FK1000p Beginner questions

Dan said:
You`re garaging all those cars thought right?
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Right. Haven`t had anything outdoors much since giving away the Volvo wagon (which *did* primarily stay outside 24/7) all those years ago (niece-in-law finally sold it recently, to somebody else who`ll also appreciate it and keep it OK). Gee, I used to *always* have a station wagon outside, well...for over 25 years at least.
 
Accumulator said:
Always interested to hear about experiences with FK1000P, especially when those experiences differ from mine.

I wonder if some shampoos are a lot harder on it than my GG:3D mix, or whether my vehicles are just *that* pampered. I mean...if I only got 3 months out of it (let alone less) I`d be rethinking my advocacy of the stuff and revisiting KSGx6.
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Well, Mr. A - as I said I would be shocked if a double-coat of FK was actually "done" considering how little the finish has had to contend with since it was applied. Yes - parked outside during 3-4 out of 5 working days, but no extreme sun, rain, or much in the way of car washes. I`m just describing what I`ve observed for the record, since it`s a beginners` thread.

That being said - does anyone really know what CG Wash-n-Gloss actually leaves behind? It looks great, but I don`t know what exactly "gloss enhancers" are, whether they survive the next wash, and whether they`d mess up beading. Maybe I`ll try nothing but PB SSS for a while.

Both car washes are new to me. I`ve been using Meguiar`s Gold Class for decades since it was the only decent thing I could reliably find OTC, but I`ve been working on moving on to "better" options.
 
Surly,

I use PB SSS on my FK`d daily driver, and it works great for me. Nothing added, just a good clean.

I do notice that the FK can get "clogged up" sometimes, especially with pollen season. I have luck using a weak mix (~1:4) of PB Bug Squash as a pseudo decon wash/pre soak, and it seems to get the beading behavior back, etc.

IME, even though the paint has lost its super-slick feeling, the protection is still there. After a good rain, even if super dirty, the car *almost* rinses pretty much clean. Mine sits outside 24/7, hot Texas summers, etc.

It`s due up for another few coats before "winter" (more like 50 and rainy here in the south). I`ll pay better attention on when applied, and what i top it with (normally Ult Quik Wax/D156 or PB QD+)
 
Surly said:
.. I`m just describing what I`ve observed for the record, since it`s a beginners` thread.
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Great to have such feedback on this thread, even if it`s not always what I expect :D

.. I`ve been using Meguiar`s Gold Class for decades since it was the only decent thing I could reliably find OTC, but I`ve been working on moving on to "better" options.
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I`d sure want something a lot better than GC, I`d expect the CG W-n-G/PB SSS to be an upgrade.
 
nickclark08 said:
Surly,

I use PB SSS on my FK`d daily driver, and it works great for me. Nothing added, just a good clean.

I do notice that the FK can get "clogged up" sometimes, especially with pollen season. I have luck using a weak mix (~1:4) of PB Bug Squash as a pseudo decon wash/pre soak, and it seems to get the beading behavior back, etc.

IME, even though the paint has lost its super-slick feeling, the protection is still there. After a good rain, even if super dirty, the car *almost* rinses pretty much clean. Mine sits outside 24/7, hot Texas summers, etc.

It`s due up for another few coats before "winter" (more like 50 and rainy here in the south). I`ll pay better attention on when applied, and what i top it with (normally Ult Quik Wax/D156 or PB QD+)
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Thanks for contributing a few interesting points here. I have PB bug squash so it`s something I can try. In the winter I have no choice but to use touchless washes so I expect to reach significant degrees of non-perfection and the PB BS idea is interesting!

I don`t use any QD, although over the summer (with my renewed interest and participation in detailing) I`ve been using QD strength ONR as a drying aid. I didn`t know I needed one before but results are pretty nice. The downside is that I`ve changed LSP, wash (including a gloss enhancing option I use sometimes), polished/deconed this vehicle for the first time and added a drying aid - I do not have a good notion of which step is to thank/blame for what effect. It`s not scientific but I have limited time to experiment and observe, and limited detailing weather remaining. :)
 
Figured I would add another random data point that happened yesterday.

