top coat 3x carnauba
CG's XXX paste wax
Flex 3401
Rotary
Various brushes and MF cloths

Right onto the pics, these are some of the pics we snapped after we went to collect it...

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Whilst the car was pretty dirty both inside and out and there was some serious swirling, plenty RDS all over and some bad etching from bird bombs, overall we figured it would look a whole lot better after a thorough wash and clay...

Clay after a small section of the roof...The entire car was pretty much the same as this except for the doors which were fairly clean and free from bonded contaminants.
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After claying we dried the car and it looked as if it wasn't to bad afterall. Interestingly what we initially thought to be a black car proved to be midnight metallic blue once it was clean, the owner was just as surprised when we called to tell her Bluebiggrin

It was already dark so we decided to head on inside for some pizza and to watch a bit of JC and the Top Gear boys.

David : 083 642 2118
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24-08-2008, 10:56 PM
Post: #2
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Saturday morning arrived and after a quick trip to the post office to collect some new goodies Don had sent us, we rinsed the car again and pulled it out into the sun to see what were up against now that the car was clean...

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Lots of swirls, RDS and some heavy marring possibly from the claying. There also appeared to be some buffer trails and holograms from a previous polishing attempt. We later discovered that one of the panels had infact been resprayed and the car was more than likely subsequently polished....anyways on to the polishing.

After a few tries with various combo's we eventually found that hitting it with some IP on the blue pad followed by FA on the white pad worked well. Here is a quick 50/50 of a test section on the bonnet after a single hit with IP followed by a single hit of FA with the Flex.

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Unfortunately the IP was full of nonsense again and we wound up switching to Presta Swirl remover followed by FA for the polishing. Some of the deeper scratches as well as the bird etchings were wetsanded where required.

Rustbucket getting stuck in with the Flex
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Some pics after polishing, the FA really finished down incredibly and left the finish like a mirror.
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David : 083 642 2118
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24-08-2008, 10:56 PM
Post: #3
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
With all of that out of the way the car was rewashed to remove any polishing oils and checked again before turning our attention to all the smaller bits. The interior, wheels and engine bay as well as the exhaust and the smaller hard to reach areas we missed with the buffers we sorted next...

Interior credit to our 2 wives Clap
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Engine
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Wheels
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Under the door handles
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Exhaust
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Now it was time for some LSP action. First up was a single application of the new CG's Extreme Top Coat followed by a single application of the CG's XXX paste wax. The Extreme Top Coat went on very much like a polish and needed some elbow grease to remove, the XXX went on like a regular wax and again, most likely as a result of the high nuba content was not the easiest to remove...

Myself applying some XXX
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Once in the sun the full beauty of the dark blue paint could be seen
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Before and afters
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David : 083 642 2118
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24-08-2008, 10:57 PM
Post: #4
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
And finally some random reflection shots from around the car
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After 2 days of work we were both very pleased with the outcome and actually had a lot of fun doing this job. The new CG's products were top notch and I think the results speak for themselves.

Here is a quick shot of some beading of the Xtreme top coat followed with XXX. You can see one of the beads rolling down the bonnet (2nd big droplet from right) I think any detailer would be truly impressed with the CG's Extreme topcoat and XXX paste wax especially considering the price!
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Thanks for looking Thumbsup2

David : 083 642 2118
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24-08-2008, 11:23 PM
Post: #5
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Outstanding guys. Had to laugh at the comment that you realised that the car was actually blueBluebiggrin

Love the before and after shot of the roof. Clap

What was the problem with the IP?
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24-08-2008, 11:30 PM
Post: #6
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Wow, some great results there Carn!! Well done to you and Rustbucket! Bluebiggrin Hopefully onces I've got some more pratice under my belt and confident, I'll have to tackle my GF's Mum's Black Jazz, swirl city...

Bluebiggrin

Matteo - 2005 Polo 1.9TDi Sportline - Sooty
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25-08-2008, 07:13 AM
Post: #7
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Excellent work, i hope you charged her accordingly for having such a knackered car.
I hope the Flex is doing well, i still cant wait for mine.
More details on the door handle drill/dremel thingimajig please.
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25-08-2008, 08:41 AM
Post: #8
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Calypso. The dremel worked very well. However, it spins very fast and only has a soft feldt pad on it, so I had to be carefull. I simply put some IP on the end and started to buff. First with a bit of pressure then eased of. I did some up and down movements while holding the dremel vertically. This however left marks. The best was to just gently move it form side to side, checking constantly as to the progress.
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25-08-2008, 08:57 AM
Post: #9
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Jees, where does that lady live? In a bird sanctuary?

Very nice work guys, awesome turn around! but wow, 2 days!!! Glad it wasnt me Bluebiggrin

I cant believe that you still having problems with teh IP, Megesh and I swear by it! maybe it has something to do with the humidity, I used it with the rotary on Sat and Sun and had no problems at all.

freerider AKA don



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25-08-2008, 09:14 AM
Post: #10
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
wow!!!!

i to cant wait for the Flex!!!!!!!!

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25-08-2008, 12:22 PM
Post: #11
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Excellent turnaround gents! My jaw dropped when I saw the gunk on the car and the swirling after claying. The Flex and polishing resins did a first class job and stood up to the task. Lover the mirror finish, the car wouldn’t look out of place amongst new cars on the dealer showroom.

There are so many questions, I hope I am not stealing your shine (excuse the pun) by asking them in your Show and Shine post.

Menzerna paint cleaners
Again I am reading a post about Menzerna polishes being finicky. What do you guys attribute these issues to (pad preparation? detailing outdoors? incompatible pad and polish selection?).

Cloths
What waffle weave drying tows are you guys using? What are your views on the CG microfiber cloths?

LSP
Let’s talk about the CG Extreme Top Coat Sealant/Wax. What are you views? What does the product add to the finish? Clarity or slickness? i.e, does it behave like a carnauba wax or more of a sealant?

What qualities did the CG XXX Paste Wax add?
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25-08-2008, 01:24 PM
Post: #12
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Thanks everyone for the kind comments Clap

Siya I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.

Starvekos Wrote:Menzerna paint cleaners
Again I am reading a post about Menzerna polishes being finicky. What do you guys attribute these issues to (pad preparation? detailing outdoors? incompatible pad and polish selection?)

Thinking about this I can attribute the issues to one of or a combination of the following :

1. Process
2. Pads
3. Paint

1. Process

We started by priming a dry pad with IP to do a test section on the bonnet. Previously we used an ever so slightly damp pad and the temperatures were also slightly lower as well. The bonnet was however seriously hot from being in the sun and the polish seemed to dry almost immediately. This is something we should have forseen especially with the car being out in the sun for a while when we were taking pics with the engine running.

Seeing as the IP wasn't working to well we tried the FA. FA previously has been a godsend of a polish, it just works beautifully however it gave us very much the same issues the IP did which at the time left us scratching our heads.

Later on after switching to a clean LC pad (more on the pads shortly) the FA worked like a charm, I didn't however try the IP again.

2. The pads

On our initial run I used the blue Flex pad. This is a cutting pad and was starting to look a little worse for wear and becoming flaky. I tried the white Flex pad but this one seemed to have lost all of its velco grip and kept flying off the machine so I packed it away. After switching to the white LC pad (lighter cut and better quality) we had no issues.

We are waiting for some LC CCS pads from the US, these seem to be the pad of choice with the guys over in the US using Menz polishes. Judging by the flawless performance of the FA on the white LC pad I am guessing they could be correct.

3. Paint

Honda's are known to have paints on the softer side, this particular one seemed to have a very dry almost sticky paint in some areas. Both the Flex and the rotary were unhappy in certain sections (mainly the front) and perfect elsewhere. The Flex later with the blue pad and Presta was actually putting very mild holograms into the paint, so I think the paint was also funky to put it that way.

With hindsight I realise some of the errors we made but I also know from reading various posts, etc that there is somewhat of a learning curve in getting the Menz products to work flawlessly. FA is still beautifull, it is only the slightly less oily IP that is catching us out here and there. I am confident with some more experience and the new pads, etc we will get it working just as well as the FA, we just need to learn what causes it to act up and how to avoid it Wink


Starvekos Wrote:Cloths
What waffle weave drying tows are you guys using? What are your views on the CG microfiber cloths?

I was using my 2 Meguiars WW cloths, TBH I think they have seen better days and the one Rusty was using worked far better. Not sure what his is but I am sure he will let us know soon Wink

The Detailer Domain towels we have coming (there are 2 for you if I recall) have gotten good reviews so we will be able to try them out shortly.

Starvekos Wrote:LSP
Let’s talk about the CG Extreme Top Coat Sealant/Wax. What are you views? What does the product add to the finish? Clarity or slickness? i.e, does it behave like a carnauba wax or more of a sealant?

What qualities did the CG XXX Paste Wax add?

I will let Rustbucket comment on the Extreme Top Coat as he applied it. I helped buff some sections and think it needs to be spread really finely otherwise it has sections that are difficult to buff off. Overall I think it added a nice crispness to the paint (we only looked at the bonnet in the sunlight between the sealant and wax step) as well as bringing out the flake and adding some gloss.

The XXX paste wax went on nicely, smells fantastic (I even tasted it Rofl ) and buffed off alright again if spread evenly and not to thick. The wax didn't mute the metallic flakes at all and overall I think it added a nice extra wetness to the paint.

To try and illustrate it best take a look at the following 3 pictures :

After polishing
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After LSP's
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And in the sun
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Both stellar products IMHO, we just used sealant topped with wax to try and provide a slightly longer protective window between treatments.

Hope that helps clear things up a bit for you, I am sure Rusty will provide his own thoughts and opinions as soon as he reads this thread again Wink

David : 083 642 2118
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25-08-2008, 03:55 PM
Post: #13
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Siya something interesting was just brought to light...

The original sample Menzerna polishes we got from Don were from his sample stock he got from the US and are different to the current Menzerna polishes he stocks now. There has been some confusion especially surrounding IP and what is known as SIP. IP is actually PO91L and is the original formula Menzerna developed to remove 2000 grit and higher scratches.

PO91L (IP) was reformulated to PO85RD3.02 (SIP) to be used on the latest ceramic clear coat paints as well as 106FF which was reformulated to 106FA. One of the other issues Menzerna addressed with the newer SIP formula was the addition of extra lubricants in the polishes to reduce dusting and possibly drying.

Basically in a nutshell we have been using IP and FF as opposed to the newer more stable SIP and FA. All of Don's new stock is the latest formula and could account for some of the issues we experienced particularly with the IP. Myself and Rustbucket have some coming so we will report back asap for those interested Wink

David : 083 642 2118
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25-08-2008, 06:18 PM (This post was last modified: 25-08-2008 06:20 PM by springbok.)
Post: #14
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
I am very interested in your comments about IP hence my earlier question.

On Saturday I popped in to see Donovon and Megesh who were playing with the rotary they borrowed. While there Don gave me a sample bottle of IP (sorry I am a bit confused about which one it was, think it is the "old" one).

On Sunday I had a go with it on my wifes Mondeo using the G220 and a Megs Yellow polishing pad. I found it quite difficult to work with as it seemed to dry out so fast and dust. Don advised me to give the pad a spritz of distilled water which I did but even with this it still seemed to dry out. I feel that I needed a more aggressive cutting pad and unfortunately I didn't have one available. Look I must admit the Mondeo is in a bit of a state and all said I was reasonably satisfied with the overall result (she was extatic) but it certainly is a little tricky to work with.
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25-08-2008, 08:18 PM
Post: #15
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Not sure which one Don supplied you with Springbok but if it was drying fast and dusting alot my money is on it being the older IP formula and not the newer SIP...Don ?

David : 083 642 2118
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26-08-2008, 09:01 AM (This post was last modified: 26-08-2008 09:03 AM by megesh.)
Post: #16
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
yep the one you picked up springbok was the IP and not the SIP...

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26-08-2008, 09:06 AM
Post: #17
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Springbok, got the absolute last bit of IP (PO91L) that I had in my bottle. Moving on to SIP now Bluebiggrin

Springbok, you more than welcome to come and trade your IP for the same amount of SIP Bluebiggrin

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26-08-2008, 06:31 PM
Post: #18
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Hmm ok, so what do i have?
Why cant these guy just use a naming convention like poorboys?
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26-08-2008, 10:50 PM
Post: #19
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Thanks for the offer. Hey "beggers can't be choosers" etc but I might just take you up on the offer. Bluebiggrin
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27-08-2008, 09:24 AM
Post: #20
RE: Carn & Rustbuckets horror Honda...
Carn Wrote:Siya something interesting was just brought to light...

The original sample Menzerna polishes we got from Don were from his sample stock he got from the US and are different to the current Menzerna polishes he stocks now. There has been some confusion especially surrounding IP and what is known as SIP. IP is actually PO91L and is the original formula Menzerna developed to remove 2000 grit and higher scratches.

PO91L (IP) was reformulated to PO85RD3.02 (SIP) to be used on the latest ceramic clear coat paints as well as 106FF which was reformulated to 106FA. One of the other issues Menzerna addressed with the newer SIP formula was the addition of extra lubricants in the polishes to reduce dusting and possibly drying.

Basically in a nutshell we have been using IP and FF as opposed to the newer more stable SIP and FA. All of Don's new stock is the latest formula and could account for some of the issues we experienced particularly with the IP. Myself and Rustbucket have some coming so we will report back asap for those interested Wink

Thanks for the update Dave, lets hope the issues are sorted. However, I am still cautious because I've read of similar problems using the ceramic paint compatible Menzerna polishes.
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