tom p.
Active member
OK, I've been accumulating some new things over the past few weeks and had a chance to test drive them yesterday. It was my objective to do a couple of panels on one car so I could witness the NXT wax.
Winner:
Does the world need another Grade AAA car wash? I don't know for sure but I'll categorize Griot's car wash as such. I'd seen it for years in their catalog but never pulled the trigger. Well, I got a gift certificate and ordered a bottle of car wash, Undercarriage Spray and some wheel cleaner.
The car wash offers the great tropical experience, offers excellent lubrication and left the car with a fresh looking gloss. The glass looking especially shiny. If you like sampling car washes as much as I, try this one.
Winner:
The Undercarriage Spray will have to be categorized as an "over the top" kind of product. Again, another product I have seen in the Griot's catalog for years but never considered. Based upon a few comments here, I ordered a bottle to check it out. It's actually really neat stuff. It offers a very uniform, but oily coating which gives a dramatic contrast to the wheel wells. It smells like there must be alcohol in it as well.
If you already have "everything" in your arsenal but are missing the Undercarriage Spray, check it out...it really is a nice touch for the non-daily driver!
Winner:
Ranney's yellow ultra fine MF towels. Very soft and certainly have a different feel than any of my other MF towels. Ranney has recommended them for final polishing. I used one to remove two very thin coats of NXT wax and they work real well.
Winner:
1Z has got some great products and this Cockpit Premium is another on that long list of 1st class offerings.
I didn't really know what to expect thinking this product might be along the lines of Vinylex or 303 - - - it certainly isn't. Mike M describes this product as QD for the interior. It doesn't appear to leave any gloss but Mike says does have some minimal amount of UV protection.
I misted a little of this on an MF mitt and wiped down the dashboard and door panels on a couple of cars. That worked very well and leaves that "au natural" look that Anthony mentions. The Cockpit Premium doesn't make a mess on glass, either. This is more of a cleaner, IMO, than anything else. It leaves an odor that smells "sanitary" but fades after a day or two.
I like it!
Schnooozer:
Ugh, what can I say? Do I feel like a chump for dropping $25 on this Ultimate Hose Nozzle? Sorta.
While this is an extremely hi-quality piece, you need some serious household water pressure to make it work.
If it were connected to a fire hydrant, then you might have something.Our household water pressure is around 60psi which is typical - - - it's now low but it's not real strong, either. I have the nozzle running on a 3/4" ID hose and the water is kind of dribbling out. The volume of water is good but there is essentially no pressure. It would work well for water plants in the garden but that wasn't really my intention.
I think the mfr needs to spec a minimum water pressure for this thing. They do say you need at least a 5/8" hose to make it work but in my situation, it is very marginal. I'll probably go back to my $.89 nozzle from Nelson which gives me an excellent spray and perfect laminar flow for sheeting.
Uncommitted:
Well, I have been checking with local stores for this NXT was and found a bottle at the local Autozone. They had received only 2 bottles.
I started off by using the Makita (what an excellent machine) and Menzerna to polish the hood and two front fenders of the test car. I then followed up with two very thin coats of NXT applied with the PC and a grey finishing pad. I removed the NXT with the yellow fine MF towels. My initial impression is that the NXT is a very "clean" product to work with which I appreciate. There is virtually no dust and seems to come off adjacent trim without a hitch. It does have a lime odor as mentioned by others.
Overall, I think I need to try it on some more panels. The result was good but nothing that would cause my jaw to hit the floor. I'll leave it in place until May (or whenever I get around to the car's full Spring clean up).
In summary, I stood back and looked at the car a few hours later under incandescent and the fluorescent light. With visual inspection only, most people would have a hard time telling which panels of the car I had done as it really wasn't any glossier than the untouched, adjoining panels.
