Article from Corvette Enthusiasts

p r a c t i c al c ar c ar e t e c h n i c al
2A
2B
2a A Girt Guard is engineered to aid in releasing dirt
from your wash device. Rub it across the Grit Guard and
the device’s radial design helps release trapped particles
which settle through the insert and into the bottom of the
bucket. The baffles reduce turbulence which keeps dirt in
suspension.
2b Grit Guard bundles their products in the Washing
System. The best part of which (besides the Grit Guard
inside it) is the five-roller dolly.
dragged along the driveway probably a
mile or so, but it still works great.
You need a good wash bucket—
at minimum, one of the 3.5- or 5gallon plastic pails used to store paint,
chemicals or lubricants because they
fit the ingenious “Grit Guard,” which
you drop in the bottom of the bucket.
A Grit Guard is a baffled grating which
provides a raised surface on which to
rest your sponge leaving 2.5 inches
below it to contain and keep dirt away
from the sponge.
The Grit Guard is available in a
complete Washing System containing
a bucket, grit guard, wheeled dolly
and lid. The small bucket is fine for
washing Vettes. If you have other, larger
vehicles or wash more than one Vette
at a time, you need the larger unit. The
dolly makes moving the bucket around
easier. When not being used to wash
cars, the Washing System is topped
with a “Gamma Seal Lid” so the bucket
doubles as a clean storage container for
wash gear. Lastly, when I’m drying or
polishing the sides of the car, I can sit
the wax, then use soap that has a
neutral pH, making it “wax-friendly.”
Generally, that describes many “car
wash” products. I use Simple Green Car
Wash which won’t strip wax and, when
purchased in the 64-oz size, is a good
The wash operation most critical to your car’s finish, is drying.
Don’t reach for that old chamois or go into the bathroom and get bath
towels or, worse yet, get some old beach towels.
on the Washing System’s top cushion.
I tell ya, for a practical car washer, it
doesn’t get any better than that.
If you want to wash the car and
(ital) strip it of wax or polish, use
cold or warm water and dishwashing
detergent. We like Dawn; we usually
add 2-3 ounces to a couple gallons of
water. If you’re not going to remove
value. Simple Green is biodegradable
so, when you’re done, you can dump
it on your lawn and not worry about
killing the grass.
You need a washing device. A lot
of folks use wash mitts but they’re
not free-rinsing, i.e.: getting them to
unload grit and grime in the wash
bucket is difficult. A sponge is better
C O R V E T T E e n t h u s i ast
41
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4
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4 We tested this crossbreed of sponge and microfiber from California Car Duster and found the Microfiber Super
Sponge works quite well. It’s better than an ordinary sponge because of the cleaning action of the microfiber, but it
doesn’t have the dirt shedding problems some wash mitts have.
5 A Water Blade is our mainstay drying device with our favorite being the Original California Water Blade. We like
it’s feel, balance and the rigid handle. It also can conform to curved surfaces, just not real sharply curved ones like the
new Jelly Blade. There will be places where the Water Blade won’t work. For that you need a microfiber towel, like the
Cal Car Duster, Mr. Thirsty.
contact with the surface, particles wash
ahead by the blade’s “bow wave,”
rather than get rolled-over like they
would with a bath towel or a chamois;
2) silicone generates less friction so it’s far
less likely to drag contaminants along the
surface and 3) the amount of dirt, dust
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C O R V E T T E e n t h u s i ast
and contamination trapped in a towel or
chamois, even one which has just been
washed, dwarfs that of any microscopic
particles which could be pulled along by
a Water Blade.
The Original California Water Blade
has a rigid handle which somewhat
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6
6 The nonwaxer’s practical approach to car care mandates
a power-driven polisher. We tested both the green and the
white pads on our Cyclo. Green is best for polishing or
removing light oxidation. White is for final buffing although
we used it for applying polish, too. We really liked Cyclo’s
quick disconnect option which allows you to change pads
easily by pushing them on and snapping them off.
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limits its ability to conform to radiused
surfaces. The newer, Jelly Blade, has
a greater ability to conform to curves
due to its flexible handle. Microfiber
towels are best for finishing up after
Water Blading. Either way, you’ll get
most of the wet with the Water Blade
then need only one microfiber towel to
get the rest.
What About Waxing? At last year’s
C5/C6 Birthday Bash, I was wandering
the vendors’ area and stumbled across
C-Magic, a company which markets
car care products to Corvette owners.
C-Magic’s owner, Kermit Dye, briefly
explained his company to me. It’s one
of the few and maybe the only highend polish makers operated by Corvette
owners. One reason my conversation
with Dye got past preliminaries was
that he seemed to be, first, a Vette
enthusiast and second, a maker of car
care products.
The National Corvette Museum sells
C-Magic products and every car which
goes through the Museum Delivery
Program is detailed with them. Also,
while General Motors does not endorse
C O R V E T T E e n t h u s i ast
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•Ultra Lightweight
Maximum fuel economy
•Rust-Free Durability
Higher resale value
•Detail Driven Design
For car enthusiasts
7
8
7 The rotation of the Cyclo’s heads simulates handpolishing and is one reason some
professionals like the tool so much. Drawing: Cyclo Toolmakers, Inc.
