Chemical Guys vs SAAB 900 Turbo

pjgh · Post by **pjgh** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:08 pm

Hi Guys - I think this fits into this forum the best since it's an all over wash, dry and play about with the Chemical Guys products I bought from CYC (and others) recently and have been sniffing ever since they arrived :twisted:

The products:

Zymöl shampoo (the greenish stuff)
Autoglym Radiant Wax (sample) applied with Autoglym Hi-Tech Applicator
Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 (from the Clean & Shiny offer over on DW)
Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel
Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss ... just for fun at the end :lol:

To business ... despite really really wanting to try out the Citrus Wash & Gloss, I knew it would be a waste if I was going to be putting AG Radiant Wax on top (this is the trade name for SRP, as far as I know). I got a sample bottle through the post, along with a Hi-Tech Applicator. The car was washed with Zymöl shampoo and rinsed well, dried off with an AG Aqua Dry (synthetic chamois) and buffed over with a quartered microfibre.

At this stage I wanted to try out the Hi-Tech Applicator - this is essentially one of those open cell foam sponges, like you'd use for tile grouting and have been talked about as a new alternative for actually shampoo washing the car. I must say, I do prefer this to terry which I usually use for SRP. The Radiant Wax product smells the same as SRP, but it didn't feel as chalky in use and did not produce nearly as much white powder. I'd be interested to hear from others about this, but I'm not convinced it is the same product as SRP. Maybe it's the applicator that makes all the difference?

Buffed off ... next Chemical Guys Jetseal 109. The skies were threatening, so I got to work straight away on the bonnet. It smells nice ... kind of like fresh air? One application with a yellow foam pad and stand back waiting for it to bond. I was happy with how it applied - it's dead easy. Just get it on pretty quickly ... spread it around and leave it to bond. After about 10 minutes it started to spot rain, so I got it removed pretty quick with a quartered microfibre. It really bounced down then for about two minutes and I got to enjoy a demonstration of Jetseal's ability to protect the car :roll:

Well ... it lives up to my expectations. The beading was really small and well spaced out - quite the opposite to what I am used to with wax, which is often larger beads quite closely spaced.

Back outside, quick spray down with clean water and dry off ... applied Jetseal to the rest of the paintwork and to the wheels. I am led to believe it's really good on wheels, so we'll see ...

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7233.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7234.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7245.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7230.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7232.jpg

Thanks to Lord Melch for the suggestion - the shine is really good, even on a dull and overcast day like today. From the brief appearances the sun made throughout the process, I think I'm going to be very happy with this product and how it boosts the shine on my white car. The paintwork is soooo glossy and smooth to the touch. Unfortunately, Jetseal is not available from CYC - the UK distributor seems to keep this one close to his chest.

Anyway, onto a product I did get from CYC - Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel. My goodness ... when they say a little goes a long way, they really REALLY mean it :shock:

I bought this to use on the bodykit, which is unpainted but lacquered ABS plastic. I put a small blob onto a yellow foam applicator and smeared it over the rear bumper from the middle working out. This stuff is odd - the consistency is runny coming out of the bottle, but as soon as it hits plastic it turns quite hard and you have to work quite hard to spread it. The small blob on the back of the car was enough to go up the sides almost to the front, too! I repeated from the front, giving the front bumper a good covering and then down the sides to give an even finish.

The pad would now sufficiently loaded to go around all the other plastic work on my car - the wing mirrors, spoiler edge, sunroof spoiler/trim, rear decor panel, lights and all the little plastic bits all over the car.

Faded black plastic restoration:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7227.jpg

Sunroof spoiler:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7236.jpg

Spoiler edge (the spoiler rubber is quite pitted):

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7239.jpg

Bodykit:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7241.jpg

Nice shine :cool:

Initially, I was not impressed - the slightly faded plastic bits did not come up black and I thought, "oh ... it's not a trim restorer, then ..." ... and then, before my eyes ... it went black :shock:

Cool ... it is a trim restorer, then :cool:

The residual product on the pad did all that, covered the door sill plates and some of the inside as well as a large parcel shelf covered in leatherette .... Mmmm ... fake leather :twisted:

This is a great product! Let's just see how it lasts ... and I hope it's not too greasy that it attracts dust. I'll try it on the tyres some time, too.

