As part of an ongoing investigation of the Meguiar's line, I decided to strip my Miata of its Souveran and apply #20 followed by #26. At that point, I might top the #26 with Souveran again, I don't know yet. My thinking is, polymer, topped with wax/polymer, topped with wax...? It seems like everything will be in harmony, doesn't it?
The Miata is 6 years old, with red, single stage paint. It is a nice contrast to the newer black clearcoat Audi I did last week.
I had that Souv on there pretty good, I guess; road dirt and bird droppings hosed right off. I used dish detergent, but water still beaded; I finally squirted the soap directly on the hood, and mopped it over the car. That did the trick. Perhaps Souv is pretty decent at protecting, but the glow fades in a few weeks. I dunno. I use it for the glow, so it doesn't matter.
It was one hell of a day here in northeastern PA; 90 degrees, hazy and overcast, and so humid that you could work up a sweat reading a magazine on the porch.
Working outside, at 7PM, under a cloudy sky on a cool car, I applied the #20 and waited the requisite 20 minutes. Starting the removal on the hood, I wiped with the terry towel... and got streaks. Streaks. Everywhere. The #20 was still malleable; it seems that in hot, humid conditions, 20 minutes isn't long enough.
Since I was going to apply a second coat anyhow, I wasn't concerned, but out of curiosity, I decided to see how long it would take for #20 to dry in those conditions. The answer is, longer than I have patience for. 45 minutes later, I removed the rest of the #20, despite its only being marginally dried. I then pulled the car into the garage for the second coat.
This time, I turned the fans on the car, turned the halogens on, applied the #20 in thin, thin swipes against the direction of the streaks on the hood, shut the garage door (leaving the fans and lights on), and took the dog for a long walk. An hour later, I went to remove the #20. Again, streaks. But, not as bad this time. Strenuous final buffing with a MF towel pretty much removed them, as far as I could tell under the artificial light, but tomorrow's daylight will tell for certain.
I believe that there are several factors contributing to the streaking. 1) The single stage paint, allowing 2) the cleaners in the #20 to work on colors rather than clear, combined with 3) incomplete drying/hazing due to the humid conditions, causing the #20 to work "unequally".
The solution, IMO, is to either wait for the weather to be more advantageous, or, time. Let this stuff dry/haze, or it's not going to be as easy to use as it should be. The combinaton of the fans and the heat from the halogens in the closed garage gave me the edge I needed to complete the job, I believe.
How does it look, half way (or a third of the way) through? Damn nice. #20 is super reflective. Very Zaino-like was the first thing I thought. (Zaino people, please don't freak, saying about all the steps and such; it wouldn't be Zaino-like if I hadn't done all the traditional steps first, the DACP, the IP and the FP). It's absolutely different from the carnuba look, no question about it. I'll post a picture or two tomorrow morning, in natural light and after it's cured a while.
Tomorrow night, the #26. As far as I've been advised, #20 doesn't layer.
Tom
The Miata is 6 years old, with red, single stage paint. It is a nice contrast to the newer black clearcoat Audi I did last week.
I had that Souv on there pretty good, I guess; road dirt and bird droppings hosed right off. I used dish detergent, but water still beaded; I finally squirted the soap directly on the hood, and mopped it over the car. That did the trick. Perhaps Souv is pretty decent at protecting, but the glow fades in a few weeks. I dunno. I use it for the glow, so it doesn't matter.
It was one hell of a day here in northeastern PA; 90 degrees, hazy and overcast, and so humid that you could work up a sweat reading a magazine on the porch.
Working outside, at 7PM, under a cloudy sky on a cool car, I applied the #20 and waited the requisite 20 minutes. Starting the removal on the hood, I wiped with the terry towel... and got streaks. Streaks. Everywhere. The #20 was still malleable; it seems that in hot, humid conditions, 20 minutes isn't long enough.
Since I was going to apply a second coat anyhow, I wasn't concerned, but out of curiosity, I decided to see how long it would take for #20 to dry in those conditions. The answer is, longer than I have patience for. 45 minutes later, I removed the rest of the #20, despite its only being marginally dried. I then pulled the car into the garage for the second coat.
This time, I turned the fans on the car, turned the halogens on, applied the #20 in thin, thin swipes against the direction of the streaks on the hood, shut the garage door (leaving the fans and lights on), and took the dog for a long walk. An hour later, I went to remove the #20. Again, streaks. But, not as bad this time. Strenuous final buffing with a MF towel pretty much removed them, as far as I could tell under the artificial light, but tomorrow's daylight will tell for certain.
I believe that there are several factors contributing to the streaking. 1) The single stage paint, allowing 2) the cleaners in the #20 to work on colors rather than clear, combined with 3) incomplete drying/hazing due to the humid conditions, causing the #20 to work "unequally".
The solution, IMO, is to either wait for the weather to be more advantageous, or, time. Let this stuff dry/haze, or it's not going to be as easy to use as it should be. The combinaton of the fans and the heat from the halogens in the closed garage gave me the edge I needed to complete the job, I believe.
How does it look, half way (or a third of the way) through? Damn nice. #20 is super reflective. Very Zaino-like was the first thing I thought. (Zaino people, please don't freak, saying about all the steps and such; it wouldn't be Zaino-like if I hadn't done all the traditional steps first, the DACP, the IP and the FP). It's absolutely different from the carnuba look, no question about it. I'll post a picture or two tomorrow morning, in natural light and after it's cured a while.
Tomorrow night, the #26. As far as I've been advised, #20 doesn't layer.
Tom