JLs Detailing: Honda Ridgeline

Ok here's my post with the new unreleased sealant you have seen a few of us talking about on here. I hope this doesn't get too confusing so I'm going to attempt to clear things up a little before I start with what I did. The sealant is made by Duragloss and it comes in a kit. Its called Enviroshield. Yes I know many of you have already seen me use a spray on sealant/protectant from Majestic Solutions called EnviroShield. Well these are two entirely different products only sharing the same name. I think DG owns the actual rights to the name and I'm sure MS used it unknowingly so they will probably be changing theirs when DG releases their Enviroshield. Wow everyone confused, LOL. I did use both Enviroshields in the detail so the one from MS will simply be stated as MS ES in the thread to help avoid the confusion. I'll explain more about the Duragloss Enviroshield further on in the LSP section. The Ridgeline is owned by a co-worker which works out well for allowing me to see the car everyday to see how the DG Enviroshield holds up. Well here's what I did:

Tires/Wheels/Wells: The wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener and a variety of brushes. I used a lug nut brush, green foam finger pocket, Auto Zone wheel brush and EZ Detail brush. I used the AZ one for the areas behind the calipers because the clearance was so small. This brush works great for that but unfortunately it broke like my other one, just snapped off at the handle. Great brush for tight areas but just doesn't hold up very well. Oh well for $6 it does what it should I guess.

For the tires and wells they got the ol' standby Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff at 2:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer, and some of the brushes I got from Home Depot. The tires were first dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 with a MSs tire applicator. I then dressed them with the same method with another TW tire applicator and my new Tropi-Care tire dressing. It looks almost identical to Swissvax Pneu. I mean its so close its scary. I bought a gallon of the stuff and so glad I did. Now I'm only using this combo for all the cars I do. All other tire dressings are no longer in my cabinet, well except for the bottle of SV Pneu that I already had. Everything else that I had is just inferior in looks from what I get with the Tropi-Care. Wells were dressed with my combo of MS Mr. Natural/Megs ASD. I then coated the wheels with MS ES. His wheels will be 100x easier to clean from now on.

The MS ES is a product that I am 100% sold on and will never be without. The results on glass and wheels is so phenomenal and its brain dead stupid easy to use. Mix 3 oz. of MS ES with a gallon of water and spray on the wheels, glass, and even paint if you want. Once you have sprayed everything you want and have it all coated well go back and rinse it off. Once rinsed just dry and voila it's done!

Engine: I gave the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless system and sprayed it down with MS SGS. There was a lot of dirt in just about every crevice there was so I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it turned out great.

Wash: I really didn't think there was any LSP to speak of but to be sure I went with my usual of 1 oz of Tropi-Care beta Citrus Wash and 1 oz of CGs Citrus Wash Clear and 1 oz of CGs Strong Wash. As good as this combo cleans I knew nothing was going to be left behind. Put that in my foam cannon with the Karcher. I used the 2 bucket method with Poorboy's Super Slick and Suds in one bucket with grit gaurd and rinse water in the other bucket with grit gaurd. I got the PBs SSS from Cooter and it was the first time I had used it. I really really really liked the slickness it provided and worked like magic with my boar's hair brush. The brush just really glided over the paint. I will be getting some of the PBs SSS very soon as my sample is about to run out.

The bugs got CGs Strong Wash @ 4:1 in a Solo 418 handheld pressurized sprayer, and a Majestic Solutions bug sponge. The entire wash including wheels and engine were done with the CR Spotless System. The car was then dried with the leaf blower, and a Vroom drying MF.

Clay: Well my mainstay for clay has become and always will be the Bilt Hamber and this detail was going to be no different. This is the best clay I have ever used and the only one I use now. Of course as always the lube was water from the CR Spotless.

Glass: Glass inside and out got Sprayway Glass Cleaner. I used a MS blue huck window towel to apply and a Walmart WW to buff off. The outside of the glass was treated with MS ES.

Trim: All trim got Stoners Trim shine. I decided to use krshultz's method of spraying the Trim Shine first and then washing the car. Worked well and will be my method from now on.

Interior: Interior wasn't real bad just a little neglected. I decided to use MS Leather and Plastic Cleaner @ 1:1 to clean everything and then protected everything with CGs Silk Shine. Carpet was brushed and vacuumed with my shop vac. I cleaned the door jambs with a mixture of MS SGS and CGs Total Green Clean in a pressurized sprayer while washing. I used a Swissvax brush and rinsed with the pressure washer. Mats were cleaned with MS SGS and the pressure washer.

Paint: Well I went with my favorite paint cleaner first, DG 501. I decided to use my new Makita on speed 1 with a 3M backing plate and 5.5" white 3M pads. Even after a strong wash and a good claying my pads were still almost grayish black when I finished. The DG 501 just deep cleans the paint so well. With the paint clean now it was time for the product we've all been waiting for :applause2:.

