SilverSteel

And I thought I had a lot of sh*t in my car washing cabinets. Griots is one of my favorite places to purchase items. I just purchased the Boroscope. Man,..it is really cool. I don't know what the hell I'll use it for, but I have it. Also, Richard Griot will stand behind everything he sells for life (yours or his, I'm not sure).

ronmart

too funny!

I eyed up that Boroscope, but like you I have no clue what the heck to do with it. It just looks like a light on a flexible tube.

Yeah, I made the mistake of going to Griots headquarters for a 1:1 session where I could try out all of their stuff. Let's just say, we won't tell the wife about that little charge to the card.

FWIW, Griots is still taking my money too. I just had the Oil & Grease Cleaner (with live oil eatign microbes) and Engine Cleaner products arrive today. I wanted to check them out, and when they threw in 6 "free" shop MF towels and a 8oz bottle of Car Wash, I just couldn't pass that deal up.

I really need to call VISA and tell them to reject any charges to Griots for a while!

Oh, and don't ask me about my orders at Rejex, ExcelDetail and AutoGeek based on this stinkin thread. I'm hopeless!

SilverSteel

My boroscope uses so far: behind fridg for screw (found), brake pad thickness without taking off the wheel, jammed garbage disposal (friggin' dime-thanks kids) and more to come. I don't know if you've ever tried Griot's clay, but it's good and it's really big. I just bought the Sonus stuff to add to my collection of four clays. This must be some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder that has not been identified as of yet. Although my wife already knows I'm crazy.

I swear, if they find out car wax causes cancer, I'm doomed. I started using Griots rubber gloves in hopes of reducing my exposure to the chemicals in the various waxes I use. That stuff can't be good for you or your kidneys as it's absorded through your skin. Hey, three orbitals and one rotary on the way. Wahoo. What else can I buy??? You know, we can't ever get rid of our cars as we'll have nothing to use all our toys on.

ronmart

Nice!
Are you kidding? I've got 2 containers of the Griots Clay and 1 of the Sonus Ultra Fine (the green kind in the black box). I've ended up with marring every time I used the Sonus clay, but no problems with the Griots. I don't know if I just got a bad batch of the Sonus or what, but I'm only using it for glass and wheels from this point on.
Same here!
Dude, we were separated at birth! I bought a box of the green aloe gloves from Griots last month too, and thought the same thing you did.
You've got me beat there. I only have the Griots Polisher which I like more than the PC (which I tried at Griots) because I like the Griots handle better and the less vibration it offers (yet more power than the PC). The Griots is cooler in the center.
Sadly, I've answered that question after this thread. $200 worth of stuff on the way from three places to add to the $1400 worth of stuff I've picked up since Februrary just before my 997 arrived. I could pay for a LOT of details for that kind of money, but at the same time I've got three cars that are so clean in my garage now that I'm starting to eye the neighbors car to see if I can talk him into letting me do his car so I can check out my new goodies!

Oh well, gotta run. I hit a rain puddle tonight when I was on my way home in the black Benz, so I've got to go tend to that.

YA911Fan

How well does Zaino protect against damage from water spots and bird droppings?

I've been using another polymer (Liquitech) and, despite several coats of the stuff, still get hard water spots burned into the paint between washes. It's as if the mineral deposits eat right through the polymer...

Snoopy

I've got the Werkstatt caranuba twins showing up on Monday. Won't get to use until next weekend though, but will let you know how they are. Going to use on my red 997 and husband's silver Lexus (not expecting anything great as that car always looks okay).

ronmart

This is a combination of heat and hard water that causes this, and no wax or sealant on the market today that I am aware of can prevent this. Having a very good wax or sealant can cause more water to roll of to REDUCE the problem, but the real way to eliminate this problem is by changing your techiques.

1. Stay out of the sun. For most of us, this isn't possible because we don't have a covered area with water access. This means we must compromise, so this is what I do:

a. Leave your car in the garage until the last second, so get your hose ready,
your soap bucket, tools, towels, etc... all outside and ready to go BEFORE
you roll your car out of the garage (or open the garage door if possible)

b. Make sure your car is cool. Heat is heat no matter if it comes from the sun
or your engine so your paint needs to be cold to the touch for best results.

c. Start early in the morning or at dusk when it is cooler. Remember too that
your car can get spots even on a cloudy day as UV rays still pass through
clouds.

d. Break your car into five sections and do them one at a time. Start with the
top of the car and when you are done soaping AND rinsing it, then DRY it.
Dry the other areas of the car as well as that is where you'll get your spots
if you don't. However, you have to be careful when drying dirty spots as
that can cause marring. After the top do the hood/sides, then the rear area,
then the door on the sunny side, and then the door shady side.

By washing a section and immediately getting the car dry again, you avoid having beads of water sitting on your car with UV exposure and this keeps the spots away. I know this way is cumbersome, and I hate it too, but it works.

If it is a SUPER hot day then you need to add step e, and that is pull the car in the garage for the drying phase. Some argue that you should always do that, and it is safer that way, but that is a real PIA.

Alternatively, you can just wash as normal and allow for extra time with a machine polisher (Porter Cable, Griots, etc...) and come along with a fine polish like Griots Garage Machine Polish 4 (or equivalent) and do a quick one pass polish of the car. This will remove the spots, and generally the are only on the top surfaces, so you should be able to get it done in about 30 - 60 minutes on a normal car, but it takes longer for the rear deck of the 911 because you have to do the wing area by hand and that sucks.

The way to combat this is to have some quick detailer and a towel with you in your car and deal with it the second you notice you've been hit. Now this doesn't work if you are at work all day, but do the best you can. When all else fails, resort to the polishing mentioned above.

Crazy Canuck

Klasse Mirror Glaze liquid followed by Pinnacle Souveran paste.

YA911Fan

ronmart...

Thanks for the detailed response!

Not sure I would have the discipline to partition the washing as you do. (On second thought, I'm sure I don't!)

Actually, the problems I have don't happen during the washing/drying but between washes. But it sounds like there's nothing that can be done about it.

I'll give your quick detailer suggestion a try though...

ronmart

Yeah, it sucks, but it works. I just did it today with the wife's SUV - UGH!

Having a good sealant (i.e., Klasse All-In-One followed by Klasse High Gloss Sealant) and a good wax coat (i.e., P21s Carnauba Wax) goes a long way though as most beads of water will just roll off.

Of course, if your car is out in the rain then there's not much you can do about it.

SilverSteel

Ronmart, I just read your comment about the sonus clay. Man, I bought four bars of the stuff. I haven't had a chance to use it as of yet since I'm still using my Griots clay. I'll pull it out next week. Did you use plenty of lube? That's a queer question from one guy to another. Anyway, I use Griots blue stuff and Meguiars pink stuff, they both seem to work. I have them both for different moods, bubble gum smell, or fragrant. They seem to work the same. I have a gallon of each--I'm pathetic. Did I tell you I just bought another polisher, Makita rotary and five pads. I don't have time to use all my tools. Thinking about the pneumatic rotary Griots sells. It looks light and fast. My PC does ok, it's probably my favorite. Any suggestions on waffle MF towels? Don't mention Griots as he charges a lot for his. Uh, did I say that?

ronmart

Yeah, I used loads. It was a fresh bar that was opened up right out of the plastic and never hit the ground. You'll notice that the Sonus clay is a lot harder than the Griots. I'm now using the Sonus clay for glass and wheels only now.
Yeah, I like the Griots SpeedShine. Richard Griot told me that is actually supposed to be a raspberry smell. I had a bad experience the other day with Meguiars QuikWipe. I was wiping the hood of my Benz and dried it with a microfiber in a parking garage. It looking fine at the time, but when I got it home I noticed a slight cloudy haze (the paint was freshly sealed and waxed so it was perfect). I've never had the Benz paint looking this perfect, so I've never seen htis happen with QuikWipe before, but I was a bit disappointed. I'm now only going to use it on the wife's Lexus.
Ah, your hopeless!
Yeah, wouldn't mind one of those for tight spots, but I don't have an air compressor so it would be a big investment. I'm trying to resist temptation!
Are you talking about the thick kind like these:
http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1003&SKU=11023

http://www.specialtymotoring.com/microfiber.htm (Foam Core Waffle Weave)

and the equivalents sold at other places?

Personally, I'm very happy with these (I have 8 ):
http://autopia-carcare.com/son-dwdt-2.html

so I'm not going to bother with the Foam Core's. Personally I find that when I use something like that, I end up using it too long and end up marring the paint. I prefer to use the towels I have in pairs and get a new pair after each quadrant.

My current $200+ order of stuff from AutoGeek shows up on Monday (can't wait! ). I picked up a foam gun and some of the items from the "popular" items listed above.

I also got some Rejex and Durgloss AquaWax (951?) this week too. I've done a wheel and part of the back of my wife's SUV to see how the Rejex does, so all I need now is some crappy weather. Who would have thought in Seattle I would be hoping for rain and not getting it!

Snoopy

Oh boy. You are going to love tha foam gun. What type of car wash are you using? I am going to try out the Werkstatt Caranuba Jett and Glos tomorrow, though I've kind of lost some of my enthusiasm for it (perhaps it was having to wait so long for it to show up and then I tried out the Glos and was fairly disappointed in it). I'll let you know how it goes. Husband just announced that he intends to play Civilization IV tomorrow. Good times.

ronmart

I'm going to use Griots Car Wash, which in my mind is the best product out there. Super slick, super sudsy and smells fantastic.

erikjwells

ok... you guys need to be committed --- There is no way on God's green earth I could find the time to detail my car like you guys do... while your cleaning yours.. I'm out driving mine...

So does anyone have a short list of products to use for guys like me that make time to wash their babies but don't have the time or inclination to detail like you guys do? I Obviously would like to make the most of my time and use really good products...

Thanks in advance..