Klasse SG not as smooth as AIO?

[couch16]

I`m detailing my car for the first time. This is also the first time I’m using Klasse.



I washed it with Dawn, used Mother`s clay bar, then put two layers of Klasse AIO on it. I even put a third on the facia, hood, roof, trunk lid, and some leading edges.



I was VERY thorough with the AIO. It took me roughly 17 hours to do the above. But when I was done, it paint looked fantastic and was smoother than any I`d ever felt before.



(But truth be told, it is a brand new silver Mercedes C32 AMG, so it`s not hard to make a new car look like new.)



Anyway, I applied a layer of Klasse SG, let dry for 30 minutes, and buffed it off. I then waited 48 hours, put a second coat of SG on, and then took it off.



The paint really does look great and I`m going to put at least two more layers on the car. But it doesn`t seem as smooth as before. The car with just AIO on it seemed fantastic. But the surface with two coats of SG doesn`t seem quite as smooth.



I realize that the car is silver and it`s a little harder to see where you applied SG a little to think and you need to buff it out. But I really think I did a good job removing it.



Is this a common occurrence?



P.S. I`m using MF applicators and towels.



P.S.S. This lack of smoothness may go away after I apply a layer of P21S when I`m done with SG. But I just wanted to make sure that I`m not doing something wrong before I continue adding more layers of SG.

[Beach15]

I know exactly what you mean! I`ve always been impressed by the very silky, glass-like feel the AIO makes, but always wondered if I was nuts when I thought the SG wasn`t as smooth. It`ll give great protection over the AIO, so I`d keep using it if you like it, but no, it`s normal if it doesn`t feel exactly as smooth as the AIO.

[FocusRun]

Hi! Congrats on your new Benz. I just want to caution you about adding more than 2 -3 layers of SG on a silver paint. From what I`ve read from these guy`s post, 2 - 3 layer is just perfect.



Do a search about the "tinting" that Klasse does and ask or also do another search about the layers of SG. I also have a silver metallic paint and only planning to put 3 layers of SG. Then I`ll top it off with the Paste Glaz.



Congrats again on your nice car:up

Originally posted by Tortuga

I`m detailing my car for the first time. This is also the first time I’m using Klasse.



I washed it with Dawn, used Mother`s clay bar, then put two layers of Klasse AIO on it. I even put a third on the facia, hood, roof, trunk lid, and some leading edges.



I was VERY thorough with the AIO. It took me roughly 17 hours to do the above. But when I was done, it paint looked fantastic and was smoother than any I`d ever felt before.



(But truth be told, it is a brand new silver Mercedes C32 AMG, so it`s not hard to make a new car look like new.)



Anyway, I applied a layer of Klasse SG, let dry for 30 minutes, and buffed it off. I then waited 48 hours, put a second coat of SG on, and then took it off.



The paint really does look great and I`m going to put at least two more layers on the car. But it doesn`t seem as smooth as before. The car with just AIO on it seemed fantastic. But the surface with two coats of SG doesn`t seem quite as smooth.



I realize that the car is silver and it`s a little harder to see where you applied SG a little to think and you need to buff it out. But I really think I did a good job removing it.



Is this a common occurrence?



P.S. I`m using MF applicators and towels.



P.S.S. This lack of smoothness may go away after I apply a layer of P21S when I`m done with SG. But I just wanted to make sure that I`m not doing something wrong before I continue adding more layers of SG.



I noticed the same thing on both of our cars. I found the longer u let SG dry, the slicker it is. If you have a garage, try letting it dry overnight, it seems to be slicker.

[medic]

Originally posted by AlBoston





I noticed the same thing on both of our cars. I found the longer u let SG dry, the slicker it is. If you have a garage, try letting it dry overnight, it seems to be slicker.



so you`re saying put on the SG, wait 24 hrs to buff off and then wait another 24hrs for it to cure before applying another layer of SG?



I just thought that after 30-60 minutes no more of the SG would bond to the paint so it was okay to buff off the excess. if you just do this for the last coat of SG would that still give you the smooth feel?

[Pats300zx]

I am glad somebody else noticed this. After putting on the SG it was not as smooth as after the AIO alone. I always thought I might have done something wrong.

[couch16]

UPDATE:



After 24 hours of waiting for the second coat of SG to cure, I noticed that the surface was smoother.



And after another 24 hours, it`s even smoother. SG really does take a good deal of time to fully cure.



At this point, it`s still not as smooth as the surface after clay and AIO, but it`s pretty darn good.



I`m anxious to see what it will look like after four coats of SG and then P21S used as a weekly/bi-weekly topper.





FocusRun brought up a great point. Thanks so much for telling me about the tinting effect of SG. I did some searches and now I`m a little worried. I`m going to bring my car back to the dealer and compare my finish against another new car on the lot.



I LOVE the brilliant silver Mercedes is using. It`s so bright and sparkly! As I look at it now (and it might just be my imagination) the paint looks a little more gray.



Like I said, I`m going to compare it to a new car and see if there really is a difference or it`s just my imagination.



If it`s different, I`m going to give it a good long look and see if I like the new tint. I don`t care if it looks exactly like it did from the factory. If I like the color, then I like it. If I don`t, I don`t.



However, I also read on the same posts that talked about Klasse`s tinting effect that when people tried to strip Klasse from the paint, they had a hell of a time. They commented that if it`s that hard to take off on purpose then it must really provide significant protection from the elements.



