ilogikal1

Okay, update on the looks of the three waxes; Aside from the bonnet, the rest of car is wearing the 50Cal samples from the branded Waxybox (Pentawax topping Fortress), so I'll get the Fortress review out of the way first; It doesn't seem to have much, if any, corrective abilities of it's own despite it's claims (it struggled to remove even the water spots in places). However, it does both darken the paint and enhance the gloss. I haven't tested it as an LSP though, even though it claims to contain wax so I can't comment on that. Again, like the 50Cal wax it's very easy to to work with, both in application and removal, and is very workable. I would liken it to Autoglym SRP - it's not really a polish but rather a decent glaze. It's not a bad product, but it won't be replacing Black Hole in my arsenal. It should be noted that the paint hasn't been properly prepared since some time before winter. The prep for this consisted of an APC foam on top of the usual wash routine and then a single coat of Fortress. No decon, no clay, no paint cleansers, no polish. I'm not expecting miracles with the finish here. With that said, Pentawax has disappointed me somewhat. It looks great... until you catch it at certain angles in direct sunlight. Not the best photo, but after a brief drive today (hence the evidence of a body count on the windscreen & trim) I noticed this which isn't actually visable unless the sun is in exactly the right place. Observe; Take a step to the right and...; You may not be able to make out from the photos, but that is a big patch of oily residue. Despite being buffed twice. Now it may well be application error (most likely over-application), but basically it makes Pentawax not quite as forgiving as I originally thought. As the sun moved around the car I discovered more and more of these on every single panel. I'm pretty sure I've even now I've not got them all. The solution however was very simple; move to Scotland. No sun, no problem. Failing that a once over with a QD removes the residue that no amount of buffing seems to lift. Until I get round to QD'ing (or more likely re-washing) the whole car, that's going to bother me... until the sun goes away at least. When you do find a good angle, out of direct sunlight though, you do get good gloss, nice flake pop & some depth (this was pre-QD; Desirable (middle section) and Desire (right/passenger side section) had no such issues. And they look like this (please ignore the swirls); And the Pentawax section (note, that's poorly removed residue due the headlight rather than swirls - I added a 2nd coat of each wax to the bonnet shortly before these photos and tried to remove Pentawax before it had cured fully. Very much user error this time!); In the unlikely event of anyone being interested, I have some pictures of the shiny Seat on the left along with a review of the AM Seal it's wearing, but I won't post that now unless anyone asks for it.

I quite liked them all, to be honest, but then I am a wax guy. 50Cal Pentawax was the most forgiving - it's easy to apply, easy to remove even if you leave it to cure forever (well, for 24 hours anyway) even when over-applied. You can apply to the whole car, go and have a cup of tea (it does need 10-15 minutes to cure), have a nap, go to the pub, get drunk, pass out, sleep off the hang over and have another cup of tea before removing it without any issues (with the wax at least). It even smells pretty good too. AF Desire was easy to apply, easy to remove up to about ten minutes after which time it got progressively more difficult and needed some QD to remove the over-applied bits fully after 20+ minutes. I'd suggest doing no more than 2/3 panels at a time. It smells fantastic, slightly better than Pentawax in that regard. AW Desirable was easy to apply, easy to remove up to about 5 minutes after which time it got very difficult to remove very quickly even with a QD, I ended up having to reapply a small amount of the wax to remove it after 20 minutes. I'd suggest doing one panel at a time with this one. It smells pleasant but nothing particularly outstanding like the other two. Not so long ago rumours were rife that Desire and Desirable were actually the same wax - Anglewax manufactured, Auto Finesse re-branded - however I, like almost everyone else who has used both, can confirm... they ain't. Not even nearly. There aren't any rumours to dispel about Pentawax. Yet. Looks - really can't distinguish between them under the woeful lighting in the garage to be honest/ I'll get some pictures when it sees daylight again at the weekend and re-address this and water behaviour then. Durability might be tested, but I was planning a proper detail/summer prep. at the end of the month so they'll probably be removed at that point. I may reapply to my test panel afterwards though - I might even chuck a few more into the mix...

Blackfire then Wolf's Decon Once they're clean and shiny, seal them (FK1000P or Hubirims if you like wax-like products or C5 if you like not having to seal them again for 2 years) and then wash with normal shampoo.

Or you could run some APC through the lance - I usually APC foam the car prior to the bi-annual 'big' detail and that was usually enough to keep the gauze clean... ...except when I used Magifoam which did a better job of clogging up the lance it ever did of cleaning the car, but hey ho.

Welcome. I'm based not too far away at all.

It's not just me!

I can't wait for the discs to be abolished purely so that I no longer spend hours getting the disc exactly level in the holder, curse my OCD.

Thanks Bradders. How does that work as I need to renew mine in Sept ..Does that mean I have to tax it for a month and then use the new system ?. No, you tax it for the year/6 months as usual. In October you can bin the disc from your window, then the next time after that, that it's due you just have more payment options. The system itself isn't changing.

None of that over here either.

http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/79053-pressure-in-fuel-tank/

If you're impressed by that increase in MPG from cleaning the MAF, just wait until you discover those other 5 gears...

*patiently waits for this to escalate to the Stillen system*

They don't get dispatched until at the end of the month.

Not sure how I missed this thread, but yes there's a couple of us on here - such as me. The owner of this one is local to Hull too and a couple of other members visit Hull on the odd occasion - Nixy and Atkin666 spring to mind.

Looks great!

You don't need to use Ferris Dueller more than a couple of times per year (and it works better on a dry car too - so wash & dry before applying Ferris Dueller). For a weekly/fortnightly maintenance wash, do the same until the towel dry then skip to the wax and/or QD (depending on whether the wax needs topping up or not).

Not tried it yet myself, but the usual cause of wax smearing is over-application. Try using less and spreading it more, you want to try and get and thin a layer as possible ideally.

Seeing as you asked so nicely (and any excuse...). I need to try out that 50Cal stuff from Waxybox too, so I'll try and get some comparison pictures with that too... like I said, any excuse. I actually have two lances, so if I can be a*sed, I could even do a side-by-side. I thought I was the only person on the planet with 2 lances One can never have enough lances.

Getting a bit common around here these days, these Z's. Azure 350Z Roadster in Riplingham today, I ran out of hands to change gear, change direction and wave at the same time (sorry). And a silver 54 plate 350Z coupé coming off Dunswell roundabout, going up the A1174 about 3pm today.

G-Techniq Panel Wipe is very good, as is CarPro Eraser - either will do what you need it for - alternatively you can buy IPA (isopropyl alcohol) from anywhere like pharmacies to Maplins, just dilute to suit.

It's taken a while, but I finally got round to having a proper go at testing that tyre dressing and my final conclusion is; it's useless.

Seeing as you asked so nicely (and any excuse...). I need to try out that 50Cal stuff from Waxybox too, so I'll try and get some comparison pictures with that too... like I said, any excuse. I actually have two lances, so if I can be a*sed, I could even do a side-by-side.

Good to hear other's opinions. There's no wax or gloss additives in it, it just cleans better which rejuvenates your LSP's water behaviour. I've found that the three best cleaning foams (Char Chem, AF Avalanche and BH Auto Foam) are all more runny in consistency - you can make them thicker by playing with the settings on the lance though and I've found with using the Car Chem foam that using it neat in the bottle and just one turn away from full + gives about the right thickness (for me), but it's never shaving foam type of thick - I'll try to remember to get some pics for you next time I use it (it could be a while, though I've got a couple of others to try/use and no time to use them ).