Second that.....Zaino Asia Pacific....

You're a Zaino fan....me too....hehehe....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Nov 3 2012, 08:20 PM

Any particular brand you're looking for? For Meguiars, google for Borneo Detailer. His name is Tim and he's in KK. He mainly deals in Meg's products but also got a little bit of other stuffs.

Yup. I have ZAIO, ZCS, Z2Pro, Z5Pro, Z6, Z7, Z8, Z16, ZPC & ZFX. What do you want to use Z6 for? If for after wash topping up, Z8 would be better suited. Z6 is more like a QD.

Don't know much about the shipping from Zainoap and how much it cost cuz I normally tumpang friends going to SG to buy direct from them....but, normally for other stuffs that I bought on-line there, less than 1 week.

What do I think about the groupons? Honestly...I'm being blunt here...IT'S MOST PROBABLY A SCAM and don't fall for it until you do some serious research and see for yourself their quality of work and results. I've never heard of any good things that comes out from these offers yet.....

Z6 is like a normal QD only and it doesn't give much protection. If you're still keen on Zaino, you should consider Z8. Z8 lays down a decent layer of protection on the paint, that's why it's a bit more expensive than the Z8. If you're worried about the price, Z8 can also be diluted and I've tried at 1:1 dilution and it still works fine.

If you don't mind other brands, there are other options though. Duragloss Aqua Wax, Optimum Car Wax, Autoglym Aquawax or Meg's Ultimate Quick Wax. All these are 'spray-on' and wipe off sealants that can provide good protection with decent durability. And, all are available locally.

For watermarks, if normal washing couldn't remove them, you'd most probably need a cleaner/polish. Stuffs like Z6 or other QD won't do much of a difference.

Meg's Gold Class shampoo is a decent quality shampoo, but I like Meg's NXT shampoo better cuz it has just a little bit more cleaning power. You might want to consider Duragloss 901 Car Wash Concentrate. I think it's better than Meg's....but that's just me though.

For the milder waterspots....yes. Diluted vinegar would chemically remove the mineral deposits - waterspots. If it's already 'eaten' through or etched the paint/glass, diluted vinegar *could* remove the mineral deposits but won't remove the etchings.

The very reason why I'd normally 'kirim' to friends or family who's going there for a visit if I were to get something from down there.....

Google for Duragloss malaysia. They have an online shop.

I use a lambswool wash mitt for washing and waffle weave microfiber cloth for drying....heheh...cost me an arm and leg for them but, what can I say, I'm just anal about maintaining my rides. A good quality washing and drying medium do help in minimising wash induced swirls/marrings, but, more importantly is the method/technique. Two buckets, one for shampoo and one for rinsing, the rinsing bucket is for keeping the wash media as clean and as free as possible from dirt BEFORE touching the paint again.....that's basically how it works...WORK CLEAN. When drying, as long as the cloth can absorb water very well it should be ok. Just remember, swirl and marring occurs when dirt/particles are dragged on the paintwork, both during washing and drying. Minimise that then you'd minimise their occurance. You can also find the wash mitt (not the lambswool though) and drying towels at DG malaysia website. For the wash mitt, Mother's lambswool is a decent one....google for Mothers car care malaysia. If the price doesn't suit your budget, find something that is and concentrate on your method/techniques.

Sorry for the late reply...been awfully busy with work lately. When I say 'etched', the clear coat has been damaged...need compound/polish to remove. A mere wiping with chemicals won't be able to achieve that and I don't know of any easier/short cut way of doing it.

Send to a pro for a full detail/polish/wax then wash regularly. Nothing special or too difficult with that actually. You don't really have to listen to some of us cuz, when it becomes a hobby, we can go CRAZY about keeping our rides in pristine conditions. We talked about the DETAILS only because some of us are CRAZY about the DETAILS.

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Added on November 7, 2012, 10:44 amCobra Guzzler may not be available here....but there's one seller that I know of that have something similar....

Here's an old pic of them together. Green is the Guzzler and blue is the 'other one'...



