Concours Prep

[E200K]

With various Concours coming up, I thought we could all learn from an expert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOJqntJjn9I&feature=channel

 

[BenzBoy]

I'm glad you put the
s
at the end of your message. If it were that easy we could all be Concours winners. In preparation for next weekend I spent 4 hours today cleaning my plenum chamber air intake grilles and cleaning the windscreen wiper arms.
Tomorrow the car goes for its underbody clean which is the only part I don't do myself as I don't have a hoist. Wednesday I will clay the paint, and then apply Swissvax Concorso. Friday I'll wash the leather with Swissvax Parchment Milk made especially for my car as it is a perfect match to the leather. Sarturday I will detail the engine bay (hardly needs it) with a couple of bottle of Coca Cola and Swissvax Motor Shine and all that leaves is a quick Nano Wash on Sunday morning before I front the judges.
Over the past weeks I have already polished any scratches on the chrome door sills, shampooed the carpets and oiled the interior with Leatherique in preperation for the Parchement wash. Oh, the rubber seals have all been fed with Seal Feed and the tyres will get a quick rub down with Pneu once the car is in position. And a new bonnet mat was installed. It even came with the car's body number on the back to ensure it was a perfect fit. Hmmm -it looked simple but still took the best part of an afternoon.
Despite all of that I'll still be struggling - the competition is strong.
So yes, if only it were as easy as pouring polish and giving it a quick wipe...
Now I must go and polish my jack and toolset.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[BenzBoy]

I guess it is possibly bad manners to reply to one's own post but I do have some more to add. Today I looked at, touched and admired a car polished with Swissvax Divine. Now I have known this car for some 9 years - a chrome yellow Lexus but never have I seen it look so spectacular and feel so wonderful!!! It took the onwer 4 days to buff and apply the Swissvax Divine and it was done at Easter time, some months ago. After a quick wash the shine is brilliant but more to the point is the suberb texture which is soft to the touch and almost good enough to lick.....(no I don't have any weird fetishes...well none you don't already know about).
I know the ordinary Swissvax is excellent - I was not prepared for how spectacular is the Divine. I can see that it IS worth the money!!
Regards,
Benz-Boy
Edit; $3495 for 200ml. Not within my range this week...

 

[E200K]

Three and a half grand for a wax? I hope my wife doesn't read this. She thinks I'm nuts spending $100.

It's a lot of money but if that's your passion then who am I to judge. For the price of one Rolex wrist-watch you could buy a hundred similar looking watches that do a similar job but to the watch enthusiast the money isn't important, it's all about the feeling they get from owning that Rolex. Personally I don't understand it. My cheap mobile phone tells me the time and my $100 wax does the job for me. But then I'm not a watch enthusiast or a wax collector, so I don't expect to be able to understand.

 

[Styria]

You know, E200K, a couple of years ago they had a talk back on one of the Radio stations, (it was on watches, expensive, and copies thereof) and naturally Rolex was a prime target of the phone-in. Quite a few of the callers had both the genuine, as well as a reproduction item, and guess what ? Most of the time, the copies gave better service.

Now, I am not suggesting that the same applies to this particular wax but, really, one should be no older than thirty five in order to amortize the cost of the "Divine" (?) wax. It's just too much for a little guy like myself and, let me tell you, your wife is a sensible lady - within reason, if you know what I mean. Regards Styria

Just as an addendum. Say, you spent 200 grand on a car, whether old or new, as long as the paintwork was in exceptional condition, it'd be reasonable to fork out the three and a half grand. But when you're dealing with an old banger D) like Gleaming Beauty, the odds just aren't quite the same.

 

[BenzBoy]

Talk back radio is hardly a sound place to discern the workings of a watch. Not even a good Incabloc movement would survive the moronic shock jocks of talk-back!!!
Anyway, the whole point of what I said about Divine seems to have escaped the audience. That is, that it was so good I was surprised. Perhaps you need to see some in action? I was sceptical and now I am not. No, too much money for me but for those who can then why not?
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[Styria]

Talk back radio is hardly a sound place to discern the workings of a watch. Not even a good Incabloc movement would survive the moronic shock jocks of talk-back!!!
Anyway, the whole point of what I said about Divine seems to have escaped the audience. That is, that it was so good I was surprised. Perhaps you need to see some in action? I was sceptical and now I am not. No, too much money for me but for those who can then why not?
Regards,
Benz-Boy

Yep, I really would like to try something like that on just a 'little corner' of Gleaming Beauty. I remember when abl567 brought his 6.3 along to one of the shows, and the paintwork on his car, even allowing for the fact it was at least ten years, of not more, old fairly glistened and I do recall that he did use some fairly expensive wax.

Talk-Back ? I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, and there is a lot of 'garble' going on - nevertheless, there are occasions when the information forthcoming can be useful and of general interest - like TV, you pick your programmes and stations. Without TV, I would never have heard of Helmut Lotti (Belgian singer), nor would I have been able to 'ogle'' at the bodies of the female contestants in Dancing with the Stars - I enjoyed that. Regards Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

Yep, I really would like to try something like that on just a 'little corner' of Gleaming Beauty. I remember when abl567 brought his 6.3 along to one of the shows, and the paintwork on his car, even allowing for the fact it was at least ten years, of not more, old fairly glistened and I do recall that he did use some fairly expensive wax.

Talk-Back ? I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, and there is a lot of 'garble' going on - nevertheless, there are occasions when the information forthcoming can be useful and of general interest - like TV, you pick your programmes and stations. Without TV, I would never have heard of Helmut Lotti (Belgian singer), nor would I have been able to 'ogle'' at the bodies of the female contestants in Dancing with the Stars - I enjoyed that. Regards Styria

Ah yes; Ant uses Swissvax. Not sure which level.
TV? Don't have it. I will not allow it into my house lest it corrupts Miss Olga's education.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[E200K]

Talk back radio is hardly a sound place to discern the workings of a watch. Not even a good Incabloc movement would survive the moronic shock jocks of talk-back!!!
Anyway, the whole point of what I said about Divine seems to have escaped the audience. That is, that it was so good I was surprised. Perhaps you need to see some in action? I was sceptical and now I am not. No, too much money for me but for those who can then why not?
Regards,
Benz-Boy

Too much money for me also but I can certainly understand why someone would buy it. If that's what gives them pleasure then why not.

I'm not sure I could understand why someone would fork out that kind of cash to wax their scratched up Ford Telstar but as it's a Lexus I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[E200K]

Ah yes; Ant uses Swissvax. Not sure which level.
TV? Don't have it. I will not allow it into my house lest it corrupts Miss Olga's education.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

Do you seriously not have a TV? I truthfully cannot consider life without a television. In fact I’m shivering just at the thought of it.

 

[John S]

It was interesting that the post on U Tube said to put the wax on using a circular motion. Everything that I have seen, from what seem to be 'experts' in the field, advise using one direction only - and a Coupe that looks magnificent was polished this way using Reapo #1 polish!!!
I think it comes down to meticulous preparation and dedication to get the best finish.

 

[BenzBoy]

Do you seriously not have a TV? I truthfully cannot consider life without a television. In fact I’m shivering just at the thought of it.

I gave it away 9 years ago and have never looked back. I also wind my 75 year old watch by hand as well as the clocks in the house. I use a record player and consider jazz to be the work of the devil...
The house, on the other hand, is fully automated.
TV? Inane chatter from presenters who make monkeys look smart.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

 

[E200K]

It was interesting that the post on U Tube said to put the wax on using a circular motion. Everything that I have seen, from what seem to be 'experts' in the field, advise using one direction only......

I'm not so sure, John. Small circular motions seem to be the preferred way to go.

 

[OzBenzHead]

Do you seriously not have a TV? [...]

I'm with BB here: I left the tv behind with the wife 32 years ago and haven't missed it one bit.