Finally ... I really wanted to try out the Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss, so like a total sad kipper I made up a small blob of the shampoo in a bucket and washed the boot down. Free flowing water, finally to unleash the gloss. Yup! This is a nice shampoo and one which will help keep the shine between applications of Jetseal, I'm sure.

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7229.jpg

... it going to look stunning in the sun :cool:

arekkusu · Post by **arekkusu** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:33 pm

Nice write up! I'm gonna have to try CG new look gel next, I find the sonus doesn't stand up to water very well.

jamest · Post by **jamest** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:06 pm

That really does look brilliant, hopefully mine will look that good.

pjgh · Post by **pjgh** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:28 pm

Awwwwww ... how good does this look at night under street lights? It practically glows :cool:

I've been out with the SAAB guys tonight (our monthly get-together) and I am sooooo pleased with the finish. The car usually looks good, but the shine boost that Jetseal gives is astonishing - I wonder how the other Chemical Guys finishes compare? I'm going to try Wet Mirror Finish next.

Parky · Post by **Parky** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 10:13 am

that looks superb mate, good write up too... :wink:

Post by **mulder** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:40 pm

pjgh,

From your details above, did you get 2 layers of jetSeal onto the paintwork :?:

Are you planning to put a wax on top of the jetSeal
:?:

pjgh · Post by **pjgh** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:00 pm

I did get two layers on in the end ... the bonnet first, then it rained ... I sprayed the car with water, dried off and then covered the rest of the car. Left half an hour and put another full coat over the car.

I'm going to try it like that without wax for now.

How's that?
Paul

Post by **mulder** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:44 pm

Pucka

lord melch · Post by **lord melch** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:19 pm

Great write-up
Top notch. She looks great - nice job.. =D>

Love the piccie with the trees reflection..

Doesn't she feel soo smooth too

Post by **cleanyourcar** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:27 pm

Looks stunning!

Hopefully we should be allowed to sell Jetseal before long as it gets some really good write ups.

pjgh · Post by **pjgh** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:18 pm

cleanyourcar wrote:Looks stunning!

Hopefully we should be allowed to sell Jetseal before long as it gets some really good write ups.

Awesome!!! I think it will be in my repertoire now and will no doubt need re-stocking in the future. I do hope you can get it into CYC.
I am very happy with the CG New Look Trim Gel - it's rained tonight for the first time since I did the job, so I'll see how it's getting on in the morning.

lord melch · Post by **lord melch** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:36 pm

cleanyourcar wrote:Looks stunning!

Hopefully we should be allowed to sell Jetseal before long as it gets some really good write ups.

Maybe a cheap flight with 3 suitcases to the US to stock up on some CG products with a good exchange rate

pjgh · Post by **pjgh** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:05 pm

Hi again guys ... so ... first weekend wash since trying out these Chemical Guys products. What do I think?

First, I washed both cars using Citrus Wash & Gloss (1/2 oz in 2 gallons of water each) and rinsed off well. I used the "use water to dry the car" technique, whereby you slowly dribble free-flowing water over the panels allowing it to wash off. My neighbour was amazed, "Hey, Eric ... watch this ... I'm drying the car with water!" :lol:

The finish was great - really pleased! The black car was prepared with Zymöl shampoo, Car-Lack68 NSC and hand-applied (warmed in the palms and massaged into the paint) Collinite 476S last week. It's been at my mechanics all week getting a new turbo and full pressure upgrade fitted ... WHEEE! 185 BHP ... what fun :twisted:

Anyway ... the paint was really nice, so I just spritzed a quartered microfibre with Meg's QD, wiped, buffed and moved on to the white car.

