Shampoo/Polish/Wax/Sealant advise.......

[phoenixv6quattro]

Hello Fellas. Hope your all well......

I recently removed all the Collinite from my car in prep for the spring/summer detail. It came off ok and I proceeded with applying/removing tardis. Then I clayed her, Then I gave her a once over with Menzerna 203s and a lakes light cut pad(hand polished). Next I hid the remaining swirl marks/scratches(not many of them though,you really have to look)with some SRP. I buffed off the SRP and instead of re-applying collinite(which I use for winter only) I thought I would give Megs NXT GEN a try. Its ok, but not brilliant. The water beads, but as every week passes its properties are diminishing......The shine isn't excellent either (not very good flake pop-I have Santorin blue paint, which is dark metallic). The questions I have are.....

1. What is the best shampoo to use to get rid of the megs nxt gen? I used poorboys strongwash/bugsquash to remove the collinite, and the tardis removed the last of it, but these are very strong products, and I dont want to use them too frequently. Megs hyper wash which I use in a snow foam lance and the usual megs shampoo I use are not stromg enough to remove the nxt gen. So whats my best bet?

2. I do not want to buy a machine I would rather hand polish, due to a new addition to my family I do not have the money for a machine + pads. The Menzerna 203s is excellent using a lakes light cut pad, but is there any other polishing product I can use with a hand pad, as a fair amount of swirl marks are still left(especially visible under the street lamps). What I am looking for is something as safe to use as the 203s, but maybe slightly more abrasive. Any suggestions?

3. The collinite was good for winter, and the nxt gen isn't amazing, and I was toying with the idea of getting a blackfire sealant and wax. Will this still bead water, and is a sealant then wax combi a good idea? Also reference the remaining swirl marks I am currently using SRP to disguise them, but is there anything better I can use that does this better, and if so how will it work in conjunction with the blackfire sealant/wax?

Thats all fellas. Oh, the leathers doing well by the way(JD09.....LOL).....

Cheers

Ollie

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Anyone Fellas?

 

[JD09]

Hi Ollie, just spotted this chap, apologies. Little busy at the moment, but a brief overview;

I use Chem Guys Citrus shampoo to strip LSP when required. Either that or something like Megs APC in the foam lance, giving it a good spread. I know an IPA wipe down helps as well, choice is yours really.

Hand polish wise, 203 is the best hands down (personally). Not sure what to suggest other than that. A machine polish is the only real way to get rid of all swirls fella. Perhaps it would be best seeing if someone locally will machine polish/detail it, allowing you to keep on top of the work?

No experience of the Blackfire twins, but by all accounts they are very good. Not a personal preference, as I stick with Chem Guys Blitz and/or Onyx wax. Using both in conjunction will give you a great deal of protection, which for winter months is great, for summer it can sometimes detract from the looks.

If I have no time on my hands, I seal the car. If I have time to reapply wax on a monthly basis, I wax it (2 layers).

HTH, anything else post up and I'll post back when I'm off work.

Jamie

 

[S3 Rav]

polished bliss tend to use megs apc when stripping i think.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Fellas, thankyou!

Ollie

 

[Jimmeh]

Quickly adding a few points to above:

I have sucessfully (not intended either, lol) used Chem.Guys Citrus Wash n' Glos a few times to strip previous protection (is this the Chem.Guys product u refered to, Jamie?) Failing that, as also said, a covering through a snowfoam lance with G101 or an APC will help do the trick.

Hand polishing wise, you're going to struggle to chase every last mark, Ollie. I'm left with some sometimes that you just can't get down to (and sometimes it isn't viable in doing so if the paints already thin etc) To get the remaining deeper marks out, I'd guess you're going to have to machine them.. I dont know how well the 203s and Lake Country cut pad works as I've never tried it, but, have you thought about stepping up to a more aggressive compound like Menz Intensive Polish (Power Gloss as I think it's now called?) or similar.. This, maybe followed by a finer machine poliser followed by the AIO polish (like you SRP) should give decent results if you're able to break it down well enough (which by hand, I think you'd struggle (unless of course you're a tank!))

Have you tried PoorBoys' Blackhole? Quite a nice glaze/cleaner/polish that will mask the lighter swirls and leave a great base for your wax.

Did you see the 8P S3 I prepped using the Blackfire kit? It's on here somewhere and looked stunning. Well impressed. Hopefully Rich from PB will be along to explain the technicalities behind Blackfire and the best suggested route for you to take.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Jimmeh, that info is very much appreciated and will be adhered to. Going to get my hands on some black hole (I have Stephen Hawkins phone number....), and now just need to decide on some wax that will be protective enough for at least a few months and give a better shine than collinite (which is excellent for protective duties but not so great ref the shine!). I was thinking about the Blackfire wax. A bit pricey, but from what I have heard worth it?

 

[JD09]

Going to get my hands on some black hole (I have Stephen Hawkins phone number....)

Lol!

Jimmeh, yes the Citrus Wash n Gloss is the one I tend to use. I have used 203 by hand and was extremely impressed with the results. Harder work than machining, but fantastic non the less.

Ollie, with regards to the wax, both Zymol Carbon and Swissvax Onyx are excellent in terms of longevity and looks. Both are circa £45-50 so a good deal more expensive than 476 wax, but worth it IMO.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

I'm going to look into those and give one of them a shot. I will report on my findings....Thanks for the advice mate!

Ollie.

 

[JD09]

Looking forward to the write up/pics chap

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Thanks mate.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

So I ended up buying some Poorboys black hole and some Blackfire midnight sun wax from Polished Bliss this morning. I read reviews on the Onyx, Carbon and Blackfire and the popular vote went to the Blackfire wax. its not as durable (so I read) as the onyx or the carbon, but it will still last 3 months before a top up/start from scratch is needed. That is ok with me as I tend to do it that frequently anyway. Will post up some picks on this thread when the job is done in a few weeks (as I only detailed her and applied the last layer of NXT GEN this morning....). Thanks again for all your help guys!

Ollie

 

[Broken Byzan]

Blackfire is what i used on the purple one with the polish too.

It lasts absolutly ages, for the min on the black car i now have some of the nxtGen2 on her, seemed to give a deeper shine than the Blackfire. I have been recomended to use the Raceglaze but it's quite expensive so i am trying to use what i have rather than buying new

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Fair one mate. I have the NXT GEN 2 on my car at the moment. I think its rubbish, infact I have just given it to my nephew to use on his pushbike! The collinite gave a better shine than that did! Hopefully when I use the Blackfire in conjunction with the black hole it will yield better results.......

 

[JD09]

Black Hole really can be a life saver, especially for what you're looking for Ollie. Not had experience with the Blackfire waxes yet, but will hopefully get a chance to try them this show season.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

So, I recieved the blackfire, black hole, a microfibre applictor pad and a blackfire applicator pad today. The blakfire (midnight sun) is a hard wax like the collinite, I take it the stuff is supposed to be like that, for anyone that knows? The Blackfire App pad has two sides. one is smooth and the other has small holes/indentations in it like a menzerna light cut pad. What side of the pad would you reccomend I use for the application of the Blackfire?

Ollie