My car was pretty dusty/dirty after not being washed in 2-3 weeks and being parked outside 24/7 near all the local construction going on. about 4 month old FK and I topped it with a light coat of McKees Extender spray wax.

It rained off and on starting about 5pm, and the beading was garbage due to all the dirt and stuff, even after a few periods of heavy rainfall. However, once I woke up this morning (rained most of the night), great, tight, spherical beads and the car blew itself dry on the way to work. Honestly looked almost like I had washed it.

It might have been the McKees spray wax helping things along, but the "self cleaning" I saw was behavior I am used to with just un-topped FK. Still not sure myself.



Surly said:
Thanks for contributing a few interesting points here. I have PB bug squash so it`s something I can try. In the winter I have no choice but to use touchless washes so I expect to reach significant degrees of non-perfection and the PB BS idea is interesting!

I don`t use any QD, although over the summer (with my renewed interest and participation in detailing) I`ve been using QD strength ONR as a drying aid. I didn`t know I needed one before but results are pretty nice. The downside is that I`ve changed LSP, wash (including a gloss enhancing option I use sometimes), polished/deconed this vehicle for the first time and added a drying aid - I do not have a good notion of which step is to thank/blame for what effect. It`s not scientific but I have limited time to experiment and observe, and limited detailing weather remaining. :)
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After reading about the different experiences in durability that people have encountered,it reminded me of a frustrating experience that i had 3 years ago while using Duragloss #601/#105 on three Nissan vehicles.I applied #601/#105 to two Nissan March/Micra cars,one Metallic Blue,the other b/c Red.The other car was a Nissan Qashqai in Metallic orange/Red.I used the same step saver mix on all three cars,and all three were polished and wiped down with Eraser before applying the #601/`105 mix.Application and removal was easy as it`s always been with these products,and all three cars looked great.

About a week later it rained,and that`s when i noticed that both March/Micra cars had very poor beading,looked just like a dead LSP,whilst the Qashqai had perfect tight beading and fast water run off, as i had always seen with these products.All three cars had original paint,the Qashqai had Hard clear,the Metallic Blue March/Micra was pretty soft(swirls/scratches removed with PO85rd on a polishing pad via DA) and the b/c Red March/Micra was medium to hard.To cut a long story short,out of frustration and not being able to come up with an answer as to why there was such a huge difference between the water behavior while using the same product on three different cars,i re did both March/Micras,however the results were exactly the same,i even tried a new bottle of each product in case i may have got a bad bottle,same thing,tried hand and machine application,tried letting the product dry longer,tried applying the #601 to the car separately and then following with #105,same thing,tried just #105 on it`s own,same,tried #501,then #105,same thing.To this day,i can duplicate the same results on these cars using these products,the results are always the same,it`s as if the clear on both March/Micras is rejecting the products.It`s something that has always bothered me,as i have no explanation for it,never been able to figure out why.I think it really must be as Accumulator has always said,YMMV.
 
slippy- Those March/Mica cars sound like the rear bumper cover of my wife`s A8, NOTHING lasts on it, no matter what. I finally just said [something :o ] and decided to just use OCW as a Drying Aid and not stress over it.

Oh, and I *still* haven`t washed the (FK1000P`ed) Tahoe! It`s been forever, but I drove through a heavy rainstorm the other day and once again it`s still looking fine. Well, I *have* cleaned its wheels/tires/running boards a couple of times, and I do its glass often, but no real washes have been necessary for longer than any Autopian would believe.
 
Yeah,it`s the strangest thing how some products just don`t work as they should on some paints,i never would have believed that it was possible to experience such drastic differences in performance, if i hadn`t seen it with my own eyes.As i value your opinion/experience so highly,i think i`m going to get some FK1000p and see how i get on with it,maybe even see if i can get it to `perform` on the two March/Micras :D I do envy how the FK1000p seems to work so very well for you :)
 
slippy said:
Ye.As i value your opinion/experience so highly,i think i`m going to get some FK1000p and see how i get on with it,maybe even see if i can get it to `perform` on the two March/Micras :D
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Heh heh, I feel compelled to post something about being careful whom you trust based on posts to an internet forum...even if it *is* Yours Truly :D

Hope it works out OK for you, and that you`re not in the (thankfully small) group of people for whom it`s just not All That.

