What did you do detailing wise today?

Trying out MetalliCut

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A guy brought me 4 heavily corroded and pitted aluminum wheels he bought for cheap for his new pickup. Started with some P&S Brake Buster, then water sanding, 4 steps from 800 grit to 3000. Polishing consisted of Zephyr Brown Rouge Bar on a 8" yellow wheel, Zephyr White Finish Bar on a 8" white wheel, then hand polish with Zephyr Pro-40. Went from nasty, dull grey to a chrome like finish. Customer was ecstatic, I love projects like this, but man it`s hard on the back, and dirty.
 
A guy brought me 4 heavily corroded and pitted aluminum wheels he bought for cheap for his new pickup. Started with some P&S Brake Buster, then water sanding, 4 steps from 800 grit to 3000. Polishing consisted of Zephyr Brown Rouge Bar on a 8" yellow wheel, Zephyr White Finish Bar on a 8" white wheel, then hand polish with Zephyr Pro-40. Went from nasty, dull grey to a chrome like finish. Customer was ecstatic, I love projects like this, but man it`s hard on the back, and dirty.
Gotta have pics.
 
Thanks, I appreciate it. I enjoy polishing aluminum, it is pretty forgiving, if you make a mistake just sand it again, and re-polish.

Awesome results and work!

How long time does it last until it`s usually time to polishing them again?
Do you clearcoat them sometimes or is the finish too smooth for the paint to bond properly?
 
How do ya think it did compared to other metal polishes like mothers and such?

I haven`t used Mothers in so long that I forget how it is to work with and the results it offered. I do own Optimum`s metal polish, the three different cut level metal polishes from Meguiar`s and Pinnacle Exhaust Brightner.

Pinnacle works on exhaust tips really well and it has the built in protection. It just lacks in cut.

The Meguiar`s range of polishes is nice and the heavy cut is indeed heavy cut and the fine cut is my favorite as it just leaves such a nice finish. Too bad they discontinued it.

Optimum metal polish is ok but it doesn`t have the most cut and it leaves decent layer of protection. I find this to be suited for metal that is in very good shape.

Metallicut has almost as much cut as the Meguiar`s heavy cut but it finishes out better. Long working time and the finish is top notch. I fair to say more gloss than either of the others I mentioned with the exception of Meguiar`s fine cut. But fine cut is not that aggressive but Metallicut seems more versatile. I was wowed after playing around with it on chromes and brushed stainless aluminum. I even used it on the kitchen sink which is brushed aluminum lol. The stainless steel fridge is next. The thing with Metallicut is that it leaves no protection behind so it can be followed up with a wax, sealant or coating. The wipe off requires a little more effort to remove the residue by that I mean more wipes. A wetting agent helps that.
 
Last wash October 22, been a sloppy mess since then in NE Ohio...car was just a white, salty, chalky mess. Ughh...

54 sunny degrees here today so gave it a good wash, finished with Graphene Detailer. FINALLY, a chance to add a little something after a wash...been riding `naked` with SPS Graphene since application back in May.

Rinse, Foam with Gtechniq W4 Citrus foam, rinse, spray both sides from beltline down w Polish Angel Ultrared (because, well..why not?), wash with Reset, air/blow dry (heated air is beneficial in a variety of ways on a chilly day...and not just on car), Graphene Detailer on, uh...everything.

Glass coated with Gtechniq G1...yep. Wheels coated with Kami Stance...yep. Plastic/Trim coated with Kami ISM...yep. Exhaust coated with Gtech G5...yep. Paint coated with SPS Graphene...of course; all surfaces introduced to Graphene Detailer.

Then the sun set, left a very colorful sky which really reflected in interesting ways on the clean, black paint. Kinda just sat there staring for a while...time well spent.

SPS Graphene is still takin` care of business...
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Awesome results and work!

How long time does it last until it`s usually time to polishing them again?
Do you clearcoat them sometimes or is the finish too smooth for the paint to bond properly?

Time wise really depends on how well the owner takes care of them. If they`re diligent about washing, and maintaining them they will last several years. Around here there is a lot of road salt, and gravel so the time frame is shortened. (Which I explain to the customer) The Zephyr Pro 40 is a great aluminum polish. I`ve been using it for years, 15 minutes a wheel every few months or so will keep them shiny.
I don`t clear coat them, it usually fails rather quickly. There is some wheel specific clear coats on the market, but most of my customers don`t want to go to that expense.
 
I may be over-simplifying metal polish, but my favorite metal polish is made by some old school type formula - they have the bottle in like 3 cuts (fine, medium, heavy) and HEAVY on the solvents. I LOVE this stuff to death, and hardly grab anything else. I doubt this stuff is made anymore, with all these voc`ish laws
 
Since it was near 60 degrees on Christmas day here in NE Ohio, got a chance to wash wifes daily driver. Coated w Miyabi/Zipang always finish with a bit of Overcoat, as I did on Xmas.

Leaving for work the next morning, about 15hrs later, for some reason I decided to go over that w Cosmic Spritz cuz who doesn`t wanna do that at 5am instead of going to work?

When she came home she asked what I did differently as she`s never seen her car glow like it did yesterday. Sometimes I`ll try something a bit new or different, convinced that it did truly make a difference but often ya wonder if it`s all in your head. Just found it kinda reassuring that after doing something a bit different it was very apparent to someone else (aka `a commoner`), enough so that she made specific mention of it. Cool.

I`d always *thought* Cosmic was a bit blingier whereas Overcoat is a bit deeper...guess it really is.
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I find cosmic to be “blingier” glossier than overcoat also. I do find the depth of overcoat nice. Gonna try that combo next chance I get.


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I find cosmic to be “blingier” glossier than overcoat also. I do find the depth of overcoat nice. Gonna try that combo next chance I get.


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Yup, that certainly seems to be the case. The fact that a `end-user` noticed the difference the first time I used Cosmic was reassuring.
 
Another NE guy here. It was 55F in Buffalo when I got home yesterday. Pulled the hose and PW out and got the wife`s car done. It`s been 6 weeks since its last wash. IGL Premier still holding up well. Hoping the weather holds and I can wash my truck tomorrow.
 
It has only been ~4K miles, four months, and at least 16 car washes, really surprised to see this amount of fallout. Must be the rather new EBC Red Stuff Pads, worth it.

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