Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II

November 13, 2020 in Automotive

In this post, we are taking a look at Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II, specifically in the grape scent. This shampoo is available in a few different scents but from my understanding, they all provide the same performance and the only differences in the various versions are scent and color.

Maxi Suds II is a pH balanced shampoo advertised to be tough on dirt, gentle on paintwork, and safe for all wax, glaze, and sealant coatings. It is also advertised to work well in both a foam cannon and bucket so we’ll be trying both.

First up, the foam cannon. For this, I’ll be adding 3 ounces of Maxi Suds II to my MJJC Foam Cannon Pro and filling the water reservoir up to 800ml. This is my standard for testing all car shampoos in a foam cannon so if you’d like, you can compare the results here to the other car shampoo reviews that I’ve previously made.

From my experience, one thing that Chemical Guy’s car shampoos do really well is providing thick foam in a foam cannon. Here with Maxi Suds II, I would have to say that the tradition continues. The foam is very thick and clings really well to the surface. As the foam clings longer, it has more chance to encapsulate any loose contaminants and take them off the surface as the foam rolls off or is rinsed off. From these results, I would say that Maxi Suds II is completely viable as a foam pre-wash or even as a sprayed-on soap for contact cleaning without a bucket.

Next, we’re moving on to using Maxi Suds II for the two bucket method and contact wash. The directions say to mix one ounce of product to five gallons of water. First up is the hand lubricity test. This is just me getting a feel of the soap solution between the skin of my hand. Upon first impressions, Maxi Suds II failed miserably. This has got to be the most watered-down soap solution that I’ve ever felt and there is little to no lubrication. Because of this, I DO NOT recommend that you mix Maxi Suds II at the manufacturer’s recommended ratio. For my personal testing, I’m going to add another four ounces of shampoo, bringing the total up to five ounces to five gallons of water or one ounce per gallon of water. Doing the hand lubricity test again, my hand feels like an oil slick, and I do not feel my skin rubbing against each other at all. To be honest, five ounces to five gallons of water may be a bit much. If you’re going to try this out for yourself, I would recommend starting at three ounces to five gallons of water and go from there as needed. Once I got the soap solution to a point that I was satisfied with, I would say that there wasn’t anything particular that stands out about this product and that’s a good thing. It was able to clean the car as well as anything else so no complaints there.

Overall, I would say that I’m happy with Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II. It performs really well in a foam cannon and just as good as every other car shampoo that I approve of. The only disappointing thing about this product is the one ounce to five gallons of water mixing ratio that Chemical Guys recommends. I’ve noticed that they recommend this with a few of their car shampoos and the recommendation never lives up based on my personal testing. One ounce of Chemical Guys car shampoo to five gallons of water is always watered down and I always have to add more products to get something satisfactory. It would’ve been great if this advertising were true because the shampoo would’ve been extremely economical but even at one ounce per gallon as shown in this video, the cost per ounce of Maxi Suds II is still pretty low. With all of this in mind, I would have to give this car shampoo a recommendation. If you’re looking for something that can be used as an all-in-one, for both the pre-wash and contact wash, then Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II is worth a try.

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MJJC Foam Cannon Pro

November 06, 2020 in Automotive

I was recently contacted by a representative from the company MJJC and that correspondence resulted in them sending me this, the Foam Cannon Pro.

From the looks of MJJC’s various foam cannon offerings, this seems to be the flagship and has many of the features commonly seen in high-end foam cannons.

Included in the box is everything needed to get started foaming minus a pressure washer, soap, and of course water. We get a sprayer head, 1000 ml wide mouth / wide base water reservoir, suction tube, 1/4” quick connector, some additional filters, and a smaller 1.1mm orifice for use with lower-powered pressure washers to create thicker foam.

To see what this foam cannon can do while connected to my Greenworks GPW1702 1700 PSI electric pressure washer, check out the video above. For this video, I used 3 ounces of Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam and filled the water reservoir to 800ml.

Right off the bat, I have to say that this MJJC Foam Cannon Pro performs very well. It provided me with some crazy shaving cream thick foam even when used with a lower-powered electric pressure washer and the stock larger orifice. Again, I’m very impressed but let’s take a step back and look at some of the features that this foam cannon provides.

Looking at the sprayer head, we have 3 points of adjustments. The knob on top allows for an on the fly change of the mixing ratio. When turned left, more water is used with the soap solution in the reservoir. This decreases the amount of foam. When turned right, less water is used with the soap solution in the reservoir. This increases the amount of foam. An example of this can be seen in the video above.

Next, at the tip of the head, we can turn the black section and adjusts the spray pattern. An example of this can also be seen in the video above.

Finally, we can also turn the red section of the sprayer head and this adjusts the orientation of spray from vertical to horizontal.

