Today I did some detailing...

PsychoPete

vintagevrs wrote: »

I have often come close to buying one but then tell myself it's a gimmick. Looks great when it's dwelling etc but not sure the end result is any better. Maybe it prevents some swirls etc by helping soften up and remove some stuff before the wash. I usually just use the plastic nilfisk foam thing which doesn't look as impressive, but that with a rinse of the power hose before I start I imagine is similar to the snow foam.

I suppose it depends what product you are using in the foam lance. If my car isn't that dirty then I'll just use auto foam and rinse, heavy dirt I use citrus pre wash or maybe surfex hd first and then see what kind dirt is left

Black_Knight

vintagevrs wrote: »

I have often come close to buying one but then tell myself it's a gimmick. Looks great when it's dwelling etc but not sure the end result is any better. Maybe it prevents some swirls etc by helping soften up and remove some stuff before the wash. I usually just use the plastic nilfisk foam thing which doesn't look as impressive, but that with a rinse of the power hose before I start I imagine is similar to the snow foam.

That thing is a waste of time. Tried it twice. It just empties all the foam in the first few seconds.

vintagevrs

Must be different from mine, you need to use it for a long time before it'll empty the bottle. It doesn't really do foam though. Just spits out foamy soapy water.

Black_Knight

vintagevrs wrote: »

Must be different from mine, you need to use it for a long time before it'll empty the bottle. It doesn't really do foam though. Just spits out foamy soapy water.

We'll you can't empty it, because it just pours water at unrestricted high pressure into the bottle. There's no control over the output.

vintagevrs

Black_Knight wrote: »

We'll you can't empty it, because it just pours water at unrestricted high pressure into the bottle. There's no control over the output.

As I said, yours is different from mine.

Black_Knight

vintagevrs wrote: »

As I said, yours is different from mine.

Perhaps. Didn't expect nilfisk to give anything in anyway decent. Not really their focus. Mine came with my c110.

TheBigGreen

Finally got around to ordering a new Nilfisk. (Nilfisk E 145.4-9 PAD X-tra)

Hopefully get time at the weekend to wash the cars.

punisher5112

How much that set you back?

TheBigGreen

punisher5112 wrote: »

How much that set you back?

€349.34 including shipping.

Order from grooves.land on the 14th January and arrived the 27th January.

keano25

I have the Nilfisk p150.2 the last 8 years.. fantastic machines well wear.

Duff

Took the new pressure washer (Nilfisk E145) for a spin yesterday and gave her the first wash of 2021.

vectra

Looking good.
Curious
Is that E60 a 06 ?

Duff

vectra wrote: »

Looking good.
Curious
Is that E60 a 06 ?

Cheers. No, it's the LCI version. Late 2007.

vectra

Duff wrote: »

Cheers. No, it's the LCI version. Late 2007.

Ah.
The wheels looked identical to one my son had a few years ago.

Duff

vectra wrote: »

Ah.
The wheels looked identical to one my son had a few years ago.

Ah, I actually got those wheels in a scrapper last lockdown and refurbed them to pass a few days :pac:

vectra

Duff wrote: »

Ah, I actually got those wheels in a scrapper last lockdown and refurbed them to pass a few days :pac:

Are they 19's staggered?

This was it.

Duff

They're 19" staggered alright but slightly different spoke pattern!

vectra

Ah.
Thought they looked the same from the photo angle.
Just clicked with me now who you are as well

MetzgerMeister

Today I started the polishing job on the M4.

First off was the glass which got a clay and polish using Gtechniq G4 Nano Glass polish and a mini DA polisher. You can see the difference between the polished and unpolished windows below. Visibility is much imporoved:



Water behaviour Before:



During:



After:



Started the paint correction with the bootlid. Quite a lot of light swirl marks thanks to cheap valeting. It's not taking too long to get to 90% so I feel it had been in good condition before the valetor got his hands on it.

I've no before pics but here's an after:



50/50 comparison video

punisher5112

That's some serious work.... Will look absolutely mint.

Gumbo

^^^^ nice MM.
Do you think the glass work can be achieved by hand?
I don’t have a DA (it’s on my list of things to learn).

Is the G4 a finished product or did you coat the glass afterwards with something else?

MetzgerMeister

You can do it by hand, it just takes a bit more effort.

The G4 is solely a polish to deep clean the glass. I did it in preparation for G1 which is the Gtechniq glass coating. Today I polished the glass, sprayed water onto it to remove the polish then finished with Gtechniq G6 Perfect Glass. There's no coating on them yet.