8 C-Magic products can be purchased individually, but we chose to try the company’s
detailing kit. It comes in a clamshell case which sports a C6 logo.
Canfield, OH
Toll Free:
1-800-282-5042
www.trailex.com
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C O R V E T T E e n t h u s i ast
C-Magic, when you talk to members of GM’s Corvette
Team—Vehicle Line Executive Tom Wallace, HR Manager
Gerry Wright and Service Program Manager Brad Thatcher
are three—at shows like the Birthday Bash or Corvettes
at Carlisle, they’ll tell you they use the product on their
personal Corvettes and other vehicles and they feel the shine
is unmatched by other products they’ve tried.
Well heck, I thought, that’s pretty convincing. I ordered
the company’s World Class Corvette Detail Kit. A week or
so later, open on my work bench is this kit with one bottle
of each C-Magic product along with a couple of microfiber
towels and an applicator pad.
“Uh-oh” I said aloud, my heart sticking in my throat, “This
looks like work. What this ‘shop’ needs is a good polisher
and what I need is a cold beer.”
I polled a few people in my Corvette club who are
hardcore waxers and use an electric polisher (some call ‘em
buffers) for at least part of the process. I tried one and while
I liked the labor-saving aspect, I hated the vibration. I kept
t e c h n i c al p r ac t i c al c ar c ar e
Microfiber towels from reputable sources will have a tag attached listing material specs. This Cal Car Duster Plush
Towel is a 67/33 mix of polyester and nylon.
Understanding Microfiber
With fibers so small, why are they such a big issue?
Seems like anyone with a passing interest in car care talks about microfiber. It consists of
very fine strands of polyamide (better known by DuPont’s trade name, “Nylon”) and polyester.
Strands of microfiber are tiny—around 100 times more thin than a human hair. Each has a
specific cross section—polyamide is wedge-shaped and polyester is star-shaped—and are
combined, concentrically, to form a single thread. Microfiber towels appropriate for automotive
use have a mix of 20-30 percent nylon and 70-80 percent polyester.
The wedge-shaped segments penetrate grease and oil, scoop-up the grime, and pull it
into the voids of its internal structure and hold it until the towel is washed. Conversely, cotton’s
rounded fibers may capture a small percentage of the dirt, but mostly pushes it along the
surface and that’s why cotton towels can scratch a car’s finish but microfiber seldom does.
Microfiber has two other properties which complement each other. Polyester has affinity
for oil and polyamide has affinity for water. Microfiber’s attraction for oil and water works
with its mechanical ability to trap and hold dirt such that grime is removed leaving a clean,
streak-free surface. Microfiber’s third key trait is that, when woven, it has 40 times greater
surface area than other materials. Due to its area and the capillary action of the threads,
microfiber cloth has significantly greater absorption, about seven times its weight in fluids,
far more than cotton.
Manufacturing of microfiber towels seems to leave the corners of some of them with hard
“nubs”—sort of like the ends of nylon rope which are melted to prevent fraying. These nubs will
scratch your clearcoat or paint. When we buy a new bunch of towels, regardless of source, we
slide our finger tips over the corners of each one, feeling for nubs. If we find them, we use a
small, sharp knife or small, sharp scissors or even fingernail clippers to cut the nubs away.
We evaluated microfiber towels from several vendors. The best standard-sized, generalpurpose microfiber were C-Magic’s (3-pack, PN DA404). California Car Duster Company also
has 16x16 microfibers (3-pack, PN 22104). They’re not quite as heavy, but they are still a good
choice and carry a lower price. California Car Duster also has a Clean and Polish Plush Towel
(PN 22200), designed specifically for finish polishing. It’s heavy-weight, larger (16x24-in.), has
a woven side for waxing and cleaning, and a sheared side for finish polishing. The Plush Towel
is a bit more expensive, but provides outstanding results and was the best product we tested
in the final polish role. We tried 16x16 microfibers from the Eastwood Company (3-pack, PN
52210), which performed well. Lastly, Grit Guard has a general-purpose microfiber (PN 461-P)
which we found does a good job, too.
When cared for properly, microfiber towels are very durable. They can be washed hundreds
of times and maintain their effectiveness. Wash microfiber in cold or warm water, but never hot
water. Use liquid rather than powdered laundry detergent. Never use fabric softener. You can
put them in the dryer on the delicate cycle, but it’s better to line-dry them.
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C O R V E T T E e n t h u s i ast
looking for products which vibrated less
and would last a lifetime. That led me to
the Cyclo, a dual-head, orbital polisher
made by Cyclo Toolmakers in Colorado.
This piece of equipment was developed
54 years ago for polishing the exteriors
of large vehicles and gained widespread
acceptance in the aerospace industry,
the military, the trucking business
and amongst professional car care
specialists.
