Dream Machines

I've got nothing against fillers, albeit the new generation which last for a few months and up to six months or more You would be surprised at the amount of rubbish that is in your paint even after claying and dewaxing Lately I have been redoing my car using A new type of clay bar from england that only needs water as a lubricant Used Glare Zero to bury some of the orange peel and clean the paint Micro Finish on top to fill in more marks and bring up a fantastic shine Then the new Advanced paint sealant for even more shine and insane slickness and protection I still prefer to go the abrasive route with customers vehicles for a few applications but with our cars, once we've used abrasives once or twice, we switch to the long term fillers They won't wash out quickly My latest gear is from England but made elsewhere A new nanotech polish that does not fill, removes 500 to 3000 grit scratches without any fillers, oils, wax or silicone Removes far less paint than even menzerna powergloss would with the same pad Also a crystalline laquer paint, trim, plastic and falcon tonneau cover permanent sealant It's 700 euros per 500ml but bugger all is needed. It bonds with and cures to the surface in seconds and can either be buffed off for no added shine or left on for even more shine Will take some pics of the test car shortly

Hello Dave Your paint needs a massage with a clay bar to remove the metallic particles Also perfection is a process not a product, no product on it's own can make paint defects go away and the paint look insane A two to six step hand or machine polish with the right products would do it The amount of steps you do depends on the severity of the swirls, scratches, any acid rain and other defects A machine will always be better than hand (for correction)

There is no need for a conditioner with modern urethane clearcoated leather Clean them with water or mild soap or a PH neutral leather cleaner

Well done Mr DMS, some excellent education there, this is what is needed for all carlovers to get the best results The most important part of detailing or just typical car care is technique Use any product and get the technique wrong and the results won't come Sure that's not so hard by hand but when a machine comes out of the cabinet, that's when it can get tricky As for clay bars - clay magic blue and red are the best for picking up the most contamination but anyone using the red bar will need to polish the paint with menzerna Final or Intensive polish or similar slight abrasive to remove the marring that will be caused Sonus have an ultra fine bar and their grey coloured fine/medium grade bar The ultra fine is perfect for regular use as it will not remove sealants or good waxes While I hate the CM blue's stiffness and have to put it in a microwave for 10 seconds to resoften it, it does a great job at picking up all that rubbish that we do not see Now to Polishing You really nailed it perfectly Dan with the difference between chemical and abrasive polishes The Polylack/Carlack/Werkstatt acrylic systems give a plasticky look but are superb on metallic paints as the light is allowed to pass through better and no flake will be muted I put five coats of werkstatt Acrylic Jett on my AU XR6 a few years ago and the flake came alive after that and the refractive index of the paint was raised and there was no more bowing or bending of the reflections, every reflection was dead level and straight If there is some oxidation on your car's finish, the best way to start is with a chemical polish It will chemically remove it all or most of it and then make the abrasive polishing work better The golden rule I believe is to seal or wax the paint once all preparation and polishing is completed, if this is not done, all your good work will wash away over time or be killed off by our Aussie UV rays Chemical cleaners/polish that I like to use are those mentioned by Dan and these Four Star UPC Toughseal step 1 Glare Zero & Micro Finish Werkstatt Prime Acrylic Poorboys Pro Polish Klasse AIO Permagard Slightly & Severely Work out what you really want out of your paint and then use products to achieve this For example - for an awesome slick feel, do not use acrylic sealants like werkstatt or Klasse, they will be smooth or slight slick but not as much as Zaino, Glare, Permagard, meguiars, Autoglym For depth on solid paints (no metallic), two to four coats of a super polymer sealant (megs 21, NXT, Permagard, Glare etc) topped a few days or a week later with the same amount of natural carnauba wax will create that Oh and the amount of abrasive polishing that is done over the years on one car will effect the clearcoat clarity and thus the depth of the paint This is why I no longer use Menzerna on my 10 year old paint, I want to keep as much clarity as possible and build on what is left So Glare and Permagard are on it now (side by side) and some of the orange peel (heavy on the doors) is being buried by their protective coatings (need a rotary polisher to do that) The last car I worked on, I used this combo (severe damage) Toughseal step 1 Prepsol (to remove toughseals residue) Hi Temp Extreme Cut plus w/ edge yellow wool Menzerna PO85RD 3.01 Intensive w/ lc Orange foam Menzerna 106FF w/ LC white foam Menzerna PO85RD Finishing polish w/ LC black & blue foam IPA wipedown to remove oils from menzerna Base coat of Permagard Slightly Sealed with Permagard Reactive Polymer. There is a real science to detailing, thus why there are only so few true professionals around like Dan. Absolutely artists

Holy smoke And I thought the paint protection that the Mazda dealer I worked at a while back was expensive it's only wynns polymer crap anyway, it's not worth bugger all price wise and doesn't last long at all