Gumbo

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

You can do it by hand, it just takes a bit more effort.

The G4 is solely a polish to deep clean the glass. I did it in preparation for G1 which is the Gtechniq glass coating. Today I polished the glass, sprayed water onto it to remove the polish then finished with Gtechniq G6 Perfect Glass. There's no coating on them yet.

Perfect. It’s another thing for my list now.
I want to sample P&S Beadmaker in the next week or 2. I picked up a bottle the other day. Just need a dry day as it needs a few hours to cure.

I also found this video on the glass coating, dry simple break down step by step, so it’s definitely something I want to do. Thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PByBvGsLeFE

vectra

Nice car Dave, No doubt it will look awesome once you are finished.

MetzgerMeister

vectra wrote: »

Nice car Dave, No doubt it will look awesome once you are finished.

I'm changing up my polishing routine. Now it's start a panel with the Flex and spot polish any deeper scratched areas with the Shinemate mini rotary. I'll do this for the whole car a panel at a time then refine with the Flex and Menzerna 3800 in one go.

vectra

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I'm changing up my polishing routine. Now it's start a panel with the Flex and spot polish any deeper scratched areas with the Shinemate mini rotary. I'll do this for the whole car a panel at a time then refine with the Flex and Menzerna 3800 in one go.

Good plan :cool:

duffman3833

where did you buy Gtechniq G1

vectra

duffman3833 wrote: »

where did you buy Gtechniq G1

At a guess I would say in D&D

Gumbo

duffman3833 wrote: »

where did you buy Gtechniq G1

Reflect also stock it.

It’s a must do and on my to do list now !

€25 plus postage from D&D ( this is the G1 + G4 Kit)
https://dnddetailing.ie/product/gtechniq-g1-and-g4-clearvision-screen-kit/

Reflect

G1
https://www.reflectautocare.ie/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=864

G4
https://www.reflectautocare.ie/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=866

Both places very similar price wise.

MetzgerMeister

D&D are the Irish distributors for Gtechniq and supply Reflect and also any other retailer who sells Gtechniq in ROI.

duffman3833

ordered a bottle yesterday from D&D. Cheers lads

Badger2009

Trying out an Autopia gift set that was a Christmas present. Better than expected.

Badger2009

Quick hand polish on the exhaust tips today.

Before:



After:

SaintsYB

Badger2009 wrote: »

Quick hand polish on the exhaust tips today.

Before:



After:

That came out very well, what did you use? My own ones could do with the same.

Badger2009

SaintsYB wrote: »

That came out very well, what did you use? My own ones could do with the same.

Just a bit of Chemical Guys light metal polish and a microfibre cloth. Happy with the result considering I don't think they were ever touched before.

RoryMurphyJnr

Nice Badger, turned out well. Where did you pick up the Chemical Guys polish?

Badger2009

RoryMurphyJnr wrote: »

Nice Badger, turned out well. Where did you pick up the Chemical Guys polish?

Have it years so can’t remember. Probably amazon I’d say. I’m sure any metal polish will get good results.

DuckSlice

For the first time in about 6 months I washed my car today. The amount of filth in the water was worrying I had to change the mitt rinse bucket during the wash!!

Glad I got it done, and as always, once the car is lovely and clean it always drives better!

ianobrien

Well, if you want to know how long the Gtechniq C4 lasted, I had to redo them over the weekend. I was pleased that it lasted this long as the next best restoration I got was 6 to 8 weeks with CarPro PERL.

EDIT - Forgot to say they lasted almost two years


I'm impressed with how long it lasted. I'm now thinking of coating the Motorhomes. I'll have to do some research as I'm VERY slow to hit a motorhome body with a machine polish. I'm also wondering if automotive or marine coatings are the ones to go for.

ianobrien wrote: »

This is not a "whole vehicle" type job but I got sick of the external shower door and external gas connection door on one of the motorhomes.............

The plastics got sun bleached from staying in Spain for prolonged period. The annoying thing is that the rest of the external plastics (fridge vents, door surrounds, etc) didn't fade and it looked cack. CarPro PERL would hide the effects for a while (two months or so) but I wanted something a bit more permanent.

The process was:

1. Mask off the two doors



2. Wipe them down with CarPro Eraser and leave it to "flash off"



3. Apply two thin coats of Gtechniq C4.



And then break out the tae................

It was repeated on some other small door catches.

