-DAvo

love it! think we drove past eachother a few weeks back along great eastern hwy at night? the missus was like "that car looks just like yours!" :P

LOL thanks for the mention fellas! There is nothing i enjoy seeing more than a nicely polished car... and i reeally peeves me to see nice beautiful cars with poora$$ paintjobs/careless owners who dont look after their car properly.. remember seeing a black 2010 BMW M3 with swirlmarks EVERYWHERE... i died a little inside that day :( just for your reference.. tash asked a really good question today regarding using a 3rd party wax inbetween SRP and EGP.. have inc the convo below for everyones reference.. Ahh, very very clever then :D I'd definitely want to follow up with EGP then - especially if they are the results!! I like the idea of it being the last layer of protection but could you still layer it like you would with wax? Or would you not bother? Could you say use a normal meg's wax after the SRP and then put EGP on top of 2-3 layers of that?? Although if the EGP is lasting a lot longer it sounds like you don't need to layer it at all and could just maintain it by using something like Ultimate Quik Detailer/Quik Wax. Lol, I am planning a pretty OCD car treatment soon, even going to hire one of those carpet steam cleaners and do all my upholstery (still yet to find an interior upholstery cleaner that I like). I have never done an isopropyl wipedown before, what materials are needed to do that? Just the wipes or getting a product of it and applying with microfibre?? Congratulations on the wedding! :D Have you set a date yet? The outside of the car looks fantastic so definitely nowhere else to go there ;) Hi Tash, Thanks! yeah we have, March 25 2012 is the big day :) just when i said theres nothing else to be done, some lady rear ended me today in her land cruiser :( so will be getting a rear end respray LOL oh well.. thats life and at least the damage isnt too bad! i will still keep up with my cleaning schdule even thou my car has a blemish on its bum :P anyway to answer your question.. EGP is acctually ideal to "layer" as it does not contain any cleaning agents at all. so technically speaking, a 2nd layer will not eat into the existing layer.. i would however allow for the 24hr cure time to make sure the sealant is fully set up. in terms of adding a 3rd party wax inbetween SRP and EGP.. TBH i would not recommend it. reason being you cant guarentee that the EGP will bond properly to the 3rd party wax.. in doing some in depth research in autoglym.. you see that SRP and EGP are acctually designed to work in conjunction with each other.. so the surface SRP leaves you with is ideal for EGP to bond with. helpiing prolong its durability... they dont even recommend topping EGP with their premium HD wax! If i were you i would do SRP, and 2 layers of EGP. that would yeid the best and longest lasting results.. i think going to 3 layers would prob yeild no difference compared to 2.. i have even stopped using Ultimate quik wax on a regular basis.. i mainly use it on my wheels now! but i will use it maybe once just the week before i reapply EGP.. as for the ISOPROPYL wipedown.. you can buy the stuff from bunnings in the paint section.. if you buy a 70% isopropyl solution you just apply it as you would a spray detailer... it comes in a spray bottle.. but i normally buy it in big industrial size containers (use it a fair bit at work) and fill up a smaller spray bottle. it basically acts to strip all existsing wax/polish from your car body.. bringing you back to clearcoat only.. this allows you to see all defects in the paint and give your new polish a fresh surface to work on that the claybar could not remove. have fun with your mega clean! sounds like fun!! :)

*sigh* oh well.. its not THAt bad.. iwas pretty dark about it earlier, but im at peace with it now. lucky insurance will take care of everything.. "luckkky you're with ammiiiii..." and as Tash mentioned, at least a respray on the rear will take out any minor defects i had.. (had a small blemish from my attempt at wetsanding orange peel away from the skiting)

Ahh, very very clever then :D I'd definitely want to follow up with EGP then - especially if they are the results!! I like the idea of it being the last layer of protection but could you still layer it like you would with wax? Or would you not bother? Could you say use a normal meg's wax after the SRP and then put EGP on top of 2-3 layers of that?? Although if the EGP is lasting a lot longer it sounds like you don't need to layer it at all and could just maintain it by using something like Ultimate Quik Detailer/Quik Wax. Lol, I am planning a pretty OCD car treatment soon, even going to hire one of those carpet steam cleaners and do all my upholstery (still yet to find an interior upholstery cleaner that I like). I have never done an isopropyl wipedown before, what materials are needed to do that? Just the wipes or getting a product of it and applying with microfibre?? Congratulations on the wedding! :D Have you set a date yet? The outside of the car looks fantastic so definitely nowhere else to go there ;) Hi Tash, Thanks! yeah we have, March 25 2012 is the big day :) just when i said theres nothing else to be done, some lady rear ended me today in her land cruiser :( so will be getting a rear end respray LOL oh well.. thats life and at least the damage isnt too bad! i will still keep up with my cleaning schdule even thou my car has a blemish on its bum :P anyway to answer your question.. EGP is acctually ideal to "layer" as it does not contain any cleaning agents at all. so technically speaking, a 2nd layer will not eat into the existing layer.. i would however allow for the 24hr cure time to make sure the sealant is fully set up. in terms of adding a 3rd party wax inbetween SRP and EGP.. TBH i would not recommend it. reason being you cant guarentee that the EGP will bond properly to the 3rd party wax.. in doing some in depth research in autoglym.. you see that SRP and EGP are acctually designed to work in conjunction with each other.. so the surface SRP leaves you with is ideal for EGP to bond with. helpiing prolong its durability... they dont even recommend topping EGP with their premium HD wax! If i were you i would do SRP, and 2 layers of EGP. that would yeid the best and longest lasting results.. i think going to 3 layers would prob yeild no difference compared to 2.. i have even stopped using Ultimate quik wax on a regular basis.. i mainly use it on my wheels now! but i will use it maybe once just the week before i reapply EGP.. as for the ISOPROPYL wipedown.. you can buy the stuff from bunnings in the paint section.. if you buy a 70% isopropyl solution you just apply it as you would a spray detailer... it comes in a spray bottle.. but i normally buy it in big industrial size containers (use it a fair bit at work) and fill up a smaller spray bottle. it basically acts to strip all existsing wax/polish from your car body.. bringing you back to clearcoat only.. this allows you to see all defects in the paint and give your new polish a fresh surface to work on that the claybar could not remove. have fun with your mega clean! sounds like fun!! :)