As someone coming from a cheap $15 Amazon foam cannon, I have to say that this MJJC Foam Cannon Pro is a big upgrade. It’s really hard to explain and is one of those things that you have to try for yourself to understand the difference but take it from me, from the build quality to the quality of foam, I think the Foam Cannon Pro is a winner and worth a try if you’re in the market for a foam cannon around $59.

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Toyota Supra Carbon Fiber Door Handle Covers

October 25, 2020 in Automotive

I recently purchased some carbon fiber door handle covers from eBay for my A90 Supra. A few different sellers have these on eBay and I can almost assure that they’re all from the same manufacturer so if you’re interested in this, just pick up the cheapest set that you can find.

Buying eBay parts is always a bit worrisome but these covers don’t look too bad. There are some minor scratches that don’t show up on camera but I really expect this from any aftermarket carbon product so no big deal. We’ll address this problem in a bit.

As far as installation, these covers are intended to be held in place by double-sided tape but I want to note that the covers did not come with any. You will need to provide your own.

Before I install these covers, I’m actually going to prep the surface and ceramic coat it. One complaint that people often make with gloss coated aftermarket carbon is that it yellows. A low-quality clear coat is usually the reason for this. Of course, I have no idea how these covers were made so all I can do is protect them to the best of my ability via a coating, in hopes of minimizing UV damage and any yellowing.

To start, I’m going to decontaminate the surface and for this, I’m using Meguiar’s Mild Professional Detailing Clay with Last Touch Spray Detailer as a lube. Although this is a new part, I would still recommend claying the surface because you just never know what the parts have gone through prior to delivery. For sure, there was something on my covers so claying is a no brainer.

Now that the covers are contaminant-free, I’m going to address the minor scratches mentioned earlier by hand polishing. I’m going to start with Griot’s Correcting Cream and a 3” orange pad. This step eliminates most of the deeper scratches, leaving the surface smoother, clearer, and glossier.

I could’ve stopped right here but I’m actually going to refine the finish with Griot’s Perfecting Cream and a 3” yellow pad. This step further refines and minimizes the scratches, leaving the finish almost flawless. In my opinion, the few minutes spent polishing was completely worth it.

Next, I’m going to hit the surface with Adam’s Surface Prep. This is an isopropyl alcohol solution and is used to strip the surface of any remaining oils and residues.

At this point, the surface is ready for coating. I’m going to be using Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. This coating is pretty easy to apply. Just put a few drops on to an applicator and wipe it on the surface. Once the coating hits the surface, it’ll start to rainbow. Once the rainbow disappears, wipe the coating off and that’s it. Adam’s recommends that the coating not get wet for 24 hours so I’m going to keep the covers inside and install the following day.

Again, these particular covers didn’t come with double-sided tape preinstalled so I went ahead and applied some of my own 3M VHB double-sided tape.

As a last measure before actually installing, I’m going to go ahead and thoroughly clean the door handle’s surface. This involves claying the surface to pick up any contaminants then using the IPA solution to get rid of any remaining oils and residues.

When it comes to actually installing, all we have to do is remove the adhesive backing and throw the covers over the stock door handles. The covers snap into place and there’s only one way to install them so there is really no messing up. Once you get the covers on, apply pressure to the taped sections and we’re done.

I have to say, the covers look really good and pop out on my Absolute Zero Supra. For the price I can’t really complain.

At this point, I should mention that these are actually my second set of eBay carbon fiber door handle covers. The first set arrived damaged and had to be returned but I wanted to mention them because if we take a look at the driver’s side cover, we’ll see that there is a small cutout. This is to accommodate the cover on the driver’s door handle. If you’re unaware, this cover hides the physical keyhole that’s meant to be used if the keyfob were to die and you get locked out of the car. I really like this feature and it was the reason why I bought these covers in the first place. Unfortunately, by the time I got the second set of covers, the version with the cutout stopped being made because it costs more and was more time consuming to manufacture. So, this means that if you were to buy one of these door handle covers that don’t have the cutout, be aware that there’s a chance that you’ll be locked out of the car if the key fob were to die and you don’t have service to unlock the car via the Supra Connect app. Then again you can try to remove the covers in that situation but it’s not going to an easy task.

All in all, I think this is a worth wild mod for the price. At under $100 from eBay, I’d do it again. At $150, $200 or more that some of these other aftermarket manufacturers are trying to charge, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. But do whatever works for you.

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Griot's Car Wash

October 19, 2020 in Automotive

Griot’s Car Wash is a pH neutral shampoo that doesn’t contain any gloss enhancers or additional additives to help protect the paint. It is purely meant for cleaning purposes. However, there is one claim to fame for this product and it is that it’s supposed to be super concentrated. Griot’s advertises that only one ounce of product is needed per two gallons of water and a one-gallon jug can make 256 gallons of usable solution. This is what really attracted me to this shampoo. If the claim is true, then Griot’s Car Wash can provide some excellent bang for the buck. So, let’s see how it fairs.

