1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Patrick
Carnauba based ? I would expect minimal protection if thats the case ? Not knocking, just making an observation....
Release date ? Im interested !

The protection component of ColorX is both a blend of synthetic polymer and Carnauba waxes.

ColorX is out now, search your local auto parts stores, or stores like Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc.

Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by mopar
Wal-Mart in Watertown has ColorX so like if you were going to prep the paint and then polish and then top with NXT, would you prep it with ColorX or just a regular paint cleaner, what would yield the best results?

In most cases, using dedicated products for dedicated procedures will result in the best results. This is the logic behind Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle,

Step-1 Washing
Step-2 Paint Cleaning and Surface Prep
Step-3 Polishing
Step-4 Protecting
Step-5 Maintaining


So following the 5-Step Paint Care Cycle, if you have a finish that has been neglected, your best results will come from separately cleaning, polishing and then applying a pure was.

That said, from my experience with ColorX, it is an excellent one-step product with excellent cleaning ability. You can easily restore dirty, oxidized paint with this one product and produce a clear, high gloss finish.

If you want to take it to a higher lever, then applying a coat of NXT Tech Wax, by hand or with the PC should increase the clearness and gloss even more.

I have a feeling that the ColorX/NXT Tech Wax combo will be a winner.

Give it a try and post your results with a pictures or two.

Mike

[mopar]

oh ok so colour x is 2 steps in 1 cleaner/polish,.ok mike what would you do then my paint is in like new condition i have the deep crystal system and am very happy with it ,but maybe to save some time would you skip step 2 and just use colour x and then nxt?or just do all 3 steps ?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by mopar
oh ok so colour x is 2 steps in 1 cleaner/polish,.ok mike what would you do then my paint is in like new condition i have the deep crystal system and am very happy with it ,but maybe to save some time would you skip step 2 and just use colour x and then nxt?or just do all 3 steps ?

ColorX is 3 steps in one

Paint Cleaner
Paint Polish
Polymer Protectant

It is an aggressive one-step cleaner wax.

Because ColorX offers such good cleaning ability, I can easily see this being used as a pre-NXT Tech Wax paint cleaner. By using ColorX first, and then following with NXT Tech Wax, you would in essence be skipping step 2 Polish, and hopefully getting equal or better results.

Mike

[Mosca]

Mike,

Reading between the lines, I gather that this is a more specialized product than A1216 and #6, the other popular cleaner waxes, and #20, GC, and MPPP, three other Meg's products that combine mild cleaning action and final coat? I see the A1216 as a cleaner wax acceptable for regular use. I don't know enough about #6 to say anything about it, and I see #20, GC, and MPPP as not really "cleaner waxes", but as products that have been engineered with some cleaning action to ensure optimal results to a wide range of users.

The strength of ColorX has been mentioned several times. Is it as strong as MPCC? Is it as strong as #9? Is it safe for regular use, perhaps monthly, or is it a wax that you keep on the shelf and break out as needed? Is it safe to use weekly?

As an aside, it was at my local Advance on the bottom shelf, next to the TW products that purport to fill swirls with color.


Tom

[mopar]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
ColorX is 3 steps in one

Paint Cleaner
Paint Polish
Polymer Protectant

It is an aggressive one-step cleaner wax.

Because ColorX offers such good cleaning ability, I can easily see this being used as a pre-NXT Tech Wax paint cleaner. By using ColorX first, and then following with NXT Tech Wax, you would in essence be skipping step 2 Polish, and hopefully getting equal or better results.

Mike

cool thanks for information mike im gonna give it a try hopefully post some pics

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Mosca
Mike,

Reading between the lines, I gather that this is a more specialized product than A1216 and #6, the other popular cleaner waxes, and #20, GC, and MPPP, three other Meg's products that combine mild cleaning action and final coat?

Yes.

It's a common sense, intelligent replacement for those gimmick products on the market that try to fool people by tricking them into applying a colored wax onto their cars finish. The problem with this is most cars build in the last 10-20 years have a clear coat, so it's absolutely ridiculous to think you can improve the appearance of a clear coat by adding a temporary pigmented wax, of which most of it will be wiped off.

