Heat gun or krylon fusion paint

 

Anybody have any before/after shots after using Penetrol?

 

 

My car was used as a demonstration car for a Renew Black (sold by Outmotoring) at the Dragon 3 yrs. ago. My trim was dull and slightly discolored from living the first 10 years of its life in Key Largo, Fl. A single application of Renew made it look new. AND IT LASTED FOR 2 YEARS, with only normal washing. I reapplied it a year ago after first cleaning the trim with a 30% mixture of Sudsy Ammonia (ammonia with a little detergent in it available at a grocery store) Renew works as advertised.

 

Richard Lin used to be a regular contributor to the Detailing 101 section. He invented Black Wow which I've been using for 6 or 8 years. My trim gets treated about once a year and still looks like it's supposed to. Check out his web site.
As for armorall (not capitalized out of disrespect): Do any of you remember that TV commercial they had showing the guy's car getting a complete detailing with that product and after he drove it away a whole crew of guys in coveralls rushed out to clean all the smutz off the driveway? All it does is leave a oily feeling slick scum over everything.

 

I detail cars and I use lacquer thinner to strip everything off the black trim of cars including my MINI. After it dries I wipe it down with Gyeon Prep and apply a ceramic coating call Gyeon Trim. You can search Google and find it and it’s available on Amazon.

Gyeon trim will last for years not weeks or months and will repel water and even bird drippings. You do not want to apply ANYTHING silicone based as it will not last.

As a cheap alternative you can follow the same process as above but coat you trim with Penetrol. Penetrol is oil based and available at Home Depot or Lowe’s in the paint Department. It is a liquid clear paint smoothing chemical that you use straight. You dab a little on a cloth that you will toss out when done and just wipe it on your trim and let it dry.

Both of the products above will not attract dust and pollen and will be completely dry. You will not have to re apply after the rain or after 10 or 20 car washes. Penetrol is an old fix that has been used by Jeep guys for years and it works. Just think of all the black plastic trim those things have and how hard they would be to keep clean after a day of mudding.

 

I saw your car at MOTD and for a car pushing 13 years old, WOW. Looked fantastic.

 

What do you have relative to a paint protection system? I did not get close but the finish looked like glass.

 

I use Nufinish the once a year car wax from Wal-mart.

I do not use wax or sealants on cars any longer as they don’t last very long. Wax only last 3-4 weeks when storing in a garage and sealants may last 4-6 months. I only use carbon / ceramic coatings on all the cars I detail at they last an entire year even sitting out side only getting washed once every 2 weeks. I use Gyeon Syncro on my car but have also used Kamikaze ISM.

Ceramic/ glass coatings have come a long way over the past few years and offering much better UV and bird poop protection over all wax and sealants. Also if you get a coating on black trim it does not turn white and become a PITA to remove.

I my details start at $400 (outside only) and include wash, decontamination of old wax, sealants and crud. Paint correction as needed, polish to deep shine, peeping of paint for coating and a overnight stay in my very bright UV lit garage to cure the coatings. They need to cure for 12 hours but will continue to cure for a week. After 10 days or two weeks you can wash the car and everything comes right off with very little soap. I also toss in RainX all windows and Gyeon trim on all trim outside. All the glass is perfectly cleaned inside and out. Lager cars, SUV’s and trucks start at $500 which is a steal compared to what detail charge for coatings. I have tried / tested all of them CQuarts, GTechnic, R1 and on and on and the best quality product that always provides great results is the Gyeon line. The Kamikaze line which is only available in the USA from a shop in Ohio is also exceptional but expensive and I use it very sparingly on my own cars.

The best part of my detailing is it’s my hobby so I am not in any rush to get a clients car done so I can get the next one in. Clients drop cars on a Friday and pick it up Sunday afternoon. They know I don’t rush because it a passion and very relaxing hobby for me. I put on my Bluetooth heads phones and get to work. I do have a real Mon.- Fri. desk job which I am a virtual employee working from home everyday for a very large corporation that pays all the bills.

I also coat rims for $200 a set. Clean, strip, polish, prep and 2 layers of Gyeon Rim on each wheel. Brake dust does NOT stick and you will not need to use Sonex Rim cleaner or any wheel cleaner at all. I just use soap & water with a wheel brush they look new every time. It saves money and you don’t have to smell nasty wheel cleaner.