For my first test, I’m used the Griot’s Ultimate Car Wash Bucket which has a built-in measuring cup. When filled to the indication line, two ounces of the product are present. I then filled the bucket up with 4 gallons of water, using the capacity indicators on the inside of the bucket. First up, the land lubricity test. This involves getting a feel of the product between the skin of my hand. At one ounce per two gallons of water, Griot’s Car Wash failed miserably. The soap solution was barely slicker than water. I have to admit, I had my doubts but was really rooting for Griot’s because I wanted the advertising to be true. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is the case. At this point, I measured out another two ounces of Car Wash and added it to my bucket, bringing the total to 4 ounces of Griot’s Car Wash to 4 gallons of water. This of course means that I’m using 1 ounce of product per gallon of water. At this ratio, Griot’s Car Wash is absolutely acceptable and slick enough for use.

In a bucket at one ounce of product per gallon of water, Griot’s Car Wash performs up to my standards. It was able to get all the noticeable contaminants off the surface of my car and that’s all I can ask for. However, I do consider the super-concentrated formula advertising to be false. I just do not recommend using this product at the manufacturer’s recommend 1 ounce of product per 2 gallons of water. Of course, do you own testing and make your own judgment. But for me, 1 ounce per gallon of water is the way to go.

Next, let’s try Griot’s Car Wash in a foam cannon. It should be noted that although Griot’s advertises that this is a high-sudsing shampoo, they do not mention anything about using it in a foam cannon. This would indicate that it’s meant to be used in a bucket as a contact wash, not in a foam cannon as a pre-wash. But, we’re going to test its ability to foam anyway for curiosity's sake. For this test, I filled my foam cannon up with three ounces of Car Wash and water to the third indicator line.

From my testing of various car shampoos, I’ve found that those that are more so intended to be used in a bucket for a contact wash, typically do not foam very well. They typically come out of the foam cannon very watery, with little foam, and do not cling to surfaces very well. This is where Griot’s Car Wash is weird to me. The foam that I got was slightly below average in terms of thickness. There were a lot of small bubbles at first but Car Wash did exhibit the ability to build up and get thicker foam if I really focused on a spot. What was really different was this shampoo’s ability to cling to the surface. I’ve never seen a foam move so slowly off the surface of a car. To me, this is a good thing because as the foam clings to the surface longer, it has more chance to encapsulate contaminants. Then when it naturally rolls off the surface or when we rinse, the contaminants are removed with the foam. Something else to note is that this foam did a really good job of not drying. I had the foam on this car for easily more than 10 minutes and I didn’t see any dried-on soap residue. For me, this is a benefit because I know that I don’t have to rush to rinse the product off. I have more wiggle room on those days where things aren’t going as plan.

And that’s Griot’s Car Wash. Overall, I would have to say that I really like this car shampoo. In a bucket, the advertised mixing ratio may not have worked for me but at 1 ounce per gallon of water, it is economical enough for me and gets a pass. In a foam cannon, Griot’s Car Wash really blew my mind with it’s staying power. This alone makes me think that it’s extremely viable as a prewash or simply as a foam contact wash. I’m actually quite surprised that Griot’s doesn’t advertise about this product’s ability to be used in a foam canon because it actually performs really well.

To me, a plain pH neutral car shampoo without any additional additives is the most versatile car shampoo because it can be used in any scenario. Because of that, I always recommend for people to have some around. Although no product is perfect, I would have to say that Griot’s Car Wash comes pretty close. Its ability to perform well in both a bucket and foam cannon makes it a great multi-step multi-use car wash shampoo at a reasonable price. I can’t recommend it enough.

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Toyota Supra OLM Carbon Fiber Fuel Door Cover

October 16, 2020 in Automotive

I recently picked up the OLM carbon fiber fuel door cover for the A90 Supra and want to take you through the steps that I took to install this part.

Before we start, I want to share some thoughts on the product. Overall, the quality looks really good. I don’t see any obvious imperfections and that’s kind of surprising for a relatively cheap carbon part.

One thing that I will note though is that each strand of the carbon weave is thinner than I’m used to and in totality, the entire weave just looks smaller. This is something to think about if you have a lot of carbon in the near vicinity of the fuel door because the carbon weave of this part may stand out and not match.

