Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Polish

Hi Ben,

I kinda thought that Simon might rattle your cage when I mentioned Zymol. I trust all is well with you and the new business?

Regarding polish, I am sure what you are saying is correct, but you do not advise your own personal product recommendation. I know that you have detailed Simon's Porsche in the past, what products did you use on it?

Cheers
Brian

P.S. Don't tell me you used Swissvax Ben

Quick question for you wax afficionados.

I have heard it said many times that wax can prevent against chips etc

Is this really true? A micron thick layer of squishy organic material deflecking large pebbles?

I'm rather of the opinion that the abilities of wax to protect paintwork (beyond the obvious of being water repellant and nice and shiny) are rather overstated.

Coudl someone explain if

a) this is true, or it's marketing hype
b) if it is true - how does it work?

it ain't squishy... it goes hard when it reacts with the air.. that's the key

Research Paper here:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/ics/2005/00000027/00000002/art00008

Well it was a long time ago that I detailed Simon's 996 Turbo so trying to remember exactly what I used is going to be tough, but I think it was:

Poorboy's SSR2.5 for initial paint correction
Poorboy's SSR1 for final paint correction
Clearkote Vanilla Moose Hand Glaze for, erm, glazing
Poorboy's Natty's Blue Carnauba Wax for protection

As you can see, at the time I was having a bit of a Poorboy's moment. These days I generally use three brands:

Meguiar's - they simply don't make a bad product and are all reasonably priced.
Menzerna - their polishes (by which I mean abrasive for paint correction) are untouchable. Mercedes-Benz and BMW use them in their factories.
Einszett - a German brand who make some excellent products.

I'm not saying Zymol is bad - the results that can be produced with their products are excellent. But they can be matched with any of the brands above.

What's most important in detailing is technique and process - not the products used. A well prepared car with Turtle Wax will look better than a poorly prepared car with Zymol.

Ben

Wax can't protect against damage - it's impossible.

Also, multiple layers of wax doesn't give you more protection - it ensures even coverage and therefore gives the wax the most chance of working as it should. Sure, do two or three, but much past that and you're wasting your time (and product).

Ben

Hype of course. Ben is absolutely correct. No polish or wax offers any protection...though I have found that colored-tinted polishes can hide surface damage a bit better. That being said any wax or polish is nothing compared to the skill of the right detailer with the right equipment. His/her results are only limited by how good the paint and top coats are.

BTW the Factory was about to experiment with one of those new self-healing top coat products a few months ago...but I haven't tracked the outcome. Thx for the reminder. These are touted to self heal by flowing back into scratched areas. In the past, practice with similar stuff showed that they can make it tough to get a proper shine but they DO quickly make scratches disappear. Perhaps new technology has improved.


Yes. They are lovely. Those are the colors that Audrey and I chose in the long winter of 1997, poring over the huge gamut of color samples we borrowed for months. At the time, the choice seemed a risky combination but it worked out beautifully and resulted in much happy comment everywhere we went. Still does.

However, in late 2002 we gave the color codes to the Factory when they were re-making our car. Immediately after, they appeared on a number of MMC display cars and brochures and the rest is history.


On the other hand, it is said that copying is the sincerest form of flattery! Cararama has made an adorable minature of our car which sells very well. They kindly sent us one which sits in the cabinet with our other Morgan models.

However, I have only seen a few others in an Aero 8 format. Do you have a front on view?

Lorne

You have jumped to a conclusion again, but come up with the wrong answer. Plus ça change.

Duo-tones have a long and interesting history, but had become less popular in the modern world until the advent of the Bugatti Veyron which started production in 2005 (iirc). I knew that Bentley also produced duo-tones of the Arnage and this was my first point of call as I had recently seen one in blue.

Bentley Arnage - Duo-tone Colours

I have posted elsewhere on TM the process of visiting the Bentley Dealership, but they no longer do colour charts and as I thought that the Bentley Peacock blue was too dark for my purposes, I was in a dilemma.

Luckily Ben, who has posted above, came to my rescue and offered to paint the three colours in stripes on the bonnet off a crashed car, i.e. Fountain Blue, Peacock Blue and Moroccan Blue, as I had no idea how they would go together or look on a Morgan? This did not prove necessary, as Ben was able to obtain samples of the three colours sprayed on much larger colour swatches. Having seen these, I decided on Moroccan Blue as the darker contrasting blue, as Peacock Blue was indeed too dark. So there you have it, Fountain Blue over Peacock Blue - two Bentley colours and I placed my order accordingly.

On visiting the factory during the build they confirmed that this was the first time that they had done this particular combination, and I must say I am very pleased with the end-result. So while copying is the sincerest form of flattery, in this case I must thank Bentley for providing the initial idea for my colour scheme and presumably, they were also the inspiration for yours, though your blues do look different hues to mine?

Sorry Aeroman. I should have seen the difference instantly. Very pretty colors nonetheless.

Do you have a frontal view?

Lorne

P.S. BTW, it is not the name of the paint that determines it's color. It is the combination of pigments and effects that go into its formula. Different companies, paint and automotive, will often call the same paint by different names and codes. As well, different companies will have different shades for the same name.

Ben, I heard Dodo juice are pretty good as well?
Is that right?

No problem, I actually wrote an article for an Australian Mog mag which gives a little more detail of the selection process, but it's too long for here. Here's the frontal view of my Aero 8 you requested at dawn at a TR event in London:


I realise that colours also have a reference, I have them for my Bentley colours, and also can be used on different models under different names. However, on a DG I think it is more interesting to know the etymology of the colours, rather than just a reference number. Where do you duo-tones come from and did you try them out first on a panel?