2013 Equinox cleanup + A little product testing

[DylanVK]

My poor wife... her Equinox is not only the designated kid hauler, but its also subjected to product testing almost constantly so theres always 50/50 stripes of this, half a hood of that, side by sides, etc. Today was no different. After correcting a deep scratch on it the other day (that result can be viewed here ) I didn't have time to really address the rest of the paint, plus I needed to restore some protection and have a new sealant product to test.

Temps outside were in the upper 80's and the sun has been brutal as it almost always is here in CO when the sky is clear. Washing needed to be quick, and the center piece of my testing was going to be the full sun/high heat application of this sealant product.

Before shots:
As you can see not too dirty... it was only a few weeks removed from a clay job and has been getting pretty regular washes with Surface Prep Wash to test LSP durability against detergents.







Ah the joys of children and car care... two worlds at constant opposition to eachother!




The wash started with my Gilmour foam gun, 2 buckets w/ Grit Guards, Deluxe Merino Wool Wash Mitt, and a synthetic wool wash pad (for the lower sections)



Prepped my buckets with 2oz of SPS and added 3oz to a 32 mix on my Gilmour Foam Gun then jumped right into the rinse. Luckily the wheels had just been cleaned so they were barely dirty. No need for dedicated cleaners, just did them as part of the rest of the wash process

Rinsing all the junk off and trying to dislodge the hundreds of bugs from the front end


Realizing the front end was a little too soiled for just regular washing I pre-treated all the bug splats really quick with one of my favorites from the enthusiast grade line - Road Trip Grim Destoryer. This stuff does a killer job of softening up dried on critters.


Let that soak for a moment then foamed down... for those that have asked about foaming capabilities... this is a 3oz (so fairly strong) mix of SPS





While all that was soaking I quickly hit the tires with a 4:1 mix of APC conentrate just to strip them down for a fresh dressing application later.



On to agitation of the soap - top 2/3rd with the Deluxe Merino Wool Mitt, lowers with the synthetic wool wash pad. Spent a little extra time removing what remnants of the bugs Road Trip didn't handle.



and rinse....


Clearly SPS had done its job... no beading at all... the water was FLAT


Dried quickly with a large waffle weave drying towel to avoid spotting


The trusty Sidekick Blaster made an appearance to get water out of those tight places


Everything dry, time to dress the trim


Stopped for a great 50/50 to show exactly how nice Exterior Trim Conditioner finishes, without grease or excessive gloss



Refresher on the Glass Sealant... the previous application wasn't that long ago, but we are in the heart of monsoon/thunderstorm season here so a little extra glass protection couldn't hurt. Clarifying Glass Sealant went down easy, but fought a little on removal with all the heat/sun so I used a few shots of Clarifying Glass Cleaner to remove anything that didn't come off easily.

[DylanVK]

Now onto the product testing - this is one thats been getting refined for some time now and its very close to ready. Its a thick cream type product, acrylic resin in composition, that provides awesome durability. Todays test centered purely around how it applied in full sun on hot panels



Went on and came off super easy... not as easy as it does in cooler conditions, but barely struggled to remove. I did a quick blast of water to test the application and make sure that it was doing its thing despite the surface temps being north of 170* on the hood. Nothing on the left, prototype sealant coated on the right



Close up treated side - note the nice round beads


Close up non treated - note the deformed and inconsistent water shapes


Finished up application to the rest of the vehicle and applied a coat of Tire Dressing & Conditioner






And the after shots





Where I pulled that scratch out last week


You can see the dimple/dent from whatever was the cause impacting the finish, but absolutely ZERO evidence of the scratch


Sealed and clarified glass





'Merica!


Thanks for looking!

[CamaroDreams07]

Awesome. So when you're saying great durability, what kind of ballpark are we playing in? Months? Years?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[trashmanssd]

that is the 1,000,000 dollar question.

[DylanVK]

Originally Posted by CamaroDreams07

Awesome. So when you're saying great durability, what kind of ballpark are we playing in? Months? Years?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Its a traditional style sealant, so with this one we're dealing in months.

I have a coating product in the works that will be the long term protection if you so choose it.

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by Dylan@SCG

Its a traditional style sealant, so with this one we're dealing in months.

I have a coating product in the works that will be the long term protection if you so choose it.

Nice.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk