The ilogikal1 test thread

[Stutopia]

Too many near misses to dare flashing one of those torches around...

[ilogikal1]

Erm...

 

 

... and...

 

 

... that is all.

[Ekona]

Shiny goodness

[Stutopia]

Not bad.

[ilogikal1]

Meh, it'll do I suppose.

 

[ilogikal1]

A proper write up may follow but for the time being...

 

The summer detail has been done.

 

 

The Z is now draped in a wealth of Gyeon products and in the form of proper coatings no less.

The process for the wheels included;

Removal,

Wash,

Decontamination,

De-tar,

Clay,

IPA wipe down,

Sealed with GTechniq C5,

Tyres were dressed with Gyeon Tire (sic)

 

Whilst the wheels were off, the arches were cleaned;

Washed,

Decontaminated,

De-tarred,

APC scrub,

Degreased,

Dressed with Chemical Guys Bare Bones.

The calipers were also given a thorough clean which included the above along with a going over with a clay bar and then sealed with Dodo Juice Infinity (fronts) and GTechniq C5 (rears).

 

The headlights were polished and sealed with GTechniq C5.

 

The exhaust was also polished and sealed with Car Chem OB Glaze.

 

The glass was thoroughly cleaned and then sealed with Gyeon View.

 

The interior was also thoroughly cleaned, all mats and carpets were protected with Nanolex Textile and Leather Sealant.

Leathers were deep cleaned and sealed with Gyeon Leather Coat.

 

The bodywork process included;

Snow foam,

2 bucket wash,

De-tar,

De-contamination,

Clay,

2 stage polish,

IPA wipe down,

Trim sealed with Nanolex Trim Rejuvinator,

Paint sealed with 3 coats of Gyeon Mohs+ and a sacrificial layer of Cure.

 

That might be everything. Possibly.

 

[HEADPHONES]

It would be fun to park at a Nissan dealership next to some R35s awaiting sale while you have a browse.

Then see people's reactions when comparing the quality of the paint on the "prepped" cars awaiting sale to your "old" zed!

Probably got a better finish on yours than most of the 16 plate cars o the forecourt

[HEADPHONES]

The odd thing is I am quietly jealous of the amount of time you have been able to spend detailing the zed.

To most normal folk it would sound like a miserable weekend having to do that lot.........how odd are we eh

[Stutopia]

Nice job, well worth it.

 

[ilogikal1]

Ooh now there's an idea, Headphones. *disappears to find the nearest HPC*

 

Sadly I don't get the time I used to for detailing. I actually had to take two weeks off work for all this - some people go somewhere hit and sunny to lounge about on a beach for a fortnight, I go to Hull and do manual labour. By choice! :cuckoo:

[Ekona]

Just going to Hull in the first place is bad enough

Edited May 1, 2016 by Ekona

[ilogikal1]

There's two good reasons* for me to go to Hull.

 

A) ALL of my detailing stuff is there.

2) I can afford twice as much beer in Hull than in London. Which is handy because drinking helps when you're in Hull!

 

 

*Only two though.

[Ekona]

Bah, feeble excuses!

 

 

Apart from the beer. That's perfectly reasonable.

[ilogikal1]

The beer is a reason.

 

The other one is an excuse to go for the beer.

[ilogikal1]

It beads!

 

 

 

[ilogikal1]

I'm about to pic whore, just so that you know. You've been warned. Before that though, I'm going to review a few things.

 

First up, Gyeon Q² View. Prior to this my car had GTechniq G1 on all the glass so this is most likely going to be a direct comparison.

By ways of preparation, the glass was foamed, washed and clayed along with the rest of the car and later was then given a quick wipedown with glass cleaner (GTechniq G6). "View" is actually a packet that contains two products - Q² Cleanse and Q² Repel, two applicator blocks, 2 (maybe 4, I 'm writing this up from memory and can't check as the packet is 200 miles away...) suede applicator cloths and a sheet of instructions (that covers all Gyeon coatings) presented largely in pictures yet somehow manage to convey the important information (take heed flat-packed furniture makers everywhere!). Cleanse is the cleaning/bonding agent whilst Repel is actual LSP coating. The two applicator blocks differ slightly from each other too, one is the typical harder-foam-mated-to-softer-foam-bottom affair that you'll get with just about every coating these days - this one needs to be wrapped in a suede applicator cloth and together is for use with Repel. The other applicator block is the same harder-foam construction but mated to a rough, felt-like bottom which is to be used directly on the glass with Cleanse. Cleanse is essentially a glass polish (the deep clean kind, not the fix scratches kind), essentially Gyeon's version of GTechniq's G4.

