va_rider
Wizard
So, I had to run to Advance Auto Parts this morning, to get a new serpentine belt for the (soon to be) wife's 96 Taurus... While I was there, I was walking around (Because employees at Advance are as rare as Cavemen in Full leathers riding Harleys[Thanks Geico]) and I stumbled into the cleaning section...
Lately, the bike's finish has been looking a bit dull... to be expected I suppose, as the bike is a 01 with over 30k on the clock, and has lived outside for the past 2 years (building a shed soon... renting sucks.) So, the paint was starting to get a bit hazy, so I've been thinking a lot lately about getting a paint job done.... But.. as an effort to see what I could do for now, I decided to pick up some waxes and see if I could bring it back to life.
Here's what I got.
Meguiar's Colorx Wax/Polish/Cleaner
and
Meguiar's Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax
Also, a few applicator pads, and some microfiber towels.
So... to start things off... I wanted to see just how good this stuff was. Since I moved to Boone in July of 2007, my 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 has gotten about... 200 miles on it. So, it's been sitting ignored in the parking lot for the last 2 years pretty much.
I started off with a section of the Ram's hood. The hood was cloudy, with all sorts of pollen/sap/nastiness all over it. So, to see how good the ColorX was, I marked off half of the hood and started rubbing the wax in. No washing. Didn't even wipe the pollen off. I was going to give it a true workout. So, as I applied the ColorX, the applicator pad started to turn black... well.. that's cool... the wax was turning almost brown as I was wiping it around on the hood.... I kept going, in small circles in the shade until the driver's side of the hood was all covered. As I wiped, the wax would haze in some areas, and you could see spots where it wasn't penetrating the "funk" in other areas... after a few more minutes of small circles, the spots that weren't getting penetrated blended into everything else, and the half of the hood took on a good hazy look over the entire surface. So, I allowed the product to dry over the surface as the instructions called for, and then began to wipe it off with a brand new, clean microfiber towel. In a word, the difference was amazing. The paint on the truck was revealing it's inner metal-flake and was sparkling in the sun. It truly looked like it did when I first bought the truck. All of the dirt/grime/pollen came off, and the paint underneath shined like it was just sprayed on. I finished wiping off the rest of the wax, and went for another coat. The paint was already looking great, but I figured, What could it hurt? So.. another coat goes on. Once again, the wax and applicator started turning black/brown. Small circles all over, let it haze... wiped it off... and amazingly, it looked even better. **Interesting note** Since it is a cleaner/polish I knew it had a bit of polishing compound in it, so expected a little of the material of the top level of clearcoat to come off each application... Nothing extreme, maybe just the top 1/1000" or so... what I didn't expect, was that as you applied, the wax kind of separated. The waxy part of the formula stuck to the pain, while tiny little beads of moisture formed on top... in a way, I kind of associated this with almost wet-sanding, as far as the appearance of what was happening.
So, after 2 applications of the ColorX, the paint was looking better than new. It's a Forest Green paint job, and the paint was amazingly dark, showing it's metal flake well, and shining like a new penny. I would have been absolutely happy to leave it just as it was, but since I got the Carnauba wax, I had to go ahead and apply that as well.
So, following the directions on the Carnauba wax, I applied a small amount of wax to a fresh, new applicator and did some more small circles.. I noticed that the applicator was sliding across the surface a lot more smoothly than the first coat or second coat of the ColorX. Those 2 coats took the roughness out, and really prepped the area for a good wax. So, I spread the Carnauba over the 1/2 of the hood and allowed it to haze up and dry as the directions specified. I began wiping the wax off, and as the sun was cresting over the treeline out here, the sun reflected off of the paint and was blinding. I could see the reflection of the trees in brilliant color reflection as if I were looking into a mirror. After wiping the whole surface of the waxed are off.... my jaw dropped, and I stood there in awe for a good 5 minutes... I can't describe how great the finish was looking now, and pictures could never do it justice, so I didn't bother with that either.
After finishing the truck (ended up with 2 coats of ColorX and 2 coats of Carnauba) I started on the bike. After the 2 applications of ColorX, the paint on the bike had gone to a darker, more brilliant blue by about 2 shades and 4 levels of brightness. Followed up the ColorX with the Carnauba wax again, and the results are simply stunning.... I think I might be putting off the new paint job for a good little while, as the combination of the 2 waxes had restored the dull paint to something that truly looks amazing.
Just thought I'd share, feel free to ask questions, or provide comments / share your cleaning products / methods.
Oh.. and, the waxing process works OUTSTANDING on the wheels as well. People always talk about the "depth" of paint jobs, and how a good finish looks... on the bike, it was outstanding as well, but for some reason, the wheels were truly amazing... To explain the depth a bit, when you look at the surface of the wheels, it looks as if there is a piece of perfectly clean glass over the entire surface of the wheels, and the actual paint on the wheels is 3" under the "glass".... truly amazing.