To restore the color to a clear coat, you need to restore clarity, or clearness to the clear coat so that your eyes can see the base coat, (also called the color coat beneath the clear coat.

It's just that simple, it’s just common sense.

Meguiar’s Cleaner/Wax, (A-1216), is not an aggressive paint cleaner, it’s only intended for light oxidation, contamination, dirt in pores, etc. There are a lot of people that for whatever reason, find themselves wanting to do their best to restore their car’s finish, but… they don’t want to do a multiple-step process, or they don’t have time to do a multiple-step process, or they have a difficult time finding all of the products they need to do a multiple-step process. For people working on cars in this condition, a powerful cleaner/wax is the answer.

I see the A-1216 as a cleaner wax acceptable for regular use. I don't know enough about #6 to say anything about it,

M-0616 Cleaner/Wax is a fairly strong cleaner wax. It’s versatile in that it can be used by hand, PC, Orbital Polisher and even Rotary buffer. It’s available in half gallons also. It’s a great product that cleans, polishes and protects in one easy step. A high school kid could start a detailing business on weekends and after school with just this one product, a car wash, and a product like M-4016 because of it’s versatility.

M-0616 Good product, been around a long time, very popular.

I see #20, GC, and MPPP as not really "cleaner waxes", but as products that have been engineered with some cleaning action to ensure optimal results to a wide range of users.

#20 Polymer Sealant has a light amount of chemical cleaners in it to insure a clean surface for proper bonding of the polymers as well as a nice looking finish, (you don’t want to seal, or trap dirt and other contaminants into the finish by using a pure wax on finishes in less then excellent condition).

Gold Class and Medallion are both Polish waxes, meaning they include some rich polishing oils to create deep, dark beautiful reflections while adding polymer protection.

All three of these waxes should only be used on finishes that are in very good to excellent condition, or have been pre-cleaned with a paint cleaner, or a cleaner/polish.

The strength of ColorX has been mentioned several times. Is it as strong as MPCC?

I don’t know about this. I’ll have to research.

Is it as strong as #9?

I would think it is as strong, or stronger in it’s chemical cleaning ability. Remember, M-0916 is a cleaner/polish that contains a diminishing abrasive that reacts quite differently when used by machine. I don’t know that ColorX utilizes a diminishing abrasive, so this probably isn’t a case of comparing apples to apples.

Is it safe for regular use, perhaps monthly, or is it a wax that you keep on the shelf and break out as needed? Is it safe to use weekly?

Tom these are very good questions. I noticed when I detailed the old Bronco that it really worked well to remove the dead, oxidized paint. This being true, it might not be a wax that you would want to use often, like weekly. It would probably be a better idea to switch to a polish/wax, or a pure wax after initially using ColorX to restore the finish. I’ll check into this.

One thing about the questions you pose above. When I detailed the Bronco, I used a piece of terry cloth towel because it actually gives the ColorX a little more bite than a soft, foam applicator pad. I also used a lot of elbow grease, working the finish aggressively. (It was pretty bad).

For future applications to this now restored finish, if I were to continue to use ColorX, I wouldn’t need to be aggressive at all, and could also switch to a much softer application material, the foam applicator. This really changes the cleaning ability of the product.

As an aside, I was at my local Advance on the bottom shelf, next to the TW products that purport to fill swirls with color.

Tom

(Did you forget some words in the above? I was going to guess at what they were and fill them in, but I didn’t want to overstep my rights)

Mike

[Patrick]

Mike, I took your word for it ! I went to a local WM tonight, and found the Meg's ColorX in the Auto isle...Excellent deal at $6.58, if I can duplicate your efforts this Friday on a 95 Ram SLT. I bought it especially for this job, so a true test is in the works. Mike truthfully, I havent been a big Megs supporter in the past, but you really made me think with the intro of this new product, and your pictures on the Bronco were really quite impressive. Im not new to detailing, but using Megs products will be like starting all over, hopefully i can determine the characteristics of the product and be impressively succesful. Im curious as to ColorX's ability to support a layer of polymer, cleanly......Im not quite sold on the Nxt product yet, im still using some of the other Polymers available on the web through various vendors. Ill be sure to share my thoughts here and in other forums I participate in, if its favorable. And if Im not quite as succesful with your new product, I will be sure to PM you for some technical product advice......