 

The instructions are simple; clean the glass, work Cleanse into the surface using the larger applicator block, work your way around the entire car before buffing Cleanse off with a damp microfibre cloth, buff with a separate dry cloth to remove any streaks (and/or to dry). When the glass is streak-free and dry, wrap a suede applicator around the other applicator block and wet with Repel before working into the surface of the glass. Work your way around the car and buff to remove any residue and/or streaks. Allow to dry out of the elements for 12 hours. Job jobbed.

 

As with any coating, due to that last instruction I'd strongly recommend against trying to apply this outside.

 

The instructions (that come with all Gyeon coatings) suggests that you should use the entire 20ml of Repel (there's no indication of how much Cleanse to use though), however I did three coats on every inch of glass on the Z and I used ~10ml of Repel and probably not even that much Cleanse - I was quite liberal with Cleanse as it's difficult to see just how far it stretches.

 

For reference, I used 3-4 drops on the applicator was plenty to do a door window and the ³/₄ window as well. However I found I needed to split the front windscreen into three sections with 4-5 drops per section and worked it into the surface until there was no white residue visible (until it cured, at least) but by the time I'd gotten to the rear screen I was much more comfortable stretching it further and only split it into 2 sections with 2-3 drops per section. I strong recommend starting with the side windows rather than front/rear screens and having good lighting.

 

When it comes to Repel, I found once the applicator was suitably primed, you could easily cover half the front/rear screen before before needing more product, but lifting the it's best to reload the applicator before starting a new section/window. I also found it best to spread a quick line across the middle of the section you'll be working on before then working it over the full section. Whilst Repel does seem to flash relatively quickly, it allows plenty of time to spread the product over a section to ensure coverage.

 

I also found that Cleanse buffs ridiculously easily with a damp cloth (as usual, note damp not wet!) even when over-applied, although it's stubborn as hell if you try to remove it with a dry cloth whether it's over-applied or not. Repel, on the other hand, buffs easily but I did find that it needed a fresh buffing cloth for each window as each became saturated quite quickly. I also found it beneficial to go for a secondary buff later on to ensure the perfect finish - although this is standard practice for me.

 

 

In terms of application, I prefer View to G1; Whilst G4 can be bought separately to G1, whilst Cleanse and Repel only come in the form of View (as far as I can tell), however you can also buy a G1 & G4 package for about the same price as View - whilst you only get 15ml of G1, you do get 100ml of G4, compared to 30ml of Repel & 30ml of Cleanse. In essence this means that View is going to cost £8-16 per application (£8 in my case as I have plenty left for a second application, but £16 according to the instructions) whilst G4 & G1 will cost roughly £12 per application (that's about 70p of G4 - 100ml to cover 10 applications - and £11 of G1 - 15ml of G1 to cover a single application - when bought separately). The important distinguishing factor for me is that Repel doesn't require a residue removal agent that G1 does in the form of G2, so Repel is simply a case of buffing whilst G1 is... well, not.

 

Once View has cured, it beads quite well;

 

 

 

 

It did rain periodically on my journey away from cheap beer and towards more civilised company of the south, so I've had a chance to see View in action too. Whilst literally every other glass sealant I've used tends to form moderately sized beads which then just roll off the glass, Repel is somewhat different. I mean it's not, it works on the same principal, but it does it differently - rather than maintaining the raindrop sized beads, Repel actually creates micro-beads (I didn't encounter any heavy or torrential rain, on my journey but I did encounter everything from a light mist - that "Peter Kay rain"; if you know, you know - to a brief moderate shower), when the rain drop hits the windscreen it sort of explodes into a dozen micro-beads which immediately roll off the screen. Now virtually all other glass sealants I've used struggle to clear micro-beading until the screen is sufficiently wet to form larger beads that then roll off, Repel has no trouble at all clearing the tiniest spot of moisture on the screen at anything over 50mph (well, 47mph according my sat nav). I love this, whilst a fresh coating of G1 is a considerably better than even a decent set of wipers on the motorway, View/Repel is equally better to G1 (infinitely more so when driving in the fine rain that slowly almost coats the screen) let alone using wipers. Honestly, unless Gyeon stops working within the first month or two, I'm just not going back to G1. Ever. This makes it sound like G1 is absolutely rubbish. It's not. It's bloody good in fact. Gyeon View is just better.