I do envy how the FK1000p seems to work so very well for you :)
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Whatever I`m doing now is just plain *working* for me all right. If I didn`t know better I`d *swear* someone must`ve washed the Tahoe when my back was turned, it looks *that* nice for no washes in so long. The `93 Audi is doing the same, though it hasn`t been rained on so it`s a bit dusty on the horizontal surfaces. Only thing I`m washing regularly is my wife`s A8, and now even *it* is looking surprisingly good after being driven in the rain...I suspect that the OCW/IUDJ is building up faster than it`s degrading.

No, I don`t expect, much less imply, that FK1000P will work this way for everybody, and our vehicles are mighty pampered these days, but still....it`s really something.
 
Just an another update from me. I applied 2 coats of FK1000P back in August when the car was new. This is a car that`s garaged at night...and not really outside for any extended periods of time. As I`d mentioned in earlier posts, it lost a lot of slickness after the first 4 weeks, so I started using GG Speed Shine as a drying aid, and that kind of restored the slickness.

On Friday I was preparing for our 1,000 mile trip up to MI for Thanksgiving week, so I washed the car and applied another coat of FK1000P as the weather`s kinda unpredictable up north. Good thing I did, as it rained the entire trip from Tulsa to Indianapolis. Then, from Indy to Detroit we traveled thru snow (light...nothing severe). So I`m really glad I added the FK before the trip. No sign of any bugs, and she still looks pretty good considering the rain we drove thru.
 
I`m happy with it thus far. I especially like its ease of application and removal (took your advice about applying it lightly). I probably didn`t spend more than 90 minutes applying it/buffing it off after washing the car....and that was doing it manually.
 
My FK1000p experiences - I have been using it on 2 cars I own, a classic old Merc and my Daily Drive SUV.

The classic Merc doesn`t get driven that often (as per a previous thread) and the FK1000p seems to last forever, but I reapply every 6 months, out of habit.

The SUV is 1 year old and has Opticoat on it - but I still put FK1000p on it as it adds slickness and being black, the car shows lots of marks. No idea how long the FK1000P last over Opticoat (not long they tell me), but it so simple to apply that I do it about once every 2 months and the SUV just looks great.

Probably a waste, but it does come up pretty good after applying the FK1000p

cheers

Digger
 
I recall reading years ago that the FK1000p tended to highlight any defects in paint,rather than hide them a little on paints that you just can`t get to the standard you want for various reasons,just wondering if this is still the case? Did the formula get tweaked after Floyd passed away and the company was acquired by new management?
 
I never had the pre-VOC version but the current version of FK1000P is excellent at showing off your best defects. It has that hard shell/glassy look that doesn`t hide a thing.
 
My wife just got a 2018 Lincoln Mkc in the beautiful burgundy velvet metallic with the diso so I broke out the HD speed and then I had to make a decision. I have a 10cc opti gloss coat that I have for my truck which I really like, I need to redo the bed or do the fk1000. The fk won out because of prep time and her car is garage kept, I was a Collinite 845 user but it’s to much of a pain in the ass to use in colder temperatures. I will add a second coat which should get me through the winter at that point I’ll probably do a coating in the spring. With all that being said FK1000 is my favorite until opti gloss was applied to my F-150.
 
Accumulator said:
Tpr1634- How do you like the look of the FK1000P on that Burgundy?
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looks awesome, with a little help from HD speed it still has some very minor imperfections but you really have to look. I feel the FK makes it pop, I’m laughing because my salesman says to the wife and I all good to go all waxed up. That may work on her and I know they will not do it right so that’s where I come in. I have been using FK on her 2008 Sable for years and it still looked brand new. Being it’s garaged I will access come spring if I should continue to use FK or go to a coating.
 
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