 

[abl567]

Ah yes; Ant uses Swissvax. Not sure which level.
Regards,
Benz-Boy

Onyx was used then, an entry level wax in the range, I will move up the ladder, and price scale, next time. The results speak volumes, as do the observations

 

[E200K]

Ok, who on Topklasse wants to stump up the seven or eight grand required to buy some Zymol Royale? Once someone has it we could then take advantage of the free re-fills and spread it about amongst us (pun intended).

 

[SEL_69L]

We use a paint finish which is specifically for black and dark cars. This product consists of a zirconium dioxide pigment, a very mild clear coat softener, and a hard plastic based paint sealant, much like the fixative in black polymer photocopier powder, except this stuff comes in a black cream. Only about 30 or so drops is sufficient for the whole car. The paint finish is applied drop by drop and buffed in with an ultra soft buffing pad at moderate speed. The softener only works on about the top 5% layer of the clear coat laquer, and as the buff works over it, the pigment is rubbed into any spiderweb scartches that may be present, with the assistance of the softening agent. The sealant also combines with the very top layer of the clear coat laquer, to provide a much harder surface which is more scratch resistant than before. I must say that a car prepared in such a way can still be scratched; it is just noticeably more scratch resistant, and the surface will retain it's sheen much longer, because it is more resistant to paint oxidation, as well as giving the underlying paint a pair of 'sunglasses', to resist ultraviolet attack from the sun, due to the black zirconium dioxide scratch filler. This is the exact same product applied to black Ferraris before delivery to the customer.

I will find some more details on this stuff if anyone is interested, and maybe how to obtain it.

I don't particularly like black cars, because spiderwebbing is more obvious, they are 4 degrees C hotter in summer, therefore aircon is more often required, which consumes about 4kW to run and as a result, consumes more fuel. Black cars are also harder to see at night, especially if they are not polished.

 

[BenzBoy]

We use a paint finish which is specifically for black and dark cars. This product consists of a zirconium dioxide pigment, a very mild clear coat softener, and a hard plastic based paint sealant, much like the fixative in black polymer photocopier powder, except this stuff comes in a black cream. Only about 30 or so drops is sufficient for the whole car. The paint finish is applied drop by drop and buffed in with an ultra soft buffing pad at moderate speed. The softener only works on about the top 5% layer of the clear coat laquer, and as the buff works over it, the pigment is rubbed into any spiderweb scartches that may be present, with the assistance of the softening agent. The sealant also combines with the very top layer of the clear coat laquer, to provide a much harder surface which is more scratch resistant than before. I must say that a car prepared in such a way can still be scratched; it is just noticeably more scratch resistant, and the surface will retain it's sheen much longer, because it is more resistant to paint oxidation, as well as giving the underlying paint a pair of 'sunglasses', to resist ultraviolet attack from the sun, due to the black zirconium dioxide scratch filler. This is the exact same product applied to black Ferraris before delivery to the customer. I will find some more details on this stuff if anyone is interested, and maybe how to obtain it.

Sounds worth finding out about.
Regards,
Benz-Boy
PS; Sorry - I'll pass on the Zymol. I'm happy with Swissvax.

 

[E200K]

Sounds worth finding out about.
Regards,
Benz-Boy
PS; Sorry - I'll pass on the Zymol. I'm happy with Swissvax.

Ah yes, Zymol and Swissvax. Sworn enemies.

I'd also be interested in hearing more about the zirconium dioxide sealant.

 

[Styria]

Ah yes, Zymol and Swissvax. Sworn enemies.

I'd also be interested in hearing more about the zirconium dioxide sealant.

Maybe Woolworths and Coles can take over distributorship, and perhaps even manufacturing rights, and then start a price war ! Let's cut out the middle men. Regards Styria BTW - where do these products come from ? Yankeeland, the 'OLd Dart', Switzerland ?...and yes, SEL69L, I'd also be interested in finding out more about the product you're talking about.