 

 

There is a downside to this, however. The larger beads and wetter surface caused by using G1 leads to a degree of self-cleaning - as the rain runs off, it takes the dirt and bug splatter with it. Because Gyeon keeps the screen much drier, the smaller beads tends to run around anything that does stick to the screen (it does also stop things bug splatter from actually sticking, but like G1 it doesn't actually eliminate this), so whilst it'll take dust and dirt with the rain, it does mean there are a couple of smudges where bugs have splattered across the screen. That said, on the 300 miles that I've covered so far, (most of that in one journey) I've not once had to use the wipers to clear my view for any reason at all.

 

I appreciate some will prefer the way G1 works, and I get that as I said it's a fantastic product, however the subtle differences in the way that View/Repel works makes it the better choice for me so far. I'd highly recommend it and providing it offers decent durability I wont be looking back.

 

 

Tune in for the next exciting installment... I'll have more pictures.

[ilogikal1]

I was planning on refurbishing the wheels before I coated them, however certain developments and a distinct lack of patience meant that I used it this time. I've done all four wheels, the rear calipers and the headlights with GTechniq C5 (Iwould have done the front calipers too, but I had the tiniest bit of Dodo Juice Infinity so decided to finish that off on the calipers... but then put the bottle somewhere where I didn;t look when it came to the rears, so I opted for C5 on those instead. And then I found the Infinity. And now I have an even tinier amount of Infinity left. Nuts).

 

Prep for the wheels consisted of removal, wash, decontamination, clay, IPA wipedown and then seal. For anyone who hasn't used it before, C5 is a bit of a sod to apply as you can't see it when you're wiping it on so you have to work methodically and just hope that you get coverage. GTechniq claim;

15ml is sufficient for rims up to 17". Select 30ml for larger sizes

 

Naturally, having a set of 18 inch RAYS to coat, front and back, I opted for 15ml. It was plenty, for the record.

 

Application of C5 is really easy, wet a "lint free cotton applicator pad" (or a makeup pad if you don't want to pay a stupid price for them from a detailing supplies retailer...) with an amount of product (1-2 drops is plenty!), spread over the surface and then buff any residue/streaks away after a few minutes - a few minutes being plenty of time to do either the face or the barrel of the wheel first, by the way. I did two coats on each wheel, applied in straight lines one way then straight lines criss-crossed in an opposing direction (ie. up & down then left & right) to ensure coverage. Buffing was remarkably easy and I had no trouble with streaks - for the record when you're buffing what you're really doing is just spreading it further across the surface so if you're worried about coverage you've got three goes per layer to get everywhere. The wheels were then left to cure for at least 10-15 minutes (although the rears were left over night, because I was knackered by that point!) before being bolted back onto the car. You should allow at least 12 hours to cure fully before getting wet. Which I did.

 

The thing I love about C5 is the instant gloss that it adds. There's a noticeable increase in the gloss level as soon as it's wiped on that you get with a wet surface, but that just doesn't disappear when you buff the residue. Also, for the record, I have yet to suffer any f**king spotting on the barrels that I got with SlickRims!

 

I also treated the tyres to a coat of Gyeon Tire (sic) which was force cured with a heat gun. And then I got all wet.

 

 

 

 

The tyres bead too;

 

 

[ilogikal1]

More to follow later...

[Stutopia]

Tyre beads are glorious. Nice write up too, as usual.

 

I trust the Gyeon people continue to pay well

[ilogikal1]

Tyre beads are glorious. Nice write up too, as usual.

 

I trust the Gyeon people continue to pay well

 

I'll let you know when the cheque clears after the Mohs+ write up.

[ilogikal1]

... which brings me nicely onto...

 

 

One shiny arse.

 

 

And the doors aren't too shabby either.

 

Prep consisted of foam, wash, decontamination, de-tar, clay, 2 stage polish, IPA wipedown and then sealed with Gyeon Q² Mohs. Not Mohs+. Because + means Phobic, Phobic is certified detailers only. Which I'm neither. Just a fanboy...