LSP: I was fortunate enough to get a chance to try out the DG Enviroshield before it has been released. The process reminds me a little like Zaino ZFX as you need to get your little chemistry set out before you start. Here's what the packaging looks like:




Here are the activators:


Ok you take 2 oz of polish and put in a seperate bottle. Then you add .5 ml of the clear activator to it (several .5ml pipets were included with the kit to make the measurements easy and accurate). Shake the polish well then add .5 ml of the blue activator. Shake well and then add .5 ml of the yellow activator. Shake well and then you have a sealant that in theory will close every single link at the molecular level for a superior durable product. Unlike ZFX though you can use any you have left over the next day. Now Jerry at DG does say that it won't be as good as using it immediately but results will still be astounding. Well to test that out I put a coat on my Mustang the next day with what I had left. By the way I was able to do one coat on the Ridgeline and a coat on my Mustang with the 2 oz of activated polish.

I applied it with a 4" blue LC CCS pad on my polishing pal. I let it haze, and it really hazes up, and buffed it off with a CGs Edgeless MF. It went on easy and came off easy. I left it on for about 15-20 minutes before I buffed it off.

Now I knew the durability claims but I really wanted to see how it looked as compared to DG 105. Well I certainly was not disappointed with the look. It looked to me like DG 105 after it has been topped with DG AW! I was pleased with how wet it looked. The Ridgeline looked so good I didn't do my usual AW wipedown an hour after. Not only did it look good but I didn't want to taint my results of how the durability is with just the DG Enviroshield. The owner probably won't even wash it once a month and he certainly won't be applying any type of QD to it so this is a very good test for the Enviroshield. I see the truck every day at work so I'll keep you all updated on how it is holding up. The owner was thrilled with how it looked. He told me that it looked so good that he didn't even care that he had gotten his first speeding ticket just a few hours earlier!

Here are the before and after pics and then a few pics of my Mustang wearing the Enviroshield:




























Some pics of the Mustang:

 

Looks awesome JL!

 

Looks great JL, he did not want a full paint correction. Do you think that will cause a problem with the new sealant, plus I would like to see it on a fully corrected vehicle by you. I am not a sealant fan as you know, but something that last that long and has a nice gloss factor would be perfect for my parents cars.

 

Looks pretty damn shiny. Lower that friggin Mustang!

 

Looks great jl. Can't wait to see some beading shots too. DG 501 is definitely my go to paint cleaner

 

Aye...looking good JL! And I noticed no more dumpster in the neighbors house across the street!

:thumb:

 

Man that black looks like crystal.... very sharp! And very glad to know the tire dressing is working great!

I knew Zaino was made by DG!!! hahahah

 

Damn that box looks like its from tne 1980s lol.

Nice work

 

Looks good you got me thinking about this new sealant. I am very interested in how good the results are as I might want to pick this up for myself when it becomes available. Again great job on the truck my man!!

 

Thanks Brendan!

No he didn't want full correction as he won't keep it looking perfect and it would essentially be a waste of his money. Hey the Mustang was corrected by me and now it's wearing the new sealant.:applause2: It would be a perfect LSP for your parents car.

Thanks and lowering the Mustang will come when it gets its new engine.

Yeah I'm kinda looking forward to the first rain to see how it does. Oh and you gotta love DG 501. That stuff cleans paint like no other.

Oh yeah the dumpster is gone and the day it was pulled out I thought about you, lol! House is just about finished and ready to sell and damn if the owner/contractor didn't get picked up by the Feds the other night. I have no idea when that house will get sold.

Thanks Dust and yes the Tire Dressing is exactly what I've been wanting.

Yeah it does look a bit retro but you can't knock DGs technology.

 

Thanks JL, I will get it when it is available.

 

Looks great JL!

 

nice work!

 

Beautiful job on that. Man that stuff is shiny.

 

Thanks Denzil!

Much appreciated Phil.

911 the pics really didn't do it justice for how shiny it was. I really hope the durability lives up to the claims because this will be perfect for clients cars that you know aren't going to do any more than wash them a few times before we get them back.

 

:lol:

Unless you take more shots from a distance, I don't think I'll be able to find any random stuff in your pics to bug you about. You should TOTALLY buy the house and turn it into your detailing-only house! :yikes:

Lookin forward to the Enviroshield updates.

 

Looks great jl!:applause:

 

Awesome job, I was looking at the tropi-care stuff the other day, I know think I may have to try the tire dressing. Question about the MS ES, you apply it then have to rinse with a hose? Then just dry?

 

Damn, thats shiny for sure Love it! I need to try that sealent thats for sure. Love the other products from DG! Great job buddy!

 

superb job!!! By the way, when does that sealant releases?