 

Anybody up around Phili, Dave's car is absolutely fantastic looking. I am a tooth brush freak and my car looks pretty good but cannot hold a candle to the Mistress.

 

Dave. O, any chance you have a doppelgänger in Portland Oregon? $400 seems like a good deal. I haven't found anyone to do a proper job .

 

Sorry, but I don’t.

 

I have been using on the black fender trim and it's like night and day! When I first got the vehicle the trim was that dark grayish color. Now it looks like it just rolled off the assembly line. The key to using it is to follow the instructions. Wipe the stuff on there. Let it dry. (Very important) then bask in the new shininess. For whatever the reason, the product is getting harder and harder to find. However, I highly recommend it.

 

Dave o.'s detailing is next to none. An absolutely exceptional job. Well, worth the trip to Pa. Dave took some pic's. I hope he can post them...

 

Your car....

 

If the plastic has white stains could be wax or hard water deposit from washing. I have used vinegar to remove both, as it is acidic. It takes some scrubbing but is environmentally friendly. Just leave enough in the bottle to make tonight's salad dressing.

 

Thanks Dave !!!!

 

Water will remove wax from plastic trim you just have to use a pressure washer with a fan tip. Then lightly wipe all the trim with acetone to remove all silicone dressings. Once the trim is clean you can coat it with a ceramic coating and it will last for years without any discoloration or spotting.

You don’t want to use silicone based products or black tinted products to protect trim as they all fail and will wash away.

 

The best result until now has been deep cleaning with Comet powder and a soft brush with 3 coats of black shoe shine. They repel water nicely and stay black without getting shiny. You suggest lacquer thinner in a previous reply. This can seriously damage the paint.

Also, NuFinish is a good product. Mequiar's Ultimate is expensive but by far a lot better for shine and reflection and what I use for many years.

 

Well it looks like you and I have different opinions on what expensive is and what provides the best protection. All I know is my detail customers are very happy and recommend me all the time and I do not advertise at all. My work and results are as they say the proof is in the pudding.

Yes, I do recommend lacquer thinner to clean the black plastic parts as it will remove all wax and Silicone based products from the trim. You don’t want those products when you apply ceramic coating. You will not damage the paint at all unless you are sloppy and try and clean the trim with a mop and wipe it all over the paint at the same time.

When using proper towel and paying attention to what you are doing when cleaning the trim with lacquer thinner you will not have any issues at all.

 

Just my two cents.

I have been tinkering around with taking things apart and cleaning things for more than 50 years. Perhaps that is why I have no problem cleaning certain things with lacquer thinner. There are certain types of plastic and paint that one drop will etch while most car finishes do not fall into that list.

I have also seen the Mistress, DaveO's other woman, and IMO if there was something that could impact the impeccable finish on his car either it is not in his garage or he understands the proper use of it.

 

What about the tight gaps between the body and fender trim? You put masking tape all over the paint line?

I am OK for now the way I cleaned them and they stay nice but who knows next year after winter.

As per another tread, you mentioned ceramic coating is good for about a year before needing a refresh. This is very expensive and I am wondering if it justify the investment for a daily driver.

 

Yes, I have used tape and sometimes a thin plastic card between the black arch and the paint. For full details I take the side mirrors, side scuttles, wheel arches and the belt line trim off the car and clean and protect them off the car. Yes, I am OCD about trim and paint and charge accordingly for my full service details. I also have lots of special MINI clips on hand because the break easy.

Ceramic coating last much longer than a year but I always say a year for people that park outside under trees and hardly ever wash their cars.

The cost is not much at all considering you are coating the entire car and just using a little for the trim pieces. Because of the amount of cars I do I always have different ceramic coatings available to use.

I understand you point of a single car daily driver where it could be less cost effective.

 

Interesting.............. and you remove all the trim. I am impressed.

Can you share how you clean glass to remove water spots and wiper gripping?

 

So… is this effect exclusive to peanut oil? Would any old vegetable oil do the job? Or is there something special about peanuts? hmmmm.