This post has been edited by KrisMas: Nov 7 2012, 10:44 AM

All my towels are microfiber......

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Added on November 7, 2012, 10:46 pmHaven't tried the latest Permanon but I had tried the 'older' version. If you're looking for shine and gloss I'd say Optimum Car Wax is better. But for protection it's DG 105. Permanon, in my book, excell in durability but lacks behind the other two in term of gloss, shine, beading and protection (I'm talking/comparing wax/sealants and not the coatings as all three also has coatings in their products line-up).

Hey, you should get together with Tim@Borneo Detailer. He's a good and friendly chap and he should be able to help you out. Even if he hasn't got what you're looking for, he should be able to source it for you....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Nov 7 2012, 10:46 PM

Ace Hardware...rubber hose...industrial strength....mine is exactly like the one below. So far 3 years on and still going strong....cost me almost RM200 for this 100 footer.

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

This is the said panel - for Kancil....



Soaked/washed with Meg's Degeraser then Meg's APC



After wash & clay. White spots are paints overspray (or better description would be careless overspray) curtesy from those people doing renovation works for my neighbour

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Added on November 14, 2012, 2:01 pmBosch GEX 270 AE with 3M Trizact p1500 & p3000



p1500 during.....



p1500 results




After which, I decided to forgo the p3000 and see what can these achieve in correcting the p1500 instead

Sonax Profiline Cut & Finish, Meguiars M101 with 3M green light compounding pad.

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Added on November 14, 2012, 2:09 pmShut....can't seem to post up the rest of my write ups and pics.

Anyway...you guys can view the rest of it over HERE

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Added on November 14, 2012, 2:24 pmps: mod/admin, please tell me if I'm not allowed to post that particular link here. I'd gladly remove it and try to post up the rest of my writeup. Or, does anybody can tell/help me how to post up the rest of it?

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Nov 14 2012, 02:25 PM

I'll just summarise the result then...just in case.

The 'experiment' is to show how much correction can be done with a Random Orbital Buffer (the one I was using is the Bosch GEX 270 AE) with some of the detailing products that are locally available.

From the picture below, the top (left) section was worked with Sonax Profiline Cut & Finish with 3M green compound pad; middle section with Meguiars M101 with the same pad; bottom (right) section with Sonax Profiline Perfect Finish with Sonax white polishing pad but with a rotary instead of the ROB, just for comparison sake.

These are the afters pictures.







Under the sun....





A little 'reflection' shot



Best thing with these polishes are, they clean out very well....these are the pads after washing them with plain tap water with some gentle rubbing and squeezing...



Just some brief notes and observations. There are still traces of sanding marks left after using all three polishes. But lesser on M101//ROB and PF//RO. If I were to go for a few more passes, I would think that all traces *could* be remove with both of these combo. As for C&P//ROB, I don't think the combination is strong enough to be able to remove the sanding marks and would need quite a few passes for it to do so.

And just another observation as I just aren't able to capture it with my cheapo point-and-shoot camera, the finish on PF//RO is better than M101//ROB, but not by much. No 'refining' was done as my primary intention for this is just to see/gauge defects removal with an ROB. Of which, the result is very very promising.

So, I guess, for those who aren't willing to invest in a rotary and want to 'play it safe', products and pads are now locally available and, with them,correction with ROB are now made possible.

Roughly the costs to get the products that I used:

Bosch ROB ~ RM 350
3M green pad ~ RM 36
M101 ~ RM 115 for 1 Litre (guess somebody can buy it and split it)

All in all, with a budget of RM500 or round about that, it's possible to achieve a decent result with today's modern pads and polishes.

Thanks for viewing. Questions and comments are welcome.

You want to get the 'AE' - variable speed. The 'A' version is single speed only.

Makita is a rotary...you can say it's more aggresive. I'd really recommend to try to get the Bosch GEX 125 AE. The one that you see in my post is the 'elder' Bosch which is no more in production (though there might still be old stock on the shelves). The 125 AE is the most recent one. Works the same.

