New Member from South Florida!

[imported_doug]

OK - after catching up on all of your suggestions, I went out and put on SG coat number 3 after a quick dust and QD. This time I tried the foam applicator dampened with some FI. Used a small drop and did a section of the hood. MUCH, MUCH better - I can feel what I`m doing AND I can see better too, and I can get it on thinner and more evenly. (At least, I HOPE it is the SG I`m getting on there, and not just FI!)



Then I velcro`d a super-soft (Griot`s red) buffing pad to the orbital. I wet it with 3 sprays of FI (this was too much, so worked it around and in/off with my hand a bit) - and then about a nickel-drop`s worth of SG, distributed around the pad as four or five small drops. I moved quickly to distribute the material around the hood, then came back and evened it out. It seems to have worked pretty well - although I can see I got some areas thicker than others. When I had the whole hood covered I tried going back over these spots with another spritz of QD on the pad - this seems to have thinned them out a bit. I used speed 3 - and next time I think I could probably have gotten by with even less SG.



I can tell you that you are NOT going to waste a bunch of SG using an orbital, and it is going to save a lot of time. Since it distributes over a much bigger area than your hand, I think the chances of getting complete coverage are better too.



SO - this is a big improvement over the previous application techniques. And, at your advice again, I will let this sit overnight, and buff out in the morning. I will do some by hand for comparison of the application techniques with wht I already tried, and I will also buff some out with an microfiber bonnet. AND I will try showroomLincoln`s suggestion of a dampened MF towel for buffing.



I`ll let you know......





(See - you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. :cool: )

Is Klasse gonna make its way to the porsche?? :D . BTW, are you using MF to buff off the residue or something else?

[Jngrbrdman]

Wait untill you get to the 5th layer. That is where Klasse sort of peaks. At least it does on light colored cars. Beyond 5 layers is still really good but I think its a good place to stop. I`m glad you are finally having good results with Klasse. :) :xyxthumbs

[db2]

:xyxthumbs

[admac]

great news greg. as far as using a pc to apply sg, that`s very good to hear as well as i am still awaiting my new car. when i receive delivery of it, i will try to get as much protection on in the shortest amount of time possible because i will only be at my house in l.a. for a few days before i have to come back to my apartment in s.f. and it is much harder to detail in san fran because i have no driveway and no hose like i do at my house. :( i`m not so worried about using a little bit of extra product if the process is much faster.



i do have a question though: how does the red pad you used from griot`s compare to the white cma pad? i`m assuming the griot`s red pad you`re using is the "lightest touch" of all the pads. but would it be a bad idea to use the white pad? thanks.

[JasonC8301]

:up Good its finally looking up for you carguy.



admac - The white CMA pad is a light polishing pad. With Klasse SG you want to use a soft finishing pad. This would be the grey finishing pad from CMA. It has not cut so the sealant or wax can be layered after the proper cure time.

[miguelgf]

Greg-



I think I`m going to give PC application of SG another shot, after reading your post.



Right now, I use the PC only to buff SG off the surface, using an oh-so-slightly dampened MF bonnet (we`re talking one spray of FI, at most). Works like a charm.



It`s so easy to apply SG by hand - I wonder if there`s any advantage to the PC, and what it would be. Usually, the PC makes things easier to apply uniformly - but with SG, I get this feeling that a hand application is really the way to go.



I`m gonna try it out though... now if the sun would only peek out from behind those clouds..

[dengelson]

Hey buddy sounds like you have surmounted the learning curve hump. Actually now that I have more experience with SG, and heard your experience, I think I will try to go back to the PC for application. Anything to make it easier is welcome when working on my truck. The first time that I applied SG I used the PC and put it down too thick `cause I was a rookie with SG. That`s why I started using the MF applicator. However now that I have applied SG about 10 times on different vehicles I have a better feel for what it takes to get great results with less work.



There are certainly some tips and tricks to working with SG and removing it more easily. However in my book it still rates pretty high on the scale of difficult to remove products. The tips will make it better but I don`t think it will ever be like Souveran.



Thanks for the post. :xyxthumbs

[imported_doug]

<font color=blue size=+1> The AM Report - Two Successful Buffing-out Techniques, Coat #4, and a New Idea</font>

I just went out and buffed off coat #3. 1st I tried a dry wipe again to see if the 12-hour cure time made any difference. It didn`t appear to. My conclusion is - go ahead and buff out after an hour or more.