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Patrick
Mike, I took your word for it ! I went to a local WM tonight, and found the Meg's ColorX in the Auto isle...Excellent deal at $6.58, if I can duplicate your efforts this Friday on a 95 Ram SLT. I bought it especially for this job, so a true test is in the works. Mike truthfully, I havent been a big Megs supporter in the past, but you really made me think with the intro of this new product, and your pictures on the Bronco were really quite impressive. Im not new to detailing, but using Megs products will be like starting all over, hopefully i can determine the characteristics of the product and be impressively succesful. Im curious as to ColorX's ability to support a layer of polymer, cleanly......Im not quite sold on the Nxt product yet, im still using some of the other Polymers available on the web through various vendors. Ill be sure to share my thoughts here and in other forums I participate in, if its favorable. And if Im not quite as succesful with your new product, I will be sure to PM you for some technical product advice......

Hi Patrick,

Thank your for giving ColorX a try, here are some techniques that I used when I restored the finish on the Bronco.

When working on extremely neglected finishes, I then to use ample products. Don't over do it, but don't be stingy either. You want the benefit of the liquid chemical cleaners to penetrate into and loosen built-up dirt in the pores and microscopic surface imperfections. Using to little product will not take advantage of the ability of these liquid cleaners to penetrate into the paint sufficiently.

If the finish on this car is a clear coat, (I’ll assume that it is, then do a test spot with both a foam applicator pad, and right next to it with a piece of soft, 100% terry cloth. I usually cut a piece form a towel I keep hand just for this. You can also find high quality terry cloth covered wax applicators at auto parts stores, I like either the Viking brand, or the Detailers Choice brand. The nap of the terry cloth, (the little cotton loops), act like a mild form of an abrasive giving your product a little more bite, and a little more strength. But you want to do a test spot first to insure good results. Clear coats are scratch sensitive and you want to insure that the terry cloth isn’t too much bite, or too aggressive for this particular paint.

Work section by section, overlapping each section. When working on extremely neglected finishes like this Bronco, it was important that I worked each section equally, otherwise the results would look blotchy. A blotch look comes from uneven cleaning and polishing.

Give your self plenty of time. Unlike a machine, your fingers, hands and arms will get tired. This is what I experienced about half way around the truck. Unlike Scottwax, I do most of my work by machine, because of that, my finger/hands/arm muscles are not conditioned for continuous work.

Don’t get me wrong, ColorX will do a lot of the work for you, but you still must work it into the paint. Cleaner/waxes are not, wipe-on, wipe-off waxes. They require the human elements of a little work, and a little passion.

Good luck and post back here your experience and before and after pictures of your results.

Thanks Patrick for giving Meguiar’s a try!

Mike

[Mosca]

Did you forget some words in the above? I was going to guess at what they were and fill them in, but I didn’t want to overstep my rights

No, but in your quote you changed the word "it" to "I".... The ColorX was on the bottom shelf next to Turtle Wax's colored waxes. I was unsure that it might have been name confusion, but your explanation of the product clears it up; it should be next to those products.

Tom

[Patrick]

Mike, thanks for the tips. Im going to give it a quick demo by hand, my old method, lol, i detailed by hand for many yrs, and still enjoy it. ( I did a inspection today of the vehicle, it doesnt look too bad) Im going assume, that the cutting scale of this new Meg's product, is similiar to Klasse AIO, and I can resume with a PC, and yellow polishing pad, these are my hopes at least. Im really looking forward to trying it out, rest assured, I will take pics. I was real impressed with the pic you displayed using the tape. The color of the Ram 2500 is two tone, dark/light green, kind of unusual, not sure Ive seen this scheme before. The client is going to be selling this vehicle when he returns to Oregon on Saturday, do you believe ColorX will provide at least 8 weeks of protection ?, or would you recommend a Poly topper (my usual method)

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Mosca
No, but in your quote you changed the word "it" to "I".... The ColorX was on the bottom shelf next to Turtle Wax's colored waxes. I was unsure that it might have been name confusion, but your explanation of the product clears it up; it should be next to those products.