Most polishes have absolutely no protection. Paint protection after polishing is the best way to go. You don't wash the car and wack on some paint protection, you still do the polishing first Water beading has not much to do with protection. Yes the changing of surface tension of a wax or sealant will make the water sheet or bead off but it's most likely that the protection on that car had died out before you got it I've never had any paint sealant go dull or cause the paint to go dull The main thing is that everyone puts some sealant or wax on it, whether it may be meguiars #21, NXT, toughseal, glare, zaino or whatever

Well Paint protection is always going to be better than just polishing alone as polish has no protection Glare will fill in swirl marks and lock in the fillers and protect the paint However it's still best to remove swirls and then apply pure sealant Some teflon based sealants will prevent the paint from breathing and being able to expand and contract The best products I can advice are Toughseal step 1 and 2 Glare Micro Finish and Pro Polish Carlack 68 Acrylic Meguiars #21 Permagard PD5000

Waxit.com.au He is in brisbane He stocks the zaino sealers and can advise you on the differences between paint protection systems The fifth dimension by motor one. It ain't up to the standard of today. I was told by one of the store owners that it has alcohol in it (that is the enemy of wax and sealants)

I haven't seen their work but I think that DMS is a member of Detail Paradise There's a couple great detailers in there. Infinity Auto is my personal favourite, Vijay and Shaida are awesome with their modified for Australian conditions Glare products

Totally true when it comes to dealership paint protection, it's old school stuff But not the case with the glass, ultra polymer and acrylic based ystems such as Toughseal, Glare, Permagard, meg's #21, Blackfire wet diamond, Zaino and others Six to fourteen months protection Speak to dave from waxit about it. Definately worth sealing with one of these brands Non silicone and repaintable

All very good contacts My favourite WA man - Des from Autofx http://www.autofxwa.com/

Yeah the auto car washes aren't too flash, pro wash self serve is where I do mine Just warm soap and water (no brush) and the soap doesn't take off the Glare sealant I cringe everytime there are people at the wash digging into their paint with the brush Poorboys is very nice gear for what you pay for it, far better than Megs NXT gen wax Version 2 is out now. I haven't touched a meguiars product in ten years but it's one of the best you can get from off the auto store shelves. The damage on that green falcon is just wash marring, I've seen and removed far worse gear than that That would come out with a white lake country pad and Menzerna 106FF or PO85RD finishing polish It's nothing. The days of just grab the old cut and polish are gone, yes you still do cut them out but with diminishing abrasive polishes from meguiars mirror glaze line, menzerna, prima and a heap of others including poorboys ssr 1 to 3 of course then there are the permanent filler products but these need to be used properly. Far better than the sandpaper like abrasives of thirty to fourty years ago This is what I sorted for Danny Smith's Burnout Master truck before this years summernats After Glare Zero, Menzerna PG, IP and 106

To the person with the black car I hate the meguiars professional clay bar because it's too stiff Everyone please remember that any clay bar except an ultra fine one can leave marring in the paintwork regardless of how much lube is used When I am detailing a car and need to get the clay magic red bar out, the marring is unreal but since I'm machine polishing it, it will all come out It should by hand as well but it depends on how strong the polish you are using is.

For sure. I've filled the majority of the orange peel on my AU XR6 vct in with special polishes that leave a glassy smooth coating on top However as damian at final inspection does, wet sanding it out is best but you might have to re clear the car as you'll take out alot of factory clear doing that Unfortunately the XR6 turbo's have the worst orange peel, GT's and typhoons have only very fine peel But that's probably what you get with paying another twenty or thirty grand

We will be making the trek with four adelaide cars, I'm just finishing up danny smith's burnout master truck polishing job now Look for the Triple A Motorsport ex V8 supercar transporter. Will have some goodies there as well

Glosstech.com.au

Well I don't like teflon stuff as it can make it hard to put anything over it and most quick detail sprays will streak like mad when using it on a teflon coated car The teflon seems to modify the paint somehow and make it hard to use any other products Permagard is legit and is not teflon based but is the finest quality super polymer available It's french and I use it when detailing and also as a sealant on my paint and wheels It's expensive gear but is sensational The other sealer I use is the glare system. I don't put wax on my car because I prefer depth, perfect clarity and a wet glassy look to a really wet and greasy finish plus waxes are not good on certain colours, especially silver

I just did a clay, polish and spot polish with my 4 to 7 inch pads by machine on an octane with black stripes super pursuit ute last week. I absolutely love that colour. I sealed the paint and wheels for him and I doubt it would fade after that. That and vixen are my favourite colours. Make sure any octane owner waxes or seals his paint with something Toughseal pre treatment (step 1) and a coat of fireglaze or glare pro polish over the topwill do it for a year or so.