I purchased my car outright because I plan on keeping it for roughly 10 years. I always take great care of my cars. It`s good to know that if I continue to use Klasse, the paint should be well protected.

[porterdog]

Originally posted by Tortuga

Like I said, I`m going to compare it to a new car and see if there really is a difference or it`s just my imagination.



I`ll be really interested to hear the results of this comparison! Please shoot us another update after you`ve been to the stealer.



Peace,

pd

[couch16]

UPDATE Thursday, June 13, 2002



I`ve got two well-cured layers of SG on the car.



I went to the dealer twice to compare the tint of my car vs. other new cars.



First, I verified with the staff that Mercedes used the same color silver on the cars that I inspected.



On my first visit, I parked my car next to both new and used vehicles. I immediately noticed that my car definitely looked better than ANY other car on the lot. The shine after just two layers of SG blew away any other car there.



As far as tint goes, it`s a little hard to be sure. My car`s silver, and silver tends to look different from different angles, different lightling levels, and is highly dependant on the brightness/color of the image you see in the reflection.



It was also very difficult to tell because each of the cars I compared it to seemed to have a little different color. Only one new car seemed a little brighter than mine. All the used cars were clearly darker than mine.



I wasn`t sure of my results so I decided to come back the next day and compare.



The next day, I parked next to some other cars. One guy who was looking to buy a new car asked me about mine. We talked about cars for a while and then I asked him to compare the paint on my car vs. the other silver cars parked nearby. He said that he thought mine was a little lighter than the others, but the shine was MUCH better on mine. He said he really liked mine and wanted to know what I did to it.



So...at this point, the color`s so close it`s hard to tell.



My mother`s an artist and is excellent with colors. The next time I see her, I`m going to ask her to compare my door sills (which only have AIO) to the body of the car. By the time I see her, I`ll have 4 to 5 coats of SG on the body, so it should be a good test.



The main thing is that *I* like the way the car looks. Lighter, darker, whatever. It looks great to me.



I`ll let you know what happens after 4 to 5 coats of SG.

[porterdog]

Different lighting conditions on different days, several cars to compare with, verification of color (at least by name, obviously you can`t verify paint-lot) and an independent observer. Good work!



Robert

[YoSteve]

I have 5 coats on my satin silver and next to a coworkers same model year and color there is no detectible difference.



I did notice that my other coworker`s silver Solera is now darker silver than my car (could be UV stuff going on).



Here`s the thing with SG. It`s pure and doesn`t have the oily solvents that AIO has. AIO is sort of that instant buttery gratification.



SG looks great after a week and after a wash. Lots of it has to do with curing of the coats, add some QD after the wash and it`ll be amazing.



SG sorta has a dryish smooth shiny finish, unlike AIO which has a buttery smooth slick finish.



I recommend Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo with Klasse, it`s pretty good and makes Klasse (IMO) smoother, even without QD.



Also try loading the SG on your dry foam applicator (while still spreading the same thin amount).



HTH

[shaf]

Let us know after more coats Tortuga. Although YoSteve`s experience could be called "good" news, I actually wouldn`t mind a bit of tinting. ;)



I`m getting Klasse for my car and plan on doing a half-and-half test on my hood in a couple (a few?) weeks. 1xSG vs 5xSG and maybe a AIO vs SG test prior to that.

[z4zen]

thanks Tortuga for the tremendous amount of research and follow up... that`s what`s great about this forum -- everyone sharing in hopes of achieving "the perfect finish" (or as close to perfect as possible!).



as for my silver car, I noticed leaving the SG on 24 hours in the garage not only helped in buffing it off, but did make the car seem much smoother, and even "softer", then leaving SG on for an hour and working a bit to buff it off.

[couch16]

UPDATE

June 24, 2002



I took the car to my parents house. As I stated earlier, my mother is an artist and has a great eye for color.



I asked her to examine any differences between the door jam and the body panel it`s attached to. The door jam has no Klasse on it at all. The body panel had two coats of AIO and two coats of SG. I did NOT tell her why I was asking. I just said I wanted her to look for any differences she could find in color, reflectiveness, etc.



She immediately said that body panel appeared to have a thick gloss on it that was on top of the paint and made it quite shiney and reflective. (Score one for Klasse.) After that, she spent a few minutes looking at it from various angles and concluded that the two were otherwise the same.



I then told her that some people have said that Klasse tends to tint the paint a darker color. She then studied the shadows and bright spots and insisted that there is no difference in the color.



I`m going to add five to ten more coats of SG (waiting a day between coats). Then I`ll repeat the process of bringing the car back to the dealer and then to have my mother look at it.



I also read the post today about the guy with the red truck with only one half the hood with SG on it. Hmmm...something is definitely going on there. There`s no question that there is a difference on his truck. But I don`t seem to have it on mine.



(As a side note, there`s only two things that matter to me on this subject. One, does Klasse tint everyone`s paint, just some people`s paint, or it`s a myth? Two, do *I* like the color of my car. If Klasse tints it and it still looks great, who cares?)



I`ll keep you all updated.

[shaf]

From what I`ve read, you don`t really get lots of tinting until you go somewhere north of 3 coats (maybe 5 coats plus?). Probably by 5 coats it should be noticeable, as a guess.