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7255.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7256.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7257.jpg

The white car was prepared on Tuesday with AG Radiant Wax (trade SRP, AFAIK) using an open cell sponge, followed by two coats of CG Jetseal 109 in between rain showers. Before washing, I noticed that there were dark stains of traffic film where the water runs off. I have noticed this before when using AG Aqua Wax, but it does not do this when I use a paste wax. Just an observation ... nothing wrong with it. Same washing technique ... WOW! CG CWG shampoo loves going onto it's siblings ... the surface is sooooo much slicker than the black car (paste carnauba wax finish) and the dirt just fell off with the lightest of touches. I think I'll go back to a sheepskin mitten for the white car now, since I think I have a good set of products that really protect the car and make washing so much easier. Great!

How did I find Jetseal on the wheels? Awesome! This is the best brake dust protector I have tried yet, having used Wheel Wax, SRP, paste waxes (Collinite 4576S & P21S), NXT Tech Wax and probably a few others. I have not tried either the Chemical Guys or Poorboys wheel guard products yet, but for my wetsprayed body-coloured wheels, using the same product as the rest of the car's paintwork is always a bonus in my book. The brake dust washed off without issue, really easily and left gleaming paintwork :cool:

I treated the white car to another coat of Jetseal all over, wheels too. Buffed off after about 10 minutes because it started snowing :roll:

Oh well ... damn shiny, anyway!

Last Tuesday, the white car also got the lower bodykit finished with Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel - how has it faired? Well, it's still repelling water. It survived a light wash with CG CWG shampoo and it dried (with a chamois) to a good shine. I think the stuff is still on, just ... but it's unlikely to survive another wash. For the amount of product that you actually need, it's very good value for money IMO and the loaded pad can be run over any internal plastics giving a nice sheen without looking gloopy. Aside from the bodykit, the other black plastic work - little bits of trim, edging and so on are still nice and black and actually got better after a wipe over with CG CWG. I treated the black car's bodykit to a full going over with the CG NLTG product as well as some of the interior.

Quick question ... our convertible (the black car) has a rubber spoiler that runs all the way around the top of the body panels, under the window. Whatever I use on it always ends up being washed down the paintwork. I made the huge mistake once of using AG Bumper Trim on this rubber work and it took weeks to wash it all off. I have since used Meg's High Gloss Hot Shine Tyre Spray before, applied with a foam pad ... do you think CG NLTG would work okay?

You can see it here, running from the main rear spoiler around the sides of the car:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7139.jpg

One last thing ... I tried the Meg's #7 on the boot of the black car. Cor! Now that's a deep shine ... it was applied on top of last week's Car-Lack68 NSC/Collinite 476S combo. I think this is how I am going to use it - just for car shows, because after I popped some more Collinite 476S on top, the shine was dulled. I know the product says to follow up with Meg's #26 (presumably liquid wax), so maybe I'll get around to trying that some day, but for now, I'll just use this as a shine booster for the black car for when I want to show off :twisted:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7249.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/album ... CF7252.jpg

lord melch · Post by **lord melch** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:09 pm

Very nice

AND a new Turbo..

do you think CG NLTG would work okay?

I havn't seen it ever wash off.. (or drip off) if you know what I mean..)

pjgh · Post by **pjgh** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 6:12 pm

lord melch wrote:Very nice AND a new Turbo..

Cheers! Yes ... BRAND new (read: expensive) ... but she goes like the clappers now. I'll try to get a quarter mile time next week - I'm hoping for low 15s, but the automatic might let it down a bit. After the headgasket failed (well, the head cracked) a few months ago, we put a new head on it (a 2.3 ... up from 2.0), but it seems that had an internal crack in it too :roll:

So ... third head in almost as many months, new turbo, re-built block, skimmed, new piston rings and a load of valve lapping she'll be good for a number of years to come ... bloomin' better be, anyway :lol: