Since I'm mainly retired - except for maintaining a few computer and networks, I jumped at the chance last year to crew on a road racing team. It's Team Cobalt California (teamcobaltcalifornia.com). So now I get to fly or drive all over the country to major raceways such as Phoenix (PIR), Virginia (VIA), laguna Seca, Miller - Utah, Barber - Birmingham, Limerock, etc. We race under the auspices of Grand American which hosts the Grand American cup races and the Rolex Series. Our cars are Chevy Cobalt SS's (supercharged). This car runs in the ST class (Street Tuner). That means that the engine/drivetrain must be totally stock. We have heavy duty roll cages and armored fuel cells as well as modified suspensions for safety purposes, but the drive train is exactly the same as can be purchased at a local Chevy dealer. That's the background. One the "groupies" who comes to all our races with his 15 year old son who may be driving for us next year started repping a product called "mo's Gold". We've been using it on our cars to keep various bits of dirt and other crap from sticking to the finishes. Its just make the cars look good not improve performance. About a month ago Dean gave me a bottle and suggested I try it out on my Prius. So when I got home, I did just that! I don't think it took more than 30 minutes to apply it. I had tranfered it to a spray bottle and sprayed and applied it to the entire car (in the shade). Then I wiped it off. This was the first time that I had polished the car. This stuff went on easy, came off easy, and left no buff marks. And, as you can see from my profile, I have a Black car. I've had the car washed a couple of times at a local carwash and I was amazed that the spray on soap and the "instant wax" that the machines spray out looked like they were having a tough time sticking to the finish. Washing in my driveway consists of hosing down the car and then drying it with a Chamois. The dirt seems to just lay on the surface, not stick. I think this rant is starting to sound like an infomercial, but I think this is great stuff. I have absolutely no connection to the company other than using its product. You might want to check out their web site at www.mosgold.com. There's not much there - just an endorsement by the race team who's driver or crew chief formulated the stuff. It's not a very sophisticated product. You have to keep shaking the hell out of it to keep the two components together. But it really works well. I'm basically lazy about polishing my car. I have a supply of Malm's Carnuba which takes about 2 hours to apply and power buff. That's too much like work. If Mo's Gold last 2 months between applications, I would consider myself ahead of the game. I'm just passing this along in case anybody is looking for an easy way to keep their Prius looking great. As for you cynical ones out there - let the flames begin!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Jun 30 2006, 06:48 PM) [snapback]279357[/snapback]</div> Thanks -- sounds too easy (no pain no gain? ) Where can one get this stuff?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Jun 30 2006, 05:48 PM) [snapback]279357[/snapback]</div> "Easy" means different things to different people. Here in Minnesota, a polish (shiny finish protectant) must last the entire cold season... since applying more during the winter is anything but easy. How long will each application last?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jul 8 2006, 02:45 PM) [snapback]283044[/snapback]</div> Someone gave my a bottle of it at a racetrack. So far my application has lasted about a month. The usual tree pollen in NY doesn't seem to stick to it. I "washed" my car the other day - just hosed it down to get off the surface dirt and dried it with a chamois. It still seems to be good. I have no idea how long it will last. Probably not as long as Zaino. But I think it's a lot less expensive and a lot less labor intensive to apply. I think you can order it on line by going to mosgold.com. If you try it let me know what you think of it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Jul 8 2006, 10:34 PM) [snapback]283180[/snapback]</div> Thanks. I ended up just going with a 3-M professional formula liquid wax since I was able to buy that at a car detailing store here. I'll let you know how it turns out.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Jul 19 2006, 09:36 AM) [snapback]288614[/snapback]</div> It looks like 6 weeks is and Mo's gold is starting to fray around the edges. It still beads when wet, but no longer has that glassy finish that allowed me to almost remove dirt and pollen with a dust cloth. But, 6 weeks is pretty good for a 30 minute effort. As soon as the temps drop below 95 deg. I'm going to apply another coat and see what happens.
Actually, the easiest (fastest, most convenient to apply) car polish I've ever used is Turtle Wax's "Ice".. Apply it in sun or shade, wipe on all over, including plastic surfaces with the sponge applicator, and then buff off with the included microfibre cloth... Because it's a thin liquid, there's no white residue and you can safely use it on all the plastic parts including clear and textured black parts.. Literally 10 minutes start to finish (the bottle says to work in sections and wait 5 minutes before buffing, but I just do the entire car with the polish and by the time I get back to where I started, the first section is dry and ready for buffing so it really takes very little time). The resultant gloss is very good, especially on the front bumper which has been severely dulled and pitted by dust and stone impacts- Ice is the only product I've tried that actually puts a gloss back on the dulled bumper, but on the down side, it doesn't last as long as many of its competitors: 2 months at the outside, if you don't get a lot of rain.. If it rains a lot, it only lasts for 3 weeks before you start to lose the gloss, but I've found that if you start off with a decent long-lasting polish (my favorite: Liquid Glass, which is an acrylic polymer; Nu-Finish, which is a polyurethane is also OK) and put the Ice on over top, your finish lasts a lot longer.. I got my car 2nd hand, and it already had a bunch of scratches and the hood and front bumper were dulled and pitted by stone and dust impacts, and stuff like Zaino really requires that you start with a pristine car for best results, so as much as I like the long-lasting results, it just isn't the right product when you're starting with less than perfect finishes. Ice on the other hand, while definitely not the best product out there, lets me put a very decent gloss on the car with only 10 minutes of work, and it works as well in cold weather as warm, so I can still quickly put on a coating of this stuff in the winter as well as summer..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Jul 19 2006, 09:36 AM) [snapback]288614[/snapback]</div> Well, I used the 3-M and it was quite easy to apply and buff off, I must say. The weather was cooperative this morning -- mid -70s rather than the usual 90s, so I didn't have to deal with wax drying on hot surfaces. My car looks better but the difference isn't dramatic because the Classic Silver Metallic color is too light to be highly reflective. However, it FEELS so much better -- the surface is glassy smooth. Will have to see how long it lasts.