Hi Tash, You're correct in all accounts, apart from the extra wax step after EGP. EGP will act as your last layer of protection-and gloss enhancer. The SRP itself is acctually a one-step cleaner/protectant so even if you want to stop at the SRP you still get pretty good results with decent protection lifespan.. on par with goldclass plus id say. the EGP just makes the paint look that much wetter and lasts a lot lot longer. if you're feeling OCD (silly question of me to ask, sheesh~!) you can even add in a isopropyl wipedown after you claybar ;) Thanks for the comments everyone! Im pretty much done for outside mods on my car.. apart from sorting out the grille which will happen after easter. time to move onto more practical mods (and also saving for our wedding!) :) :)

Hi John thanks for the kind words mate.. to answer your question, as to what to use for a polish; NXT 2.0 acctually has mild (and i mean MILD) cleaners built into it.. meaning that providing your clearcoat is in pretty good nick, then a clay and NXT 2.0 should be all you need. TBH Meguiars dont really have anything in the consumer line apart from the deep crystal step 2 polish.. in which case, from my experience, you yeild nicer results from using the Mothers Step 2 "Sealer and glaze"... NXT 2.0 is still a very good LSP, but to get the most out of it, i believe you need to back it up with a regular (every 2nd wash) meguiars ultimate quik wax. this will help extend the protection given by NXT 2.0 the ORDER in which you would do this is 1. wash 2. clay 3. polish/cleaner 4. wax/sealent however, if you wanted to go down the autoglym road (its a hard road to turn down, but once your on it - its smoooooth sailing) i would suggest you get onto the Super Resin Polish & Extra Gloss Protectant regime. SRP is a great product by itself.. it both cleans and protects in one step, and is easy as to use... downside? it does dust up a bit.. when you add EGP, you take it to the next level... wet looks, long durability... at the cost of being slightly more difficult to work with... you really have to apply it evenly, and leave it alone for a good 2-3 hours (depending on ambient temps) to fully set up on your clearcoat and buff off with a good quality microfibre. hope this helps mate. btw a good wash shampoo if you are looking for one, Meguiars Ultimate wash and wax.. havent found anything out there to date which works as well... (have used gold class, nxt shampoo,meguiuars softwash, mother california gold, autoglym shampoo, and randoms on my previous car)

thanks Tash, i credit the gloss to my new autoglym SRP/EGP regime.. that stuff pwns meguiars for durability... havent touched the paintwork in ages (apart from weekly washes)

such a tease... :P

so just went for a drive tonight and decided to take a few pictures... recent additions: roof spoiler, 10mm lower... few more changes coming after easter! enjoy thanks for looking, few changes on their way in the next few weeks.. ;)

that rear end gives me a chubby.... + moar exhaust = greatness :) :)

ha ha Davo.....how low can yu go? Have you had any rub issues atall? expect any? cheers mate Cam ;0) sitting at a lovely 590 atm.. and expecting it to sag another 5mm maybe in the next 5-10 days.. so far so good.. will scrub on the big dips but you have to be driving over it at speed. im more worried about clearance on my angled driveway :P

ive done the front of my sportivo bodykit.. left the back as standard thou.. IMO the black part of the rear bumper looks great :)

Congrats focus, im goin in to the osb park pedders on monday to go mooore low, and for camber bolts :):) Adamsy; im running mine at 8 front and 6 back for day driving. Will crank to about 18 front And 15 rear if im in the mood for a drive...

That front end just makes the sportivo look that much mOre pi55ed off!! Lovvve it!

Foam pads and applicators: tub of warm water, mix in some dishwash liquid, swish around until you notice product leaching out, rinse well with nOn soapy water. Use your buffer to help rinse foam pads Mictofibers and wash mits: washing machine, omo liquid, NO softners, warm cycle. Hang to dry. Done :)

Love it! Gotta let our cars meet for a play date sometime... :P

Dont think they have anything as agressive tbh... I know ag have a "paint rejuvinator" in their line up, and also a HD cleanet polish... IMO if your doing paint correction then meguiars is the way to go.. They offer products that range from very very mild ( swirlX / M205 ) to pretty agressive ( ultimate comp / M105 )

Yeah, im glad it worked out for you mate :) sometimes with the deeper scratches, you have to ask yourself if its worth flattening the surrounding paint to level it out or call it a day and rely in the fill effect of a suitable polish..

welcome to the club ;) the guys at osb park also fitted my coilovers a while back.. they offer great service :) should make it out to a meet/photoshoot sometime??

Ducktail ftw! But good on ya metal for taking the plunge! Cant wait to see it again :)