Lately, the bike's finish has been looking a bit dull... to be expected I suppose, as the bike is a 01 with over 30k on the clock, and has lived outside for the past 2 years (building a shed soon... renting sucks.) So, the paint was starting to get a bit hazy, so I've been thinking a lot lately about getting a paint job done.... But.. as an effort to see what I could do for now, I decided to pick up some waxes and see if I could bring it back to life.
Here's what I got.
Meguiar's Colorx Wax/Polish/Cleaner
and
Meguiar's Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax
Also, a few applicator pads, and some microfiber towels.
So... to start things off... I wanted to see just how good this stuff was. Since I moved to Boone in July of 2007, my 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 has gotten about... 200 miles on it. So, it's been sitting ignored in the parking lot for the last 2 years pretty much.
I started off with a section of the Ram's hood. The hood was cloudy, with all sorts of pollen/sap/nastiness all over it. So, to see how good the ColorX was, I marked off half of the hood and started rubbing the wax in. No washing. Didn't even wipe the pollen off. I was going to give it a true workout. So, as I applied the ColorX, the applicator pad started to turn black... well.. that's cool... the wax was turning almost brown as I was wiping it around on the hood.... I kept going, in small circles in the shade until the driver's side of the hood was all covered. As I wiped, the wax would haze in some areas, and you could see spots where it wasn't penetrating the "funk" in other areas... after a few more minutes of small circles, the spots that weren't getting penetrated blended into everything else, and the half of the hood took on a good hazy look over the entire surface. So, I allowed the product to dry over the surface as the instructions called for, and then began to wipe it off with a brand new, clean microfiber towel. In a word, the difference was amazing. The paint on the truck was revealing it's inner metal-flake and was sparkling in the sun. It truly looked like it did when I first bought the truck. All of the dirt/grime/pollen came off, and the paint underneath shined like it was just sprayed on. I finished wiping off the rest of the wax, and went for another coat. The paint was already looking great, but I figured, What could it hurt? So.. another coat goes on. Once again, the wax and applicator started turning black/brown. Small circles all over, let it haze... wiped it off... and amazingly, it looked even better. **Interesting note** Since it is a cleaner/polish I knew it had a bit of polishing compound in it, so expected a little of the material of the top level of clearcoat to come off each application... Nothing extreme, maybe just the top 1/1000" or so... what I didn't expect, was that as you applied, the wax kind of separated. The waxy part of the formula stuck to the pain, while tiny little beads of moisture formed on top... in a way, I kind of associated this with almost wet-sanding, as far as the appearance of what was happening.
So, after 2 applications of the ColorX, the paint was looking better than new. It's a Forest Green paint job, and the paint was amazingly dark, showing it's metal flake well, and shining like a new penny. I would have been absolutely happy to leave it just as it was, but since I got the Carnauba wax, I had to go ahead and apply that as well.
So, following the directions on the Carnauba wax, I applied a small amount of wax to a fresh, new applicator and did some more small circles.. I noticed that the applicator was sliding across the surface a lot more smoothly than the first coat or second coat of the ColorX. Those 2 coats took the roughness out, and really prepped the area for a good wax. So, I spread the Carnauba over the 1/2 of the hood and allowed it to haze up and dry as the directions specified. I began wiping the wax off, and as the sun was cresting over the treeline out here, the sun reflected off of the paint and was blinding. I could see the reflection of the trees in brilliant color reflection as if I were looking into a mirror. After wiping the whole surface of the waxed are off.... my jaw dropped, and I stood there in awe for a good 5 minutes... I can't describe how great the finish was looking now, and pictures could never do it justice, so I didn't bother with that either.
After finishing the truck (ended up with 2 coats of ColorX and 2 coats of Carnauba) I started on the bike. After the 2 applications of ColorX, the paint on the bike had gone to a darker, more brilliant blue by about 2 shades and 4 levels of brightness. Followed up the ColorX with the Carnauba wax again, and the results are simply stunning.... I think I might be putting off the new paint job for a good little while, as the combination of the 2 waxes had restored the dull paint to something that truly looks amazing.
Just thought I'd share, feel free to ask questions, or provide comments / share your cleaning products / methods.
Oh.. and, the waxing process works OUTSTANDING on the wheels as well. People always talk about the "depth" of paint jobs, and how a good finish looks... on the bike, it was outstanding as well, but for some reason, the wheels were truly amazing... To explain the depth a bit, when you look at the surface of the wheels, it looks as if there is a piece of perfectly clean glass over the entire surface of the wheels, and the actual paint on the wheels is 3" under the "glass".... truly amazing.
