Ford focus st in spirit blue

[Jaff.]

Cleaned my wagon today, epic colour. Epic car. Pleased with the outcome

quick few pictures of the dirt

Not really that dirty, but not really popping in the sunlight.

gave it a rinse with my new k5 karcher
cquartz finest + reload working its magic

and g technic g1 working on the glass

wheels were stinking, always find the whole car will look much cleaner when the wheels are cleaner, also works the other way, unfortunately when these wheels are dirty, drags the whole car down with it

Car pro dlux and reload working nicely on the wheels though, only took a blast with the PW to clean then up ok.

Snow foamed the car using magifoam with a dash of chemical guys orange apc

went over all the awkward areas and door shuts with a brush

the front grille takes FOREVER!

engine bay looking dusty and dirty

anyway, after the bargain deal of wonder wheels hot wheels in tesco I bought a pressure pump to spread it all evenly as the sprays were poo on the bottles. Diluted to 1:1 in the bottle and I barely used any

agitated and rinsed off

Much better!

snow foamed again and washed using the two bucket method and auto finesse lather

Rinsed off and dried using a waffle weave towel on the windows (got the misses working ) and an uber plush towel for the paintwork

Used auto finesse revive on the rubbers and trims and under the bonnet

Dressed the tyres with megs endurance

and after a wipe down with reload the afters

comments and criticism welcome

 

[yellowbelly]

Really like that, looks a beaut

 

[Ady182]

Lovely!

 

[Fletcher]

Looks tidy.

 

[Jaff.]

Thanks guys

​just tidy? The inside isn't lol, job for tomorrow

 

[Detail Chris]

Jaff looks sweeet!

One thing, you dont need an aggresive wheel cleaner if they have been C.Quartz. Jet blast, put a mild apc or shampoo mix in your pump sprayer and use the brushes to clean up. Thats all you need!

Cheers
​Chris

 

[Lawro]

I really like these, much prefer the Focus to the Fiesta personally. Looks brilliant in that colour too.

 

[Jaff.]

Chris, they've only had dlux applied and topped with reload and tbh neither seem to be doing a very good job. I normally use a Mit in my shampoo bucket to clean them but its hard to get in the crevices and the wheel cleaner just makes it effortless.

i won't be doing any damage to them will I? Tried 2 ceramic coatings on them now and neither seems to have taken properly so I'm happy enough to keep cleaning them like this and chucking a bit of reload on them for the time being.

night get some more pump sprayers, I was surprised how easy it was to use on the wheels.

​thanks for the comments anyway

 

[Matt W]

Good work, really like it.

 

[rollerdan]

Gleaming buddy ! Prefer the estate to the norm st focus good work !

 

[Detail Chris]

Thats interesting. I personally use finest on the wheels and not Dlux. I've had one year so far from C5 on the daily and C.Quartz Uk on the 182 and both effortless to clean with only a mild cleaner. And they get washed like every couple of months so they are proper minging. Hell i even get 12+ months from a wheel wax.

Im not sure on long term damage, if your using it every week i probably would change something. Dont no what to suggest, but im sure the use of hotwheels 'may' effect the coating.

 

[Jaff.]

Well the wheels probably get this treatment once a month. So not as much exposure as weekly.

im still waiting for fuss to send me the remainder of my finest so I can sort some stone chips on the front so when I get that I might whack a bit on the wheels and see how we'll that goes.

i can still see the dlux working tbh, it's just not as easy to keep clean as I've been led to believe. I'm sure a diluted wonder wheels won't do too much damage, even if it does, when I get some more coatings ill just whack that on.

 

[Detail Chris]

Cool. When you coat them, make sure they are spotless, then if you have something like SRP or similar give them a quick once over. The most important bit is they are dry, and then do two wipe downs with IPA (alcohol mixed with di ionised water 40/60 mix) then apply finest.

chris

 

[Jaff.]

Will do

​they were spotless when I put c5 on them. That lasted all of 2 weeks lol

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Wagons FTW :approve:

 

[Scrooge]

Very nice, estate ftw. I just hate red calipers.

 

[terryc101]

Really like that colour, looks lovely in the sun.

 

[Jaff.]

Indeed wagons Ftw!

​red calipers match the rest of the car plus they came with the style pack which is a must on the blue

 

[Detail Chris]

If we wasn't moving house I would have one of these deffo, especially with my dads ford ticket! may even consider a wagon! maybe in a couple of years. What sort of mpg you averaging? Reason I ask is we've got a mk2 1.8 and its shite on fuel. I can live with it being a complete bore-mobile but 30mpg for the privilege f***s me off!

Oh and going back to your wheels, c5 lasting 2 weeks is strange! Was this on the st?
Chris

Indeed wagons Ftw!

​red calipers match the rest of the car plus they came with the style pack which is a must on the blue

 

[Jaff.]

Do it! They're awesome fun!

ive averaged 27.5 over 3000 miles on the car computer. It will easily do 35+ if you drive like miss daisy, but its hard to not put your foot down tbh.

c5 only lasted about 2 weeks on these wheels yeah. Russ seemed to think it was the temperature I applied it in

 

[Yellow Dave]

interesting what you say about the wheels coatings. I presume you're up to speed on the prep and application?

I had C5 on my wheels 18months, occasional top ups with C1.5 and as per the thread I put up there was very little contaminants bonded after that time.

using heavy cleaners would affect the water behaviour but typically the resistance to bonded contaminants were still present.

 

[Detail Chris]

Do it! They're awesome fun!

ive averaged 27.5 over 3000 miles on the car computer. It will easily do 35+ if you drive like miss daisy, but its hard to not put your foot down tbh.

c5 only lasted about 2 weeks on these wheels yeah. Russ seemed to think it was the temperature I applied it in

the misses would go ape s**t!

Jaff I can send you a pot of 'traditional' wheel wax sealant to try. Would be interested to see how it copes. Something's not right here for sure. I have heard of ceramic sealants not bonding to certain paint finishes but I haven't come across this yet. That's why you could try the wax. Like I said I have got 12+ months with two coats of this before.

 

[Jaff.]

Yes the wheels were about 2 weeks old (from when I picked it up of course) I took them off, washed them, using AG shampoo iirc, de- tarred, de-ironed, washed again, ipa (50/50 mix with water) wipe down and applied c5 with cotton wool pads (used more than I should have and wanted to but used less than my last set of wheels (step in the right direction))
That's the same application method I used on freshly refurbished oz's, and although they haven't moved they've been out in the elements and they're still like the day I applied it.

only difference in the 2 applications - 2 different bottles, oz's had the old c5, st wheels had the new bottle.
oz's were done indoors, st wheels outside.

i suppose the dlux is still working ok (maybe the reload top up) as I don't get a lot of bonded crap on the wheels and they are very easy to clean.

as for the misses, sod her you not live once, buy one I had about £6k off list price with ford ticket and dealer discounts!

 

[Leeshez]

What a deep shine .