303 versus #40

C

chip douglas

New member
303 versus #40

Today i used 303 aerospace protectant, on the girlfriend's ride. How can i put it.....im not sure i like the way it looks, yet i'm also quite aware that i might be nearing a nervous breakdown, cause i never seem to find something to fully please me .



Knowing that many of you have used and still use #40, i'd like to know how those 2 compare in terms of OEM look on vinyl ?



Here i'm gonna outline the procedure i followed : first i vaccumed in just about all the cracks and hard to reach spots, using a paintbrush, vaccuming it all at the same time, or at least the most part of it......then i cleaned the whole surface area, with 3M's APC dilluted to 30:1 (which by the way seems to suck/ i think meg's APC ranks superior as far as APCs), then the whole thing dried up, after which i applied 303 using a foam applicator(but not moistened though.......should i have moistened it ??), then i polished it till dry, at least, i hope my efforts were enthusiastic enough, as i polished like crazy to make sure i followed the makers recommendation .



Results ? Well, i'm not sure i like the look...let me explain, some parts are real nice looking, whereas some others look way too oily to my liking.........my point is when she bought her car, the vinyl didnt look that way at all.......it looked clean and had a mat finish, nothing too sheeny. Please dont see this as a flame, it s not what i have in mind at all here, but rather im sharing this with you'all so i can perhaps correct any mistakes i may have made applying it.



So that's why i'm asking how #40 compare to 303, or any other products outhere for that matter, as the only one i have aside 303 is one from finish kare which i paid much more for, which contains no silicone as well, it does have a matter finish, as i compared it to 303, but the difference is not day nad night though



Another point i wantto raise is : i thought that after a thorough cleaning logic would have dictated me that i would have been able to apply evenly, but it didnt.......so this as a result has me consider the whole cleaning prior to dressing thing. I would like cleaning to make a huge difference, but it doesnt seem to, as i tested left side of tha car, which was cleaned then dressed, and the right side who wasnt, and the look is absolutely the same, but keep in mind the vinyl wasnt dirty, it was just dusty at worst, perhaps it also had some plasticizers ( am i correct here ?).





So to wrap it up, are all dressing about the same ? i'm sure we could clear that up in this thread, cause you'all have tried a lot im sure and compared.



Hope this post doesnt sound bad, as it was not al all my intention, i come in peace



Best regards to all





P.S. i forgot to include this to my above post...

anyone have tried and compared z10 (for vinyl, i think it is z10, is this correct?), if so it would be interesting to see how it fares





Best regards to all:wavey
 
I have used both. I find that 303 leaves more of a matte finish then does #40. #40 is definitely more shiny. I really like both even though 303 costs alot more. I am not sure if #40 has UV protection though.
 
Ditto on Pats reply. #40 claims UV protection as well. I treat the rubber/vinyl juice like it was a "poly/synth" product...It won't bond to anything but CLEAN. I don't care if it says cleaner/protectant, I clean the surfaces to be treated FIRST, then follow with a rinse, till any cleaner residue is gone. I let the juice soak in for awhile, then give it a final wipe. 303 on the interior vinyl and weather strips, #40 on the tires. Clean, rinsed surface = even bonding = uniform appearance, or it should.....
 
Never tried 303, but the most matte products I have used are Poorboy's Natural Look, and Pinnacle V&R Protectant. Poorboy's is a much less painful buy (twice as much for less money). They also both smell nice. However, some plastics just don't lend themselves to smooth application. It might be when the car was new it looked good because nothing was on it. Maybe if you like the natural look, just wiping it down with water occasionally is the way to go?



Just a thought, but maybe the shinier spots you had more product? Maybe you should use more product in general so it is evenly heavy, then buff it all down. Don't know if that will help or not...
 
like others have posted, 303 gives more of a matte finish than #40. 303 seems to last longer also.

I use a foam pad to apply 1-2 squirts of 303 and buff immediately with a MF towel. Great results.

