I thought it would never get warm enough to try out the new Flex and Blackfire products. The weatherman was right on the money for today, so I played hooky and went at it. The car is a 2003 Miata SE in Strato Blue - look at it from one angle and it is dark blue, from another angle it is dark purple. Impression of Blackfire and Flex combo so far? Wow!

Step one - a good wash and dry, including 303 cleaner on the fabric top. Big Blue towel, true to claims, dried the entire car and barely felt wet afterwards.
Step two - clay, and then another wash and dry. Big Blue towel pretty wet when finished, but car very smooth and dry. So far, so good.
Step three - break out the Flex and the Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish. Very nervous now, but must trust! Trust is well-placed, after hand buffing away the residue, paint is like glass and reflections are very sharp, detailed, and focused.
Step four - Wet Diamond Sealant, first coat, hand applied and hand buffed. Paint has depth, car looks magnificent. Will let cure overnight and apply another coat in the morning.

So, a couple of questions:

1. Does it really make a difference if I machine or hand-apply the sealant and wax? It is hard to imagine things looking better than they do now ...
2. The work above, plus cleaning up the interior and cleaning the glass, took me about six hours. I`m new at this - should I expect the time to significantly diminish as I get more familiar with how all this works? Or, is six hours about right for this amount of work? The paint was in pretty good shape when I started, though it is now in a different league.

Anyway, I couldn`t be more pleased with the way the Blackfire products and the Flex are working out so far. I`m glad I found Proper Auto Care and am convinced that every penny has been well spent. :thumbup:

Jim