When you say you've 'created' more swirls, it *could* be your technique. For one thing, you must WORK CLEAN - both the surface that you're polishing and the 'sponge' that you're using MUST BE CLEAN. If the surface is dirty, you might pick up some dirt particles with the 'sponge' and create more swirls (a good indication if the surface is dirty is when your 'sponge' turns black/dirty during usage). If the 'sponge' is dirty (with dirt particles on it) then...well...that's obvious isn't it. One of the way of checking if the surface is 'clean' or 'dirty' would be running your palm and feeling the surface of the paint. If it feels coarse and 'grainy', then there are embedded dirt/contaminant that's 'sticking' on the surface. When polishing, these embedded contaminant would be picked up by the 'sponge' and held there, i.e. dirty sponge. These contaminant can be remove by claying.

Then, the 'sponge' itself must be of good quality. I do like the yellow ones from Meguiars. I've tried a few of the cheaper ones like the ones from CarPlan and another forgotten brand, they're too coarse and aggressive. They are now used as dressing applicator for my tires.

Then, there is the technique: You need to start with light pressure with the 'sponge' first, i.e. don't put too much pressure. Instict would tell you that more pressure would remove the defects faster, which is, in a way, true. But, without knowing what you're doing, it *could* do more harm than good. A few more passes with light pressure is better than lesser passes with more pressure....to start with until you get the hang of how the polish/pad combination 'behaves'.

Same thing if you're using the ROB. The ROB would act like a mechanical replacement for your hands - it mimicks the movement of your hand when polishing. So, same thing, start with light pressure until you get the hang of it. It does sounds like very difficult, but when you start using the ROB you can easily get use to it as, like I say, it's just a mechanical extension of your hand.

Regards.

Soak in a mix of liquid detergent (like Dynamo) and water at normal washing strength. Blast with a strong spray of water (garden hose or something) like when you're washing your car floor mat. Rinse thoroughly (and by thoroughly I mean if you think you've done rinsing....rinse a couple of more times). Throw them in the washing machine to spin dry. Air dry INDOOR (A little distilled vineger in your second last rinse would help in neutralising whatever left of the detergent use would help).

Mr Clean...if for interior I think they'll do. Those 'good morning' towels also work reasonably well for non-scratch-sensitive interior. But, personally, I'd go for the HyperKleen instead. They're those multicoloured ones sold in pack of four (or five...can't remember) for, I think, RM48 or something. Or you can try going to Osren for a few good ones at cheaper price.

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Nov 14 2012, 10:18 PM

Hey...I'm just glad I can share it out with you guys.

The newer Bosch GEX 125 AE costs around RM340 - RM350, or there about. There's also one from Makita and another by Festool....but I don't think you want to know how much these are...we're talking about four figures there. There's also a brand called GMC that has one interesting ROB which cost on the lower side or RM4xx, but I haven't had the opportunity to see it in person yet.....you can find all the above selling in Mudah if you're looking for further info.....

oh...and I think somebody here in Trade Zone also selling it....I mean the Bosch....

This post has been edited by KrisMas: Nov 14 2012, 10:40 PM

mav3rick, your friend is right. Use UQD after regular wash.

That's a great way to start...CONGRATULATIONS...

Meg's stuffs are 'dirt cheap' at the other side of the pond, unlike the premium price that we have to pay for them over here....

^^^agree with the above.

Any shampoo from a well established brand are good. I've tried Meg's Gold Class, NXT, Shampoo Plus, Hyperwash and Ultimate Wash & Wax. They are all decent shampoos, but each has individual 'specials'. Cleaning strength, level of gloss left after wash, no glossing agent, lubrication, etc. What are you looking for?

For rinseless ONR or GO Waterless Car Wash
For waterless can try Artdeshine or Meg's Wash & Wax Anywhere

Meg's Ultimate Wash & Wax

Mothers at autopolishine. But I think they've been out of stock for quite a while now. Carguys also have them and they're at Klang, but haven't dealt with them before.

Their place is in Sri Hartamas. Google it and you should find their facebook page and location. Their products are from Freedom Waterless Car Wash....if you like ONR then you'd love their products.