I think I got some shiny spots from the first time I used 303 (too much product). Maybe give it another try and see what happens? :)
 
I will give it another try for sure. Today what i did was to clean the dashboard, console etc... with meg's APC (but not APC+), and the re-applied 303 doing one small area at a time. You should also know that i applied very little product yesterday and today, cause i noticed the 303 covers a lot of surface with only a minute quantity. So the result were exactly the same, that is : on doors it was matte, and just like i want it to be, but where it goes wrong is on the dashboard, console, i have to say the finish was quite shiny, prolly cause the material is not the same or more of a porous one, cause i wiped it off real soon after i wiped it on, as i didnt want to let it sink too much in the crack patterns of my gf's car.



Moral of the story is : i don't think i could find anything better than 303, cause if 303 gave the console a shiny appearance, considering it's said to give out a matte finish, meg's #40 would not do any better i'm sure.............maybe poorboy's would do the trick though. I can't speak for it, as i haven't tried it out to this day, but might very do so not so long from now. As to even application, it didn't apply that uniformly in some spots, however i did cleaned the surface thorougly prior to it.............her car"s is a 1996 with a black dashboard, which never had any dressing, therefore no UV protection until couple days ago, so it might explain why i had a hard time with it( a wild guess here).





=====> Also i want to mentiion that Meg's regular APC (not APC+) says to dilute 1:1 for the engine bay and 1;1 for interior vinyl, which before trying it out found to be extreme, as vinyl as i see it, is not covered with as nasty stuf like grease, grime, then vinyl.............and guess what ?? Iwas cleaning her dashboard with it, and id did lif some paint from the dasboard :( So i then concluded the stuff at 1:1 was hazardous to vinyl, and considering i pamper my car a lot, i WON'T use that for mine ;) On top of it i think it's got butyl and, as i read here butyl when inhaled burns lungs, so i now have to ggod reasons to avoid it in the futur.





====> On a brighter not now, seeeing the stuff was too powerful, i decided to give the CHOMP biodegradeable cleaner, which claims to be safe for children and pets http://www.chompsolutions.com/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=main&_pn=how



All i can say is i was way surprised at how well it cleaned the vinyl, and the overhead. I then tried it to remove bugs, and to my surprise, and i kid you not, the stuff is more effective then 3m's bug remover, which i tried out last summer, and i remember i had to scrub a lot, after letting it sit for a while, but not with chomp. I dont think it would do miracle for the engine compartment though, but as far as interior i give it 2 thumbs up, as the overhead area was quiet dirty and it all went away, and that without much scrubing, only minimal efforts............just wanted to share this with you all, as we re all here to help one another :D





Also i would like to report, although it's been said before, that EAGLE ONE 20/20 work like a charm !!.......she's got clean as a whistle windows now.........it looks real good. I applied it with a terry towel, then wipe the leftovers with MF towel, and id did the trick :xyxthumbs ...........oh, more importantly, not smearing, streaking.



take care all.....talk to you later



Mark
 
Yes I too converted from #40 to 303 this past weekend, and I really like the look of it. Used it for the dash area which was neglected from the dealer. Brings out the black without the nasty gloss, just a nice sheen, somewhat matte.



I still use #40 for other things, but not the dash.



The best reason for the change was the UV protection it add to the sheen. Being that this dash is black and exposed, I needed something to protect as well as give off a nice clean look.



I also tried the 303 in the engine bay, worked very well there too.



Treated all rubber as well on the A pillers where the top meets it (lots of rubber) and all trim weatherstriping on windows.



#40 has it's places, but for me 303 for now is doing what I wanted and with added UV protection.



Regards,



Deanski
 
I think for matte that the tiefenpfleger has the least shine of the three. I alternate between 303, tiefenpfleger, natural look, and #40. I would say the #40 is the most shiny of the above listed. Just .02
 
Chip Douglas

You might want to try Black Magic Semi-Gloss Protectant.

YoSteve always gives this product great reviews for its mild

"matte-ness" if that is a word. To be completely honest it is his vehement endorsing of this product that has put it onto my must try list, as I also find 303 to be a bit to shiney for my taste.

Sincerely hope this is helpfull :up
 
"vehement endorsing", good one ;) you'd think I were selling the product. it's just some people bof at the fact that there are a few (and I mean a few) jewels in the OTC (over the counter) market (not many but some). In fact look for my next review. BMDP's shine exists somewhere between 303 and OEM unprotected finish. It's denfinately richer than untouched OEM but not as shiny (if you call it shiny cause it's not) as 303.
 
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