SuprSi

Last weekend I spent 3 hours (the first time I've ever really done it) cleaning my car. I hand-washed it, used the jet washer, applied detailer, polish and finished off with some ceramic wax. The car looked brilliant. It didn't rain all week, however, last night it rained and the raindrops have dirt in them, which means my car is getting dirty by just being out in the rain!!

As I'm a newbie to detailing my car, I had assumed (or hoped) that the ceramic wax would make it very difficult for water and dirt to stick to the car, but one moderately heavy shower with a stationary car and it's already dirty. Do I just have to accept that this is what happens? Did I apply the wax poorly? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening, aside from sheltering the car when it rains?

opinionated3

SuprSi wrote: »

Last weekend I spent 3 hours (the first time I've ever really done it) cleaning my car. I hand-washed it, used the jet washer, applied detailer, polish and finished off with some ceramic wax. The car looked brilliant. It didn't rain all week, however, last night it rained and the raindrops have dirt in them, which means my car is getting dirty by just being out in the rain!!

As I'm a newbie to detailing my car, I had assumed (or hoped) that the ceramic wax would make it very difficult for water and dirt to stick to the car, but one moderately heavy shower with a stationary car and it's already dirty. Do I just have to accept that this is what happens? Did I apply the wax poorly? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening, aside from sheltering the car when it rains?

Bear in mind there is a moving weather system at the moment which includes Saharan dust so when the rain falls it will be a dirty colour due to containing dust particles. Maybe that's the source of your issue at the moment...??

punisher5112

Quick jet wash should clear most.

vectra

The Sahara sand is about already I reckon as my car strangely has dust on it.
As a matter of interest, which ceramic wax did you use?

SuprSi

Sahara dust, never thought of that! It's a bugger! Newbie question alert - will a jet wash remove any of the wax that I applied? I used Autoglym Ultra High Definition Ceramic Coating, this one.

Gumbo

SuprSi wrote: »

Last weekend I spent 3 hours (the first time I've ever really done it) cleaning my car. I hand-washed it, used the jet washer, applied detailer, polish and finished off with some ceramic wax. The car looked brilliant. It didn't rain all week, however, last night it rained and the raindrops have dirt in them, which means my car is getting dirty by just being out in the rain!!

As I'm a newbie to detailing my car, I had assumed (or hoped) that the ceramic wax would make it very difficult for water and dirt to stick to the car, but one moderately heavy shower with a stationary car and it's already dirty. Do I just have to accept that this is what happens? Did I apply the wax poorly? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening, aside from sheltering the car when it rains?

Can you break down what you done.

1. Detailer
2. Polish
3. Ceramic wax

Are all 3 products working with or against each other?
What products did you use?

Usually Quick Detailer is a top up during maintenance washes or used as a drying aid. I wouldn’t be putting that down and then a polish and wax above it.


But, in relation to the minerals in the rain water. This is completely
Normal. What you should find after coating the car, is that when you wash it again, the dirt should fall off easily.

When I cost mine, I can usually wash every 2 weeks using a non contact method, so :

Diluted citrus pre wash
Snowfoam
Rinse

Spray on quick detailer/bead maker etc and wipe with cloth is the only contact.

Gumbo

SuprSi wrote: »

Sahara dust, never thought of that! It's a bugger! Newbie question alert - will a jet wash remove any of the wax that I applied? I used Autoglym Ultra High Definition Ceramic Coating, this one.

UHD ceramic is a different animal. As my post above. Please break down what you done. This should be applied to bare, clean paint work. So no polish or detailer under it.

SuprSi

So I followed this guide, but not to a tee as I didn't do the foam part or the glaze, but in order;

- Hand wash
- Spray wash
- Dry
- Polish
- Wax
- Detailer

The shampoo, polish, wax and detailer are all Autoglym and I believe they should work together (I did quite a lot of research, but obviously could be wrong).

SuprSi

I should point out that the ceramic includes a prep stage, so go over the car with a solution before applying the wax.

Gumbo

SuprSi wrote: »

I should point out that the ceramic includes a prep stage, so go over the car with a solution before applying the wax.

The prep is usually an IPA which removes the oils, old waxes, polishes etc in order to have a bare surface for the ceramic to bond to. That’s why I’m wondering why you used detailer and a polish as the IPA prep would have just removed these.

Autoglym themselves recommend that you can layer their UHD ceramic but they say there’s no benefit over using a coat of their UHD wax as a top up every now any again and then to use their detailer on maintenance washes.

SuprSi

OK cool, thanks for the advice. It'll make it easier the next time. I had another look at the dirt on the car and it's very fine, so the Sahara sand suggestion looks like a good call. It should come off easily too.