Tom

Hi Tom,

Good catch, and yes, ColorX is targeted at not only competing against those types of products, but completely out performing them. More than that though, ColorX is a one-step answer for people looking for a product that will do the job right the first time.

Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Patrick
Mike, thanks for the tips. I’m going to give it a quick demo by hand, my old method, lol, i detailed by hand for many yrs, and still enjoy it. ( I did a inspection today of the vehicle, it doesn’t look too bad) I’m going assume, that the cutting scale of this new Meg's product, is similar to Klasse AIO, and I can resume with a PC, and yellow polishing pad, these are my hopes at least.

Hi Patrick,

I have used the Klasse AIO and ColorX is a more powerful cleaner/wax. I would compare the cleaning power of Klasse AIO more towards the cleaning power of #20 Polymer Sealant, or Meguiar’s Cleaner/Wax, (A-1216).

Im really looking forward to trying it out, rest assured, I will take pics. I was real impressed with the pic you displayed using the tape. The color of the Ram 2500 is two tone, dark/light green, kind of unusual, not sure Ive seen this scheme before. The client is going to be selling this vehicle when he returns to Oregon on Saturday, do you believe ColorX will provide at least 8 weeks of protection ?, or would you recommend a Poly topper (my usual method)

I would think ColorX will easily provide 8 weeks of protection assuming the finish receives at least normal care, i.e. washing with a premium car wash soap formulated for cars. For an extra layer of protection however, it couldn’t hurt to add a second coating of wax. I would be interested to see the results your produce by applying a coat of NXT Tech Wax after using the ColorX over the entire car.

I’m going to do this to the Bronco in this thread next week, just to see how much it improves the overall quality of the finish now that I have restored it to a respectable level.

Mike

[Dom]

Mike,

If I were going to use NXT as a Last Step Product, would I be better off with ColorX as a first step, or DACP (#83)? I guess what I'm asking is, if I am already going to be using DACP prior to NXT, would ColorX provide any additional benefit?

BTW, this is on my 1975 Ferrari 308 GT4 (single stage paint, oxidized) which you saw at the Mercedes NXT event last weekend.

Dom

[Patrick]

Mike, I got to try the ColorX today ! Nice product! I didnt top it with any Poly or Carnauba topper, i really want to know how this holds up.

What I like about it:
No oily residue !
No powdery residue.
Wipes off like a dream..
User friendly to plastic and rubber, even thought the label says keep away from..
Nice mid-level cleaner, if the Polymer holds up, you have one hell of a product.......
Nice color presentation, really brought the color out, even thought the P/U was in deteriorated condition, (Chips, scratches, clearcoat failure in areas) it really brightened to paint. Im impressed, its probably beautiful on reds and blues, blacks.....

What I disliked: It appeared to me, that the product is rather "dry", in other words, it seemed like I used quite a bit of product, im guessing about 2.5 to 3 oz to do the following P/U, even with premisting the applicator (PC). Im not saying its not worth it, just surprised i used so much. A little did not go a long way. I couldnt do a panel without adding product, but once the foam pad was conditioned with X, it became less of an issue. I really didnt want to get a closeup of the paint, due to its condition, and less than favorable lighting. This P/U is a ranch vehicle. The owner did say it looked better than new, with the exception of the scratches,and clear coat beginning to fail/blister.

In summary, ColorX gets a thumbs up, does bring out the color of metalflakes, rich and dark. Very easy to use, with the exception of using more than what i was used to, this may be normal amts to some, i just wasnt use to it. Wipes off with eXtreme ease ! No oily residue remained at all, that is a major bonus, I just hope the Poly holds up for a couple months.

Mike, good stuff !
First pic is a before shot....