No probs. Hey I don't know everything but have tested and use so many different brands that I hoped that I could help out Zaino ZFX curing additive is a brilliant product and allows you to apply a heap of coats in one day. Z2 pro is apparently a great polish and sealant. A few coats of that will last at least eight months.

There is detailers obsession in perth and there was a fireglaze distributor there too.

DR Detail. drdetail.com.au I have seen some of his work on the net before

Here is a rundown of durability from paint sealants after twelve years in boutique detailing with only the latest and greatest Group 1 - Polymers aka Super Polymers Strength - slickness, some are sprayable. Weakness - slickness can fade quick, not totally water spot proof. Wolfgang deep gloss paint sealant - 2 months, very slick Four star Ultimate paint protection - 4 months, slickness doesnt last Ultra gloss super polish (great paint, glass and plastic polish, Duragloss aquawax - spray on, two months, extremely slick, use on wet or dry car Menzerna Full Metal jacket - 4 months, can be hard to remove Zaino - 8 months, one of the best available. ZFX curing additive makes adding more coats in one day possible. Super tough and doesn't attract dust Driven to Perfection Teflon Polish/Sealant - 12 months, water spots wipe off, can be used as a polish on anything. Driven to perfection quick spray concentrate - a spray sealant that can be used by hand or machine as a polish and sealant. Boosts any sealants durability. Acrylics - Klasse All in One - 6 months, can be diluted into a spray Klasse sealant glaze - several months, after four coats, it really enhances the finish. Polylack nano seal - several months Toughseal - ??? maybe a couple years Carlack 68 - several months, slickness doesn't fade, water spots wipe off Specialties Flreglaze pro polish double strength - 12 to 36 months, slickness never fades, nothing etches and hardly anything will stick to the paint. Can be used as a polish on single stage paints It will scratch clear coats though if you rub it in firmly. use on glass, wheels, paint, as a polish on exterior trim by hand or machine. The only product I have used that prevents fallout from requiring clay to remove Everything that sticks, just washes off with warm shampoo. Glare Infinity - the more you polish it in, the better the finish Durability should be the same as fireglaze I must mention however that I do not sell any of these and have tested all over the last five years and as lately as last week. The new five to ten year hyperpolish and hyperseal will be an interesting test. Unfortunately there is one thing that sealants can't totally stop and that's bird droppings as they are acidic and eat through paint. Remove any fresh droppings quickly.

Hi Alpha I have known about it for many years , looked at buying but not bothered so have never used it. It is an acrylic sealant with teflon although most products with teflon in it do nothing because of how the teflon is added to the raw materials. It should do fine for six to twelve months but hopefully it will go for longer. There are certainly newer paint sealants out that last at least one year in this country though an extremely cold winter in victoria might not help the durability Don't bother with dishwashing liquid, use a shampoo and then clay and prepsol as well if you wish That will take conventional waxes and polymer sealants off and leave the car with a squeaky clean (literally) finish ready to polish or go straight to your toughseal chemical polish/ sealant base coat My favourite sealants at the moment that I apply to cars are fireglaze double strength aka glare pro polish, of which I have two coats on my garaged AU XR6 VCT, Driven to perfection teflon sealant and Ultra gloss superpolish. However I also have some acrylic and polymer spray sealants that can be used on any exterior surface inc mouldings. So far nothing etches through the protection and all that stick which is not much, washes off. Those are one to two year sealants and the hilux has gone ten months so far with no QD at all and it's still super slick. I am about to order a new five to ten year (supposedly) ceramic sealant from a reputable USA company as yet unknown or available in Australia. Don't forget that you can layer more coats of that second step product every 24 hours but once a week is best. Sealants need three days to cure. If it rains within that time, the sealant may drown causing no protection Water spots should no longer etch into your cars paint with an acrylic sealant on it. Please post ease of application and removal and if it made the paint slicker than prior to application See if you can put it on the glass too.

Sounds like glare infinity plus and their spider and professional polish I refuse to use it. Have a friend who uses the pro polish basically as it does give a nice finish but basically they are not removing your marks, just filling them in (have been given all the info) with abrasive free products I dunno why they are afraid of abrasives. The sealant I think would be about equal to fireglaze double strength plus (which I get from the US) but five years - ??? Depends on where you drive your car. If you get fallout you will have to clay it and re apply the sealant anyway Best thing to do is try and get some of this wholesale from ultra 2000 mfg in the USA who make it and cut out the rip offs in NSW. My fireglaze cost 12 bucks. Sure it's not better than the acrylic sealants I exclusively use but sure is cheap Best advice I can give is don't use terry towels, have whatever swirl marks/marring you have out properly (not filled), then apply the pro polish and then the sealant. You'll get an even better result.

303 or lexol vinylex would be a better long term option with some plastic polish and paint polish to get the metal bits looking good. Wipe the vinyl/rubber stuff in well. You don't want to just spray it on and leave it like some detailers I used to know. That's a major dust attractant.