Now, the carbon cover itself just installs with some double-sided tape and that’s fairly straightforward but I’m actually going to take the install process a lot further. One complaint that I often see with cheap carbon fiber parts that’s been clear coated is that the product tends to yellow. This is likely, the result of using a low-quality clear coat. I want to avoid this so I’m going to first wrap the cover in paint protection film, then I’m going to ceramic coat the film. I will be using XPEL Ultimate Plus PPF and that in itself offers UV protection so I can realistically stop there. XPEL offers a 10-year warranty on the film but if you want to get anywhere near that lifespan you really have to coat the film itself and that’s where the ceramic coating comes into play.

To start, I’m going to decontaminate the surface and for this, I’m using Meguiar’s Mild Professional Detailing Clay with Last Touch Spray Detailer as a lube. Although this is a new part, I would still recommend claying the surface because you just never know what the part has gone through prior to delivery. I for sure saw some contaminant specks on the surface of my cover so I knew that this was something that I had to do.

After decontaminating the surface, we can move on to actually applying the PPF. This begins by applying a slip solution to the surface of the cover. This will allow for easier repositioning of the film if necessary. Because this is a smaller part and I have it off of the vehicle, I’ve cut a big enough piece of PPF to allow me to completely engulf the cover. Once I’m happy with the position of the film, I squeegee some of the solution out towards the edges. As the surface dries out, the film gets tackier and sticks to the surface. For something like this, it’s just a matter of working from the center out. Then when we get to the edge, when can trim the excess, make things look pretty, and call it a day. Now, I’m by no means an expert at this. I’ve learned to do this on my own and am just taking what I think is the most logical approach for this product. This is actually only my second PPF project and something like this is perfect practice because the surface is rather flat. There isn’t too much to get good results. After some work, I was able to get the cover completely wrapped to the very edge. There are some bubbles but the XPEL PPF does allow for trapped water to evaporate so all those bubbles should be gone with some time.

The next day, most of the bubbles disappeared. Because the PPF is mostly dry, I’m going to move forward with ceramic coating. For this, I will be using Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. I’ve applied this to all the XPEL PPF on the Supra and I know that it performs well on this material. First things first, I’m going to wipe the surface down with Adam’s Surface Prep. This is an isopropyl alcohol mixture that is used to clean up any remaining oils. This will leave the surface bare and ready for coating. Now, for the coating process. I’m just going to apply a few drops onto a microfiber towel and cover the surface of the cover with it. When the coating hits the surface, it flashes and creates a rainbow effect. When the rainbow disappears, I can wipe the coating off of the surface and that’s it. The instructions state to keep the coated surface away from water for the first 24 hours. Since this part is small and off the vehicle, I’m just going to keep it inside for the next day.

At this point, the cover can be installed but because I know that there’s some etched in water spots on my fuel door, I’m actually going to polish it and get a flawless finish prior to installing the cover. The is going a bit overboard considering that no one will ever know what I’ve done, but I just can’t stand the thought of water spots sitting under the cover and etching further into the surface, possibly for the rest of this Supra’s life since I don’t plan to take the carbon cover off any time soon.

After polishing, I’m going to finish up by wiping the surface with an isopropyl alcohol solution. For this, I’m using Chemical Guys Wipe Out. Again, IPA will strip the surface of any remaining oil and leave it completely bare.

Now that the fuel door is thoroughly clean, we can move on to installing the carbon covers. Again, it is held in place by double-sided tape. Normally, I would suggest pealing off a small piece of the backing, position the cover, then slowly peel the backing with the cover in place, but there are a lot of relief cuts on the perimeter backing. I tried this method and the backing broke on me pretty quick. Luckily the cover wasn’t really held in place at this point so I can still take it off. You really don’t want leftover backing behind the cover as that will make an improper seal and can let a lot of dirt and debris collect back there. So for this install, I would suggest taking all the backing off and just go for it. It’s extremely hard to mess up with positioning as the cover really only installs in one way. Once the cover is in place, apply some pressure to promote proper adhesion, and you’re good to go.

There you have it. A relatively simple install taken over the top. I’m pretty happy with the result. The cover looks so good on the car and really pops out against all the white. However, there is one thing that I want to note. I think the fitment of this fuel door cover could’ve been a bit better. On the far left and right edges of my cover, some of the PPF is actually lifting. This is because it rubs against the fuel door cavity as it opens and closes. The fuel door cover itself leaves very little room on these two sides. Looking at the cover from the inside, you’ll see that there is actually some extra material on both ends. This slight rubbing, actually makes it more difficult to open and close the fuel door. I have to actively focus and push down exactly where the locking pin is to open the door. I don’t think that this is the biggest of deal, but it is an annoyance. But on the bright side, the fuel door doesn’t annoyingly swing open anymore if I just slightly brush up against it.

To me, for the big visual upgrade that this carbon fiber fuel door cover provides, I’d gladly take the minor annoyances and can definitely recommend you going with a similar upgrade, whether with this OLM carbon cover or one from another manufacturer.

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