To Wax or not

[Dave the aygo]

5 hours ago, Hornet3D said:

One good thing about having so many painted surfaces on the inside of the Aygo is you can use the same treatment inside as on the outside paintwork.  Just finished inside painted areas including inside each door now all I need to finish is the rest of the trim which needs something quite different.  

What are you going to use on the trim? 

[Hornet3D]

1 hour ago, Dave the aygo said:

What are you going to use on the trim? 

For the cleaning I am going to use Gyeon Q2M Interior Detailer and then to protect I intend to use GyeoQ2M Preserve as it leaves the plastic in an anti static state and provides some UV protection.

For years used products from Blackfire, particularly the diamond ice range of washes and waxes but the whole range changed a few years ago.  At the time I was using  Gyeon Q2 leathershield that looks ridiculously priced at £27 for a 50ml kit.   When I came to use it I found you only need a few drops on the application pad so that one bottle lasted me two years applying it once every six months and that was to all the seats in and part of the door panel in a Honda CRV so it really proved the value.

When Blackfire updated their range I spent a lot on time on you tube watching reviews because there are some detailing products that are quite honestly just a scam.  As I was already using and was impressed with the leathershield I tended to look at the Gyeon range first.  Any one going down that route would be advised to look at either Ultimate Finish or Polished Bliss to buy the product as they are generally a few pound cheaper than Amazon on each item.

[Hornet3D]

On 2/21/2022 at 6:15 PM, NorthantsRob said:

Definitely get some good quality wax on the car and as @robt100 said, ideally on top of nice clean paint and, ideally, a ceramic coat. I went over mine last week with a ceramic coat, followed by 2 coats of wax. 

Well I am not too proud to nick someone else's idea.

 

 

[Dave the aygo]

2 hours ago, Hornet3D said:

Well I am not too proud to nick someone else's idea.

 

 

Why not I have

[Dave the aygo]

You lot are putting mine to shame I haven't had time to clean mine properly yet not sure if mines black or brown at the moment. lol

[Hornet3D]

5 minutes ago, Dave the aygo said:

You lot are putting mine to shame I haven't had time to clean mine properly yet not sure if mines black or brown at the moment. lol

One of the benefits of being retired, there are a few more but lots of negatives as well I am afraid.

[Dave the aygo]

I've decided to stay on  for the time being maybe another couple of years then pack up working I get bored to easy

[NorthantsRob]

6 hours ago, Hornet3D said:

Well I am not too proud to nick someone else's idea.

 

 

The red rings look great on yours, better than on mine I think! 

[Hornet3D]

2 hours ago, NorthantsRob said:

The red rings look great on yours, better than on mine I think! 

Hard one to call, they look good on your car, I almost went for the grey surround to match the body colour but decided it just would not show up enough.

I have to admit to having a senior moment though in that I could not see for the life of me how the new surround would fit, took me while to realise what I thought was one piece centre cap was actually a centre cap with an existing black surround that needed to be replaced.

 

[Hornet3D]

7 hours ago, Dave the aygo said:

I've decided to stay on  for the time being maybe another couple of years then pack up working I get bored to easy

I get bored easily as well but I have to say that seven years into retirement I have not found the time to be bored.  It is good to have a nest egg to dip into though as I find so many things to do that need funding.

[Hornet3D]

Well I guess I have answered my own question in that I went for a coating in the end but only just.   I settled for Gyeon Can Coat Evo which is almost a cross between a coating and a wax.  It is designed to be easy to use but only gives around six month to a year of protection instead of the four or six years claimed by the full ceramic coatings.  It needs twelve hours to cure although most reviews suggest 24 hours is better and in that time it should not come in contact with water, a hard call if like me you do not garage the car and you are subject to UK weather.  Again there is a halfway house in that four hours in you can use Gyeon Q2M Cure that will protect the Can Coat but allow it to continue to harden underneath, this is the route I took. 

The Q2M Cure can be used with interim washes to continue to protect the can coat and extend it's life.  I paid £33 for the Can Coat Evo but, at a guess I would be able to coat the car at least four times which makes it about £16.50 a year if I stick to replacing every six months.

I have tended to stick with the range of Gyeon products this time around which seem to be either fairly priced or value for money when you look at the amount used per application.

I am just about where I want to be with the car having cleaned it inside and out and finishing by then adding a preservative where possible,  I have added a few decals and other trim tweaks and fitted a front a rear dash cam and extra security.   All I have left to do is clean inside each of the wheel arches and add a stronger coating to the wheels.

I am really pleased with the end result and more to the point have really enjoyed the project from start to finish.

 

 

 

[NorthantsRob]

10 hours ago, Hornet3D said:

Hard one to call, they look good on your car, I almost went for the grey surround to match the body colour but decided it just would not show up enough.

I have to admit to having a senior moment though in that I could not see for the life of me how the new surround would fit, took me while to realise what I thought was one piece centre cap was actually a centre cap with an existing black surround that needed to be replaced.

 

Yeah, I just sort of 'teased' the old ring from the centre cap with my fingers - almost stretching the ring into an oval. Once 2-3 clips were clear the two bits come apart easily.

[Hornet3D]

25 minutes ago, NorthantsRob said:

Yeah, I just sort of 'teased' the old ring from the centre cap with my fingers - almost stretching the ring into an oval. Once 2-3 clips were clear the two bits come apart easily.

I did the same thing .........eventually, once I had discovered I was replacing the existing black surrounds, I had it in my mind I was adding the red ones to the centre cap

[Guest]

48 minutes ago, NorthantsRob said:

Yeah, I just sort of 'teased' the old ring from the centre cap with my fingers - almost stretching the ring into an oval. Once 2-3 clips were clear the two bits come apart easily.

I replaced the black rings with the silver/chrome ones to match the black & chrome wheels on my x-clusiv.

Had the same struggle getting the original rings off!

[Hornet3D]

10 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

I replaced the black rings with the silver/chrome ones to match the black & chrome wheels on my x-clusiv.

Had the same struggle getting the original rings off!

At least that should mean they stay put while the car is in motion.

[Dave the aygo]

at last finally got it cleaned so much better

[Hornet3D]

59 minutes ago, Dave the aygo said:

at last finally got it cleaned so much better

Now there is a shine, it is great to see cars in this condition and the older it becomes the more impressive it is that it shines like that.

[Dave the aygo]

Thanks lot happier now it's clean

[Hornet3D]

14 minutes ago, Dave the aygo said:

Thanks lot happier now it's clean

Man after my own heart.

[Hornet3D]

 I really ought to give a shout out to one company that is first class at giving information on the products that can be used to wash, clean or detail your car.  

The company is  www.polishedbliss.co.uk, I have no connection with the company other than being a customer and the reason I use them is because of the vast amount of free information available.  For each product there is a description of how they view the product and this is followed by the key features of the product.  The next section gives the description of the product and the specification which includes information such as durability, if it enhances the gloss, is it abrasive and so on. Finally there is a section on how to use the product.  I have yet to find a web site that gives details to this level and it is well worth a visit if the subject interest you.

[Hornet3D]

Almost there, wheels now have a ceramic coat but I needed to cover the car to keep the water off for 24 hours and I found the aerial to be a problem so that has been changed for a stubby version.  Now really needs a wash but I cannot get detergent on the wheels for seven days.

 

 

[NorthantsRob]

9 hours ago, Hornet3D said:

Almost there, wheels now have a ceramic coat but I needed to cover the car to keep the water off for 24 hours and I found the aerial to be a problem so that has been changed for a stubby version.  Now really needs a wash but I cannot get detergent on the wheels for seven days.

 

 

Ooh they look good. Did you use the ceramic costing you'd use on bodywork for your wheels or was it a wheel-specific ceramic treatment?

 

[Hornet3D]

5 hours ago, NorthantsRob said:

Ooh they look good. Did you use the ceramic costing you'd use on bodywork for your wheels or was it a wheel-specific ceramic treatment?

 

I used Gyeon Q2 Rim, which as the name suggests is formulated to be used on wheels, it is very similar to the coating used on the body work the main difference, according to the marketing blurb it is 'formulated to withstand extremely high temperatures (up to 800°C) and aggressive cleaning chemicals'.  The application method is the same as the bodywork but they suggest building a thick coat, drying time is specified as 24hours with the full curing taking around 14 days.  It is not cheap at £28 for what appears to be a ridiculously small bottle (30ml) along with an applicator block and four applicator suedes.  The stated duration of the coat is said to be longer than 12 months.  That said I did not use the applicator block as it was difficult on such small wheels but used a normal circular foam applicator.  The block and suedes are not wasted though as they can be used with so many other products.  Judging by what I used on the Aygo I would guess 30ml is enough to do the wheels three to four times with two coats on each application.

Ideally you also need the use Gyeon Q2M Cure as a protection layer to avoid water spotting while the base layer cures.  That adds another cost to the procedure ( 250 ml - £16.50, 400ml - £24 and 1L - £56) but the good news is that the same product can be used on the bodywork coat both during curing and on each wash.  Duration is said to be six weeks plus and compared to other such quick detailing sprays beading is scored at 9 out of ten with the same score for slickness.  Again based on my use on the Aygo I would say 400ml would last you around a year assuming a monthly wash.   Verified buyer reviews scores Rim as 4.95 out of 5 with 21 reviews and Cure at 4.82 over 11 reviews.

I have used Polished Bliss as the source of all of this information as that is the company I used to supply both products mainly because I have used them before and, for Gyeon products, they are cheaper than Amazon although the same can be said for other detailing product suppliers.  As an example at present 400ml of Q2M Cure is priced at £26.44 on Amazon.  This price difference seems to be maintained across the Gyeon range on Amazon with most products £2 - £5 more expensive which soon adds up if you are ordering more items from the range.  

[NorthantsRob]

7 hours ago, Hornet3D said:

I used Gyeon Q2 Rim, which as the name suggests is formulated to be used on wheels, it is very similar to the coating used on the body work the main difference, according to the marketing blurb it is 'formulated to withstand extremely high temperatures (up to 800°C) and aggressive cleaning chemicals'.  The application method is the same as the bodywork but they suggest building a thick coat, drying time is specified as 24hours with the full curing taking around 14 days.  It is not cheap at £28 for what appears to be a ridiculously small bottle (30ml) along with an applicator block and four applicator suedes.  The stated duration of the coat is said to be longer than 12 months.  That said I did not use the applicator block as it was difficult on such small wheels but used a normal circular foam applicator.  The block and suedes are not wasted though as they can be used with so many other products.  Judging by what I used on the Aygo I would guess 30ml is enough to do the wheels three to four times with two coats on each application.

Ideally you also need the use Gyeon Q2M Cure as a protection layer to avoid water spotting while the base layer cures.  That adds another cost to the procedure ( 250 ml - £16.50, 400ml - £24 and 1L - £56) but the good news is that the same product can be used on the bodywork coat both during curing and on each wash.  Duration is said to be six weeks plus and compared to other such quick detailing sprays beading is scored at 9 out of ten with the same score for slickness.  Again based on my use on the Aygo I would say 400ml would last you around a year assuming a monthly wash.   Verified buyer reviews scores Rim as 4.95 out of 5 with 21 reviews and Cure at 4.82 over 11 reviews.

I have used Polished Bliss as the source of all of this information as that is the company I used to supply both products mainly because I have used them before and, for Gyeon products, they are cheaper than Amazon although the same can be said for other detailing product suppliers.  As an example at present 400ml of Q2M Cure is priced at £26.44 on Amazon.  This price difference seems to be maintained across the Gyeon range on Amazon with most products £2 - £5 more expensive which soon adds up if you are ordering more items from the range.  

Thanks Paul for all of that, much appreciated. I'll take a look at the Gyeon Q2 Rim I think...when you think about it, wheels probably are going to need something over and above what you'd normally apply to the body. Be really interested to hear how the coating performs on your wheels going forward. 👍

[Hornet3D]

1 hour ago, NorthantsRob said:

Thanks Paul for all of that, much appreciated. I'll take a look at the Gyeon Q2 Rim I think...when you think about it, wheels probably are going to need something over and above what you'd normally apply to the body. Be really interested to hear how the coating performs on your wheels going forward. 👍

You are more than welcome.  The heat resistance makes sense when it comes to brakes.  I will update along the way, all I know at the moment is it is easy to put on, looks good when applied but even better after 24 hours and gets good reviews.  From here on in it is a question of discovery.