So - here's a photo of Blimey after his Epic makeover - this is with one coat of Epic, cured a few days, then a coat of Hydro (applied dry) over that. The trim is two treatments of Ice. Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss on the tires. Always hard for me to get good photos of the Cool Blue metallic - it's much "wetter" looking than shows here...

Oh yeah, and Blimey's new custom painted bumper grille...

 

^^ good job!

 

i Hydro'ed my other set of Epic'ed wheels this afternoon.... i used Slick
to remove brake dust and then used a cotton towel to apply and buff
Hydro onto the wheel. this is the way it should be done, not Hydro
alone.

looks great and feels VEERRY slick.

 

looks sweet! where'd you get the custom grille? I'm hoping to get on another coat of Epic and then try out the old Hydro.

 

okay, so it looks like I might have been sloppy and not realized it, but now I'm seeing some white streaks on my black trim. these didn't show up until several days after I'd done the Epic, but I'm assuming that's what it has to be. It is also showing up on the black bumper protector that goes right under the hatch.

how do i remove these white streaks? Will Nero make it go away or do I need something stronger?

help!

 

^^ yah, probably Epic over app on your black trims. i thought Heather
mentioned to us to apply Nero on the rubber/trim pieces BEFORE applying
Epic so that if you do get it on, you can wipe them off. hehe (ok,
just being an ****. )

i would use some cleaner first... like PaintPrep or alcohol to
remove the Epic on the trim, then apply Nero over it.

should be fine.

 

I've had great success using the Wizard to remove the white nasties.

 

^^ there's salesman #2 for DP.

 

Don't I wish that I had just a small piece of DP. Heather & Nick sure have a great business. Still if their products were crap it wouldn't matter how nice they were.
So I tout the Wizard, Epic, Nero, Slick etc because it works well for me (and others), Heather & Nick are really great people, DP is a local business and because DP supports our Mini club's activities (MITM).

 

Made it

 

yeah, it's strange, because I did Nero the trim on one side before applying the wax, and I think it was this side that is showing marks. but i didn't remember seeing any epic on the trim when I was cleaning. again, though, i was probably just being sloppy.

i wonder if you get epic on the trim, don't see it, then apply nero, does that seal the epic and hence show the white marks? hmmm

anyway, I'll try some alcohol (since i don't have any paint prep) or maybe break down and buy some wizard.

thanks for the quick reply.

 

you are lucky being able to drop in on DP's retail store when you want... or maybe that's not so lucky

 

wow... i'm impressed. i don't have the patience I don't think. you should market this as a product

 

Thanks for the compliment. Unfortunately, if I did them to sell, I'd have to charge an insane amount of money if I made them the way I made this one...

 

I knew I should have stayed away from this thread...I really want hydro, epic, nero and some m80. Oh yeah, and the weather to actually be able to use it. I have a friend who details professionally, I wonder if he has some M80 I can try.

 

Yeah - I'm into DP for several hundred bucks already - and I just ordered a quart of M80 a couple of days ago after listening to Richard for a couple of months and then just watching the DVD this week...

But the test spot I did on our beat up 6 year old minivan looks FANTASTIC thanks to what I've learned from Richard, Heather, Ken and others...

 

I understand. I wish I could get the weather. We have been warm here...but its 40's to low 50s. ...i need it alittle warmer for wax.

 

okay, i got some rubbing alcohol at the drug store and applied with a Q-tip since most of the white marks were on the trim very near the paint... then i used a toothbrush angled slightly so as not to brush the paint. worked pretty well, but took some time.

i don't think i could have used peanut butter because it wouldn't have been easy to get that close to the paint with peanut butter.

btw, i did hit the paint once or twice with the alcohol... is that okay? does that just mean i took the wax off?

the area where i've noticed some other white marks that is hard to get to is that black plastic trim that goes around the roof... there's a little channel there, presumably that acts like a rain gutter... some epic got on that when i was doing the edges of the roof and it is harder to get out. ugh.

looks like next wax I will definitely do the taping again. it's hard to get right to the edge of the roof or near the trim without getting wax on.

anyone ever apply wax in those areas with a Q-tip?

anyway, at least it seemed to come off with the alcohol. will see tomorrow if the marks are gone for good, but so far they look like they are.

 

a slight touch of alcohol will probably not remove the Epic completely but it will
probably be out of place...meaning it's like a smear left on there. I would
recoat that area.

When i apply wax near the edges of the trims i put a dot of wax
near the very tip of the applicator pad. this way you have a more accurate
control over the applicator. i don't like taping unless im going to be
polishing so i would just do the dressing first (ie: Nero), apply Epic, remove
any excess, then dress again.

i have applied wax with a Q-Tip before (around emblems) but not
sure if you want to apply the entire side of the car using a tiny
Q-Tip. it'll take forever!

 

I hate to tape. I hate taping more than tooth decay. I'd sooner remove my trim, wax and then put it back on. I hate taping.
So last time I waxed I didn't worry about sling, or cracks or trim - I just went at it with the PCDA. Then I spent about an hour cleaning the cracks and splatters. I also used the Wizard before waxing and then again after. Still there were some white nasties here and there, but a little Wizard on a toothbrush and they were history.
I know it is probably more efficient to tape off the trim - it would probably save me 30 minutes. I don't care, I'm not taping.
Besides that painters tape is expensive - there that's my excuse.
We all need to gang-up on Heather's chemists and get them to figure out this white stuff, 'cause I'm not taping.
And I'm sure as hell not using a damn Q-Tip to wax my car either. Jeeze, get real.

 

To make taping more fun, I've thought about "taping relays". You know, teams racing on a track--but instead taping cars. Ok that sounds silly, but on a recent detail where the owner wanted to work side by side, and he being a friend of mine and very competitive, I challenged him. I knew he could beat me in Autocrossing, but I bet him that I could beat him on taping his own car.

In the time it took him to tape his front head light surrounds, I did the front, the sides, and rear tail light.

Taping is quite easy and fast IF you know how to do it. It took me a little while to figure out the best techniques. And yes, tape isn't cheap. at $3 a roll, I can probably tape 3 or 4 MINI's with one roll, or 2 large cars with one. I often don't tape my own car when I work, and that's why you'll often see all kinds of residue in the cracks that couldn't be reached with any tools. LOL. Yeah my MINI isn't the best example of my work.

Removing the trim, and breaking off the tabs will cost you more to replace than a roll of tape though.

 

When I Epic'd Blimey last week, I put a relatively heavy coat of Ice on the trim first, then wiped it down - but it still looked "wet" with Ice. Then I applied Epic (wiping off of the trim when I noticed that I got any on there), let the Epic dry, and buffed it off. Then I applied another coat of Ice to the trim and wiped it down again. Narry a sign of white on any of my trim. Maybe a little paint has Epic+Ice on it, but I don't consider that a problem...

Not the approach you want to take if you want really flat black trim - but if you don't mind a little wet look for the first several days, the Ice is nice.

 

I'd be first in line if you released a taping DVD with those techniques
I hate taping too. It just takes so long. All the curved arches mean I have to rip the tape off in 2-3" Lengths to follow the curve. We need to think of a better solution!

 

i take a long 2.5ft blue and just tape up the arches.
you can sort of fold the flapping end so that it is easier to contour to
the curve.

 

I must be a freak... I find taping relaxing.