Today, among its users is the United
States Air Force 89th Air Lift Wing,
the folks who maintain the aircraft
which carry the president (call-sign Air
Force One when he is aboard) the vice
president, the secretary of state and the
Air Force chief of staff. If you’ve ever
seen Air Force One, you’ve marveled
at the aircraft’s spotless appearance.
How do they do that? Polishing with
If you see a lot of bad scratches,
heavy oxidation and places
where the paint is down to the
primer or the clearcoat has
failed, don’t waste time reading
this. Repaint the car.
Cyclos is part of it. Its unique feature
is the heads’ overlapping, orbital
motion which mimics the two-handed
polishing technique that some use
when they do their cars by hand. The
heads are dynamically balanced such
that, when the unit is running, there is
no vibration.
This was a no-brainer. I needed one
of these two-headed polishing gizmos.
A week later, FedEx showed up with a
box from Cyclo Toolmakers containing
a Cyclo Model 5 (PN 80-010), the
110-volt electric unit powered by a
1/3hp, carbon-brush motor which
turns its heads at about 3,000 rpm.
There are three other Cyclos, two for
use with 230-volt power and a third
which is pneumatic. All share the same
transmission and head assemblies.
My Model 5 was fitted with optional,
quick-connect adapters in place of the
standard head assemblies.
The cars I used to test the Cyclo had
good paint, but that might not be the
case with your Corvette. If you see a
lot of bad scratches, heavy oxidation
and places where the paint is down
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10
10 For finish polishing, even lazy folks like us
work by hand. California Car Duster’s microfiber
Plush Towel was our favorite for the last step of the
polish job because of the different textures on each
of its sides.
to the primer or the clearcoat has
failed, don’t waste time reading this.
Repaint the car. If you don’t have paint
failure but there’s moderate scratching
and oxidation, you need to rub out
the paint with aggressive cleaners and
medium abrasives and that is, also,
beyond the scope of this article.
If you see minor scratches, maybe a
few medium scratches or chips, slight
oxidation along with other contamination
bonded to the paint or clearcoat, we
suggest, before polishing, using the
Cyclo, fitted with Polishing Pads (PN
77-120, colored green), to apply Cyclo
brand Cleaner-Deoxidizer (PN 84-159,
16 oz; PN 84-151, 1 gal.). Once CleanerDeoxidizer is applied and has dried to
a white haze, it can be removed with
either a general purpose microfiber towel
or by rewashing the surface.
Now, install a pair of Finishing Pads
(PN 77-110, colored white) on your
Cyclo. Shake the container of C-Magic
World Class Wax and squeeze about a
nickel’s worth of polish on each pad.
We suggest working on a 2’x2’ section
at a time. A little C-Magic polish goes
a long way so use no more than about
a nickel’s worth per pad, per section.
When you get to a spot where the
spinning pads are to difficult to use, shut
off the Cyclo, pop one of the pads off its
quick-connect adapter and use it as a
hand applicator. Once the entire car is
done, let the polish dry to a haze. Then,
spray C-Magic Detail Wax over the
polish on a panel-by-panel basis. The
Detail Wax is a sort of activator which
reacts with the polish to produce the
maximum protection available. Don’t
need to use a lot. Just mist it on.
While the surface is still wet with the
Detail Wax, wipe the haze away with
the microfiber towel of your choice.
If you’re eyeing those freshly washed
bath towels sitting on the dryer, don’t be
tempted. They’re called “bath” towels
because they belong in the bathroom
not in the garage. For car care, you need
microfiber. When the haze is gone, your
C-Magic application is complete.
Unlike carnuba wax products, CMagic’s durability does not degrade
in hot weather and it won’t yellow as
successive applications build up. In
fact, the finish becomes more deep
and has more clarity if you do it twice.
This is especially noticeable on dark
colored cars and we saw it with two
we polished, the LeMans Blue, ‘04 Z06
and the Dark Purple Metallic, ‘95 ZR1. C-Magic, when applied according
to these guidelines, lasts about four
to six months. Previous applications
do not need to be stripped prior to a
fresh application, but if you are intent
upon wax stripping each time, wash
the car with dishwashing detergent as
discussed earlier. n
9 You only need a little bit of C-Magic. Dab a spot of
polish about the size of a nickel on each pad.
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C O R V E T T E e n t h u s i ast
sources
Bon-Aire Industries
873 East Citation Ct.
Boise, ID 83716
(800) 874-5771
www.bon-aireindustries.com
C-Magic
Suite 100
2205 Stonegate
Denton, TX 76205
(866) 760-2929
www.cmagicwax.com
California Car Duster Company
9525 DeSoto Ave.
Chatsworth, CA 91311
(800) 282-8828
www.waterblade.com
RUPES USA, Inc.
14320 Longs Peak Ct
Longmont, CO 80504
(970) 535-0100
www.cyclotoolmakers.com
Grit Guard, Inc.
3690 County Road 10
Bellefontaine, OH 4 3311
(866) 592-5925
www.gritguard.com
Sunshine Makers
(Simple Green products)
15922 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Hungington Harbor, CA 92649
(800) 228-0709
www.consumer.simplegreen.com