 

So, Mohs comes in a fancy looking triangular box that contains an applicator "set" (the aforementioned foam block and 4 suede cloths), 100ml bottle of Cure (with spray head), a bottle of Mohs of your chosen size, a pipette and a disposable respirator (think surgical masks that you've seen people wearing in medical dramas).

The bottle of Mohs comes in three sizes; 30ml (for small cars) 50ml (for large cars) and 100ml (for a fleet of cars presumably). I decided that the Z was a small car. I decided this because I didn't use 30ml of Prime on a SEAT Leon. The Leon doesn't look that much smaller than the Z so I took a punt. I turned out to be right. As usual. I have plenty of Mohs left over that I could do another car, that was after doing three coats on the Z.

 

Application is much the same as Prime, the major difference being the amount of solvents in Mohs is much higher than Prime so either use the respirator or make sure you have bloody good ventilation. I used a different, more heavy-weight, reusable respirator whilst doing the Z, except for one section which I remembered I hadn't done a second coat of until I'd taken it off. Being the section closest to the open garage door I figured it'd be alright to do the centre section of the rear bumper without it. It was, I didn't die, my lungs didn't melt, my throat didn't fall out. I did have a stonking headache for the rest of the day though, so I'd recommend using the respirator.

Other than that, it's a relatively simple job of wet the applicator - for this you're supposed to use the pipette which replaces the lid of the bottle whilst you're using it, however my bottle of Mohs had a dispenser built in (I don't know if this is a Mohs thing rather than a Prime thing or if Gyeon have replaced their bottles, but Repel was the same as my bottle of Mohs, as such the pipette is unusable even if you wanted to) but the built in dispenser basically means that the liquid can only drip out of the bottle rather than pour out so it's effectively got a built in pipette of sorts - spread the product over the surface and buff within 2-5 minutes. Spreading is simply a case of wiping a line over a section - similar to C5, I went left to right then top to bottom. You're looking at doing one panel at a time before buffing, buffing is easy to get a streak-free finish as you're essentially just spreading the product further but similar to Repel it's best to change the buffing cloth regularly as it becomes saturated with product it'll just smear rather than buff. I found it best to buff the panel, turn/refold the cloth over and give an immediate secondary wipe down and then replace the cloth after you've used both sides of the cloth.

I believe the instructions recommend 2 coats, so I did three. You're instructed to leave a minimum of 1 hour between coats, so it's remarkably easy to get a car coated in a single day with multiple layers. You then need to allow 24 hours in the dry and out of direct sunlight (like a garage, for example) to cure sufficiently. You should then add a layer or several of Cure to prevent water-spotting whilst the coating fully cures (which can take 14 days). I added one coat of Cure because I was too lazy to do any more than that, frankly. Plus I'm not a huge fan of using Cure neat. Yep, that's right, a Gyeon product I'm not a fan of! Cure is fine if it's diluted 50:50 but it can be tricky to get a streak free finish using it neat. That said, with good lighting and a methodical enough approach it's perfectly possible.

 

As coatings are similar to paint and need time to cure ("gas out" as it were), it's advisable not to use any detergents on a coating during the first week but the longer you can keep it clean and dry the better - so if you're going away for a couple of weeks and the leaving the car in the garage, do it before you go and it'll be fully cured by time you're back!

 

To be quite honest, I found this an absolute piece of **** to apply, the only thing you need to worry about is making sure the paint is perfect before coating (the difficult bit) and making sure you buff properly to remove. Follow these these two simple rules and you're golden. So with that said, I did **** up one small part where I didn't buff around the door handle properly. Given more time I would have gone back and machine polished the area and started again from scratch, sadly time was against me at this point so I'm just going to have to live with it until I get a chance to break out the polisher again.

 

Despite that; shiny, shiny goodness!

 

[ilogikal1]

And now, a s**t load of photos. Your interwebs have been warned...

 

Did I mention the shiny, shiny reflections at all?

 

 

'Cause the Z's got that. Again.

 

 

 

 

 

I love it when my arches are still clean too.

 

 

[ilogikal1]

Then some beads happened. Sadly, Stu, these are fake beads. And really these are fake beads on Cure rather than Mohs, but beads happened anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ilogikal1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ilogikal1]