Cladding

[vt_maverick]

It worked easy and looks great...the hood insert is amazing. It causght my eye since it actually had a picture of cladding on the bottle.

It was dark when I finished so pics tomorrow...

That's the same stuff I tried a week ago... just got rain for the first time today and it's already running!!! I'm hoping that it's due to there being some amount of B2B left on the cladding from previous applications.

Update from previous post... I applied another coat of this stuff over the weekend and had different results that are encouraging. When I did the first coat a few weekends ago, the cloths I used were completely black after applying it. At the time I thought it must be a byproduct of the Meguiar's product (similar to what happens when you rub a cloth over a fresh coat of tire black), but when reapplying it Sunday night it didn't turn the cloths black at all. Now my suspicion is that the black substance was actually Back to Black residue coming off the cladding.

The Meguiar's product is very similar to their Cleaner Wax in consistency (thick just like liquid wax) as well as function, as Cleaner Wax removes crap in your paint that washing doesn't. Back to Black on the other hand is a thin, runny substance that looks oily after application. So now I wonder whether the running was due to the last remnants of B2B preventing the Meguiar's stuff from fully adhering to the surface. Can't wait for the next rainfall to see if the running stops or at least slows. I know I had terrible problems with B2B running at first, but after reapplying it every few weeks for several months the streaking was much less pronounced. Let's hope it's the same with this stuff.

Oh and one more thing - the label is right, you can definitely use a car duster on it without streaking the coating or rubbing dust/pollen into it. Anyone who's tried using a car duster on B2B treated cladding should know that's a huge improvement.

Well after a few days of rain I'm officially calling the Meguiar's product a failure, in fact I would say WRT rain resistance that it's significantly worse than Back to Black. It runs badly in the rain, and after 3 raining days in a row, it was completely gone from the cladding. The last coat was super thick and apparently it made no difference. If you live in a place with 300+ days of sunshine (hello Arizona folks) it's really a great product; it leaves a dark satiny finish without the greasy feel of Back to Black, and it stands up to sun very well. But for the rest of us (especially those in the PNW) I think it's a no-go.

On the plus side, since everything had washed off the cladding I decided to do a full coat of 303 to test it out. Good news is that it's supposed to rain for the next 2-3 days, so should be a pretty direct comparison to the Meguiar's. So far it looks great, at least as dark as Back to Black or Meguiar's. No oily finish like B2B, but I haven't run a California Car Duster over it yet. Another review to follow later this week...

[FlyingV77]

I found a pic on phone and just figuerd out how to send it to my comp.

This is an old pic, but just a few min after i aplied the TS1. It looked great, non-greasy.

The sun glare makes it look more grey, but it came out realy dark.

[img]

[vt_maverick]

I found a pic on phone and just figuerd out how to send it to my comp.

This is an old pic, but just a few min after i aplied the TS1. It looked great, non-greasy.

The sun glare makes it look more grey, but it came out realy dark.

How has it held up in the rain?

[FlyingV77]

it held up great, no streaks from the rain, didnt colect any dust, and it lasted almost 3 months. the odd thing is it didnt fade out. it looked great untill it wore off, and that transition was almost overnight.

It also worked great on the hood, mirrors, door handles even helped with the fuel door.

[vt_maverick]

Going to have to buy some of this stuff then, took the VX through a car wash yesterday afternoon and it washed most of the 303 off. You would think a marine protectant would be more resilient to water but I guess not. With winter on the way it would be nice to get the cladding protected while it's still warm out.

[vt_maverick]

Just ordered the TS-1, hoping it will arrive by Thursday so I can put it on Friday before I head out for the weekend. Fingers crossed...

[circmand]

Going to have to buy some of this stuff then, took the VX through a car wash yesterday afternoon and it washed most of the 303 off. You would think a marine protectant would be more resilient to water but I guess not. With winter on the way it would be nice to get the cladding protected while it's still warm out.

Back to black on mine tends to streak after awhile when I wash it. I would hate to have to reapply when the temp here starts dropping into the 60s

[mike nomy]

GATORBACK..... I know u all read my post! permanent and easy......

[Mile High VX]

Just ordered the TS-1, hoping it will arrive by Thursday so I can put it on Friday before I head out for the weekend. Fingers crossed...

Pics...when you can...before and after

[circmand]

GATORBACK..... I know u all read my post! permanent and easy......

But according to an earlier post you made you bought the VX in August 2010. I dont think 2 months is enough to call it permanent

[mike nomy]

what i mean by permanent is that it isn't a greasy film topical solution, like armorall. it is a finish.

[vt_maverick]

GATORBACK..... I know u all read my post! permanent and easy......

And more expensive, more complicated to apply, and as circmand pointed out, not fully vetted (i.e., only 1-2 members have actually documented their use of the product). I was one of the folks that decided to sit out the Refinish Restorer craze, and now that I've seen the problems Sue's had I'm glad I did. (For everyone that has RR and likes it, yes I know it's probably a great product 80+% of the time, just pointing out that we have documented weaknesses in the product.)

The way I see it I'm working my way up to GatorBack. B2B looked great and I didn't mind applying it every few weeks, but the streaks between drove me nuts. So I tried the Meguiar's product (twice as expensive as B2B) and it was worthless IMHO. I just tried 303 and although it didn't streak, it did wash off uniformly in the rain. So the last topical option is TS-1, and if that doesn't work to my satisfaction, I'll go with GatorBack. Hopefully between your experience with GatorBack and the stories posted by myself and others in this thread we can help new members to avoid wasting their money by learning from our trial and error.

[mike nomy]

just a lil extra bit:
the other day, after i tinted my lenses n clear coated them, i placed them back on my truck to make it easier to buff them out.
i got some wax n compound on the recently gatorbacked rear cladding, so i rubbed the hell out of it to get it all out.... the gatorback held up, no problems at all. i got all the residue off, which if anyone has ever gotten wax on any type of cladding knows how hard that is to accomplish.....
i say another point goes to GB!

[circmand]

just a lil extra bit:
the other day, after i tinted my lenses n clear coated them, i placed them back on my truck to make it easier to buff them out.
i got some wax n compound on the recently gatorbacked rear cladding, so i rubbed the hell out of it to get it all out.... the gatorback held up, no problems at all. i got all the residue off, which if anyone has ever gotten wax on any type of cladding knows how hard that is to accomplish.....
i say another point goes to GB!

I have gotten wax on my cladding came right off even after sitting while the rest of the wax dried. I can see the benefit. But with VXKats issue I am going to wait and see how GB holds up on yours. I also wonder how it will be affecting by gasoline spilled on it when fueling. Hey Im not dissing it but too much unknown to praise it. And I still have some B@B left over.

[mike nomy]

no doubt, just trying to help...