Then I tried Showroom Lincoln`s suggestion - a MF wipe, watered and wrung out. I used this in one hand and a dry one in the other to remove the last traces of moisture. <strong class=`bbc`>This worked great![/b] Very easy - and for all intents, easy enough that using the PC will be more about preference than necessity.

I ALSO tried the PC - soft foam pad with a microfiber bonnet over it. First I tried it dry - and it was just like the dry hand wipe - it didn`t have much effect. I gave it a spray of QD though and it worked. I had to re-spray at one point, because I noticed it wasn`t working as well - but when I stopped and felt the bonnet it was dry. Another spritz of Qd and all was well. It would probably work to use water, too - although it might be hard to control dampness given the softness of the backing pad.

<strong class=`bbc`>Conclusion[/b] - BOTH of these techniques work just fine.

I slapped coat #4 on - used the orbital/soft pad again. In answer to Admac`s question - the red griot pad is even softer than the CMA grey/black one - more on par with Meguiar`s beige colored "soft-buff" pad. This time I used less QD to start with on the pad, and 5 true single drops (my SG is coming out of one of those little cosmetic sample bottles - these are about the diameter of a pea or a little smaller, and only about a dime-thickness tall.) This did about 3/4 of the hood but it took another spritz and 2 more drops to finish. I think I MIGHT have been able to do the whole thing if I could have gotten it spread around faster - however as soon as you get it thin and leave it it already seems to start to harden - seems better to try to methodically cover the section with a single PC pass per area.

New Idea While I was doing this, I wondered. Does SG soften/mix with existing cured but unbuffed SG? You know how you put Z2 over Z1 without buffing out the Z1? I`m wondering if, as long as you intend to do multiple coats back to back, if you could apply the secont coat right over the first, without buffing out the 1st? Has anyone tried this?

[db2]

Good idea carguy, does this work?

[imported_doug]

Short Cut, AlBoston -



I don`t know if iI will use Klasse the black car. The reason is that I don`t believe anything can prevent swirls. In my case, they show up quickly and bug me enough that I will probably strip and swirl-remove the Porsche 3 times a year, maybe more on the hood, spoiler, rear hips - you know - the pretty parts. So the longevity of Klasse doesn`t really offer me an advantage.



And it certainly doesn`t have the gorgeous wet look depth of Souveran over Gold Class which has been lastng very well for me. However the M5 gets a little less attention, and my wife`s Audi gets even less than that - so Klasse is a very good alternative for them.



With all that said, next time, since I now know I introduced some scratches on the spoiler, which is niec small test area, I might see how AIO does in cutting through the wax that is there and dealing with these. I don`t expect it to remove any real scratches, but if the swirls I saw were actually marring of the wax(?) then it should clean right up. So I`ll give it a try. Going to be a while though....

[imported_doug]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by C240 [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>Good idea carguy, does this work? [/b]</blockquote>
C240 - I assume by "this" you meant the second layer without buffing the 1st. Like I said - just a thought so far, and was wondering if anyone had actually tried it. If nobody has I might give it a go for yucks. worst that could happen is it would be harder to buff out. Best that could happen is you end up getting more SG bonded to the paint!

I sure wish there was a way to truly know how much (if any :nixweiss ) extra protection a new layer added.

[imported_doug]

And now I buffed out this AM`s 4th coat. Waited an hour - it came off as easily as sitting overnight. Used the damp wipe / dry wipe method on the whole thing. Then did a final QD, and, for the hell of it, took this picture to show off my shine, my lights and my messy garage: http://www.heumann.com/images/klasse_in_hood.jpg

here is the outdoor shot:

http://www.heumann.com/images/klasse_in_hood_outside.JPG

And, before you get too excited, here is the trunk lid with an old coat of souveran:

http://www.heumann.com/images/no_klasse_on_trunk.JPG

which only goes to show, as much as we like to show off our cars with photos, they really can`t demonstate the subtle differences! Needless to say, however, the hood looks great.

SO - I now know how to use Klasse and I think it is good stuff. I can`t say that I really see much difference between 1st and 4th layers of SG. Thanks to everyone for your support and ideas during this test! I will continue to play around with it, judging its resistance to marring and long term durabiluty - if I can stand to keep my hands off the car ;)

Cheers!

[BradE]

Glad I was able to help Greg.:up

[admac]

greg, it might just be the lighting or location of the hood versus the trunk lid, but the hood looks darker and a bit glossier. is that an accurate assessment? both look good, but i`d say i like the look of the hood a little bit more.