Lowejackson

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Everything posted by Lowejackson

  1. I am reminded of a friend of mine who used to own a Mk2 Land Rover (late 1950's) who could fix most engine problems with a wooden hammer! I agree with Sectec, this is most likely a paint issue. Automotive paints, like car engines have changed significantly in the last 30 years. The products and techniques for the paint from different eras are also very different. Hitting the engine of a 2023 car with a hammer is likely to break something expensive. Ultimately, it is your car and you can use whatever products you fancy, if the Optimum products do not give you what you want and your prefer KOZAK (some kind of cleaner?) then continue using it or try using another brand.
  2. @Jason Montgomery I think the first thing to do is get a bottle of ONR or Opti-Clean or perhaps both and a decent wash mitt. This should make washing much easier and safer in the future. The paint swirls are a bit tougher to fix. Essentially you have you 2 choices, polish the paint to remove the defects or learn not to see swirls and focus on how good your car looks. If you can learn not to see paint defects, you will be a happier person!
  3. I would have a play with building up layers of paper or a few sheets of greeting cards to see what thickness will work.
  4. Indeed. The WOWA sealants should have completely changed the market.
  5. My guess why OPT does not offer a wax is their line has a strong focus on efficiency. As great as waxes such as Collinite are, they are time consuming to apply and therefore not very efficient. Perhaps the wax market is now so mature there is little room for significant improvements. This is all a guess, maybe Dr G just prefers polymers?
  6. Do not recall reading about a stuck trigger. I would contact your retailer for support. If the machine is out of warranty and you are confident about taking apart electrical tools then it could be something as simple as a bit of dirt or it might be more complex like a failed bit of the lock
  7. No idea about vinegar but from experience I know that pet stain removers are cheap and effective. Perhaps Power Clean would work well?
  8. Issues like this are always going to be tricky. The dealer says they will do minor paint correction which to my mind is a polish to reduce the worst of the swirls (rather than any meaningful attempt to remove all swirls) but I accept this could have a very different meaning or expectation to a customer. On a broader note, spending a significant amount of time polishing will remove most swirls but once someone goes looking for swirls, they will always find them. Of course, Ron is right, go and have a chat with the installer.
  9. You cannot just drop in a line about playing with an orchestra and not expand with details
  10. Ron, nice to see OPT posting on YouTube again
  11. @batsai You can go a crazy as you want. Some Power Clean might be useful and tar remover if you have them. If not, wash with ONR, clay and protect with OptiSeal, Wax or Hyper Seal and then use and enjoy your new car. The most important thing I can suggest when it comes to swirl removal is stop looking for them. You will be happier, have more spare time and money.
  12. It is quicker and easier plus it also has the advantage of keeping the mind engaged on the task. When we do something repetitive for a while, our brains loose interest but switching from compounding to polishing the same panel will keep the brain engaged.
  13. When using a compound and polish, it will be quicker and easier to complete one panel at a time i.e. compound and then polish. This requires less effort and avoids any issues of residue drying (I don't know if it does dry).
  14. @Heijneker If there is one thing which is a good predictor of success in improving efficiency it is willingness to change. The various techniques such as 5S, 7 Wastes or SPC charts can all be learned but without the desire to change, they are generally worthless. You have the desire so you will do amazing things in your business. One word of warning, the Lean world constantly talks about waste (things which do not add value), once you start to see them, they are everywhere, in every product or service you buy and you cannot un-see them. Here is a quick video from Paul Akers at Fastcap showing how a simple process can be significantly improved. As an aside, Paul Akers publishes a huge range of stuff on non technical Lean, including free audiobooks.
  15. There can be a lot of useful lessons in working in a small space, it forces someone to think about where things are and how easy (or not) they are to reach and use. I find it fascinating the number of detailers who want to move to larger premises as they think they have have run out of room when all they need to do is organise the work space more efficiently. Having lots of space just means someone has to walk further to get to anything. Small tweaks can make a huge difference, save 10 minutes a day with some tweaks and this will equate to an extra free week a year. It is a brilliant idea to make a new video and compare it to the old one. Just a quick clarification on my point about adding value. Adding value is defined as all the moments someone is actively transforming the product eg washing or polishing, all the moments not doing this are non value added time. It is a little more complex than this but is a useful definition to demonstrate how much of what we do does not add value.
  16. Perhaps a lower risk option would be Opti-Clean or ONR with warm water
  17. I like it. Not analysed the video but just looking at the front passenger door, you appeared to move past it about 4 or 5 times. By processes and efficiency standards this is quite high. Have a look for spaghetti diagrams as a tool for recording motion to help visualise the amount of physical motion. You don't need anything fancy, pen and paper works very well but do it for every aspect of the exterior detail and you may be surprised at how often you have walked around the car. Excessive motion is considered to be a waste, i.e. it does not add value and should try to be kept to a minimum. It is extremely common for people to think that moving around is productive work but it is often not the case . The less walking you do, the quicker the polishing will be
  18. I guess this is evidence to not pay that much attention to some on YouTube. Obviously when I start a YouTube channel things will be different!
  19. @zombie1991 where did you get the measuring caps for the bottles and do you like them?
  20. My understanding is the Opticoat line is specifically designed to work with the OPT coatings whereas products such as ONR will work on any surface. Not tried the opticoat range so cannot say how significant the difference is but clearly OPT think there is an advantage.
  21. Welcome to the forum. Ron (the Moderator) will probably be able to help with the wax. My wild guess is maybe some mild, indirect heat might help? Being a grandfather is the best job I ever had and much less stressful than being a parent.
  22. Whilst GPS is a nice product, if it had any glaze (filling) properties, I did not see them either with hand or machine use. If you want an old fashioned glaze have a look for One Grand or 3M, just don't expect them to last too long.
  23. I have tried various rinseless washes and liked them all. If ONR was suddenly discontinued then I would be content to use any of them. However, I did not feel compelled to swap ONR for any of the other products. Maybe as the market grows and the products improve perhaps that will change but for now, I am happy with ONR.